FreedomKJ's 2012 JKU Rubicon

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:19 am

Thought I'd put together a little post on my new toy.

This is actually my second 2012 Flame Red Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon in less than a month. I bought the first one on March 7th, and a week later I took it to a different dealer for a minor issue with the A/C. They proceeded to return it to me in worse condition than when I dropped it off, and when given the chance to fix that they did even more damage. One letter to the CEO of Jeep and the owners of both the servicing and selling dealerships and the dealer that screwed it all up bought it from me and found me another one in Louisiana. It had a few more options than the first one, and I paid the difference (I'd have preferred they pick up the difference, but it was either I covered it or they tried to fix the first one again, and I wasn't going to play that game.) The new new JK came in on March 30th and I'm happy to be in a Jeep again.

So here she is:

Specs:
2012 Flame Red Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon
Pentastar 3.6L V6 (285HP :pepper:

) (std)
5 Speed Automatic Transmission (W5A580) (opt)
Front and Rear D44s (std)
Electronic Lockers (std)
Electronic Sway Bar Disconnect (std)
4:1 Rock-Trac Transfer case (NV241OR) (std)
255/75R17 BFG MT KM (std)
Connectivity Group (opt)
Max Tow Pkg (opt)
4.10 Axle Ratio (opt)
Automatic Temp Control A/C (opt)
Hard Top (opt)
Media Center 730N RHR (opt)
Remote Start (opt)

I could have lived without the Auto A/C, Nav System, and Remote Start, and in fact those were not on the first JK, but the second had them on it and there were no other JKs in the country in Flame Red that had the options I required.

So far the only things I've done are mount a 4D Maglite to the drivers seat (is that still a required first mod around here?

) and a strap fire extinguisher to the roll bar using a red Rugged Ridge extinguisher holder. I also painted my Warn Receiver Shackle gloss black and put a red Daystar D-Ring isolator on it. Looks pretty cool IMHO.

Long term I plan to put an AEV 3.5" lift and 35's, and some as-of-yet unchosen bumpers on it, setting it up primarily for expedition/overland style wheeling, with some reasonable rock-crawling tossed in as well. This will always be my daily-driver, so the insanity must be kept *somewhat* in check (famous last words). Short term I'm looking to fill in the missing skids and replace the stock Rubicon rock rails with something frame-mounted and a little beefier, most likely from LOD as their's have a built in step and my wife can barely climb in as it is. I also need to build up a power distribution center (can't tap fuses in the JKs now, the CANBUS gets upset), mount my Cobra 75WXST mounted (saved from the KJ when I traded it in for the Subaru last year), and find some place to mount my OBA set-up. I don't want it taking up cargo space in the back, and unfortunately none of the compressor or air-tank mounts for the '07-11 JKs will work on the '12 as the new 3.6L takes up a lot more space than the old 3.8L (that doesn't seem to make sense, does it?).

There are of course 18 million other mods I want to do, but limited free time, lack of unlimited funds, and a slightly-more-sensible-than me wife will hold me to a reasonable pace.

I'll post up here as I mod and play.

I'm glad to be back on LOST and hopefully I'll see some of you guys and gals around the trails!

Edit: Can't spell my own username...

tonycrd · **Posted:** Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:40 am

Nice! Still cannot believe they messed up a simple AC job to a point where they had to 'give' you another JK...what happened??? :shock:

cgass · **Posted:** Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:47 am

That's a good looking Rubi. Sounds fully loaded, with that and the new engine it should make for a nice DD

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Tue Apr 10, 2012 1:44 pm

The slightly expanded story is this:

The A/C recirculate stopped working.

I took it in to a different dealer than where I bought it because they were 20 miles closer to my apartment.

The dealer calls me up and says that they have to replace the blower housing because the recirc door isn't working. They ordered the part, and said that it would be in the next day and that the work would be done that afternoon.

They finally started the work the following Monday, and had it finished 3 days later.

During this time I have told them over and over again that I am very picky with my vehicles and I want them to make sure that everything comes back in the same condition it was when I dropped it off.

When I pick it up I find scratches on the dashboard, a coffee or soda stain on the passenger seat, scratches on the outside of the driver's door (it looks like someone leaned against it with a rivet on their jeans or something), unsecured wiring in the passenger footwell and unsecured wiring hanging behind the glovebox across the sharp metal dash supports (figured I should check back there after everything else I found).

I took it back to them and spoke with the shop foreman, who promised to make everything right.

When I picked it up 2 days later they had replaced the scratched dash panel with one from a JK Sport (so I now had one silver A/C vent and 3 grey ones), shoved the loose wiring against one side and ziptied it up, "sort-of" buffed out the scratches on the driver's side door, ADDED 10+ gouges down to bare metal around the driver's side door sill and one on the driver's door (still not sure HOW that happened), and ripped the driver's door seal.

I decided I'd had enough and wrote the aforementioned letter. A week and several unpleasant phone calls later they found me a new JK.

I should mention that when I called the dealer that sold me the Jeep to ask the owner's mailing address they also gave me his email and phone number. When he got my letter they called me immediately and offered to fix everything the other dealer had screwed up, because they didn't want me to be unhappy with my purchase.

On the other hand, I had to fight with the receptionist at the servicing dealership to even get the name and mailing address of the owner, and then she hung up on me as soon as she finished reading it. To top it off the address she gave me had the wrong suite number. If I hadn't searched Google the letter never would have made it there!

tonycrd · **Posted:** Tue Apr 10, 2012 2:12 pm

Wow....

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:38 pm

Wow - never had that bad an experience
although I went to South Point a few times -
and they rotated personnel enough that they could change pretty quickly
Glad you got it resolved - newer new is a good thing.

FYI - my son forwarded a link - just to show how good the 4 door JK's can look with 37's and 40's...
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?758-Project-JK-2012-Moab-Easter-Jeep-Safari-Photo-Essay

and he gets ~14/15 with the 35's (and the minivan motor)

FreedomKJ · **Posted:** Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:33 am

ATXKJ wrote:

Wow - never had that bad an experience
although I went to South Point a few times -
and they rotated personnel enough that they could change pretty quickly
Glad you got it resolved - newer new is a good thing.

FYI - my son forwarded a link - just to show how good the 4 door JK's can look with 37's and 40's...
http://wayalife.com/showthread.php?758-Project-JK-2012-Moab-Easter-Jeep-Safari-Photo-Essay

and he gets ~14/15 with the 35's (and the minivan motor)

I never said which dealership I had the problem with. I have noooo idea what you're talking about... :mrgreen:

That's a good looking group of JKs in that pic. That red one is about what I'd like mine to look like when it's done, but plan to keep the stock wheels and add some Spydertrax spacers to keep the tires off of the sway bars.

Is one of those your son's?

On a side note, I love the random Porsche in the middle of the line. "One of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong..."

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:38 pm

No - my son's Rubicon would look small in that group - but it was a nice tour of Moab... looks like the same trails LOST took...

(actually once he got the Rubi - he loves driving it around town - but doesn't really like it on the highway - but all decent trails are 900-1200 miles from Austin - that's the main reason I ended up with a KJ.....)

as to dealerships - I bought mine at Bluebonnet - and they're friendly and honest - but clueless about diesels (Bluebonnet Ford would have been better)
but Southpoint had a tech who worked on Cummins/Sprinters - and did great work on the CRD - and then he left - new guys are over to clueless...

FreedomKJ's 2012 JKU Rubicon

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