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Leith Cars Blog

Test Drive a Jeep Wrangler and You’ll Be Hooked Too

In this companion to our May, 2019 blog: “A Jeep Wrangler Test Drive? That’ll Hook You, But Good”, we take you from a 48 hour test drive in a new 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport S to buying one from our “Can Do” Jeep store in Raleigh, N.C., Leith Chrysler Jeep. You see, a test drive will hook you too when you learn just why a Jeep is built the way it is and you have an expert Jeep dealer like we do in the Capital City.

Jeep Wrangler colors at Leith Chrysler Jeep

Which color Jeep Wrangler? Hellayella? Ocean Blue? We went with Mojito! Green. With so many wonderful colors, it’s a difficult choice.

After a test drive in a Hellayella (bright yellow) Jeep over a weekend in late April, it was almost as if I was leaving a good friend behind when it was time to turn it in at the dealership and get my car back. Was this a normal reaction to just having spent so much time with a Jeep or was it something more? Was it a longing to blaze a new trail, to seek out a new course for adventure? You darn right it was, and I was ready.

Not long after picking up my new Jeep Wrangler from Leith Chrysler Jeep in Raleigh, I was off to find a mud bath for a proper initiation.

Within a couple of weeks of my first Jeep experience test drive and lots of internet research, I was back at Leith Chrysler Jeep to pick out exactly the right Jeep for me and our family. The new JL Wrangler Unlimited Sport S had already met or exceeded my expectations so really, the biggest decisions were engine choice (2.0 Litre 4 cylinder or 3.6 Litre V6), hard top or soft top, and the color? Admittedly, I did consider the 2-door Wrangler but with two growing boys (11 and 14), the 4-door Wrangler Unlimited was the rational choice. Also tested was the “base” Wrangler Unlimited Sport which I learned to my surprise, has manual door locks and no power windows. The lack of power to the windows wasn’t that big a deal but not having power door locks in a 4-door vehicle with kids riding in the back, would have proved difficult.

This is why you join the #JeepLife. Adventure is waiting just a little bit down the road...or trail.

This is why you join the #JeepLife. Adventure is waiting for you just a little bit down the road…or the trail.

What I chose and would highly recommend to you included the premium black Sunrider soft top with tinted windows, optional 17 inch Granite Crystal wheels shod with all-terrain tires, trailer tow and HD electrical package (which includes built-in auxiliary switches among other upgrades), the 7 inch Uconnect 4 infotainment center, automatic transmission, All-Weather Floor Mats, and to top it all off, one of the most striking color options available, “Mojito! Green.” Note that I let my wife and two boys choose the color this time around as no one in the family was a fan of my previous all-black sedan.

Having fun in the mud is what Jeeps are built to do, (as long as you don’t mind cleaning up afterwards).

What followed next has been everything I had hoped joining the “Jeep Life” would entail. You see, this is my first ever SUV so I intend on using my new Jeep like it was meant to be used, as a reliable and surprisingly efficient (23 mpg city/highway average) daily commuter, and as a weekend ticket to off-road adventure. In fact, within the first week of Jeep ownership, I had found a way to run the mighty green Jeep Wrangler through a mud bath, (nearly getting myself stuck due to my lack of 4×4 experience), and took the family down to Myrtle Beach for a memorable Memorial Day weekend. You must experience the new Jeep Wrangler with the top down (or off if you’re a hard-top owner) while cruising along South Carolina’s famous Grand Strand or searching out a local seafood spot in Murrells Inlet. It’s just the perfect vehicle for doing any kind of fun activity when you’re in no rush to “get there” but instead, take the time to enjoy the journey.

From hopes of seeing Bigfoot on the Uwharrie Trail to a moonlight, top down cruise along the Grand Strand, “today was made for adventure” in a Jeep.

Speaking of the journey, you’ll need to get accustomed to receiving and giving the “Jeep Wave” when you pass a fellow Wrangler owner in the opposite direction. There are several variations of this wave, but do note that it’s only a Jeep Wrangler tradition so far and is not extended to owners of other Jeep models.

As the weeks and weekends rolled by in my new Mojito! Jeep, I became more acquainted with removing the windows, lowering the top part-way or all the way back, cleaning up after the occasional mud run, and testing Four-Low and Hill Descent Control until I felt I was ready to take-on a bigger challenge, the Uwharrie National Forest. Unfortunately, to tell you about our Uwharrie adventure, Bigfoot sightings, and Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) trails would require another blog…so stay tuned right here at LeithCars.com.

Written by Mark Arsen for LeithCars.com