Pulling the trigger...?

I am a senior in high school and I have a 97 tj with 4.5" long arm tnt customs lift, 35's and 4.56 gears along with other great additions.. I plan on going to college at the university of Utah and my dad wants me to buy a more reliable car. My tj is pretty well built and I should be able to get 20,000 for it. I want to jump up to a 4 door. What I want to do is get one for as cheap as possible and then start a new build with the cash I get from the old jeep and my job that I have right now. Another choice will be that I don't take a car freshman year because thats what most people do and I am fine with that. It will give me longer to save more money because I want to go the coil-over route. If I was to just sell me jeep today I wouldn't go coil over but I would like to know some good lifts for JKU's that would suffice in Utah. Evo enforcer lift? or what? Also what is the best way to go with buying a used JKU? Thanks guys!

If time is on your side you could find a JK Rubicon for that...or less

Congratulations on going on to the University of Utah. May I suggest keeping your TJ for one more year and save the money you would have spent on gas and repairs the first year of school and use that along with the money you make off the sale of your TJ for the purchase of a newer JK. On the other side of the coin is you have a TJ which may not be reliable now but in the event you have to put a new motor or transmission in it would set you back a couple thousand dollars which is still cheaper than having a 4 or 5 year car note. If you think you can survive the first year of college with a car I would do so. Also something to think about is keeping your college costs down. If you can pay for as much of your college as possible with out student loans you are ahead of your peers. A goal would be to complete college and owe nothing. This will set you up for success later in life. It may not seem like it now but the debt gained in college is probably the hardest to get rid especially right after graduation. Again if this is a possibility then do it. At 43 I am in the process of changing careers and going to school to finish my master's degree. Luckily the US Navy is paying for my education so it is one less bill I have. I took out student loans for my undergrad classes and it took me the better part of 6 years to pay off. Had I budgeted better and not lived for the moment I could have had the extra cash in pocket when I needed it.

Good Luck and keep the partying to a minimum.

R/
Will

Im sure ill catch flack for saying this, but I say sell your Jeep, get a nice 5-7 year old Honda Civic and save your pennys while your in college for beer and 3am taco bell rather than gas(double if not triple the cost in a Jeep than a Civic) and mod expenses. Then when your a grad and making good money, buy your dream jeep and build it as you see fit. College is all about 2 things....first and foremost a degree.....secondly the college experience. Live it up my friend, I know I did! :yup: :thumb:

Canvas JK said:

Congratulations on going on to the University of Utah. May I suggest keeping your TJ for one more year and save the money you would have spent on gas and repairs the first year of school and use that along with the money you make off the sale of your TJ for the purchase of a newer JK. On the other side of the coin is you have a TJ which may not be reliable now but in the event you have to put a new motor or transmission in it would set you back a couple thousand dollars which is still cheaper than having a 4 or 5 year car note. If you think you can survive the first year of college with a car I would do so. Also something to think about is keeping your college costs down. If you can pay for as much of your college as possible with out student loans you are ahead of your peers. A goal would be to complete college and owe nothing. This will set you up for success later in life. It may not seem like it now but the debt gained in college is probably the hardest to get rid especially right after graduation. Again if this is a possibility then do it. At 43 I am in the process of changing careers and going to school to finish my master's degree. Luckily the US Navy is paying for my education so it is one less bill I have. I took out student loans for my undergrad classes and it took me the better part of 6 years to pay off. Had I budgeted better and not lived for the moment I could have had the extra cash in pocket when I needed it.

Good Luck and keep the partying to a minimum.

R/
Will

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^^^:thumb: do that. Debt sucks. Even in all of it's off road capabilities and what not...Paying out monthly blows.

czebley24 said:

I am a senior in high school and I have a 97 tj with 4.5" long arm tnt customs lift, 35's and 4.56 gears along with other great additions.. I plan on going to college at the university of Utah and my dad wants me to buy a more reliable car. My tj is pretty well built and I should be able to get 20,000 for it. I want to jump up to a 4 door. What I want to do is get one for as cheap as possible and then start a new build with the cash I get from the old jeep and my job that I have right now. Another choice will be that I don't take a car freshman year because thats what most people do and I am fine with that. It will give me longer to save more money because I want to go the coil-over route. If I was to just sell me jeep today I wouldn't go coil over but I would like to know some good lifts for JKU's that would suffice in Utah. Evo enforcer lift? or what? Also what is the best way to go with buying a used JKU? Thanks guys!

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You've given it some good thought, do you feel your rig is pretty reliable or do you always seem to be working on it to keep it running?

I know the transit system all through Salt Lake is pretty awesome and easy to get anywhere. If it were me and the TJ didn't require a lot of tinkering, I'd keep it and use it as needed but use the transit system as often as possible.

I remember using the bus to get to any of the resorts and now with the high speed rails other places are even more accessible.

Any lift would suffice for Utah - TeraFlex is big there but IMO I'm not a fan just from previous experiences with them and their products. I currently run Clayton offroad, I've driven a Jeep with the Enforcer and it's a great ride - I'm considering swapping out my springs to Evo's.

For my own likes, after researching various options I decided the JKU would handle better with a full suspension system not a boost etc... I'm happy with my lift and it hasn't given any issues at all. I have friends who didn't want to save for a full system and they went budget, some were ok most seemed to have one issue after another and IMO ends up costing more in the long run.

Used JKU's are priced pretty high since they became so popular and they released resale value data showing they retained a lot of their value. if you find one you like, forget all the shiny parts and look underneath for the abuse... you can look through the write-ups on how to check ball joints and other things that tend to wear out. Look for signs of leaks and (engine, axle tubes, etc...), mud? this will show up behind the radiator, is operating temp in range etc... take a good strong flash light to look behind the radiator and other dark places underneath. you'd be amazed at how clean a Jeep can look but detailers don't clean where the damage is likely to be...

Good luck!

I waited until I finished undergrad to get a new Jeep. I didn't have any car payments on the car I had through college. So I didn't have to work as much. I traveled to other cities and went to festivals while having enough beer money. I graduated in May 2013 and a week after I graduated I flew to Barcelona. I had no plans, on a tight budget, and all alone. I spent the most amazing few months backpacking through Europe. All of this, I wouldn't have been able to do if I had a car payment...

I came back, landed a nice job and yesterday I drove home a 2014 JKUR fully loaded. All mine. :wings:


Then again, if I wouldn't have owed anything on a new Jeep, I would get one too.

Not sure how the market is there but that is a steep price for a 97 tj regardless of mods. I don't think you could get 20k unless you had some one tons hiding out underneath it and a V8 swap or something similar.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. It really does help hearing what other people did. One thing is that I am extremely fortunate that my parents saved up money through out my life to pay for my college. My sister got a full ride which took a ton of stress off of me for my parents. But to make college even cheaper for them I am going to live out there for my first year and gain residency which literally makes it 1/3 the price of out of state. So staying there my first summer would be the reason to bring my jeep. My tj is totally capable of a lot of the trails out there. The only thing I need would be lockers. So maybe I keep the tj for that summer? Staying the first summer also means a job. If anyone knows of any business's that hire college kids it's would be awesome to have a job lined up. It would be cool if it was jeep related but I plan on majoring in some type of business so anything business would be awesome to get some experience under the belt. Your info is extremely helpful to me.

StrizzyChris said:

Im sure ill catch flack for saying this, but I say sell your Jeep, get a nice 5-7 year old Honda Civic and save your pennys while your in college for beer and 3am taco bell rather than gas(double if not triple the cost in a Jeep than a Civic) and mod expenses. Then when your a grad and making good money, buy your dream jeep and build it as you see fit. College is all about 2 things....first and foremost a degree.....secondly the college experience. Live it up my friend, I know I did! :yup: :thumb:

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I would but I'm 6'7" and I would never fit.. Haha

Not sure if it's still the case now but I was going to gain residency elsewhere to get instate tuition but we were told I wouldn't be covered by my parents health insurance. Not sure if you've looked into this or not but may want to check into this.

czebley24 said:

Thanks for all the feedback guys. It really does help hearing what other people did. One thing is that I am extremely fortunate that my parents saved up money through out my life to pay for my college. My sister got a full ride which took a ton of stress off of me for my parents. But to make college even cheaper for them I am going to live out there for my first year and gain residency which literally makes it 1/3 the price of out of state. So staying there my first summer would be the reason to bring my jeep. My tj is totally capable of a lot of the trails out there. The only thing I need would be lockers. So maybe I keep the tj for that summer? Staying the first summer also means a job. If anyone knows of any business's that hire college kids it's would be awesome to have a job lined up. It would be cool if it was jeep related but I plan on majoring in some type of business so anything business would be awesome to get some experience under the belt. Your info is extremely helpful to me.

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If you're going to be majoring in a business field I would suggest getting any job you can in the field you want to be in. You can have all the degrees you want but without any experience it'll be hard for you to land a solid job. Find a company that's in the field you want to be in and literally do any job they offer. You'll soon learn that in business experience plays a large, maybe even the majority, part in whether or not you get the job you want.

Canvas JK said:

Congratulations on going on to the University of Utah. May I suggest keeping your TJ for one more year and save the money you would have spent on gas and repairs the first year of school and use that along with the money you make off the sale of your TJ for the purchase of a newer JK. On the other side of the coin is you have a TJ which may not be reliable now but in the event you have to put a new motor or transmission in it would set you back a couple thousand dollars which is still cheaper than having a 4 or 5 year car note. If you think you can survive the first year of college with a car I would do so. Also something to think about is keeping your college costs down. If you can pay for as much of your college as possible with out student loans you are ahead of your peers. A goal would be to complete college and owe nothing. This will set you up for success later in life. It may not seem like it now but the debt gained in college is probably the hardest to get rid especially right after graduation. Again if this is a possibility then do it. At 43 I am in the process of changing careers and going to school to finish my master's degree. Luckily the US Navy is paying for my education so it is one less bill I have. I took out student loans for my undergrad classes and it took me the better part of 6 years to pay off. Had I budgeted better and not lived for the moment I could have had the extra cash in pocket when I needed it.

Good Luck and keep the partying to a minimum.

R/
Will

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I agree. I would keep your TJ for another year. Or if you have it paid off just keep it. Your first year of collage your more likely don't really need a car. Its all about playing your cards right.
Example I went to collage and and didn't get my first Jeep till a year after. I enjoyed the collage life well. Partys and beer girls the hole 9 yards. You can penny pinch wile doing so. Beers not that much and partys have that covered most time. DDs make some money to.
I'm only 24 have my jeep and a house and working on a family. Like I said its all about playing your cards right.







I'm still building and have some time to get there. But I was like you I wanted to build it and get it done but wile waiting on my build there has been better things that's came out. And looks better. But were still young and have things to live for. Debt isn't something you want to jump into fast after collage even worse before. Hope this helps