Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (4 door)

abbyful · Mar 23, 2014

DH & I drove through some car lots yesterday to see what some different vehicles looked like in-person. One caught my eye that I hadn't even considered, Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. Fell in love with the way it looks! (Haven't test-driven.)

I get home and look up the safety ratings, and I'm disappointed it doesn't have high ratings. US News gave the Wrangler (2-door version, I couldn't find the 4-door version) 5.7/10 for safety. IIHS gives in "moderate" for side impact and head restraints / seats.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Jeep_Wrangler/
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/jeep/wrangler-4-door

I see some people say "only buy vehicles highly-rated by IIHS", then I see other people say "any modern car is pretty safe".

Am I putting my family in a death-trap if I even consider this vehicle? Should I permanently cross it off the list?

T4K · Mar 23, 2014

I have this vehicle and for obvious reasons, it's not as safe. The doors and top are merely protection from the elements and not at all meant to provide safety for the occupants. It even says that on the top itself.

That being said, it's an awesome vehicle. The backseat easily fits three car seats and the cargo room is perfect. There is no center headrest. I tend to choose more "reinforced" car seats for the Jeep. There is not research for this practice, just my unscientific intuition.

We drive around with the top off almost all summer and I absolutely love having the vehicle. I had a mesh Spidershade top to keep the sun off our skin and shade us a little.

We purchased the car new in June 2012 and it was 100% financed with TTL. We have a very good APR so we aren't aggressively paying on it. The loan value is well under what it's worth which speaks volume to it's resale.

T4K · Mar 23, 2014

Oh and we have this vehicle strictly as an "in-town" driver. We don't take it on long trips generally as it's load and fuel inefficient. I only have 15K miles on it in almost two years which is well under what we put on our "travel" vehicle.

It was also fun playing in the snow this winter. ;-) I look forward to doing some light trail riding with the family when it warms up!

SavsMom · Mar 23, 2014

I agree with everything previous poster said.

We have had 2 Wrangler Unlimiteds in our family and loved them. We regularly transported dd in them without a second thought. I will say that we did choose to keep her in a harnessed seat when riding in the Jeep, even though she was fully able to ride in a booster.

We traded it for another vehicle with a lower payment and better fuel economy as my other half uses it to commute.

We all miss our Wrangler

CarSafetyGuy · Mar 29, 2014

From a death rate perspective, they're a very safe vehicle. However, the Achilles heel of the Wrangler unlimited is the lack of side airbags as a standard feature, as well as the lack of a real roof, which means you're not much better off than you would be in a convertible in the event of a rollover. I'd go with something else if you were able to choose.

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (4 door)

abbyful

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