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Depreciation on loaded '18 JLUR - sale/trade-in experiences

COBill

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If you really want to know, ask a car dealer to look up the latest Manheim auction value for your vehicle - that’s what they will actually offer for a trade-in.

Alternatively, get a cash purchase price from a CarMax near you.
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Beechwood911

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As we are only weeks away from any Dealer in Australia have an JL to look at and test drive, and still two months before you can take delivery if you order one.
Just wondering why you guys would be selling your JL after only one year.
 

SnowDog

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I just bought a slightly used JLUR (7k miles on the clock). It was about 8 months old when I bought it. I researched this question quite a bit. Here are my thoughts:

First of all, the original price you paid matters. A lot. If you look on these forums, there are plenty of reports of dealers around the country offering brand new, built-to-spec JL's for less than invoice, which is obviously less than the sticker price to begin with. There is even a guy who made a map of all the best offers from dealers around the country. It appeared to me that the best deals being offered were 7% under invoice, and that there were a handful of dealers willing to do that price on new built-to-spec JLs. So, in my opinion, you need to use that as a starting point if you want to get a true sense of the depreciation. If you paid more than that, then, simply, you paid too much and what you are looking at as a "loss" is partially simply a trading loss resulting from your purchase error and not technically "depreciation." Maybe "error" is the wrong word. If you knew you could have gotten a better deal and decided to pay more you could have had a valid reason, like wanting to buy from a local dealer so you didn't have to travel to a dealer offering a better price. But the point remains that whatever extra you paid should not be considered part of depreciation.

The second part is, of course, what you can sell it for. Using trade-in offers as a way to estimate the value of your vehicle is a dicey thing for two reasons: 1) you won't get as good of a price as you would selling it to a private party as the dealer needs to make a profit when he sells it eventually and 2) even if a dealer tells you a trade in value that seems fair, you might be getting screwed on the price you pay for the car you are buying in the deal, so you don't really know what the dealer would pay for it if he were just buying it straight up without selling you a car at the same time. Because of those two things, I personally feel that you need to look at the market for private party transactions to see what your car is worth.

KBB attempts to do this, of course, but the problem is that they really don't have much data on private party transactions, so they "estimate" based on the data they do have (wholesale and trade-in prices). In my opinion, the only ways to figure this out with any accuracy are to 1) search Autotrader and other sites for a vehicle that is very similar to the one you want to sell and call a few private sellers and see what they will sell theirs for or 2) put your vehicle up for sale and see what kind of offers you get.

I've sold a few of my own cars in private party transactions, and, based on my limited data set, it appears that private party cars will sell for a little less than what a dealer can get for them (but much more than you would get for trade-in). People are more comfortable buying a used car from a dealer and will pay a little more for that privilege. So, I would not use dealer used car prices as a gauge for the value of your own vehicle as they are higher than what you can get for your car if you sold it.

In my buying process, I determined that a year-old JLUR with less than 10k miles could be purchased from a private seller for about $3k under the new price for the same vehicle (the new price being the 7% under invoice for a new build-to-spec JLUR) from a private party. My data was limited, though, because I had a very specific list of options as "must have" and there were not many JLURs that met my criteria. The one I bought I actually ended up buying from a dealer and I paid a little more, not because I was uncomfortable with a private party but because this dealer had the exact JLUR I wanted so I paid a little more, $2,500 under new.

Of course the amount of depreciation in the first year will depend on how many miles were put on it, and if the vehicle looks like it has been off roaded (mine showed no signs of ever being off road). After market upgrades will also affect the price, but on Jeeps less than a year old, not many have had anything done to them, at least of the ones I looked at.
 

Wanderingwheelz

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Our local dealer is apparently one of the top Wrangler distributors in the Southeast. They are pretty good guys. But, sales-is-sales. They always promote the resale value of Wranglers out the door, but get amnesia when it comes to trade-in valuations. Then I see my traded-in Wrangler on the lot for quite a bit more than I gave it to them for. It's my own fault for playing into it all. However, it's added perspective for this string. Fortunately, I REALLY like my current 2DR JL Rubicon. The only thing that might turn my head is a rare billet silver 2DR.
I never look to see what my trade is being advertised for since a) that’s not what it is going to sell for, and b) the only thing that matters to me is what they gave me for it.

What they do with it after they gave me what I needed for it is their business, not mine.
 

JMyatt

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Has anyone else played around on KBB etc...? My near $57k JLUR is getting quoted at $37k with just 5000 miles on the clock. Considering these things are meant to depreciate around 27% over FIVE YEARS (https://www.iseecars.com/cars-low-high-depreciation-2018-study) it is curious that I'm seeing 35% drop in under a year.

Any ideas as to why this could be the case? A 2017 JK was quoted as only a few grand less. Wondering if the data just isn't there yet to support reliable figures. I'd like to trade mine in, but no way I'd contemplate eating that amount.
I have noticed the same thing. It’s uncommon for Jeep to have that kind of depreciation. Especially with very few deep incentives. That’s not a good sign.
 

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greenegger

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As we are only weeks away from any Dealer in Australia have an JL to look at and test drive, and still two months before you can take delivery if you order one.
Just wondering why you guys would be selling your JL after only one year.
Gave myself a year to use it "properly" and never did - it doesn't provide enough "joy" for me to justify the cost. As we're all well aware, the loaded versions of these are costly, and over here (note that you're in Australia) you can pick up some great motors just a few years old and certified for the same/less money. Despite good intentions otherwise, if I'm just going to be ON-road, I'd rather do it in a more comfortable vehicle with a V8 that is more exciting to drive.
 

Mojit_Ohio

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Used to work for a dealership and we always used KBB for their low evaluations. I went on NADA and got a quote for my 18 JLUR stickered at 47k which now has 5,400 miles. The quote was just shy of 46k. Good thing I paid less than that... so far looks like I’m the only one right side up in here... or you can just stop trusting kbb..

Like someone else in here said when they were using it as a leverage tool at the dealer to look up the price of the vehicle they wanted to purchase, smart move friend!
 

suzookus

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Usually “Year 1” is going to be the lion’s share of the depreciation. Your depreciation amount seems very high unless you paid 100% MSRP which almost none of us did on a new JL.
 

Biscuit

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NADA, KBB and Black Book values are relatively worthless WRT trade-ins. Dealers don't use them; they use wholesale and auction values that are lower than even a low book value.
 

SecondTJ

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NADA, KBB and Black Book values are relatively worthless WRT trade-ins. Dealers don't use them; they use wholesale and auction values that are lower than even a low book value.
Plenty of dealers still use Black Book for a reference, they just trust MMR more.
 

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Greg H

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I have a feeling the Wranglers with the 2.0L turbo eTorque motor will be like other hybrids and will depreciate much faster than the non hybrid (v6) models. Hybrid vehicles dont sell well used because of the cost to replace the batteries and or the electric motor once the warranty runs out.
 

Firecracker18

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Right now there's tons of left over 2018' s out there so dealers aren't going to wheel and deal on another being used. I think those high resale #'s are from years of data. The JL is only a year old. Maybe those that plan on trading so early should lease.

As for me - I'm happy with what I bought and have zero plans on trading or selling...ever. I will modify as necessary. But overall I'm thrilled with this Jeep!
 

tatarin

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I've been in the market for a Jeep for over 3 years, and researched the price issue from every possible angle. Basically I have come to the conclusion that Jeeps barely loose value and that is great. Looks like about $1500-$2500 loss per year for a nice clean example vehicle. I've looked at auctions like Manheim and others. When comparing the price of the Jeeps that sold at auction to the options list, you will notice that many of those are mostly base models with quick order options and boring colors that do not sell well on the lot. When I looked for what I wanted I found that you pretty much get what you pay for, options you want but not there or color you what but not for sale or price too high because it's modded. I was better off paying a few thousand more and ordering a new one.
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