Custom Order or Select from Inventory?

[HoWink]

Thanks to the collective wisdom from this great forum, I feel really well equipped to buy my first Jeep this week. There's still one point I'd like y'all's input on.

During my test drive tour, I was surprised to find just the JLU I'm looking for at one of the local Atlanta dealers (white Sport S w/ anti-slip, tech package, and safety package). I haven't started talking price with the sales guy yet, but the dealer add-on Scotch Guard and window tinting are tells that they are unlikely to match the price of Tri-Cities in nearby North Carolina.

But assuming the local dealer can match Tri-Cities' price, would I still be better off ordering a newly built vehicle that may have benefited from ongoing production tweaks over the last few months, or taking the vehicle off the lot that was built earlier in the year? (The sticker shows the pre-March 2018 base price and destination increases.) I buy for the long-term, so waiting a month or two for a special order isn't a big deal for me.

And if you suggest taking the vehicle off the lot, should I expect (or insist) that the dealer take the trouble to perform any firmware updates, adjustments, or other pre-delivery updates that us old guys remember as what they used to call "dealer prep?)

Thanks in advance.

HoWink

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[ThirtyOne]

I personally wouldn’t be afraid of a lot vehicle.

If you want specific prep negotiate it up front and get it in writing. Seems reasonable.

If it doesn’t work out I highly recommend Tri-City. The drive down 85 to Atlanta is pretty painless too.

Good luck!

 

[NOMAD-0311]

I custom ordered my first vehicle a little over a year and don’t really see that I’ll ever not do it again unless of find a lot one with every single option we could possibly want. That’s what happened with our Raptor, it was loaded with every option that we were going to custom order it with plus some so we bought off the lot (it was still wrapped from coming off the truck).

 

[JeepOn]

I’ve ordered a number of different vehicles over the years and have been very happy with the results. I get at a price I’m willing to pay. I have no problem pitting dealers against each other to get the best deal. It took my about four months and many many emails back and forth to different dealers to nail down a deal on my RAM. However I got the truck I wanted. I will be doing the same with my next Jeep. If you are willing to wait for your custom built Jeep and can stand firm on a price, its worth the leg work.

Really the same rules apply if you want to buy one off the lot also. Make the dealers work for your hard earned cash, not the other way around.

 

[WranglerMan]

I chose mine from dealer stock based on my budget, I honestly have never sat down and selected options and did a special order, I currently have 2500 miles in less than two months on my JLU Sahara and ( knock on wood ) no major issues, do have some quirky stuff between Uconnect and my phone via Bluetooth that hopefully gets addressed so take note @JeepCares.

I don’t think doing a special order gets anymore attention to detail and quality, I think it just comes down to the odds or getting a bad one, trust me on this I just got rid of a Jeep with lots of issues but honestly it was not a real Jeep it was a Compass

 

[aug0211]

I custom ordered my JK in 2014 and had a great experience.

I custom ordered a JL on March 8 based on my last experience, and have been waiting for over 100 days.

Jeep built my vehicle in May, and then scrapped it after it sat in storage for 3 weeks - and placed a “new” order for me with an all new VIN. When I found this out, I asked them to switch it from a Sahara to a Rubicon - they agreed and said it would be “expedited” since I had been waiting so long.

Yesterday, I received an email saying a Sahara was expedited for me - the Rubi order exists, but is not expedited.

Jeep said it would be late June/early July for production to start up again. Then they said July. Now they say late July.

So IF they stick to the current timeline, I may get my Jeep in ~September. With 2019s available to order in October.

This is all for a turbo. A 3.6 would have moved faster, I’m sure.

If you find a Jeep that is exactly what you want, buy it.

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