double edged sword...
Rubicon is a fancy word for "gets stuck in super f'ed- up spots" and lots of expensive fixes, especially if the son decideds to show off to his buddies, cuz "dont worry dad, I wont do anything bad with the jeep that is marketed as a go anywhere machine that can never get stuck..."
ask me about my 2008 rubicon... what I did with it, and the reason I got rid of it. id wheel it on weekends with offroad clubs, dont get me wrong, it is an "out of the box, off the shelf" offroading BEAST that can keep up with a huge portion of rigs people built themselves, just needs meaty big tires, and it is an amazing offroad machine, like, rock crawling and acctual offroad park stuff, not logging roads and stuff.
for the price point a sport model will do anything you need, add on and build it up once the wife and kid learn how to drive it
do your kid a favor and save him from being the kid in a rubicon, that just screams "look what daddy just bought for me" and saves you from having an entitled acting kid... a cr brings attitude too, a top shelf jeep....just make sure you are doing the kid a favor.. id make my kid buy her own and learn to fix it up, build it herself (id help with parts but you get the idea)... kids with rubicons, is just asking for trouble, dooshy bro brah pre college frat boy type
besides insurance is less
unless you need a jeep that will benefit from lockers and, a swaybar disconnect....
rubicon isnt worth it, its just a name to sell some stronger axles and doodads
and I used to own one, I currently have my 01 TJ that ive had for 12 years, and only feature I miss about.my rubicon was cruise control and the tires I had on it....
kid: tame jeep, cuz, that will get stuck and dinged up enough as is
had jeeps 15+ years, seen alot of things happen to jeeps...
I bought my TJ at 18, broke it pretty good a few times, jeeps have a learning curve...
just.... dont create another dude like this guy by giving your kid a jeep before he is ready to handle it....
