Step-by-step recipe for a good Jeep JL buying experience

[Overwatch]

A good experience!? HahahHahA. Oh wait. Sorry, were you serious? (None of my Jeep buying experiences have been good, but I love my Jeep!)

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[Signing Spock]

Ordering Bluey was cake. Literally had zero issues with the dealer or my trade in. Was all quick, painless, and I still am friends with my sales-lady I had there who worked with me through the whole thing.
- @ Bluebonnet Jeep in New Braunfels, TX

Buying Aurora at a stealership up in west/central Austin was a fucking PITA cause we didn’t order it, and we had a trade in that was worth good money, so they didn’t wanna give us as much (whereas with Bluey it was just my paid off Corolla that I knew I’d only get so much for and they literally came in above that so I was cool with it). The whole experience was nearly as rough as buying our Lennar home, which is saying something. We won’t ever go to them again, for anything
- @ Covert CDJR in Austin, TX

Bonus story; my first Jeep, the Lost Yeti, was completely by accident. Went in to just look at a base model JK, they were able to get payments that were $30 more per month than the Patriot that I owned at the time, so I couldn’t refuse that deal. I made money on the Patriot, and left withmy first Wrangler…all within a four or so hour window. Was good…but everything after that (services) were rough for the next year+. So that was 50% good.
- @ All American CDJR in San Angelo, TX

In all, I’m at 1.5 good experiences out of 3 across three dealers and across nine years now lmfao

 

[GrayHawk20]

When I was looking at the 392 last year I was about to get one at MSRP but wanted to see if by chance I could get one cheaper, and thankfully I did, with a little research I saved about 10k off sticker for a fully loaded factory ordered Jeep 392

 

[Ratbert]

I was the ghost stalker for months on this site taking in all the buying resources available. This has to be one of the most comprehensive sites for tools and knowledge for buying Jeeps. So why do we see so many threads of people not sticking to the script and getting screwed over? Here's my account of a step by step recipe for a good experience. Take it for what it is and if you disagree, that's fine. Ultimately, do your homework as there are plenty of resources here. Nobody is forcing you to rush into a bad deal. You are always in control.

1. Go to Tread Lightly and sign up. Use your 30 days to "study" JL Wrangler Forum information.​

2. Go to the Order Guide and build your Jeep out.​

3. Go to Jeep.com and guess if the color you like is really going to look like that in person.​

4. Try and figure out which motor is best for you.​

5. If your 30 days aren't up yet, repeat steps 2-4 over and over and over again. It's fun and will give you more of an insight as to the countless combinations and options Jeep offers.​

6. Either fill out an order guide or export a build pdf from the jeep.com site​

7. Go to the recommended dealer list now that you have your FCA discount.​

8. Email them with the build sheet and verify the discount, fees, and any down payment. Make sure you understand what's refundable and non refundable.​

9. Make sure that you will sign the official build sheet and what the final price is. Most will have you sign all the options and the final out the door price.​

10. Don't shop based on payments. This is a custom build in a time of limited parts and longer than "normal" build times. Rates on financing and MF on leasing can change and most likely will before you can take delivery. If your deal requires dealer financing, ask how many payments you need to make before you have the option to refinance.​

11. You are not required to take delivery of the Jeep you order. If the deal changes, adjust accordingly. I think we all can say we want a new Jeep, but nobody said you have to do it at your own financial detriment. If you need some old school music support, listen to the Gambler by Kenny Rogers. While it's about poker, it can easily apply to buying any car.​

Your should consider including a link to this spreadsheet: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/ratberts-dealers-below-invoice-spreadsheet.95841/. Tread Lightly is great, but you can get quite a bit better deals with or without it.

 

[MrGoodByte]

Your should consider including a link to this spreadsheet: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/ratberts-dealers-below-invoice-spreadsheet.95841/. Tread Lightly is great, but you can get quite a bit better deals with or without it.

Done. For the record, I expected that my statement of checking the preferred dealers would allude that you can save more. I found that most of the dealers near me still required TL to get the best discount, so I feel it is an in tandem approach for deepest discounts. I ended up with 6% below invoice with TL, forum affiliation, and dealer financing.

 

[Ratbert]

Done. For the record, I expected that my statement of checking the preferred dealers would allude that you can save more. I found that most of the dealers near me still required TL to get the best discount, so I feel it is an in tandem approach for deepest discounts. I ended up with 6% below invoice with TL, forum affiliation, and dealer financing.

Perfect.

I'm not sure what you mean by forum affiliation. I'm only aware of a single dealership that has a "forum members price" and that was just added today.

 

[Deleted member 72291]

Great guide and advice!

You left off step #12:

Make post on jlwranglerforums.com stating “Dealer said [insert option SOT; XR Package; Advanced Safety Group; All Weather Mats; Door Sill Guards; etc.] is going to delay my order by 6 weeks.”

Lol

 

[MrGoodByte]

Perfect.

I'm not sure what you mean by forum affiliation. I'm only aware of a single dealership that has a "forum members price" and that was just added today.

My sales sheet, from Criswell’s, states that part of my discount is “Criswell’s Forum” discount of -2%. I’m sure they are using this to also track their sales leads from forum traffic.

 

[n8billings]

3. Go to Jeep.com and guess if the color you like is really going to look like that in person.

​

This is accurate!

 

[MrGoodByte]

3. Go to Jeep.com and guess if the color you like is really going to look like that in person.

​

This is accurate!

Especially with the cartoonish way the 2023 build models look. I don’t understand it either because I can’t for the life of me figure out what’s different on the exterior from the 2022 models.

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