Purchasing A Bronco With The Intent To Sell in 2 Years

[Tredsdert]

My wife and I are going to be buying a house in 2026, and the plan was to sell her Subaru Forester Sport after we get a house and pick up one of the new 4Runner Trail Hunter's as our new family vehicle.

Every time a Bronco drives past us on the roadways, my wife always says how pretty they are and how much she likes them. I've explained to her extensively all the things that are wrong with them, and how I wouldn't keep one more than 3 years max.

But I do love my wife, and I like seeing her happy, so my question is if when we trade in the Subaru Forester, if we were to purchase a new Bronco with the intent to keep it for 2 years, and then trade it in for another vehicle (maybe a 4Runner at that point), what would be the best way to make sure we get the most money back when we trade in the Bronco?

Also is that something where you would want to pay for it in cash to make sure there's no interest charges?

This probably applies to all vehicles, but what packages, which trims, and which modifications will have the most value staying power when trading in a vehicle?



Ps. I haven't actually run this by my wife yet, I'm just kicking around the idea trying to see if it's a viable idea before I bring it up to her.

Sponsored

 

[autotragic]

It seems to me at least that options don't really help resale as much as actual trims do.

As an example take a "stripper" Rubicon vs a "loaded" Sport S...The Rubicon will have a higher residual value even if its MSRP was actually lower.

Same deal, get the "best" trim you can afford on the Bronco and if you can stay away from the options. In other words if a higher trim level has the options you want as standard get the higher trim level if you can swing it instead of "optioning up" a lower trim. Seems to be the best way to get higher resale value IME.

 

[Tredsdert]

It seems to me at least that options don't really help resale as much as actual trims do.

As an example take a "stripper" Rubicon vs a "loaded" Sport S...The Rubicon will have a higher residual value even if its MSRP was actually lower.

Same deal, get the "best" trim you can afford on the Bronco and if you can stay away from the options. In other words if a higher trim level has the options you want as standard get the higher trim level if you can swing it instead of "optioning up" a lower trim. Seems to be the best way to get higher resale value IME.

Interesting. Honestly that does make sense.

Given that they are competing with the Wrangler, or at least trying to. Do you think it would be better to buy a tire and luxury trim, or shoot for more of a off-road luxury trim?

The Wrangler equal would be getting a Sahara versus getting a Rubicon? Which one do you think would have better resale value, the luxury package or the luxury off-road package?

 

[Punkn89]

I’d rather have the Bronco 2.7 V6 vs the 4 cyl 4Runner.

Best way to get the most trade in value is keeping it clean, low miles on it and maintenance records.

But also, who f*ckin knows what’s going to happen in 2 years, let alone next month!

 

[John VonJeep]

It's cool that you have a wife who wants a Bronco (although it would be even cooler if she wanted a Jeep).

She sounds like a keeper, unlike the Bronco.

 

[Grayhound]

My wife and I are going to be buying a house in 2026, and the plan was to sell her Subaru Forester Sport after we get a house and pick up one of the new 4Runner Trail Hunter's as our new family vehicle.

Every time a Bronco drives past us on the roadways, my wife always says how pretty they are and how much she likes them. I've explained to her extensively all the things that are wrong with them, and how I wouldn't keep one more than 3 years max.

But I do love my wife, and I like seeing her happy, so my question is if when we trade in the Subaru Forester, if we were to purchase a new Bronco with the intent to keep it for 2 years, and then trade it in for another vehicle (maybe a 4Runner at that point), what would be the best way to make sure we get the most money back when we trade in the Bronco?

Also is that something where you would want to pay for it in cash to make sure there's no interest charges?

This probably applies to all vehicles, but what packages, which trims, and which modifications will have the most value staying power when trading in a vehicle?



Ps. I haven't actually run this by my wife yet, I'm just kicking around the idea trying to see if it's a viable idea before I bring it up to her.

Don't let @Tredsdert closer than photo range!

Trade in on broncos has yet to be tested over time. With them piling up on dealer lots values might plummet.

Or it could be a hot seller like the wrangler

 

[Blues Fan 30]

Why not do a lease if you know you don't want to keep it long term?

 

[Tredsdert]

It's cool that you have a wife who wants a Bronco (although it would be even cooler if she wanted a Jeep).

She sounds like a keeper, unlike the Bronco.

Agreed. I don't know if she's even going to want a Bronco when I bring it up to her, but I just figured you got one life, you might as well get all of your desires met before you kick the bucket.

 

[John VonJeep]

Why not do a lease if you know you don't want to keep it long term?

I'm guessing that two-year lease terms are not favorable, but fair question.

 

[John VonJeep]

Agreed. I don't know if she's even going to want a Bronco when I bring it up to her, but I just figured you got one life, you might as well get all of your desires met before you kick the bucket.

Within the bounds of responsible financial management, I agree. Imagine being someone who only ever owned four Camrys, each of which you kept for 15-20 years? And all in the name of pinching pennies. Like wow, bro. You died having never had any fun in a car.

 

[Tredsdert]

Why not do a lease if you know you don't want to keep it long term?

I've never done a lease before. Does a lease provide you with trade-in value towards your next vehicle? What if the next vehicle is at a different dealership with a different brand of vehicles? Would that be reliant on the second dealership buying out the lease?

I've talked with dealerships before about lease's and they kind of make sense if you're going to be buying a newer vehicle of the same make in a year or two, but I'm not sure how they work if I went to a Ford dealership to get a Bronco and then wanted to trade it in at Toyota dealership.

 

[Tredsdert]

Within the bounds of responsible financial management, I agree. Imagine being someone who only ever owned four Camrys, each of which you kept for 15-20 years? And all in the name of pinching pennies. Like wow, bro. You died having never had any fun in a car.

I don't disagree. That's kind of why this thread is here. Trying to see if it makes sense before I even bring it up to the Mrs.

I've always owned vehicles until they die, so I don't really know much about trade-ins and such and used vehicle value short term.

Only vehicle I'd ever owned and sold was my 2017 Patriot, and I had that for about 5 years before I sold it. Realistically speaking I only lost about $5,000 when I sold it, even though I put 40,000 mi on it.

 

[John VonJeep]

I've never done a lease before. Does a lease provide you with trade-in value towards your next vehicle? What if the next vehicle is at a different dealership with a different brand of vehicles? Would that be reliant on the second dealership buying out the lease?

I've talked with dealerships before about lease's and they kind of make sense if you're going to be buying a newer vehicle of the same make in a year or two, but I'm not sure how they work if I went to a Ford dealership to get a Bronco and then wanted to trade it in at Toyota dealership.

At the end of the lease, you just turn the vehicle in and get nothing.

Theoretically, you can buy it at the end of the lease and then sell it if you think there's an arbitrage opportunity, but this doesn't tend to pan out very often.

 

[grandsrus]

My wife and I are going to be buying a house in 2026, and the plan was to sell her Subaru Forester Sport after we get a house and pick up one of the new 4Runner Trail Hunter's as our new family vehicle.

Every time a Bronco drives past us on the roadways, my wife always says how pretty they are and how much she likes them. I've explained to her extensively all the things that are wrong with them, and how I wouldn't keep one more than 3 years max.

But I do love my wife, and I like seeing her happy, so my question is if when we trade in the Subaru Forester, if we were to purchase a new Bronco with the intent to keep it for 2 years, and then trade it in for another vehicle (maybe a 4Runner at that point), what would be the best way to make sure we get the most money back when we trade in the Bronco?

Also is that something where you would want to pay for it in cash to make sure there's no interest charges?

This probably applies to all vehicles, but what packages, which trims, and which modifications will have the most value staying power when trading in a vehicle?



Ps. I haven't actually run this by my wife yet, I'm just kicking around the idea trying to see if it's a viable idea before I bring it up to her.

Oh cmon GREG!!!!!!

 

[Tredsdert]

At the end of the lease, you just turn the vehicle in and get nothing.

Theoretically, you can buy it at the end of the lease and then sell it if you think there's an arbitrage opportunity, but this doesn't tend to pan out very often.

Realistically no matter how you look at it, I would be losing money, but getting some of your investment back is probably better than getting no money back. It also brings in the factor of if you own it, is it better to sell it or trade it in?

I know lease's are typically significantly less than typical monthly payments on a loan. Only thing I worry about that is that whatever vehicle we get after we get a house, we do plan on putting a bunch of miles on it. Will be going to Colorado once a year in it, and might even take a trip here there up to New England, Louisiana, we're going to be doing some miles on it, and I know with lease's they want you to do next to no miles, well compared to the miles that we typically do each year.

Sponsored