I daily drove a 94 Jeep Wrangler for 18 years, for a few reasons. Let me explain:
I bought the Wrangler brand new after I got out of the military. I am a "car guy" and I know how to take care of my vehicles. After 18 years of ownership, I really had no issues other than the normal wear items like brakes and tires.
Some of my reasons for keeping the Wrangler are as follows:
For starters I owned it. No payments left extra money for the restoration of my 68 Firebird. I also own a vacation home and the money I didn't use for a car payment went towards the mortgage on my vacation home. I also live about 8-9 miles from work and I simply didn't put a lot of miles on the Jeep. I owned it for 18 years and it only has 133,000 miles. I just saw no reason to pay $400 a month to drive 18 miles a day. Lastly, I've always felt that my wife deserved a nice daily driver. She totes the kids around a lot and I like her to be in a nice, safe, daily driver. So I was OK rocking a Jeep because my wife had a newer car and I had a restored Musclecar in my garage.
As much as I loved my Jeep, I have to say that a vehicle like a Wrangler or a Samurai makes for a rough, uncomfortable daily driver. My Jeep had no lift kit and was still bouncy as Hell due to the short wheelbase. Mine had a soft top and in the winter it was a cold ride.
I got out of the Marines when I was 26 and a Wrangler was an awesome ride. It was fun in the summer with the top down and great in the winter in snow and for skiing. However at 44, the bumps and bounces were getting a little old. Also my Wrangler had the 2.5 4cyl which was underpowered. There were many a time when people were passing me, while my foot was on the floor. Frankly that got old too.
I'm not telling you to NOT get a Samurai, just make sure you know what you're getting.
