Wave from the suburbs of Moab

Wasatch Penguin

New member
Hello Wayalife!

Long time wanter, first time buyer.

In '87 I wanted a Jeep but could afford a used Samurai (be gentle). In '93 I wanted a Jeep but could afford an Isuzu Rodeo (surprisingly capable truck). In '01, I wanted a Jeep but I forayed into a '93 Range Rover SWB Classic (elegant beast) for a while and had loads of fun with that. For the last 8 years I drove the handed down family '97 Audi A6 Wagon. Since the Rover I had no 4x and for the last year I did not even have a car and just took light rail or used my sons car if he was home.

It was time to get a Jeep. I am practical and cheap and though money is not the issue I was going to buy used and let someone else take the depreciation. Shopped for 4 months, flew around the country and looked at quite a few. Whittled it down to 2, one had been in an accident so it was down to 1. Till I stumbled on a 15 Hard Rock...stunning clean and low miles.

But if you are that high in price perhaps you should do your due diligence and price new ones, right? Advice from others on the forums was a big help once I decided to go new. Of course the practical guy looks for deals on a '16 although I was very specific on config. Deal falls thru on dealer swap an inventory '16 Rhino and I was about to say forget it till next year.

My wife says I'm crazy and I should get what I want and it should be a '17. She calls from a dealership in CA where she is visiting family and I work (we live in Salt Lake) with a salesman on the line, no kidding. Nice kid. Says he has nothing that matches but will look and let me know. He sends me a sticker on one at another dealership in my exact config, plus a few things I was not interested in. I decide the items (leather, airbags, and remote start) are something I would pay for at the right price. I give him a price and say I will fly out (airline employee so I fly free). He says he can't do this but he can do that and his number is already below what I would have paid, so I fly out and when I met him in person we haggle a bit and he said he would dealer swap at my price. I told him to swap and I will be back tomorrow.

Thanks to my wife....Merry Christmas to Dad.

'17 Rhino Rubi, auto, 4.10 axle, heated leather, remote start, supp air bags, freedom top.

So glad the 16' deal fell through....ended up having stuff I wanted but wasn't going to pay for. They sure will deal in December though. It took 31 years but there is now a beautiful new Wrangler out here in SF and the fun is about to begin. Can't wait for it to warm up down the road in Moab, which we love and visit often. It's gonna be a blast.

Thanks for the all the great info on this site...I am looking forward to the coming years of advice, add-ons and Jeep conversation.

-Wasatch Penguin (Rhino)

In all her stock glory!

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