We're far from done with production hell

[CBR2200]

1. If resellers like Carvana are offering us near or above sticker price for our used 20xx Wranglers, and we're truly interested in taking today's profit, why not sell the vehicle privately? That'd put more money in our pockets. Listing the Jeep would require just a bit of labor not dissimilar to performing our own house showings. (I've sold trucks, motorcycles and scooters privately, all via Craigslist. I've got the scars, and nothing about the experience scares me. )

The issue with selling privately is a lot of buyers don't want to deal with the hassle and/or risk of buying a vehicle with a current lien on it, and I assume many JL's aren't paid off yet.

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[DadJokes]

I must have just beat the deadline. Custom ordered a Rubicon JLU on 3/26 and took delivery on 4/22. It seems to have all its parts

I heard it wasn't so much a supply shortage as the fact there are no truck drivers to deliver the freight. Port of LA is backed up with lots of ships waiting to unload, but nobody available to pick it up at the port. I think the pandemic really hit the trucking industry hard and it will take a while to crank back up. The final leg from the port to the customer is really hosed up.

Rail dwell time is up to almost 2 weeks. Rail car shortages. None of this is going away soon.

Seems we need more of these older professions to make a comeback.

 

[Heimkehr]

The issue with selling privately is a lot of buyers don't want to deal with the hassle and/or risk of buying a vehicle with a current lien on it, and I assume many JL's aren't paid off yet.

The matter of liens did come to mind. I then recalled the sheer volume of forum posts and threads that illustrate new Wranglers with four and five figures worth of accessories bolted on them. If there's enough money to do that, then it should follow that the note has already been paid off. Or, possibly the owner bought his Jeep outright for cash. There will be exceptions, yes.

When selling vehicles privately, I've only done so with clear titles in hand, so I don't disagree that a vehicle listed with an encumbrance can turn some buyers away.

 

[LooselyHeldPlans]

I then recalled the sheer volume of forum posts and threads that illustrate new Wranglers with four and five figures worth of accessories bolted on them. If there's enough money to do that, then it should follow that the note has already been paid off.

Why in the world would anyone (like myself) who has a 2.49% loan take good money and pay off this loan when the cash could go in the market and earn 3-4x? You don’t seem to understand opportunity cost.

 

[csjlu]

Why in the world would anyone (like myself) who has a 2.49% loan take good money and pay off this loan when the cash could go in the market and earn 3-4x? You don’t seem to understand opportunity cost.

Market volatility, specifically semi-variance risk, is one answer to the question you asked. Your loan rate is guaranteed, the market return is not. I'm not saying anybody is right or wrong to do what they are doing, and everybody's personal financial position is unique, but it cannot be ruled out that semi-variance risk could turn your opportunity cost spread negative...which is not ideal when financing what has been normally been a depreciating asset (a vehicle). Throw in a potential inflation spike, which may be happening right now, and things could get even more unpredictable over the typical tenor of a car loan.

 

[Heimkehr]

Why in the world would anyone (like myself) who has a 2.49% loan take good money and pay off this loan when the cash could go in the market and earn 3-4x? You don’t seem to understand opportunity cost.

csjlu pipped me to the post. I'll just reiterate that the Jeep that you don't yet own outright has a stable depreciation trajectory that may or may not be offset by investment returns. It's better to have the easy liquidity of an unencumbered vehicle title. This is doubly so when observing that the exaggerated ebb and flow of the financial markets has been making the news every single evening.

If 3-4x earnings is so assured as to be something you advocate, do tell the forum how its done.

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