demtek9

Right now, my son is 11 and is a pretty good kid. I've told him that I'd get him a Jeep if he gets his eagle scout and keeps up good grades through middle school and HS. He'll graduate at 17.
I've got a modded 2009 JKUR toy we love to play in out here in Colorado. We went to EJS last year and will go again this year. Going out in my JK is the one thing he loves to do with me.

Just to determine what I'm going to be looking for, I've been looking at CL and Autotrader and most any JK 2 door is going for 15K and UP. Looking through AT ads, most 2007-2010 2 doors are going from $15K to 20K. Looking at older TJs is just as crazy because they are cheaper, but not by far. I'm not sure I want to give him a older model without airbags, so TJ would be my cut off.

The crazy part...

The "best deal" I've seen in my Colorado area is a $15,000 obo for a 2007 Sahara with 40,000 miles or there was a super clean 2008 Sahara with 22,000 miles at $20,500. KBB says that those values are within range. Almost all other JK I see are 70,000 miles and most are closer to 100,000 miles. People still want $15-16 thousand dollars.

For $23,500 I can get a bone stock 2014 from the dealer. I like wheeling my 4 door, but have really considered getting a stock 2 door as my commuter. The guy down the street has a black JKUR and a TJ Rubi that makes me super jealous....

I kind of want to get a Jeep that I can pass on to my son, so we can both enjoy jeeping 5-6 years from now. My commuter car is a 2007 Mazda worth about $10-11,000. It gets about 23-25 MPG because its turbocharged and has only 50K miles. Now I could trade it for a low mileage JK around the same condition and mileage...BUT should I trade in my car for a DD JK and roll that for 5-6 years before passing it on? Do I keep looking for a low mile 2007 to 2010 that is cheaper (relative) and roll that back and forth to work? Do I just wait for the kid to turn 16 and got hunting for that 1 in a 10000 used JK then?

What are your thoughts guys and gals?

rob_engineer

I would probably wait until the 2015 model comes out. Then maybe you could get good financing through Chrysler. If you are taking a loan out, it is very important to understand that a new vehicle will usually have better interest rates than a used one. Sometimes off-lease specimens also have a good rate if the manufacturer wants to clear the lots of the ones that are a couple of years old. I did this in august with BMW. I got a certified preowned 2011 and got 0.9% financing. When I did the math, it was worth it to spend a bit more on the certified vehicle because the low interest rate saved a couple thousand over the life of the loan compared to what I would have gotten on a non certified one.

demtek9

Good advice Rob. My difference would be about 14 thousand but I already can get 1.99 guaranteed from my credit union. If I were to get a low milage 2008/2009 I'd get the same rate but the difference in cost would be closer to 5 thousand dollars.

SaFFFari

X2 on waiting for the next generation jeep. Should make the tj and jk drop slightly in price

demtek9

I'm pretty sure we won't see the next gen wrangler in 2015. Next year may have a diesel to boost end of production sales of the current JK platform but next generation is probably a few years off.

pwain

Wait. 6 years is a long time. He might be into Prius or Miatas by then.

demtek9

Ha... I'll disown him first. I'd give him my Mazdaspeed but he'd kill himself...I should probably wait and see if he's into jeeping in a few years.

Williamlv282

Edited post as I cannot delete it

navin r

If you're talking 2 doors for your son I think a 07' or 08' with reasonable miles would be a good choice. Yes, the costs of those still seem high but it'll also retain it's value for a long time after you buy it. If you're talking 4 doors I would only consider a 12' or newer for the newer motor. I'm also very interested in the next generation Wrangler but it sounds like it's not going to be on the street for maybe more than 30 months from now, as a 17' model, though I'd be happy if it's sooner.

rvator

Get yourself a new 2 door sport and make that your DD. In 5 or 6 years it will be ready for him because like you have noticed used JK's really hold their value and it makes new ones seem like a better deal.