Do the Mojave and Rubicon hold their value better?

[RacerX00]

When I was researching 36 month lease residuals, this is generally what I found, depending on mileage limits:
Sport- 73%
Rubicon- 70%
Overland- 68%

3 year residual isn't the same as 10 year residual, though!

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[Renegade]

3 year residual isn't the same as 10 year residual, though!

Well, that may be correct. I didn’t say it was the same. I was just relaying some information which might be applicable. I don’t think anyone can really say what things will look like 10 years from now, but even if all trims depreciated at the same rate, the vehicle with the highest initial cost would lose more value. VW GTIs (I had a MK 6.5) and Golf Rs are definitely exceptional to the rules.

 

[Stitchedupseats]

Our 4xe residual was at like 74-75% I think. Which is crazy when you factor in the 7500 $ tax rebate.
Our JTRLE sticker was almost 63k. KBB on it right now is like 56k and it’s a 1.5 year old with 17k miles. I think that’s phenomenal. I’m not selling it or ever planning to, but nice to know it has kept its value.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Hi all- About to make the plunge, super excited. Quick question, I know for instance when I bought my GTI over a standard Golf, I was unexpectedly surprised at how it held it's value over it's more respectable, subdued brother 10 years after and I went to sell the thing. It easily made up the difference in value of trim levels when purchased and I got to enjoy the much better car.

Is the same thing true for Jeeps and the Gladiator? I'd imagine it's a bit different since all are desirable on the secondary market but at the same time, I can't help but wonder, if I purchased a Mojave or a Rubicon over say the Sport S optioned more how I want it, will I be paid in the end in a similar way I was with my VW?

No, it's a myth. Do the math, percentages. It's not really going to matter. I checked into trading my Overland last summer when I had some hesitations about some things - found it didn't really matter percentage-wise what level it was. Yeah, I'd get less than a Rubicon owner would but then I paid less and if you work the percentages, look at leases, etc. - people who own Rubicon love to say it does, it's a feel good justification. If you buy based on that, you are deciding for a wrong reason. Resale prices will be higher, but the math shows about the same percentage of value lost over time as the other levels. The Wrangler people have proven this over and over. A Wrangler Saraha in our area will do just as well when you figure it as a percentage of the original cost.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I've bought and sold a LOT of cars. Mostly classics. For years, I had an average hold of about 6 months, and I made a few hundred to a few grand on almost every car (exceptions involved breaking the rules and cars getting totaled). Once I got to a value that made me uncomfortable to drive daily, I cashed out the principal on the last buy and used the profit from it to start again at the bottom and work my way back up.

When it comes to appliance beige-mobiles, trims don't really do much for you. A few hundred compared to the thousands you pay. Insurance companies and banks mostly think in those terms, so no, there's nothing fancy there. Dealers will be the same way because it works to their advantage, and if we're honest, dealers are almost universally scum. The difference comes in that you're talking special interest vehicles...

In terms of special interest vehicles, the "big engine" always gets a better return. Always. If you've done enough special interest vehicles like this, you start to get a feel for what will be a value add, and what won't be worth anything. It's a matter of character, problems, and capability. In the JT's case, the Rubicon and Mojave are both the "big engine"s in the bunch (the "big engine" thing comes from sport cars where power is critical, and doesn't directly apply here in the same way). In this case, it's more a question of which is the bigger engine... That's tough to say right now. Traditionally, Jeeps are about rock crawling, not dune bashing. The Raptor created a new niche, and everyone is following. The Mojave is Jeep's Raptor. In the long run, it may take off such that dune bashing is the new rock crawling, or it could be that Ford just owns that niche and the Mojave is an also ran (also ran is my honest feeling due to solid axles kinda sucking at dune bashing), and Jeep should have just kept on doing what they do best. It's tough to look that far into the future. My money would be on the Rubicon holding value better, because that's what Jeeps "do" most quintessentially. Taking a step back and evaluating not trim to trim, but JT to Ranger, say, a Rubicon/Mojave will trounce them in value retention. A Rubicon/Mojave will trounce all the other JT trims for that matter, but by a lesser margin. If I were looking purely on the basis of resale value (which is honestly kinda dumb on most new cars, and these are no exception), I'd go with the Rubicon.

The other side of the coin is modifications. A car like this is a canvas that people "mod" themselves onto. If you look at the highest car returns, they're always rock stock. Untouched. When you make something custom, YOU made it custom for YOU. No one wants your car, they want theirs. One of my selling mantras has always been "stock sells". I may put a roof rack, or cool wheels, or seat covers or whatever on a vehicle, but when I go to sell it, I always take off everything I can and return it to stock. Some things can't reasonably come off, so you have to take that into consideration when you do lifts and engine swaps and such. Stock sells much faster and for more money.

True for classics, too. Sold my 70 Javelin for a price that made people ask "you got WHAT?" - ALL STOCK, and I kept it that way and every repair was done with correct parts and I kept every part number and date code correct.
When I buy cars, I don't want anything modified, especially if it will cost me in time or money to reverse what they did and make it my own.

 

[MNWillys]

Based on my own experience and watching of market prices, specifically with older Jeeps, it can be said that the ones that hold the best value are those in the best shape. That's not to say that a clean Sport will be worth more than a rusty Rubicon, however I'd pay more for a cleaner vehicle. I sold my old 97' TJ Sahara in 2007 for $5000, now you will pay about $7500 for them and up to $25,000 for a modded model, granted no Rubicon's for that year. All Jeeps hold their value, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[spectre6000]

I sold my old 97' TJ Sahara in 2007 for $5000, now you will pay about $7500 for them ...

Based on my experience watching market prices across a range and variety of makes, models, and vintages, then subsequently buying and selling with repeated and consistent success over a stretch of several years, what you're describing there is the depreciation curve hitting bottom and turning the corner. Condition is a micro factor that matters on a case by case basis, but it's projected over the macro factors. A pristine but zero value car will be worth in the micro scenario some percentage greater than the average of that zero value; but since it's zero, a million percent of zero is still zero. More realistically, a running Yugo might be worth about a grand, while a minty Yugo will fetch 5 and scrap will be scarp. Micro projected onto macro. Same story for a Porsche, but the values are all magnified at the micro due to the macro. Hopefully that makes sense... I feel like it would be more effective if I could wave my hands around rather than tickling a keyboard...

One of my car buy rules was "nothing newer than me". That guarantees all the depreciation has occurred. The curve has found its minimum. From there, some cars begin to appreciate again, while others stay at the bottom or continue toward zero. If you catch an upswing (that's not part of a bubble like muscle cars were there a few years ago), you more or less can't go wrong. A good example of this was my '62 VW bus. I bought on the upswing, so as long as I had a reasonably functional bus and didn't do anything too terribly stupid with it, I was all but guaranteed a positive return. Conversely, after my accident I bought a '02 BMW 330i. I broke the above mentioned rule; it hadn't hit the bottom of the depreciation curve. I followed the rest of my rules (mostly), and just made it run really well and fixed what was broken, so I sold it for much more than I bought it for (though still a slight loss once the cost of repairs was tallied, it worked out to less than $70 monthly ownership cost, and was possibly my highest "car payment" for maybe a decade of all sorts of super fun cars).

Part of "holding value" is a time component. If you're talking 6 months, barring specific exceptions, you'll lose every time. If you're talking 6 years, doubly so. 12, you're probably around the bottom. Around 18 years or so, and you've for sure hit the bottom of the curve and started to recover. Not every car does; Jeeps typically do. They're special interest to the core, there are halo models (a positively contributing factor for both the Rubicons/Mojaves, but also lifts the rest to a degree by association), but Jeeps really don't have the benefit of limited production, so it's a bit of a mixed bag leaning to the positive. Jeep overdoes the special editions (in the event someone brings them up), so they don't help at all, and disappear into the noise.

All that said, we're in a very special moment in history right now where the pandemic has shut down vast swathes of the automotive manufacturing universe such that used cars are fetching historically high values. Personally, I've got two I'm unloading as we speak, in no small part due to these special circumstances and the expected returns. Because of that, I would caution against any contemporaneous valuations being given any weight beyond the immediate circumstances.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Part of "holding value" is a time component. If you're talking 6 months, barring specific exceptions, you'll lose every time. If you're talking 6 years, doubly so. 12, you're probably around the bottom. Around 18 years or so, and you've for sure hit the bottom of the curve and started to recover. Not every car does; Jeeps typically do. They're special interest to the core, there are halo models (a positively contributing factor for both the Rubicons/Mojaves, but also lifts the rest to a degree by association), but Jeeps really don't have the benefit of limited production, so it's a bit of a mixed bag leaning to the positive. Jeep overdoes the special editions (in the event someone brings them up), so they don't help at all, and disappear into the noise.

All that said, we're in a very special moment in history right now where the pandemic has shut down vast swathes of the automotive manufacturing universe such that used cars are fetching historically high values. Personally, I've got two I'm unloading as we speak, in no small part due to these special circumstances and the expected returns. Because of that, I would caution against any contemporaneous valuations being given any weight beyond the immediate circumstances.

Yup.

How can anyone ask everyone to predict the future? These were introduced not that long ago in the grand scheme of things. Mojave? Give me a break. What's it, a year old? And people want to know about holding value?
Like said above - the first years are SKEWED badly due to immediate depreciation - but toss in the mix the shortage of used vehicles. When we traded my wife's 2018 WK2 last fall we were SHOCKED at what we got in trade, in a good way. There were no used Grand Cherokees on lots and I checked for new ones on the lot as she likes to look and buy off the lot the same day. There wasn't a single WK2 on the lot that matched her criteria - not a one in the state of Iowa.
I figured by the time a dealer cleaned hers up, prepped it for sale, paperwork, advertising, etc. - it would likely sell for not a lot less than what we paid new.

I guess I also don't get this buying based even in part on resale down the road. If you want it and like it, buy it. By the time you factor in what it might be worth, we could have another 2008 and that thing could be worth a fraction of your expectations.

Even people into classic cars, 3 or 4 decades old or older get surprised quite often.
People said over and over my 70 being an automatic could NEVER bring what a 4 speed car in similar condition would bring.
In fact, it did better!

I'd say - get out those crystal balls,
or
Those that say down the road xxx will be worth significantly more - making it worth the extra cost of ownership - prove it. Show the numbers, do the math.
Like I've said many times here- of course any Rubicon or Mojave owner will tell you THEIR model will be worth more - to say anything else is admitting a mistake. It's human nature to tell everyone they made the correct choice, the perfect choice, and there's no other real choice as it will be worth more.
No one can prove it only 1 model year later, though.
So look at the responses - and those that tell you "Rubicon" etc. - look at what they own.

 

[RacerX00]

I've already got my answer but I want to stir the pot some.

I just want to put out there that sometimes there's a 5.0L under the hood of an '89 Stang and sometimes there's a 2.0L.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I've already got my answer but I want to stir the pot some.

I just want to put out there that sometimes there's a 5.0L under the hood of an '89 Stang and sometimes there's a 2.0L.

Give me a 351C, you can keep the others.

 

[LostWoods]

IT would make sense to me that the Rubicons and other higher priced Jeeps would depreciate at a greater rate than the lower priced ones, mainly because they have more room to fall. Used cars in general depreciate almost the moment you drive them off the lot, and I would think that if you compared the depreciation of both a Rubicon and, say, a Sport-S, you'd probably see that percentage wise, the Rubicon depreciated more. Of course, this depends on when you look, maybe that wouldn't be the case after 2 years but I would think almost certainly it would be after say 5 years or more.

Or, maybe I'm wrong. That's happened before too.

This is generally typical over the long term when vehicles don't have true differentiation. You'll generally find that top trims will hold value better through about 5 years then regress toward the mean price as luxuries become outdated and off-road or performance vehicles start to break into the market of people buying with the intent to modify. The only trims that tend to do better over time are those that add something substantial like a better engine or where there's collector value.

 

[GoVR46]

A sport model with Rubicon stickers holds its value really well. Especially with the Sport Weight Package which removes power locks / windows for less weight / easier door removal.

Ouch! This post belongs in the "fake trim level post"

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/fake-trim-levels.43579/

 

[j.o.y.ride]

The unknown factor here is incentives, I found my window sticker yesterday, $49,675. My final negotiated price was $42,000 +/- including the extended warranty. The Rubicon was giving at best $1-2k off. Sticker wise I am sure the Rubicon looks like it held more value, but to my wallet, which is all I care about in the end, I bet my Overland did better at this point because I got a sizeable chunk off up front.

 

[Solidaxle]

Yes

 

[Renegade]

Yup...Like I've said many times here- of course any Rubicon or Mojave owner will tell you THEIR model will be worth more - to say anything else is admitting a mistake. It's human nature to tell everyone they made the correct choice, the perfect choice, and there's no other real choice as it will be worth more.
No one can prove it only 1 model year later, though.
So look at the responses - and those that tell you "Rubicon" etc. - look at what they own.

Many, but not all. I didn’t select my trim level based on residual value though...

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