Re: 01 Wrangler Renegade Pros/Cons

I think there's a mistake - the fugly Renegade was a YJ as you describe, but he said '01 with 20k miles on it which would make it a TJ .. They haven't made a Renegade TJ have they ? Perhaps someone has been playing with stickers.

Dave Milne, Scotland '99 TJ 4.0 Sahara

: > I test drove today a '01 Wrangler Renegade. Its a 4.0L Auto with 29k : > kilometres on the clock. An aftermarket alarm with remote door locking : has : > been fitted. Its black exterior with black hardtop and BFG A/T tyres. It : > is still under original warranty for another six months. One owner driven : > and maintained by the dealer, that is where I saw it. The dealer had not : > had the time to clean it yet as it only came in the morning, so I saw it : as : > is before the dealer could do his magic. : >

: > The only thing I noticed was a slight seepage of oil under the tranny. It : > was only noticeable when I touched it, it was not dripping or anything. I : > am having it independently mechanically tested, but was wondering what are : > some of the things I should be checking. What are the pros and cons for : > this particular model. It has had no modifications done and from what I : > could see, it does not appear to have been drive offroad much. : >

: > The guy at the dealership did not know the full specs, can anybody list : > what was standard in a Renegade. It had the speaker bar, full carpeting : > and five spoke aluminium wheels. : >

: > Thanks : > TW : >

: >

: :

Well, it has been confusing me a little bit as well. The Jeep I drove is a Wrangler (TJ), but it also had stickers on the side saying Renegade with the Indian Chief emblem on both sides. I have primarily seen Sport and Sahara TJs so far, this is the first Renegade. Since I was at the Jeep main dealer in Auckland (New Zealand), I don't think they would have messed with the sticker, or would they? It had body colour panels (which would not have made much difference because it is black anyway). I have not made a firm offer yet, as I need the mechanical report first to see the condition. As for the appearance, it didn't seem to have any more plastic than any other TJs in the lot (only two).

What about the oil smeared on the bottom of the tranny?

I have not owned a Jeep before, so any help either way from the experienced hands in here would be much appreciated.

Thanks. TW

by tranny, do you mean transfer case or gearbox ? Can you tell what type of fluid ( ATF or gearbox oil ) ? Is it definitely coming from where you think it is, or could it have been blown back from a careless engine oil change ? The dealer should really fix that for you; or you could get a quote from someone else and factor it into the bargaining price.

Seepage wise, more common is the rear pinion oil seal, although I had a rear axle seal go which is much less common I believe.

Pros/Cons of the TJ over the YJ is basically coils v leafs. I can't help you over the Renegade edition as I have never heard of it on a TJ ; perhaps its a kiwi edition only (?). Its worth finding out if you can get one with a Dana 44 rear axle as opposed to a weaker Dana 35C ( id them from here

Dave Milne, Scotland '99 TJ Sahara

I wondered that and did a search on Google, but nothing came up.

TW, if you took a pic - post a link to it; we'd be interested.

Dave Milne, Scotland '99 TJ 4.0 Sahara

: >Dave Milne, Scotland : >'99 TJ 4.0 Sahara : >

: >: > I test drove today a '01 Wrangler Renegade. Its a 4.0L Auto with 29k : >: > kilometres on the clock. An aftermarket alarm with remote door locking : >: has : >: > been fitted. Its black exterior with black hardtop and BFG A/T tyres. : >It : >: > is still under original warranty for another six months. One owner : >driven : >: > and maintained by the dealer, that is where I saw it. The dealer had : >not : >: > had the time to clean it yet as it only came in the morning, so I saw it : >: as : >: > is before the dealer could do his magic. : >: >

: >: > The only thing I noticed was a slight seepage of oil under the tranny. : >It : >: > was only noticeable when I touched it, it was not dripping or anything. : >I : >: > am having it independently mechanically tested, but was wondering what : >are : >: > some of the things I should be checking. What are the pros and cons for : >: > this particular model. It has had no modifications done and from what I : >: > could see, it does not appear to have been drive offroad much. : >: >

: >: > The guy at the dealership did not know the full specs, can anybody list : >: > what was standard in a Renegade. It had the speaker bar, full carpeting : >: > and five spoke aluminium wheels. : >: >

: >: > Thanks : >: > TW : >: >

: >: >

: >: : >: : >

Thanks Dave for taking the time. I could not figure out what type of oil it was because it was just smeared on the metal and made it look shiny, no smell or anything as such. It was coming from the front side of what looked like transmission sump (the square black thing with round corners). I am assuming it was transmission sump, because on a similar manual transmission specimen, there was no square thing with round corners (I know its not a very technical definition, but I am learning about TJs as I am getting closer to buying one). The guy said it probably was the seal leaking and they would fix it as the Jeep is still under warranty. Engine's bottom was very clean and no sign of any oil anywhere. There were no scratching or grass blades stuck in places, meaning the previous owner had not taken it offroad much. No scratches on the gas tank or skid plates.

As for the rear axle, I have a look at it again, but I understand all Kiwis models were 4.0L and came with Dana 44. I'll go and have a look again in the afternoon or tomorrow morning. I have asked the dealer to show me the maintenance history as it was maintained by them.

I have done a web search myself and can't find anything that says Wrangler Renegade and 2001 in the same link. I'll keep searching. I should have borrowed a digital camera and taken the photos to make identification of things easier.

Anyway, thanks to you, DCM and JB for taking the time to reading my query and replying with some ideas. TW