Is the Gladiator a bad investment

[Rusty PW]

When was buying any vehicle a good investment? They are depreciating assets.

If I have known back then what I know now. Between my brother and me. We have owned a '66 Cuda 273 HiPo 4 speed, '68 Hemi Road Runner 4 speed, '70 Super Bee 440 Six Pack auto, '70 340 Duster auto, '71 AMC Hornet SC 360 4 speed, '73 340 Dart Sport 4 speed, '78 TransAm WS6 auto, '78 TransAm WS6 4 speed. IF I could have kept them.

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[Minty JL]

If I have known back then what I know now. Between my brother and me. We have owned a '66 Cuda 273 HiPo 4 speed, '68 Hemi Road Runner 4 speed, '70 Super Bee 440 Six Pack auto, '70 340 Duster auto, '71 AMC Hornet SC 360 4 speed, '73 340 Dart Sport 4 speed, '78 TransAm WS6 auto, '78 TransAm WS6 4 speed. IF I could have kept them.

Nice collection over the years.

A GT40 was 150k 10 years ago.......now over 500k in the right spec and mileage. It's just about unique not a normal daily driver

 

[Rusty PW]

Nice collection over the years.

A GT40 was 150k 10 years ago.......now over 500k in the right spec and mileage. It's just about unique not a normal daily driver

Any GT 40 is money in the bank. There is a guy in Pittsburgh who has a original GT40 with the 427 in it. Seen it at Pitt Race a few years ago while doing a trackday. He only went out on the track when no one else on out. Boy was that thing f$%kin' loud. When it started, everyone's head turned to it.

 

[Uparms]

1) Yes, investment was the wong terminology.
2) Over time and at 3 years, (2020-2022) we have not seen time, these JTs and other Wrangler products do and will retain their value very well compared to comparables.
3) Never base value against what any dealer is telling you. Trade in means cave in and give in. Unless you are long on cash or short on time, avoid trade ins.
4) I like to average out KBB, Edmunds, and NADA and then throw in an average of identical model/mileage search at retail from Cars.Com and or CarGarus.com. Puts me in a good self - sale price.
5) Have you ever noticed the differences between KBB, Edmunds and NADA values??
6) If you have to trade, work 3 delars over, of if you have time and a keyboard and 10 PICs, (and one of them super fast 56k modems ) work 6-8 dealers over.
7) Except for that Covid used car market opportunity, it's usually those that keep their Jeeps 4,5,7,8,9 years or longer that get the most resale percentages (not price) out of them. That is not the majority of this forum I suspect.

Have Fun!!

 

[John Lenheiser]

From what I see Gladiators are loaded up on dealer lots here in Texas, many of the DFW dealers have between 20-40 on their lots at any one time. Jeep has $3500 incentives on the Sport, Willys, Altitude, Texas Trail models and they just don't seem to be flying off the dealer lots. Plus you can get a $2000-$3000 discount off of list price, so this translates to some $6000 off of list depending on the dealer. I'm now afraid to make a deal at this time thinking the discounts could even go higher, but Jeep would probably have to kick in more incentives. Plus the economy of the U.S. (World) is out of control, so who knows where the auto market is going. So the question was is the Gladiator a good investment, at this time I would say NO.

 

[Hootbro]

So the question was is the Gladiator a good investment, at this time I would say NO.

Since you used the term "investment", what is the rate of return you were looking for?

 

[Rusty PW]

From what I see Gladiators are loaded up on dealer lots here in Texas, many of the DFW dealers have between 20-40 on their lots at any one time. Jeep has $3500 incentives on the Sport, Willys, Altitude, Texas Trail models and they just don't seem to be flying off the dealer lots. Plus you can get a $2000-$3000 discount off of list price, so this translates to some $6000 off of list depending on the dealer. I'm now afraid to make a deal at this time thinking the discounts could even go higher, but Jeep would probably have to kick in more incentives. Plus the economy of the U.S. (World) is out of control, so who knows where the auto market is going. So the question was is the Gladiator a good investment, at this time I would say NO.

Dealers around here "might" have one maybe 2 at the most.

 

[Divided_Wood]

Dealers around here "might" have one maybe 2 at the most.

Same here. Had mine in for an oil change and was chatting it up with my sales guy. He said they're selling what they're getting but that they're basically getting no inventory (across the board, not just Wranglers and Gladiators). A lot of the JTs I saw on the lot were used/trade-ins...

 

[John Lenheiser]

Understandable, small dealers do not get the inventories that large dealers get. Plus it's always, Location, Location, Location. I will say here, that these dealers are not loaded up with Wranglers, just Gladiators.

 

[Sprinkler-Fitter]

a

Dealers around here "might" have one maybe 2 at the most.

dealer I go to now and then has 21 new on the lot, plenty of JKU's also

 

[John_81583]

tbh no vehicle is a good investment, all depreciate more than we'd like

 

[Terry]

I invest in precious metals too. Namely lead for casting bullets. That Pinto makes you an old old fart.

I get the feeling we are both old farts who if we were in the Army together probably saw some of the same places.

 

[Rusty PW]

I get the feeling we are both old farts who if we were in the Army together probably saw some of the same places.

....and ate the same dirt.

 

[Terry]

....and ate the same dirt.

You got that Brother...

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Been buying vehicles for many years but I have never had a vehicle loose so much value in a short amount of time. Was thinking...about going back to a RAM however, most dealers are only offering me 44k for my 2021 Rubicon which is loaded. MSRP of 63k May of 2021, I paid 56k. 12k in 16 months? It's very consistent through the dealers, KBB instant cash, CarMax, Auto Nation and Edmunds etc.
I bought the Gladiator thinking it would hold it's value but at this point, seems I was seriously mistaken. Is this the same in your area?

I had to sort of smile when seeing buying vehicle and investment in the same sentence. You are buying for the wrong reason first of all. You are buying in very unusual times with up and down pandemic effects and supply chain issues, all abnormal.
Why would you ever buy thinking of only 1 or 2 years out?
Get into something else if looking to make money or not lose money. And never invest thinking of only months and not many years.

Is this seriously a question?

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