It's a Jeep thing - You wouldnt understand...

I’ll admit it – I’ve always wanted to own a Jeep. I’ve always wanted to own a Jeep despite having spent years around people who would put the proverbial on them. I’d watch endless memes and comments in quiet observance; all the while, harbouring my dirty secret.

You see, for the better part of the last decade I was involved in starting and running a business in the 4X4 industry. Well, kind of – it was an insurance product, but I enjoyed running it as if it was part of the industry. I think that made it just that little bit cooler.

Positioning the business this way not only made it what it was in the eye of the consumer, it also resulted in access to a stack of cool gear along the way. From the cars themselves, which included a well modified GU Patrol followed by a first-generation Ranger Raptor, to the latest and greatest in accessories and modifications.

During those seven-or-so years these vehicles took me to some of the most iconic off-road destinations Australia has to offer. It helped me introduce camping to my kids, something I’d done growing up, but certainly not in as fancy a fashion. It also assisted me to expand my experience driving off-road machines; It’s a facet of motoring enthusiasm after all.

When I decided to sell out of that business, I quickly found myself with time to play with the other toys. A damned nice problem to have, but none of them could go anywhere further than a bit of sand in a beachside carpark.

Then it came to me…

It was the time to fulfil that dirty desire – time to jump ship. Time to own a Jeep.

What did I want? I wasn’t sure. It had to be a convertible as summer was coming, and it needed to be clean. Tasteful mods were a plus but not critical.

Shopping took a few months. Despite liking the idea of the Gladiator, I found myself looking at the low end of the market – JK’s with a little fruit for a cheap fling. But none that I looked at really hit the deranged level of OCD I unfortunately possess when it comes to cars. My mate Frank at ATV in Sydney took the time to list out all the common issues. Yes, everything is fixable, and he’d be the one to do the work – but ultimately, I decided to move to a later model with the 3.6l and 8-speed box. The newer the model the more reliable it should be, right?

The feeling of sweet success…

Then, late one night the Gumtree Gods delivered in the form of a 2021 Granite Crystal Wrangler Rubicon. It had more than enough fruit including a near new set of BF Goodrich 35’s and a few thousand dollars’ worth of quality suspension gear underneath, amongst other things. And boy was it loved – a super clean example.

There’s something special about the way a live-axled car drives. The wallowing through bends and the bouncing of each corner was endearing to me; I knew what was coming. The financial controller on the other hand, swore never to drive it again after the first trip down a stretch of winding road close to home, and the youngest of the crew was complaining of carsickness. But me? I was happy!

None of it mattered much to anyone once the hardtop was removed for the summer anyway.

It’s a Jeep thing…

But you don’t buy a Jeep to pose on asphalt, although I’m not ashamed to admit there was plenty of that. The plan was to recreate some of the trips I had taken as part of the business with my two young daughters.

The first trip was a relatively simple run to central west NSW to explore Opal country. White Cliffs presented a 2500km round trip from home, and the plan was to take in as much red dirt country as possible. Alas, the week prior saw heavy rainfall across much of the eastern half of Australia, rendering many of the unsealed roads closed. As a result, a detour through the Paroo-Darling National Park was the only dirt we were going to get under the tyres.

It was also absolutely bucketing down the morning we were to head home. Given I was travelling solo with kids, I was almost tempted to sit it out. But we pushed on, and the Jeep performed beautifully regardless of the water around. It took 30% longer to get to our destination in Griffith, with many closed roads necessitating diversions, but that’s touring for you.

The second trip was one that I had done as part of a charity drive. Mount Pinnibar is located on the northern fringe of the Victorian Highlands and is the highest peak that can be driven off road in Australia.

Airing down and letting the Jeep cool a little at Tom Groggin Campground, we prepared to cross the mighty Murray River, which in this location acts as the border between NSW and Victoria.

There’s always a bit of flow here and at the time was running at a depth roughly three quarters of the way up the wheels. There is a narrow built-up track beneath the water line to allow for the crossing. It’s relatively easy work, but you do need to have your wits about you, as that raised section falls away on either side.

Pausing for a moment on exit to let the water drip off revealed a displeasing sign from the local Ranger. There was an alert about the conditions up the main track, with washouts presumably caused by recent rain.

There is a secondary track that will get you to the summit, but that route would take a whole lot longer. After much deliberation we decided to push on, taking comfort in the knowledge that we had a winch and recovery gear if required.

The climb up this track is incredibly scenic, but also very steep in sections. The majority is well graded and easy despite the angle, so you really don’t need anything too special to traverse it when it’s in good shape.

It wasn’t hard to spot the section of track that had necessitated the warning signs. It was about 300 meters of steep grade, and it was quite chopped up. Think ruts deep enough to swallow a 33-inch tyre, with high peaks in the middle and washouts thrown in for good measure.

Given we were alone, with no support in the form of a spotter or another vehicle to snatch, it was either getting up or turning back at this point. After walking the stretch looking for problem sections and trees to winch off should the worst happen, we decided to give it a crack. What I didn’t fully appreciate at this stage was the Jeep’s capability. Both the and GU and Raptor were super capable, but there would be wheeling involved to get each of them through this. With front, rear, and centre diffs locked in and the front swaybar disconnected, we got under way.

And it walked it – my only regret is not being able to watch it articulate through the track from the outside. It never once felt like traction was going to be an issue, it just did its thing and drove through it all with minimal driver effort.

It’s something I will never forget, nor will the girls, who sat quietly until we reached the summit some 1772 meters above sea level.

And then something happened…

The next morning while warming up to head home I noticed a ticking coming from the engine. It was hard to locate, but it remained present after the car was completely warm and never went away.

A quick check of the oil revealed a healthy dipstick, both in measure and oil colour. A cautionary check with an OBD reader showed no faults and the car was performing completely normally, other than said ticking.

A quick call to Frank ended with a recommendation to drop it into my local Jeep dealer for a check under warranty. Thankfully we were heading out to the States for a little over a month, because the Jeep stayed right where I left it at the dealership.

There was no clear diagnosis, but what I was told was that it needed a new long motor. No one could tell me exactly what they found, it’s unclear whether they didn’t want too, or they didn’t know. How could a car less than 3 years old with 14,000km require such a drastic fix?

Maybe the memes were right? But it’s so capable and so much fun, how could it be the case?

The long and the short is it stayed at the service centre for just under 3 months, right through the rego renewal, adding insult to injury.

When I finally picked it up, it didn’t feel the same. To be clear the car was fine, but the experience was tarnished – the memes had come true, and I didn’t want it anymore.

It was only listed for 2 weeks before it was taken up to the sunshine state. Watching it drive away was sad, but the call from the Jeep Australia’s Customer Care department 6 months later, asking about “my” most recent issue, was confirmation that I made the right choice.