Please keep me from buying another Gladiator

[Broke Owner]

I’ll try to make this as brief as possible, just looking for some advice.

Bought my Gladiator during the early Covid crisis and got a What I believe to be a good deal. It’s a moderately equipped sport S (hard too, 7” radio, painted fenders and overland front bumper)msrp was $43500 and bought it for $37 flat plus TTandL.

Reading around seems that they are still offering close to sticker for a trade in, assuming that’s the case I’ll have close to 10k equity on it, and also seems that in Texas if you trade in for the same year at the same dealership your taxes are applied to the purchase (only pay the difference of the new car not the whole thing over again)

with all that said, there’s a nicely equipped Rubicon with a considerable discount (msrp $57flat sale price $51 flat) if I go poke around I might maybe get it for $50 flat.

so the question is trade in or not? love my gladiator but a rubicon will hold value better ‍??

has anyone done this trade up recently?

thanks!

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[JustKip]

There has literally never been a time as good as now, for doing what you're talking about. If you want the Rubicon, I can't think of a single reason not to.

 

[Mr._Bill]

Don't worry about which model might retain value better. They all lose value once you sign the papers. There is always a little loss expected when trading, but sometimes it's not very bad. If you can afford it, do what makes you happy.

 

[NC_Overland]

It really seems to be regional and supply driven. Some parts of the country have crazy deals like $10k+ off and others have no inventory and aren’t dealing. There is a shortage of used cars so auction prices are stupid high and dealerships are paying up on trade ins. If the stars align, you could get a great deal like you are thinking.

 

[Jeeperjamie]

If I didn't like mine as much as I do I'd sell mine back to my dealership and buy a Rubicon. They got a lifted overland at Hendricks that's a Gator color, if it was a Rubicon on 37's instead of a overland I'd be all over it but I'm not giving up my Gator. Plus I already got it looking how I want it to look pretty much. If you can swing it, do what makes you happy. I paid 37 out the door for mine and they offered me $42,000 cash for mine at my last oil change which was last weekend. That's if I bought nothing, they said if I bought something they could maybe swing a little more.

 

[Ozarkgolfer]

>>>>..... also seems that in TexaS if you trade in for the same year at the same dealership your taxes are applied to the purchase (only pay the difference of the new car not the whole thing over again)<<<<

https://www.caranddriver.com/research/a31552230/texas-car-sales-tax/

 

[Factoid]

There is no Texas rule that applies as narrowly as you describe. Basically, any vehicle that you trade in on a different one (new or used) at a licensed dealer results in only paying the difference in tax.

This sounds like the perfect trade to me, so go for it!

 

[Broke Owner]

@Factoid and @Ozarkgolfer

thanks for the tax clarification, I understood it slightly different I thought I had a slight advantage by trading in this year instead of a couple down the road.

Maybe I’ll keep on building on that equity and look into what colors come up next year.

 

[JTBurns]

Everyone seems to be telling you to trade, even though you're asking for someone to talk you out of it, so I'll give it a shot.

Usually if you're trading a vehicle only a few months after buying it, you'd be taking a loss, but everything is topsy turvy in Covid world so who knows? If you can truly get close to what you paid for the trade then that's a good starting point. That said, you'd still be paying $13k more for the Rubi, and you named yourself BrokeOwner, so do you have the ? Do you need all the capability of a Rubicon or could you pay less than $13k to mod your current rig and not pay any interest on those mods, saving you more money?

It was an attempt at least, but if you can't help yourself, then I can't blame you, go with what makes you happy!

 

[Broke Owner]

Everyone seems to be telling you to trade, even though you're asking for someone to talk you out of it, so I'll give it a shot.

Usually if you're trading a vehicle only a few months after buying it, you'd be taking a loss, but everything is topsy turvy in Covid world so who knows? If you can truly get close to what you paid for the trade then that's a good starting point. That said, you'd still be paying $13k more for the Rubi, and you named yourself BrokeOwner, so do you have the ? Do you need all the capability of a Rubicon or could you pay less than $13k to mod your current rig and not pay any interest on those mods, saving you more money?

It was an attempt at least, but if you can't help yourself, then I can't blame you, go with what makes you happy!

Very strong valid points and 80% of what I’ve been thinking

adding all the mods I would be about 1-2k less that the price of the rubicon. But I’m my head I’m more focused on possible resale value way down the road. Would someone buy a heavy modified sport S in hydro blue or a mostly stock rubicon in black?

 

[MrZappo]

I will not help you ... DO IT ... You know you want to !!!

Plus the economics seem to work out due to odd circumstances ... Stars do not align often ... When they do I take advantage ...

If it makes financial sense and you wont take a loss, get what you want ... Life is short ...

 

[WhippetTaxi]

So, I was going to vote with the majority to try to trade toward a new Rubicon, but then I looked at your build link. It looks like you've spent time and money already modifying your current Gladiator. Unless you revert everything back to stock, it seems like a questionable time to trade.

 

[BAT]

If its something you can afford go for it. If I could have afforded a Rubicon that is what I would be driving although it would have been a total waste for my uses. But I suspect even if you get the Rubicon it won't stop there and like many would strip away all the Rubicon goodies to add bigger and better so hope ya got a big bank roll.

 

[WhatExit?]

Asking for advice on the internet
Asking for advice about buying another 2020 JEEP on the JEEP Gladiator forum

 

[JTBurns]

Very strong valid points and 80% of what I’ve been thinking

adding all the mods I would be about 1-2k less that the price of the rubicon. But I’m my head I’m more focused on possible resale value way down the road. Would someone buy a heavy modified sport S in hydro blue or a mostly stock rubicon in black?

Well you won't really get anything back for your mods on a trade, maybe in a private sale. Wranglers hold they're value really well, so I'd expect the same for the Gladiators. Black, white, and gray are the most commonly sold vehicle colors, but I don't think you'd take a hot for the color on the trade, just might be a little harder to sell privately...

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