Ordering 2020 JLU: Love the Willys but worried about resale

[rubileon]

Sold our JK and am going to order a 2021. We love the look of the Willys Unlimited in Sting Gray. We like it better than the Rubicon in Sting Gray. However I'm worried that five years down the road the Willys will have little more book value than a JLU Sport S.

To order the Rubicon with the same equipment as the Willys is $3,884.61 more. Of course it comes with the lockers, disconnect, 4.10, etc. Stuff that I don't need. However I believe in five years the Rubicon has a good chance of being worth close to 6k more in trade value than the Willys.

My hunch is based on using KBB values for a 2017 JKU Willys W vs a JKU Rubicon. I priced both with the standard options with 20k miles in excellent condition. Trade value of the Rubicon is $5,789 more than the Willys W. The Willys W trade value is only $1,155 more than a JLU Sport S.

So my concern is if it ain't a Rubicon it won't hold it's value like a Rubicon no matter how good or expensive the special edition package is. It will always be valued similar to a Sport S.

Maybe if I hold out and order a Willys diesel it will hold it's value better. The 3/4 diesel trucks certainly do. The Willys diesel would be $118 less than a Rubicon 2.0 and would give me the Dana 210 up front and 3.73 gears.

BTW this is for a vacation place and it will have low miles when it's time to sell or trade. If it was a daily driver I'd get what I like best and not worry about it.

Thanks for any advice.

The Rubicon is going to be known more. With the Willys, you'll not get someone who saw Rubicons and always wanted to have one, even if they are both Jeeps are the same on paper. Easier to resell if you have a known and desirable model.

Besides, the JL Willys isn't special like the JK Willys with the half doors, etc.

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[TXRubicon]

Also, low miles will have little to no effect on resale value. It might make it more desirable to an individual but it won’t command much of a premium over a vehicle with average mileage.

 

[Whisky19]

On discretionary purchases I buy what puts a smile on my face. Jeeps in general
have great resale value. The Rubicon is at the top of that list.

 

[higbyz]

Well I bought this today at the store if that counts for anything.

Yess!! Thats what Im talkin about !

 

[rallydefault]

And here is the ever-present reminder that you shouldn't expect JK-level resale values on the JL. The first wave of us are soon coming up on the 3-year mark, and resale values right now are shockingly low if you're looking at anything like KBB or Edmunds. Private sales, of course, will probably remain pretty high if you find the right buyer. I have a Sport S JLU and my resale on KBB is... not pretty lol

I think most of us do think about the resale value even if we won't admit it, but there's the potential to drive yourself nuts and maybe wind up purchasing something you don't actually want. Just get what you want and let the resale sort itself in 5 years if that's what you're looking at.

 

[GreyFox]

When I was in Gatlinburg last week, a group of guys who were in a JK wanted to know when Jeep came out with a Grey Fox special edition So don't assume all people know anything about vehicles

 

[dsgrey]

Buy what you WANT. Vehicles are an expense and the market for used Wranglers of a specific style is all based on supply & demand at the time you sell which appears to be 5 years down the road. If I wanted to reduce my loss potential based on resell value then I'd be driving a less expensive Honda Civic.

 

[Capricorn]

When it comes to diesel, the Willys in the same gear and speed will have a slightly higher RPM than its Rubicon counterpart because both the Willys (32" tire) and Rubi (33" tire) come with the same 3.73 axle ratio.
Willys will get you to the top of the hill a few seconds faster than the Rubi.

 

[zeebo56]

I thought about getting the Willy's but I got my JLU sport S and used the thousands I saved to get the wheels I wanted with 35s and also upgrade a few other things. I felt it was worth it to me vs getting the Willys package.

 

[gqgambler]

Why not look at used in this scenario? Its for a vacation place and will have low miles. Is it worth it to get new and take the depreciation hit when you could get 1-2 years old and it will serve the same purpose.

 

[hammick]

Since it’s going to sit most of the time, I’d skip the diesel. They need to be driven.

When it does get driven it will get a workout. No short trips. I've had plenty of diesels

Why not look at used in this scenario? Its for a vacation place and will have low miles. Is it worth it to get new and take the depreciation hit when you could get 1-2 years old and it will serve the same purpose.

Because every time I look for low mileage used JLs I can order a new one for what they want for the used one. Often several thousand less. Same goes for leftover '19s on the lot.

I'll be ordering from a dealer that does 7% under invoice with a small doc fee.

But if you know of any used rigs at a great price I'm certainly interested.

 

[Jeepdude101]

When it comes to diesel, the Willys in the same gear and speed will have a slightly higher RPM than its Rubicon counterpart because both the Willys (32" tire) and Rubi (33" tire) come with the same 3.73 axle ratio.
Willys will get you to the top of the hill a few seconds faster than the Rubi.

The rubi comes with 4:10’s at least with the 3.6 and 2.0. Are you talking about the 3.0 ED? Edit just looked up the ED JLUR and son of a gun it come with 3:73’s why not 4:10’s? I get that Diesel’s have more torque and it’s at a lower RPM but it still would be great to have 4:10’s with in a rubi

 

[Notorious]

Someone replied he rather buy the color he liked and not the one the next guy likes.

Someone admiring Jay Leno’s collection asked him why he has so many vehicles and why he spends so much time and money in maintaining them? He responded that he does what he does because he enjoys it but it’s really for the next owner of the vehicle.

 

[gqgambler]

Because every time I look for low mileage used JLs I can order a new one for what they want for the used one. Often several thousand less. Same goes for leftover '19s on the lot.

I'll be ordering from a dealer that does 7% under invoice with a small doc fee.

But if you know of any used rigs at a great price I'm certainly interested.

True, they can be hard to find but I've been on he hunt and seen plenty. It's ridiculous when you find used for more than new. Just last week I saw a JLUR that we were interested in (its was our perfect config with low miles) and made an offer that was rejected. I clearly gave evidence the car was overpriced supporting my offer; yesterday they dropped the price by almost $3G but I'll pass on them now and not give them the business. Not sure what your desired specs are, but I'll PM you a few I've seen. I would argue as a vacation home car that won't get driven a lot of miles, mileage on a used car is a moot point unless its significantly above the average yearly total; it is likely that you will not exceed the remainder of factory warranty. Extended warranty/CPO likely isn't worth the money either when looking used. Really you need a well cared for care to your spec liking.

 

[1911addict]

Maybe I can help from a different perspective. I just bought a used 4 door JL for my son. We looked around, test drove a Rubicon, and he did not like it. We looked for a Willy’s but could not find one. Our criteria was a newish Jeep, off lease with low miles at a good price preferably in Sting Ray with a hard and soft top, navy and the cold weather pkg.

We brought home Tuesday an unlimited Sahara in Stingray with 6000 miles for just north of $33k. Would we have paid a few bucks more for a Willy - yes. Does he remember that is what he wanted - not when they handed him the keys.

Point being, your target resale audience will most likely be very young buyers if you sell it privately.

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