Totaled Wrangler - Need Help

[gato]

As I mentioned before, you can pull together the best 2021 2-door JL Willys comps you can find to bolster your case, and make a counter offer. (for each you can note the missing equipment and the MSRP on the equipment from your window sticker)

In the end you will at most get $1K-$2K more, as their offer seems reasonable.

The "unique", "hard to find" argument is a dead end and irrelevant.

Good luck.

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[entropy]

Look for comps with auto tranny and subtract 2k or so. Then ask for that.

Order a new wrangler. The 2024 willys is really nice. shit happens, but usually you get more from insurance than you would selling even private. Take it as an opportunity to upgrade.

 

[MichaelT333]

Hey Everyone,

I was rear ended, their fault, and my 2021 unlimited Willy’s was totaled with only 14k miles. The issue I’m dealing with is that I had specifically spec’d this car perfectly for me and I’ll struggle to find another like this in the country to use as comps. Below are the options

manual transmission, sun and sound package, cold weather package, convenience & tech package, sarge green.

I built this exact spec’d wrangler on the Jeep website and there was not a single one in any color available nationwide. If you look at the used market, which is such a struggle to accurately option on the car finder sites, I also didn’t find another one like it.

The insurance company offered $43k. I’m not happy with that because I can’t find anything similar in that price point to replace it with, it’s all mostly Rubicon level and they’re in $50k used. They used automatic, hard top, Willy’s as comps and that’s not right.

I shouldn’t be the one getting screwed here but I may because there’s literally no comps for this trim in a manual spec’d this way.

Any one deal with something similar for these more unique spec’d Wranglers and have tips for this? It’s USAA I’m dealing with.

Yeah man I had the same issue well close to the same issue as you. I wanted a two-door Willys wrangler in manual transmission. That is it, my only conditions, you would think not too bad to find. Oh boy was I wrong I called literally hundreds of dealerships all over the US. I was willing to drive up to 15 hours to get it. I decided just to order one online custom built which I did not realize it was going to be six or seven months before I was going to see it. I made sure my deposit was refundable, and I continued looking. What ultimately worked for me was I called Literally dozens of dealerships within a 300 mile radius of me and asked if they had any in stock. They all said no, of course I already knew this looking at the online inventory search on jeeps website but I said if you come across anything or hear of anything here is my number please give me a call and sure enough a couple weeks later I get a call from a random number and it’s a guy at a dealership eight hours away that said I have a wrangler to your spec that is arriving today are you interested? It was a Willy’s in Sarge green with a few upgrade packages on it. I wasn’t crazy about the color at the time I ended up buying it and I am so glad that I did. I absolutely love the color now it stands out from lots of other jeeps, which I like, and it’s always a head Turner. Don’t just use jeeps wrangler finder as this Jeep wasn’t even on their site. I asked the dealer and he said that thing is wrong most of the time. What I did was just Google search. Jeep wrangler for sale near (and then enter a zip code near you and keep going father and father out from you). Just some information from my point of view I would highly recommend getting the leather steering wheel, get the heated seats, upgraded audio, and without question get LED lights and get one with the LTE uconnect (Won’t have to worry about the screen if it’s 2024) go 2024 Willy’s if you can as they now have much nicer features.

Good luck.

 

[AcesandEights]

I think this has kind of been stated before. If you wanted to know what those options are worth, don't build your vehicle, but build (look for) a vehicle with and without each option; search for comps. Then you'll know what each option adds to value, basically. It's (probably) going to be less than you think. You're also going to find the hard top and auto trans will add more value and make a vehicle easier to sell and buy, so although your configuration may be unique, it probably doesn't add value.

Just because you spec'd a vehicle in such a way that Jeep only made one (exaggeration), it doesn't make it priceless.

 

[five9dak]

When I was searching for nearly new 2dr JLs a few years ago, the option configuration had almost zero impact on the asking prices.

I got a gussied up (43k msrp) freedom (sport s) for no more money than a bare bones one would sell for.

Unfortunately this means the nicer spec wrangler you buy, the quicker initial depreciation you suffer, and that includes if your vehicle is totaled. Only the trim, sport/sahara/rubicon matter. The Willys (and my freedom) are sports when you run the VIN.

 

[five9dak]

43k looks generous to me. Sorry.

 

[bigcitymike]

Although apple and oranges, I had a tired but in good condition 2011 Silverado 1500 4x4 with 230k miles that got hit in the back. It took some damage but wasn't really that bad. Surprisingly the tailgate although tweaked still works with a slight bit of modification They totaled it as expected and offered me $13k for it. I could buy it back for $1,500. I promptly accepted their generous offer, and bought the truck back. With very little work, I'm back on the road putting more miles on a nearly free truck. It honestly doesn't look that bad considering. I paid $16k for it with 100K on the dial back in 2018.

Can you fix it? Did you ask for their buy-back offer? I presumed they'd offer me $5k-$8k for the pay out just because of it's age and miles. Presumed the buy-back would be in the $4k range. I would've gone for that offer if they put it out there because the truck still has a bit of life in it. So they suspired me. Maybe the buy-back is worth it to fix it if it's such a rare breed?

 

[kah.mun.rah]

I feel your pain. I think I lost around $17,000 when my JL was totaled.

 

[JL_Sahara]

It’s a tough pill to swallow. I’m going to get $43k for it yet can’t find a 4dr Willys with sun and sound with a stick in the entire country to replace it at that cost. Either I spend $43k and get a lesser vehicle to me or spend more/buy new, which sucks because mine was perfect and I had a great interest rate. Not to mention I order a new one spec’d the same and with inflation since 2021, it’s now $53k versus $46k when I bought. All around just a shit situation.

 

[aldo98229]

I hear your pain.

If had to replace my JL Sahara today, I doubt I’ll buy another Wrangler, no matter how much I love them.

I simply refuse to pay $60,000 for a Jeep...and on top of that get treated like dirt. That’s just not right.

I might shop around for a lightly used WK2 Grand Cherokee and be done.

 

[bigcitymike]

It’s a tough pill to swallow. I’m going to get $43k for it yet can’t find a 4dr Willys with sun and sound with a stick in the entire country to replace it at that cost. Either I spend $43k and get a lesser vehicle to me or spend more/buy new, which sucks because mine was perfect and I had a great interest rate. Not to mention I order a new one spec’d the same and with inflation since 2021, it’s now $53k versus $46k when I bought. All around just a shit situation.

It's doubtful you'll beat the insurance company at their game, unless you're a Lawyer. I asked before, and I'll ask again, what's the buy-back? If low enough, buy it back, sell the parts to make some of the money back and buy get a new one. You'll get a new warranty, arguably nicer info screen (they all come with a 12.3-inch center touchscreen with standard wireless Apple CarPlay), and they now come with antenna delete on the fender.

Got to try and make lemonade out of lemons, unless you're trying to just soak in you sorrows in this thread.

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