Considering Selling my 3rd Gen for a Wrangler JLU Rubicon

My buddy just bought a JLU Rubicon and I helped him work on it, mod the heck out of it and have driven it a bit. everything about it reaffirmed my decision to buy a Taco, the Jeep was just kind of shitty all the way around. My first impression was like, its like my YJ but with more plastic and buttons and between the two I would take my YJ.

Not to mention that he paid $15000 more for his JLU than I did for the Tacoma, honestly it's not worth more than a Tacoma, Jeep are taking everyone to the cleaners with their namesake

 

Funny thing is. I drive a 1988 Ford F250 7.3l diesel with sold front axle. No death wobble. The suspension hasn't been messed with for 30 years.

 

That’s just it. My point exactly.

Jeep forums are filled with Death Wobble threads. Once you start reading, it’s mostly some 18 year old who put 37” tires, 2.5” spacers and a $200 lift.

I had issues with my 2018 JKUR, most of them were dealer related. It had a 2” Mopar lift and 35” tires; never had Death Wobble on that or any of my prior seven Wranglers.

 

Pretty sure you can do what the F150 guys do and get the dummy trailer plug as well. It inserts a resistor in the circuit to trick the vehicle into thinking a trailer is connected at all times and it prevents it from activating.

 

I have to disagree completely my 18 JLUR honestly to me feels better built then the Tacoma by far I don't have random squeaks and noises, I'm not satisfied at all with the TRD OR suspension and to me the interior has a lot to catch with when it comes to comparing the Tacoma to the Jeep. As far as comparing a YJ to a JL there is nothing the same at all when it comes to the 2 of them. Now I will agree with the price part and that is why the Jeep to me is more refined your paying that extra money to get a better product IMO. I haven't done any true off-roading in the Tacoma yet but just looking at them off the lot the JLUR is a more capable vehicle, height, tires, gearing, axle, disconnects. I mean people including me are going to drop thousands of dollars to fit a 285/70/16 and be capable off-road on the tacoma the JUR comes stock that way.

 

Former Jeep tech and it's been an issue since the TJ (and I'm sure before). We used to keep a stock of Rancho and King stabilizers (depending on tire size and/or budget) for the lifted Jeeps coming in with a wobble because it was rarely a true warranty issue. It was always some cheap 4" lift and budget 35"+ tires.

 

Yup. Garbage in, garbage out.

 

I still would caution anyone shopping for a Wrangler to take its vaunted resale value with a grain of salt.

Yes, Wranglers have enjoyed strong resale value for years, right along Tacoma. But FCA has been overproducing JLs to the point that dealer inventories have been sitting at 100 to 150 days (60 days is ideal; 90 is considered high) since last October. And now Gladiator is only going to add to the supply and cannibalize Wrangler sales.

Case in point: my 2018 JKUR Recon had a MSRP of $52,000; I paid $46,000 + tax and license. Ten months later my Toyota dealer listed it for $47,000 with 8,400 miles. One month later it dropped the price to $45,000; two weeks later to $43,000. After two months they appear to be getting desperate, they just dropped the price to $38,750. I have no doubt it will sell at that price, but that’s 25% below MSRP; 15% off purchase price...in 11 months. And keep in mind that is dealer retail price, too; trade in was much lower.

I know Tacoma owners take pride in their resale and for good reason. If you shop for a Wrangler and they start telling you about how wonderful resale values are, don’t swallow it, and don’t pay anything close to MSRP. Wrangler resale is not what it used to be.

 

Did you get the subwoofer option?
I love mine. Even with the top and doors off, the thing sounds amazing.

The bread crumb feature in nav and the off road pages that come with the 8.4 uconnect are sweet as well.

 

Yes, I have the Alpine system in mine and it's great, my Tacoma will most likely get upgraded once I'm done with everything else.

 

That sounds good to me....I’d love to get a JLR some day (like 5yrs+) just for fun, but wait until there are higher mileage / lower priced ones out there.

 

Yeah this is much closer than I thought it was going to be on a TacomaWorld forum

 

Grass is always greener...

 

As far as Re-Sale value goes KBB has the best resale value for 2019 Vehicles as #1 Tacoma #2 Wrangler


https://www.kbb.com/new-cars/best-resale-value-awards/best-resale-top-10-cars/

 

Yes. I have seen that.

I don’t know where KBB gets its data from, though. It doesn’t reflect reality.

They are probably used to seeing Wrangler resale on top. Someome fell asleep at the wheel over there...

 

I agree on the resale decline of the Wrangler. Earlier in the year a local dealer was selling a brand new leftover Rubi for $7k off the msrp. They still have 3 2018’s and it’s June already.

 

I think the problem your Wrangler had was that the JL came out in 18 as well and they were selling the JK's still so the JK took a hit because of the new body style. Wrangler has always been a great re-sale and will remain so until they have competition. Now the new Bronco may be that for them if it's true that it will have removable top and doors like the Wrangler.

 

I researched the resale on my Wrangler thoroughly before walking into the Toyota dealership.

KBB claimed my Wrangler had a trade-in value of $40,000. I looked at used Wranglers similar to mine online, and asking price was around $40,000. Which meant KBB was overestimating trade-in values by anywhere between $5,000 and $3,000.

When I sat down to buy the Tacoma, the dealer must have believed KBB’s trade-in value, because they discounted the Tacoma HEAVILY. I didn’t say anything; it is their job to figure it out.

When the dealer first listed my Jeep at $47,000 it confirmed they were truly over-optimistic how much they could get for it. At $38,750, they are probably close to breaking even.

 

The problem is that (1) FCA really convinced itself that Wrangler had no competition and jacked up prices 15%, and (2) expanded JL production capacity to double that of JK.

Once the plant is built, they need to run it as close to full utilization to maximize those profits. But at those much higher prices, market demand didn’t go up. Instead, fleet sales started going up to help relieve the pressure.

The end result is a flood of unsold JLs, a significant increase in fleet sales, and average transaction prices that are 10% off MSRP.

When you have large plant capacity, large unsold inventories, large fleet sales, and large discounts, there’s no way JL resale value is going to hold.

 

Good point. Manufacturers often ship new trucks and cars to dealers to help keep the production lines moving. It creates an oversupply and dealers have no choice but to discount them significantly to move them out the door. Supply is far exceeding demand.

This is happening right now with the current Corvette C7. The 2020 C8 allocations are based on 2019 C7 sales. Nobody is buying the C7 right now knowing the mid engine C8 is around the corner. The official reveal is just around the corner on July 18th. Chevy dealers are offering a 12-17% discount To help move inventory. You can purchase a brand new 455 hp C7 Stingray for the price of a TRD manual Pro!