A tale of two XK's.....maybe

[jantrit]

tl;dr - I'm debating trading off my Mini for a used XK...the problem: I think my man card is gone with this one because my wife already drives an XK.

Hello all,

A tale of two XK's...maybe. I started jeeping about 10 years back with a 1980 CJ-7 and had it for a number of years before I sold it and bought a Mini Cooper....yes, yes, laugh it up. The real amusing bit is that about a year later my wife sold her Dodge Ram (ok yeah I drove a mini and my wife drove a truck....lets move on) and she bought a used 4.7 Commander to cart around the kids that we didn't have (yet) and we still have her XK. She swears that when it dies she'll be digging through the local junkyards to resurrect the beast. After watching her drive her Dodge into the ground (we got a $1000 for the trade in out of sympathy) I hope it stays running strong for a long while. For those keeping track of these things, that leaves my wife in the V8 XK and me in the R53.

Seven years and 100K miles on the Mini later, and its time for something new(er) well sort of. I miss the CJ-7 except the raining inside the jeep with the hard top on, oh and the spending each weekend fixing the next thing that broke, oh and the I'll just change this light bulb only to have the wire break and then while replacing the wire somehow ending up having to replace a motor mount. OK that last part is a stretch but lets face it, old jeep repairs are ALWAYS an adventure and generally lead to heavy drinking. Even with all of that, I sort of miss the old jeep. Though the Jeep was a PITA sometimes at least you could work on it or find someone to work on it.

I am facing a conundrum. Do I go for an XK or a WK to replace the Mini? I've never really been in love with Grand Cherokee's because they always felt too car like for me. Intellectually I know they are quite capable four wheel drive machines (except those 2WD monstrosities) but they just never felt like it to me. The upright front window on the XK really gives it a different feel. I drove a 4 door JK last week and it just didn't really feel like a daily driver to me. The local dealership has a couple used XK's at an out of town location and I'm having one brought in to look at. To be honest it has everything I'm looking for in either a WK or XK.

So there you have it. Am I completely doomed? Is my man card gone forever now that I'm contemplating "his" and "hers" XK's in the driveway? What do you think? Go for the XK? Look for a WK?

Thoughts? flames?

[Matt]

"His" & "Hers" XK's sound like a sweet setup.

I say go for it!

[Sal-XK]

I'm sure any of us would love a second XK LOL since you own one I'm assuming you know what your looking for as far as options and drive systems. Decide what you want out of the jeep then make sure you get the appropriate options to get what you want out of it

[superacerc]

I don't think any of us consider our XK's non manly. Have you seen the pictures of most of the member's on this site? We have people asking us all the time what we are driving cause they think they've never seen one. Just Lift it, put on some spacers and M/T tires and it's a heck of a sweet off road vehicle that works well as a daily driver. Go look in our photos and trails pictures. People with Wranglers are always dropping their jaws when they see some of the stuff we do with our so called non manly jeeps.

I second matt's reply, Go for it. Couldn't have a more comfortable off roader thats this capable.

If you have a choice go for the 5.7. The gas milage difference is nearly negligible for the extra power and better offroad system. I would have definitely done that had I known when I bought my 4.7.

[Matt]

The ironic part is we're going to eventually get my wife a TJ.. then when the kids are old enough (1 boy and 1 girl) we can do family offroad trips; the Commander will be the "his" and the TJ will be the "hers".

[Holaday07 4.7]

The ironic part is we're going to eventually get my wife a TJ.. then when the kids are old enough (1 boy and 1 girl) we can do family offroad trips; the Commander will be the "his" and the TJ will be the "hers".

Our XK is the wifes and the Altima and TJ or "His"

[jantrit]

Well, I did it. There are now two 06 commanders in my drive. :-) There are a couple of small issues carmax will need to fix. Auto headlamps won't work on auto and I suspect the auto wipers are out as well since there isn't a box on the windshield. The satelite radio isn't working but tbh, I don't do satelite radio anyway so not that interested in it. They say that all this will be fixed but even if they didn't I'm OK with it.

Driving home my wife says....I like this Commander....I like it a lot.

[Sal-XK]

Well, I did it. There are now two 06 commanders in my drive. :-) There are a couple of small issues carmax will need to fix. Auto headlamps won't work on auto and I suspect the auto wipers are out as well since there isn't a box on the windshield. The satelite radio isn't working but tbh, I don't do satelite radio anyway so not that interested in it. They say that all this will be fixed but even if they didn't I'm OK with it.

Driving home my wife says....I like this Commander....I like it a lot.

Oh boy set the rules now or you'll mod yours then she'll take it from you LOL

[cico7]

it isnt the XK that questions your manhood. You brought it here! That is what i have trouble with.
Wait, my wife's calling. I gotta do dishes.
I will come back and discuss my manly XK after I take out the trash.

[Matt]

Is this un-manly??? it has a jeep on it....