Buying & Building v/s Buying Custom Build?

[Stargazer]

I need some suggestion from Pros here.

I'll be ordering my Rubi soon and I'm contemplating should I buy & build or buy it already customized they way I want.

I know I want to have many customization done to it. I'm good with tools at home but not on cars so I'll have to keep in mind cost of labor when deciding.

These are the thing I know I want to have it done:

1. Replace Front & Rear Bumpers
2. Replace All 4 Black Fenders
3. Replace Wheels & Tires (37")
4. Replace Suspensions, Shocks
5. Replace Steering Stabilizers
6. Replace Hood
7. Replace Exhaust
8. Repaint It With Kevlar Paint

There are many many more additions but I'm trying to keep it specific to my question here which is:

Should I buy my Rubi and pay to customize it or should I have it custom built?

I know this is such a wide question. When I haven't given any details on the cost of parts I'm replacing v/s custom built cost.

The type of customization that I would like to do is very similar to what tveauto.com does but their prices are little high.

If I buy the Rubi and resell parts I'm replacing, how much should I expect?

I believe the parts that I'll be replacing which I'll be able to resell: Both bumpers, All fenders, Wheels & Tires, Suspensions, Shocks, Stabilizer, Hood, Exhaust. Let me know if I miss anything that I can resell.


This is the formula I'm working on to estimate on savings:

+ Cost Of Rubi
- Resalable Parts
+ All Customization (Parts Only)
-------------------------------------------------------------
= Total Cost Of Rubi If I Get It Done (Before Labor)


+ Cost Of Custom Built With Exact Same Customization
- Total Cost Of Rubi If I Get It Done (Before Labor)
-------------------------------------------------------------
= Savings If I Get It Done (Before Labor)
- Cost Of Labor If I Get It Done
-------------------------------------------------------------
= Final Savings


Any advice?

Thanks

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[ThirtyOne]

You are going to save money by pricing out each customization, doing what you can yourself, buying used where you can, and selling off stock parts (but don’t expect much).

It will also be more work and take longer. Which some people find more enjoyable.
It comes down to whether you value time or money more.

As far as takeoffs i would expect $1,000-$1,200 for wheels and tires, $100-$200 for your suspension, and maybe $200-$300 for your fenders. so probably about $1,200-$1,500 in all. Basically will cover most of the cost of tires.

 

[Biohazard]

1. Replace Front & Rear Bumpers: $3000
2. Replace All 4 Black Fenders: $1000
3. Replace Wheels & Tires (37"): $2000
4. Replace Suspensions, Shocks: $1500-$5000
5. Replace Steering Stabilizers: $300
6. Replace Hood: $1000
7. Replace Exhaust: $750
8. Repaint It With Kevlar Paint: $2500

Total: $13,550, + $50,000 for a JLUR = $63550, maybe $1500 off if you can sell all the stock parts.

Tveayto charges $63-$68k for all that, plus adds lights, winches, interior leather and custom color matching, and I imagine lots of little details that also cost a good bit. They probably also offer some semblance of a warranty.

Probably cost you $3-5000 premium to have them build it, but boy, what a great product.

I'd buy custom, rather than build if you already know what you want.

 

[cosine]

i rather buy and build myself. because, i can pick out the stuff i want. also i rather shop around to get the best deal i can get and do it in stages. the other thing is dealers are going to charge a insane crazy ass price on the aftermarket stuff and labor. i looked at a couple of jeeps that was modded and the dealer tagged another 10 -15k ( tires/wheels/2" light, off road lights) on top of the price of the jeep.the one ford dealer was no better. for example they had a couple of raptors modded with aftermarket tires/wheels/ and a few led lights. they charge another 30-40k on top of a 75k price tag.

 

[Stargazer]

Thanks for info.

If anyone else opinions / experiences, please chime in.

I'm in the process of creating a list of all the custom items I would like to add. After calculating total part cost + labor v/s having buying it built will make up my mind.

If I am putting kevlar paint, will the black hard top be okay or should I get body color hard top?

 

[The Custom Jeep Builder]

So that fits my wheelhouse and a question we answer daily. Doetsch Offroad is primarily and offroad shop, with retail and full builds. We are also a licensed dealer.

We sell Stock Jeeps, We sell fully built brand new jeeps, and we order Jeeps directly from Jeep as you request and do the build.

If you are not in a hurry, its great to custom order what you NEED, and let us do the rest. That will save you a ton of pointless wasted money at the dealer on stuff youll take off. I just did that today. Basically ordered a stripper Rubicon, and added a full 25k build to it. At the dealer, the Rubi + build would have cost him 15k more than we charged, for a lesser build.

 

[geem03]

I haven't done the math but why not a stock sport and then buy take off rubicon parts or just buy the parts you want and build it to your liking. Just my opinion.... Good luck.

 

[Sasquash]

Build it yourself. Once you get past the electronics it's really not that complicated.
Everything you want to put on most likely has a youtube video showing you step by step how to complete the installation. If not there are several people here that can talk you through something.
You can also break it down into several smaller weekend projects and still get some use out of your Jeep instead of 2 or 3 months in a shop and wondering if they are cutting corners somewhere.

 

[Glen722]

Stargazer, you said you "...are good with tools at home but not on cars..." That is exactly how I'd describe myself. I chose to build it myself. I am starting with the easiest projects and tackling the more difficult as I build up confidence/skill. I just spent a few days installing a LOD Signature shorty front bumper and Zeon 10S winch. It was a lot of fun, I learned a lot, and I have a great feeling of satisfaction. Remember, if you try it yourself and something is too much (e.g. suspension), you can always have someone build it for you.

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