Help Me Decide

[SneakyGOAT]

Hey guys! New here but I need some help. Ive been scouring the markets for months now trying to find a great deal on used MANUAL Mojaves, 22 and newer. Ive finally honed in and located 2 both equally far away (5 hours) and need help choosing.

For starters, both vehicles are black mojaves in manual with full 8.4 screens and both come in trailer tow pkg and black premium/leather interiors. Nonetheless heres the breakdown:

Vehicle 1: 2022 mojave with 15k miles for $43,092 OTD including tax/title/reg. Vehicle is equiped with leather interior, tow pkg, and LED lighting kit, no warm weather package and no bed liner.
- EDIT: Forgot to mention that vehicle 1’s warrantee, despite being a 2022, did not start until January of 2023 so it still has 1.5 years and 15k miles left on it.

Vehicle 2: 2023 mojave with 24k miles for $41,200 OTD including tax/title/reg equipped with cold weather group, leather interior, tow pkg, bedliner but no LED kit.


Both vehicles I can 100% get at a 6.5% interest rate but vehicle 2 thinks they can beat that once they get their quotes back.

So the trade off becomes $2,000 difference and I can get all the goodies minus LED lighting which is fine because I wouldnt mind putting aftermarket but on the flipside it has more miles. OR I can skip the cold weather and bed liner for lower mileage all together

What would you do? Both offers are in writing and a refundable deposit is in on one.

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[SneakyGOAT]

To clarify, both OTD numbers have nothing to do with my down payment or financing but do take into account taxes from trade values. In other words, the OTD price I calculated is based on total price+tax/doc/dealer fees. That is all included on my OTD calculation. If I exclude those and talk just on vehicle price alone, vehicle 1 came down to 41k and vehicle 2 came down to 39,990.

 

[gonemad]

6.5% seems a bit low in this market. Just bought a ‘24 Sport S a week ago with perfect credit score, zero debt, and good income. Maybe I didn’t shop hard enough. If that is part of your decision I would expect more like 7-7.5%.

 

[SneakyGOAT]

6.5% seems a bit low in this market. Just bought a ‘24 Sport S a week ago with perfect credit score, zero debt, and good income. Maybe I didn’t shop hard enough. If that is part of your decision I would expect more like 7-7.5%.

The 6.5% is through my local credit union with good income and around a 755 credit score give or take. I think its largely because the FED is aiming to cut rates a bit heading into the election but nonetheless. I just got off the phone with the dealer for vehicle number 2 and they think they can beat that and their finance dept seems pretty confident about that. The interest rate itself doesnt factor in as much for me, rather the mileage and trade off on options… its making it a lot harder of a decision. If the prices and miles were reversed Itd be a 100% done deal.

To be fair though. I dont particularly care about cold weather group but I do live in the northeast.

 

[SneakyGOAT]

I would go for low miles and LED lights, but I’m in Phoenix and don’t need the winter package LOL

TLDR: would you agree that the lower miles matters most and despite lower options and 2k higher price is worth it overall?

Im in the northeast but im not married to having to have cold weather package honestly. Its one of those things i only seldomly use and its to warm up the gf’s ass when shes inevitably freezing haha. But vehicle 1, while lacking in the options is also 2k more expensive and the miles is really what im hungup on i think as 15k is much more ideal

So I guess, would you agree or argue that lower mileage makes up for the nearly 2k difference? After all, vehicle 1 I would put out 800-1k on some diode dynamic lights and probs new tires (would be 35s) due to wear. But vehicle 2 Id be looking at $500 for bedliner, 8k lower miles and no cold weather. At the end of the day longevity is king i guess? Forgot to mention that vehicle 2’s warrantee, despite being a 2022 did not start until January of 2023 so it still has 1.5 years and 15k miles left on it.

 

[SneakyGOAT]

The 22 also has a body color hard top @ $2695

Very good point I didn't consider. Do you think that overall having the lower miles in general would make it the better buy in the long run?

 

[leavingbabylon]

Sounds like you’re in a great position to negotiate and ensure no last minute tricks are pulled on you.

What’s nagging at me because I vaguely recall getting hung up on this at one point, and I might be wrong, is the non-LED wiring harness MAY be different than the LED, so you might want to search the forums and check with others for info on that. It could make it more difficult to add other items ( bed outlet, accessory switches, etc) in the future Without the factory installed LED harness. Check with others here who know better than me.

In my opinion, everything else being equal (overall condition), seems to me a 1 model year newer with higher miles is about equal to an 1 year older model with lower miles.

Seat heat and bedliner are easy add-ons. I’m not as confident about the LEDs and harness I would want those from the factory.

 

[SneakyGOAT]

Sounds like you’re in a great position to negotiate and ensure no last minute tricks are pulled on you.

What’s nagging at me because I vaguely recall getting hung up on this at one point, and I might be wrong, is the non-LED wiring harness MAY be different than the LED, so you might want to search the forums and check with others for info on that. It could make it more difficult to add other items ( bed outlet, accessory switches, etc) in the future Without the factory installed LED harness. Check with others here who know better than me.

In my opinion, everything else being equal (overall condition), seems to me a 1 model year newer with higher miles is about equal to an 1 year older model with lower miles.

Seat heat and bedliner are easy add-ons. I’m not as confident about the LEDs and harness I would want those from the factory.

This is exactly what I needed to hear about to push me in the right direction honestly. I didnt think about the possibility of adding aftermarket heated seats honestly (should i decide i need em for some reason, doubt it) and with that the point about the wiring harnesses and the like actually pushed me over toward sticking with the 2022. Honestly id rather put the money for parts into a lower mile vehicle that has a longer life left in it.

And I agree with you about the miles and years making them basically equal but like you said its better to have some things lined from factory.

Above all else I dug through the carfax on both and the 22 has the correct service intervals with one right at 6k miles whereas the 23 only has 2 over all 24k miles. Sure they could do their own oil but i dont know that and if they put on double the yearly average in a single year i begin to question how they used it.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

At least you know the Mojave is the one to get. I came here to give my standard response, but you already know. Good job on researching.

 

[leavingbabylon]

Cool, glad to help!
I’m trying to remember… but maybe stuff like front trail cam not possible to (reasonably) possible to add without the factory LED harness?
someone here knows if my mind is playing tricks on me…

 

[SneakyGOAT]

Cool, glad to help!
I’m trying to remember… but maybe stuff like front trail cam not possible to (reasonably) possible to add without the factory LED harness?
someone here knows if my mind is playing tricks on me…

That actually sounds right if Im remembering the z auto kit i looked at. Overall the value of the LED package for the harnessing and wiring alone is definitely worth it given its versatility and making things less of a pain in the a**

 

[SneakyGOAT]

At least you know the Mojave is the one to get. I came here to give my standard response, but you already know. Good job on researching.

Ive read so many forums and watched so many videos that I could damn near sell one of these to jeep for top dollar haha. Nonetheless im honored by your comment being new here. Its the factory suspension that sold me and Im so glad I waited months for the market to drop to be in this position. But above all else, im just looking forward to the fun aspect of the vehicle and getting back in a manual after my last one got tboned

 

[leavingbabylon]

Here’s one of the threads that scrambled my brain. This one says no difference in the wiring harness:
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...a-to-gladiator-diy-writeup.35026/#post-568743

Even if true, I’d lean towards the factory LED because I’m slightly neurotic.

 

[leavingbabylon]

Ive read so many forums and watched so many videos that I could damn near sell one of these to jeep for top dollar haha. Nonetheless im honored by your comment being new here. Its the factory suspension that sold me and Im so glad I waited months for the market to drop to be in this position. But above all else, im just looking forward to the fun aspect of the vehicle and getting back in a manual after my last one got tboned

Same here. I managed to upsell myself on ordering new with almost every possible option and add on at absolutely top dollar. A few disappointments, but Zero regrets so far.

 

[SneakyGOAT]

Same here. I managed to upsell myself on ordering new with almost every possible option and add on at absolutely top dollar. A few disappointments, but Zero regrets so far.

Haha. If I werent still saving for a down payment on a house and waiting out the market then I would be more than happy to do the same. But after I get 30% down for a place then Ill be in your shoes haha. Hopefully by then we’ll have the glady, the ladies wrangler and a tundra in the driveway but we’ll see

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