maxpower220
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
So, while shopping for my wife's new mini van in late May/early June, I was at the Chrysler dealership to look at the Pacifica with her. On the lot was a JT. I had not seen or even heard about them, but instantly I knew I wanted one. My first vehicle was a '76 CJ5 that was a total POS when I got it. But I liked it a lot. My last Jeep was a 1998 TJ that I bought new. Wranglers were always what I wanted, but I have owned ski boats since I got out of college, along with motorcycles. So, I haven't owned one since it just would do the things I needed, a truck.
I traded in a 2013 F150 EB on my JTR. I bought it new in 2012 and had been the best truck I've ever owned. I would be driving it still if there were no JTs. The only thing required was no more black truck. It was a great looking truck, but black is hard to keep clean looking and scratches show everything.
I thought I would get a White JT since I was done with black, and I thought hard top only. Drove a few JTRs and then based on everything I was reading on this forum, started looking at Maxtow. While I make a good income from work, it's really hard to justify (for me) a $55K+ truck (JT, Ford, Chevy, that doesn't matter) with "all of the features". When my wife got in for a test drive her comment was, "It feels like I'm inside of a cooler", referring to the hardtop. I had not thought of it, but she was correct.
Once I narrowed down my "must haves", I found something about JT pricing. I had to have: Auto, 4.10 gears, at least 7" radio, garage door opener, Safety (blis back up) package. A local dealer called with "we just got in the truck you are looking for, white/hard top/max tow". So, I went to look at it. MSRP was $46K. It was parked next to a silver JTR with a MSRP of $49K. In my mind, the sport tire size and wheels are almost repulsive to look at and must be changed. (at least $1200). Also, the body sides need something like rock sliders or steps ($3-400). So at that point, the JTR doesn't seem "that" much more money, as I can live with the wheels and tires. Plus, you get lockers, disconnects, red stitching (I like a lot), red dash, and rock rails. Plus decals and red tow hooks look good too. So, I drove it home to show the wife. She said "Silver looks a lot nicer." and "Why get a Jeep if you don't get a soft top, you'll never take off the hard top." The silver would have been my second choice, so it's not like I didn't like it. The 40 mile drive in the soft top seemed OK. I looked up what the forum had to say about it and convinced myself the soft top would be OK.
My 13 150 XLT had 96K miles on it. I placed an add for sale for $20,500. Book value for trade in was between $15-18500. I got to offers of $17K from dealerships. So I knew trade in "real value was in the 17-18 range. Had someone interested in the truck, so offered to meet him at the dealership (as a neutral place). While waiting for him, I worked numbers with the dealer. During that time, the person came to look at the truck, so I left the New Car manager standing there "haggling" with me to show the truck. When I returned, the manager asked how much the guy was willing to pay and I told him $20.5K. So, he came back with a better offer on my trade,which with tax savings was the same as that cash price. (In FL, you only pay tax on the trade difference with a trade in, or tax on everything for a straight buy). MSRP for the JTR was $49870, I paid a difference of $30K OTD. Tax rate here is 7.5%, tax and title fees are fairly low ($200 total). So you can either say I got 5% below invoice (or 10% below MSRP) and around $18K for the trade or any other way you want to spin it. I felt like it was a fair trade/deal. In the end, that is all that matters. Sure somewhere else, I could have gotten it for less money. Maybe more for trade, less for trade. Who knows, I don't care at this point. BTW, the guy who looked at the F150 texted later that night that he wanted it. I directed him to the dealer.
So far, very happy with the choice of JTR over max tow. Happy with soft top, as it is very easy and fast to take it down and up. I'd advise anyone looking at max tow to consider a JTR for a little more money (I feel like you get a lot more in return).
I traded in a 2013 F150 EB on my JTR. I bought it new in 2012 and had been the best truck I've ever owned. I would be driving it still if there were no JTs. The only thing required was no more black truck. It was a great looking truck, but black is hard to keep clean looking and scratches show everything.
I thought I would get a White JT since I was done with black, and I thought hard top only. Drove a few JTRs and then based on everything I was reading on this forum, started looking at Maxtow. While I make a good income from work, it's really hard to justify (for me) a $55K+ truck (JT, Ford, Chevy, that doesn't matter) with "all of the features". When my wife got in for a test drive her comment was, "It feels like I'm inside of a cooler", referring to the hardtop. I had not thought of it, but she was correct.
Once I narrowed down my "must haves", I found something about JT pricing. I had to have: Auto, 4.10 gears, at least 7" radio, garage door opener, Safety (blis back up) package. A local dealer called with "we just got in the truck you are looking for, white/hard top/max tow". So, I went to look at it. MSRP was $46K. It was parked next to a silver JTR with a MSRP of $49K. In my mind, the sport tire size and wheels are almost repulsive to look at and must be changed. (at least $1200). Also, the body sides need something like rock sliders or steps ($3-400). So at that point, the JTR doesn't seem "that" much more money, as I can live with the wheels and tires. Plus, you get lockers, disconnects, red stitching (I like a lot), red dash, and rock rails. Plus decals and red tow hooks look good too. So, I drove it home to show the wife. She said "Silver looks a lot nicer." and "Why get a Jeep if you don't get a soft top, you'll never take off the hard top." The silver would have been my second choice, so it's not like I didn't like it. The 40 mile drive in the soft top seemed OK. I looked up what the forum had to say about it and convinced myself the soft top would be OK.
My 13 150 XLT had 96K miles on it. I placed an add for sale for $20,500. Book value for trade in was between $15-18500. I got to offers of $17K from dealerships. So I knew trade in "real value was in the 17-18 range. Had someone interested in the truck, so offered to meet him at the dealership (as a neutral place). While waiting for him, I worked numbers with the dealer. During that time, the person came to look at the truck, so I left the New Car manager standing there "haggling" with me to show the truck. When I returned, the manager asked how much the guy was willing to pay and I told him $20.5K. So, he came back with a better offer on my trade,which with tax savings was the same as that cash price. (In FL, you only pay tax on the trade difference with a trade in, or tax on everything for a straight buy). MSRP for the JTR was $49870, I paid a difference of $30K OTD. Tax rate here is 7.5%, tax and title fees are fairly low ($200 total). So you can either say I got 5% below invoice (or 10% below MSRP) and around $18K for the trade or any other way you want to spin it. I felt like it was a fair trade/deal. In the end, that is all that matters. Sure somewhere else, I could have gotten it for less money. Maybe more for trade, less for trade. Who knows, I don't care at this point. BTW, the guy who looked at the F150 texted later that night that he wanted it. I directed him to the dealer.
So far, very happy with the choice of JTR over max tow. Happy with soft top, as it is very easy and fast to take it down and up. I'd advise anyone looking at max tow to consider a JTR for a little more money (I feel like you get a lot more in return).
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