While it had always been our plan to buy and build up another Jeep JK Wrangler, we weren’t expecting to pick one up until the 2010’s came out. The hope was that there would be some kind of significant change to the JK’s engine or at bare minimum, an introduction of a new color that just blew us away. Of course, thanks to the current status of Chrysler, the prospects of any real changes worth waiting for simply aren’t there (or so my sources say) and the only new color to be expected was the new Surf Blue and I wasn’t really feeling it. Needless to say, with dealers needing to move product and great incentives being offered up by Chrysler, we figured that now was as good a time to buy as any. And, as luck would have it, we found just what we were looking for yesterday and brought home the newest member of our family – a brand new, Sunburst Orange 2009 Jeep JK Wrangler Unlimited X.
Truth be told, we originally went in looking for another Rubicon but after giving it some thought, we figured that most of what makes a Rubicon what it is were things that we were just going to pull off and so, we decided to save the 10 grand and use it for upgrades. So, we started looking for a Unlimited X with no frills and no thrills – just the basics. Initially, we found a real nice one with half doors at a dealership in Cerritos and were all set to buy it but the guys there were complete jerks determined to make me pull teeth just to get a reasonable price. Their attitude was essentially that I needed to be doing them a favor if I hoped to buy this Jeep and it just wasn’t going to happen. I’m all for a guy needing to make a buck but the obnoxious attitude I was getting from them alone was enough to make me get up and leave. I would have given them the finger as I walked out but I knew they would be calling on me and that put a smile on my face.
On our way home from the dealership in Cerritos, we decided to make a stop over at Orange Coast Jeep in Costa Mesa. Our good friends Jeff and Megan told us that they bought their JK there and got a real good deal. And, having used them in the past for service work that we needed done on our current white Rubicon, we figured why not give them a try. And, as luck would have it, just as we walked onto the lot, we saw a beautiful Sunburst Orange Rubicon with everything we could want and convinced ourselves that maybe we really do want a Rubicon instead. Excited once again, we found ourselves a salesman and got the ball rolling. Based on what we saw on their website, we knew that we could expect to see about $4000 off the sticker price and we were satisfied with that. Of course, once we were presented with the numbers, we found ourselves looking at $1000 off at most and we would end up paying way more than we were expecting. Trying my hardest not to get pissed, I explained what I had seen online and he in turn asked when I saw this information. I told him that I had seen these prices that morning and so he went back to talk to his general manager about it. When he came back, he informed me that this was not correct and that I must be mistaken. He continued to say that they had no reason to not be upfront about their prices as if I were to catch them lying to me, I could end up getting the Jeep for free for false advertisement. Feeling a bit of doubt, I let him know that perhaps I misread the information and just as I let him know that we would be going, my wife Cindy pulls up their website on her iPhone and shows the salesman their website and with the price listed on it WITH $4,000 in incentives!
Backpedaling big time, the salesman goes back, gets his general manager to come out and informs us that they will honor the price we saw on online. Only problem now is that Cindy and I weren’t really in the mood to spend $30,000 anymore and were just going to leave. But, just by chance, Cindy still looking on her iPhone, she sees that they also had a basic Unlimited X with full doors and so I ask if we can see it. The salesman checks and lets me know that they do in fact have this X but, it was taken apart and having aftermarket componets being installed on it. I ask if we can see it anyways and he agrees to take us to it at another facility. When we get to this other JK, it was racked up, had its wheels off and already had new bumpers on it. Giving it closer look, we see that it’s an automatic, has cloth seats but is otherwise a pretty basic Jeep. After a brief discussion with Cindy, we decide to take it if the price is right and ask them to return it back to its original condition. Checking their website once again, we see that there is a $4,000 discount on it as well and insist that we get it for the price listed. When all was said and done, we ended up getting this JK which came with an automatic transmission and way more features than the other one we saw in Cerritos and for about $2,000 less than what they were willing to sell it for. And, even though our experience buying our JK here may not have been the best in the world, we did get what we wanted and for less than what we were expecting to pay so, it all worked out well. So, here’s to the newest member of our family, let the modding begin!
Oh, did I mention that I have been getting calls all day long yesterday and today from a certain Jeep dealership in Cerritos? I wonder what they could want.
Eddie
So, um, What’s the build plan?
Congrats. I went to a Chevy dealership in Cerritos and received the same treatment. I’m starting to wonder if every dealership in that auto center is the same. I’ll never go back.
wooooooo!!! hooooooo!!!!
congrats,geez i’m excited about it,lol!!!
Congrats guys!! Good choice of color too! I wonder if those guys down at Cerritos know just how hard to kick themselves in the butt after that?! Stupid people…
Hehe she’s so little. It’s going to be fun seeing her grow up.
thanks guys!
regarding cerritos auto square, just about everyone that i’ve talked to about my experience has reitterated a similar story and all have vowed never to buy from any of the dealers there.
hopefully we’ll be getting this jeep up and off the ground sooner than later. 🙂
First i would like to congratulate you on your new purchase.We have a Jeep club that has over 12 JKs now and have been discussing the X over Rubicon issue and we mostly agree that if you are to upgrade most of the components an Rubicon is not really worth the investment.We can’t wait to see your new project on the go.Your fans in Quebec Canada.
Hey Eddie – nice addition! Can’t wait to see what you do to this one!! I really hate car salesmen always acting like they are doing you a favor…
my god, i forgot how small stock wranglers are. ive got an x and with what ive done i would have basically thrown away the 10 grand extra that you pay for a rubicon.
Sweet new toy. It needs at HEMI ; ) Let the mods begin…..
Nice work Eddie! I would love to see those faces when you showed them the info on the iPhone! Classic!
Way to go Eddie and Cindy! Congrates!!
Orange Coast also fixed my loose steering
wheel for free, compared to the dealer in
Irvine who wanted min $130 to “look at problem:.
Congrats!!!
Love the Orange.
Now its a race to build my Jeep before I become the baby Jeep again lol! Can’t wait to go wheeling with you guys again and look forward to seeing how this one turns out.
I see what everyone is saying about getting an X and saving money to put into suspension mods and scraping stock rubicon parts(springs,shocks,control arms,track bars ect.) With an X you don’t get the dana 44 front diff, 4:1 transfer case or lockers. These are pretty serious upgrades for the the avarage guy with a daily driven jeep so if you factor the labour cost for the install plus a lift your not really savivg any money. Stock rubicon parts(wheels/tires, shocks) are an upgrade for X and can be sold to off set the cost to lift a rubicon.
Nice. I picked up a manual transmission unlimited x about a month ago. Looking forward to reading about your build out decisions, mostly so I can consider them and do the same 😉
congrats.
thanks again everyone.
regarding the dana 44 front axle that rubicon’s have, it’s okay but in truth, it’s really just a dana 30 with a 44 diff. from experience i can tell you that with a set of chromo shafts, it’ll hold up great with a set of 35’s. with a set of 37×13.50’s and lots of hard play, it’s just a matter of time before you break. at least, that’s what happend on our rubi. as far as lockers go, i absolutely HATE the factory lockers as they are tempermental, never engage when i need it to, always has issues disengaging and, i have trashed 2 rear lockers and 1 front in the last 2 years. the only thing i miss is the rubi 4:1 tcase and i hope that i can find a take off for cheap. in the end, we just couldn’t justify the cost of getting another rubi for what we intend to do with this new jk.
so, what do we intend to do? being that we are still building up our current white rubi to be even bigger, we’ve decided to keep it more modest and slowly build up the ultimate average consumer level jk. more than likely, we should have it up on a 3″ lift and 35″ tires and upgrade the axles with arb air lockers and chromo shafts. i will be sure to keep you all updated as we go with write-ups on everything we do 🙂
Pull the transfer case off your white Rubicon and put it on this one. Put an Atlas 2 or 4 speed in your white Rubicon. The ability to have independent low range front or rear wheel drive is great. Makes those tight turns so much easier. And the twin sticks are just so cool! Takes a little while to break it in so shifting is easier but Thean at Advance Adapters said to “put it in low and drive it like a race truck.” I bet you could do that.
I am very glad I built up my X rather than start with a Rubicon. My brother-in-law just bought the new Rubicon in orange. Beautiful! He has no intention of modifying other than skid plates and perhaps bumpers. So for him, a good choice.
Oh, by the way, we too are a two Jeep family. Wife traded in Buick Lucerne for Grand Cherokee Limited Hemi. Hemi superb for the highway. Not needed for the trail. I do not recommend the engine swap as others on here have already called for unless you want an Interstate rocket to compliment your trail machiine. My opinion only.
I had all the same issues when looking to get a 4 door Rubicon. Couldnt afford one in the past but figured it was worth a shot with the current state of car sales. Exhausted all possibilities. Dealers giving run around about incentives and posted interest rates. I was blown away by the nerve of these guys. Long story short ended up getting a leftover 08 steel blue Rubicon w/ dual tops for less then $26000 (sticker was 34) and 0% interest for 4 years. Needless to say I was pretty excited.
I don’t know why they are getting rid of this color. I think it’s the best one they have. Now can you put this color Rubicon in my drive way for me.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to see you pick up this project. I approached my JK purchase in a very similar manner and came to the same conclusion of saving money with a basic X. I even picked up an Sunburst Orange as well though I was lucky enough to find my auto, 4WD, with half doors. I’ll be paying extra close attention to this project to see how it turns out. Keep up the good work.
I was already to buy a 2005 LJ Rubicon at Cerritos Dodge/Jeep with to many miles for the price they were asking but in good shape. That is until the used car manager would not take my deposit because I needed to leave for a doctors appointment that my Niece had that night. He was a COMPLETE JERK and I walked away pissed off and without the Jeep. In the end it turned out better because I found a 06 with half the miles for less money and it has an extended warranty. Oh and my credit union gave me a point and a half discount off of the best deal they wanted to give me.
I took my new Jeep in for service and I went to Glen Thomas in Long Beach because I REFUSE to give Cerritos my business ever again.
I know there are people saying things already but I have ordered a 2010 already through the ENCS.com website. Basically it is a company that sells american made vehicles to service members in iraq and afhganastan. So i can tell you what i know. Please forgive the typing. Sand is killing my keyboard. First off there has been no real changes what so ever to the jeep. Same motor, three new colors, the mygig is now called the media center, and you can get leather. From my contract i have for my vehicle there are no major changes offered. I wish i could get a more powerful engine, but as of right now there is not an option. For now anyway. The earliest I could pick mine up after i redeploy is Dec 8. I figure if i would have gotten my order in earlier I maybe able to have gotten it sooner. I am picking it up in Pheonix, AZ (my home station is Hawaii)and driving it to Columbia SC where i will become a drill SGT. So i look foward to doing a write up on the little adventure. I will be hitting the road at the end of dec so i am hoping to hit some snow on my trip. I promise that the write up will be on a good keyboard so i will make it worth reading. If anyone has any questions about the 2010 i can foward you my buyers offer that shows all the stuff for it. Also if anyone has any advice for the long trip i am all ears, or eyes in the case. Also wanting to know if there are any good 4×4 shops in SC preferably custom stuff either way email me at mathew.rigg@us.army.mil