[john]

I drove on for a year and a half through winter and all. As long as you are in 4wd, any idiot can drive one straight on snow or ice. I drove a 03 SE with a 4 banger and a soft top. Soft top is noisy like mentioned above. In the winter, getting in the car is cold but the heater more that makes up for it when the car is warmed up. After a few minutes, I would have to turn the heat down. The nice thing about a soft top in the winter is, all you have to do is shut the doors and all the snow falls off the sides. Due to the slope, it doesn't stick that much to the windshield. Great resale, poor relaibility (talking to mechanics and looking at consumer reports). The only problem we had was a vibration issue where the aftermarket wheels were not balanced. A steering shock went out but was under warranty. I have heard that Charakees are very reliable but the opposite for older wranglers. I dealt with one in warranty though... Chrysler would not warranty the tires not being balanced when we bought the car new from them with American Racing wheels. We had to take the thing to Sameritan Tire and pay $40 as the dealer could not static balance them. That is about it.