94 YJ - safety?

I learned to drive in a YJ with a 2inch lift. As for safety, that is more a matter of how it is driven. If the kid understands that a Jeep (especially a lifted one) is top heavy and drives accordingly, they are not bad. Before you purchase, I would personally insect the suspension to be sure it is in good working order. Tires are another big one, proper weight rating, air pressure and no damage would be more critical than a paint job. Kids are not always the most careful with opening doors in a parking lot, so less than perfect paint may be a good thing for a while.

I would also suggest a full service if you get it (engin oil and coolant, trans and t case oil, axle oil, brake fluid, power steering fluid and inspect the brakes). Although that is something I would suggest even in a Prius.

Calaveras32Spcl said I learned to drive in a YJ with a 2inch lift.

Fond memory. My brother and I both learned on a 1984 CJ7 Renegade with the 5-speed. I don't know how that clutch managed to survive both of us learning, but it did. Proper round headlights. Man I wish I still had that thing. I suppose you can still find them around but nice ones are spendy.

Thank you for the comments and I am in agreement. Of course, any vehicle this age could have any number of gremlins and I'm not interested in that. One thing about a Prius, it's a trouble-free and almost disposable vehicle...

With all of the electronics in the Prius, and the CVT trans, they have plenty of gremlins of their own.

Your kids are smart and responsible so the primary concern as a parent in my opinion would be other motorists on the road. A more modern vehicle has more safety feature but a Jeep like this would be fun and could possibly be a good vehicle for your son someday when the girls are off to college.

buckallred said Well my eldest is 16 and I was looking at Priuses. Then this thing came across my feed:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/719444507121533/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

What do you all think about the safety of a 94 YJ? Obviously it looks fun and I would not be doing a good job if I didn't teach my kids how to drive a manual transmission.

The paint is quite rough. I would probably spring for a cheap MAACO paint job.

For safety, I'm not crazy about the 4-in lift. Otherwise, the vehicle is obviously more difficult to drive than your typical Prius or whatever, but I'm sort of of the mind of... It being a bit of a lesson itself, to teach Addy that driving is a serious responsibility that requires full attention & focus, and an "easier" vehicle might actually encourage a new driver to be less attentive.

Let me know what you all think.

In general I would recommend a TJ over a YJ because of the front coils vs leaf springs.  But that being said, if it is around town and in budget it seems like quite a nice ride.  With good paint, it would be a nice ride for teenager!  Prius (as you know first hand) are extremely reliable and get great gas mileage.  Just not much of a looker vehicle.  What does your daughter want?  Fun?  or Practicality?

Well

BKGM Jeepers said

buckallred said

Well my eldest is 16 and I was looking at Priuses. Then this thing came across my feed:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/719444507121533/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

What do you all think about the safety of a 94 YJ? Obviously it looks fun and I would not be doing a good job if I didn't teach my kids how to drive a manual transmission.

The paint is quite rough. I would probably spring for a cheap MAACO paint job.

For safety, I'm not crazy about the 4-in lift. Otherwise, the vehicle is obviously more difficult to drive than your typical Prius or whatever, but I'm sort of of the mind of... It being a bit of a lesson itself, to teach Addy that driving is a serious responsibility that requires full attention & focus, and an "easier" vehicle might actually encourage a new driver to be less attentive.

Let me know what you all think.

In general I would recommend a TJ over a YJ because of the front coils vs leaf springs.  But that being said, if it is around town and in budget it seems like quite a nice ride.  With good paint, it would be a nice ride for teenager!  Prius (as you know first hand) are extremely reliable and get great gas mileage.  Just not much of a looker vehicle.  What does your daughter want?  Fun?  or Practicality?

Well... She doesn't have real strong feelings about it. I just thought the Jeep looked like fun and these days you can find quite a few of the older models for relatively little money. We probably are going to take the more practical route of a midsize SUV because there are several different makes/models and a million of them floating around ... and it probably would just be less trouble in the end.

I do think that kids should learn how to drive a manual transmission, so I looked at mini coopers. But those things are BMWs. I understand that replacing a clutch is $2,000. Any kid learning to drive is likely to wear out a clutch.... Etc etc...

My daughter had a mini.  Even basic maintenance on those vehicles is overpriced.  And they are not super reliabile.

A RAV4 would be much better consideration  CRVs are a cheaper alternative to a RAV4.  A Kia Sportage is an even cheaper alternative.  My son drove an older Sorento AWD and it worked amazingly going over 80 in horrible conditions very reliable and very safe.  He is on Sorento number 2 currently, selling number 1 at 150K miles - with zero issues.

TJ is significantly safer as it was actually crash tested but a 2 door 12+ JK manual is not significantly higher priced than a clean YJ or TJ and will be orders of magnitude safer with ABS, stability control, side air bags, etc. Im seeing $8k for clean TJs, 10-12k for JK 2 doors, and $15k will get you a 12+ JKUR with lockers and all.

Please tell my wife when I die that I only have $15k invested in my 12+ JKUR 😀

kris_olof said TJ is significantly safer as it was actually crash tested but a 2 door 12+ JK manual is not significantly higher priced than a clean YJ or TJ and will be orders of magnitude safer with ABS, stability control, side air bags, etc. Im seeing $8k for clean TJs, 10-12k for JK 2 doors, and $15k will get you a 12+ JKUR with lockers and all.

BKGM Jeepers said A RAV4 would be much better consideration  CRVs are a cheaper alternative to a RAV4.  A Kia Sportage is an even cheaper alternative.  My son drove an older Sorento AWD and it worked amazingly going over 80 in horrible conditions very reliable and very safe.  He is on Sorento number 2 currently, selling number 1 at 150K miles - with zero issues.

Solid advice. With this tariff stuff flying around, It's possible that even the used car market will be affected. I like those three. I randomly noticed a Chevy Trax recently in a parking lot. Smallish (but not too small) generic SUV, brand new. I'm not a fan of GM and I'm sure the quality is lesser than the three you mentioned. But probably would be fine, especially with low miles and that sort of thing. I have noticed that RAV4s are a little bit pricey. Presumably because of their reputation as excellent overall vehicles...

buckallred said

BKGM Jeepers said

A RAV4 would be much better consideration  CRVs are a cheaper alternative to a RAV4.  A Kia Sportage is an even cheaper alternative.  My son drove an older Sorento AWD and it worked amazingly going over 80 in horrible conditions very reliable and very safe.  He is on Sorento number 2 currently, selling number 1 at 150K miles - with zero issues.

Solid advice. With this tariff stuff flying around, It's possible that even the used car market will be affected. I like those three. I randomly noticed a Chevy Trax recently in a parking lot. Smallish (but not too small) generic SUV, brand new. I'm not a fan of GM and I'm sure the quality is lesser than the three you mentioned. But probably would be fine, especially with low miles and that sort of thing. I have noticed that RAV4s are a little bit pricey. Presumably because of their reputation as excellent overall vehicles...

I would have never guessed you that you weren't a fan of GM vehicles since all I've seen you driving is a Blazer and a Suburban...

The Trax is either made in South Korea or Mexico.

With Tariff's you could see price increases from either location, but also a boost in used car resale as well.

Mike G

I would have never guessed you that you weren't a fan of GM vehicles since all I've seen you driving is a Blazer and a Suburban...

Retro vs modern, I guess. Like Brad said, the modern GM vehicles aren't even made here. I mean I don't have anything against them, just don't think they're particularly interesting and I generally believe that Toyota and Honda quality are superior. For the kids first vehicle, I just want something that's safe and is not going to be difficult to maintain. Most any modern vehicle should be fine. Seems to me that any vehicle from the last 5 years with  60k or fewer miles on it should not require any major maintenance, but I guess you never know... GM should be very easy to maintain. At least as easy as a Honda or Toyota.

100% get her one - my dad got me a my first Jeep which was a CJ7 when I was 17 and then when I was 19 I got a YJ. They had  to have a full roll cage though lol .As far as safety is concerned we all survived the 80’s CJs and 90’s YJs ❤️ if you wanna do leafs over take to Jase.

JKJeepGirl said 100% get her one - my dad got me a my first Jeep which was a CJ7 when I was 17 and then when I was 19 I got a YJ. They had  to have a full roll cage though lol .As far as safety is concerned we all survived the 80’s CJs and 90’s YJs ❤️ if you wanna do leafs over take to Jase.    

That's nothing, some of us survived the 60's and 70's regardless of what vehicle you had! I remember my parents having seatbelts installed in one of our vehicles after my sister was launched into the dashboard from the back seat, between the two front seats in my dad's 62(?) T-Bird when our mom hit the brakes to avoid hitting a dog. And I survived driving my dad's 1972 T-Bird with a 429 engine 110 mph after our senior ball racing a friend.