What It is Really Like to Own a Budget Jeep

The Jeep.

The first rule of owning a...        read full caption The first rule of owning a Campee vehicle is that you must revel in your vehicle’s character, not try to eliminate or hide it. Instead of throwing away the total ’70s barefoot chrome gas pedal, we found a key chain that matched. The second rule is to have a sense of humor. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you won’t enjoy it as much when everyone else laughs at you. And they will.

Cracked leather seats, stained...        read full caption Cracked leather seats, stained shag carpet (we swear it’s original), a butchered radio installation, and dash lenses that ride in the bottom of the dash bezel. Every accessory works except for the foglights and the cruise control. This is what temptation is all about.

Even with a beater, we were...        read full caption Even with a beater, we were thankful to get almost all of the rim pieces, inside and out. These are some of the parts which raise the cost of ownership drastically if you give in and start to improve the Jeep.

Campee was dubbed so because...        read full caption Campee was dubbed so because that’s just what this Grand Wagoneer is. It’s from an era that’s gone, it’s rustic, it’s original, it’s showing its age, and those are the things which make it cool. If you try to fix it or modernize it, you just end up ruining it. Putting its name on the license plate alerts people that we know we’re driving the modern-day version of the Brady Bunch station wagon.

The first mother-in-law-in-the-closet...        read full caption The first mother-in-law-in-the-closet trait we discovered was that Campee had a drinking problem. How’s six mpg suck on your income? The temptation to make major drivetrain changes to rectify this were strong, but we limited ourselves to increasing the ignition timing, changing spark plugs, and installing a K&N air filter. We were rewarded with a 1.5 mpg increase. That doesn’t sound like much, and it’s not, but the calculator said this increase was worth a $337 savings over the 7,000 miles.

Campee developed a random...        read full caption Campee developed a random stalling problem. We checked fuel delivery and the idle rpm, but didn’t figure it out until we left it running in the driveway for a few minutes and it just died. Tried it again and the same thing happened. The factory electronic ignition had developed Alzheimer’s. We installed an MSD Digital 6 ignition in hopes we could get a more reliable ignition and perhaps improve fuel economy. Here’s hoping it’s more reliable.

When summer rolled around,...        read full caption When summer rolled around, the smell of factory shag carpet (it does have a distinct smell) was replaced by the awful odor of hot engine coolant gushing out of the radiator overflow. The factory electric auxiliary fan took a dump so we pulled this 16-inch unit out of the garage and creatively strapped it in between the grille and radiator.

The next nasty trait we found...        read full caption The next nasty trait we found was a massive oil leak in the driveway. Most of this was automatic transmission fluid, which we hate. So we motored to the local Jiffy Lube to let them do a transmission service and deal with the leak. The engine’s rear main seal leaks a little, but we racked that up to character rather than making it an item to repair.

We soon realized another beauty...        read full caption We soon realized another beauty of owning a beater—not caring about its interior or exterior appearance. In 12 months, we’ve washed it twice and one of those times was for this photo shoot. This feature allows you to use it to haul dogs one weekend and disassembled engines the next. Missed that in the ’84 Grand Wagoneer sales brochure.

Screamin’ deals. They’re hard to pass up. The free Jeep body tub, the $500 running but rusty Willys pickup, the $1,000 YJ with a blown engine. These are the want-ads that we dream about.

Last year, we weren’t shopping for a vehicle. You probably know the routine; we’d look at the classifieds, but we didn’t need another vehicle and we certainly didn’t have any money set aside for another one. The classifieds are just a form of entertainment. That’s when, among the $6,000 Grand Wagoneers, this $2,700 baby filled our eyes. The photo looked fine, so we couldn’t help calling to get some more details. Hmmm, the owner said it runs fine, he just put new tires on it, there’s no major rust or dents, and the interior is all in one piece. Currently registered, clean title. Something can’t be right, so we have to go look at it. The owner was right about everything. He forgot to mention that the A/C even blew cold air, and the Jeep would pass a smog test. So we drove it home.

Twelve months later, we’ve put 7,000 miles on the Wagoneer and used it for all sorts of duties. But the real story is what it’s like to own a vehicle you don’t need, didn’t budget for, don’t have money or time to restore, but really kind of dig.

Character Points

Wing windows

Power windows; all of which move at a different speed.

Pull knobs for foot-panel air vents.

Six-way power driver and passenger seats, which still work.

Nice ride and cush to drive.

Fan knob for A/C is missing so you have to twist the shaft.

One of the rear doors doesn’t open from inside—early child safety doors.

The front seat frames are tweaked which leaves the driver and passenger practically staring face to face when you lean back in the seats.

Nonfunctional gas gauge.

Timeline

February

Purchased the Grand Wagoneer. Gas gauge quit working so we started a log to track miles. Realized the Wagoneer was a grand gas guzzler knocking down 6 mpg!

March

Exxon Valdez cleanup crew showed up to inquire about the spill evolving in the Wagoneer’s parking spot. Had Jiffy Lube do a tranny service which cured most of the fluid leakage. Also found that it burns and/or leaks about one quart of engine oil every 700 miles.

April

Changed spark plugs, advanced ignition timing, and installed K&N air cleaner in an effort to improve fuel economy. Up to 7.5 mpg: oh boy, a 25 percent improvement! A convincing argument that numbers lie.

May

The Grand Wagoneer finds its calling in the family as the dog car.

June

The overheating begins. The auxiliary electric fan that’s supposed to turn on with the A/C or when it’s just too hot has died. A much larger electric fan we had left over from a project is adapted to fit behind the grille.

July

Lovin’ that A/C!

August

We realize the front axle doesn’t engage when you move the switch to 4WD. We wonder if this electronic switch was the first of its kind and curse AMC just at the thought.

September

The ignition dies. Can’t stand to put another factory electronic box on. Hopeful that we’ll get better gas mileage, we install an MSD Digital 6 box. No increase in mileage and we had to knock the windshield washer reservoir off the fenderwell to mount the ignition, but the engine runs now.

October

Off to Jiffy Lube for an oil change.

November

Gas gauge makes a reappearance, but doesn’t last more than a couple weeks.

December

Blower motor quits blowing, effectively disabling the heater and windshield defroster. The motor is OK, it’s the wiring, the relay, or the switch. A peek at the wiring under the dash scares us into dressing warmer and wearing gloves when we drive Campee.

January

Damn that heater.

February

Wishing we had windshield washer fluid.

Rules for owning a Jeep you don’t need

a Develop a sense of humor.

b Resist the temptation to make major modifications. An extra vehicle isn’t fun when it becomes another project vehicle.

c Only do maintenance and needed repairs. If you break this rule, it’ll lead to breaking rule number 2.

d Don’t wash it. Washing it leads to caring about it too much which leads to restoring it.