Stinging article on Stellantis on CNN. Not looking good.

[ShadowsPapa]

It’s important to distinguish between inflation and price increases due to other reasons. $1.00 in 2021 is worth $1.116 today. So a $50,000 truck in 2021 would cost $58,000 today simply adjusted for inflation. I’m not saying that accounts for all of the price increases but sometimes it’s difficult to adjust for high inflation over a short period of time. It might be that your income hasn’t had the same inflation adjustment or maybe some things, like housing, has risen even more so you have proportionally less to spend on a car. The simple truth is something is worth what one person is will to sell it for and what someone else is willing to pay for it. If a bunch of stupid people over value something you want, you can either pay too much for it or not buy it until the free markets adjust. It feels to me like the markets were out of balance a little because of rapid inflation and now they are coming back into balance, although they might not be in balance yet. It’s interesting to me to hear peoples perspective on this as it seems they vary significantly.
-Chris

Inflation also occurs at different rates with different products and markets. So when someone says in 19xx inflation was yy% - that's overall, not specific to food, clothing, housing, autos, whatever. It doesn't happen evenly across all things.
So when people try to compare - which numbers are being used? The buying power of a dollar, or inflation in a specific industry or segment of the economy?

Every time someone posts a car or car part on eBay or fakebook, there's always haters who come in "they must be on crack" or some @$$-hole comment and start blasting the seller. They are often cheap-asses who aren't even interested in the item anyway, they are armchair car value experts.
I try to tell others to ignore them because ANY ITEM, no matter what it is, is worth what a buyer and seller agree on. Disinterested parties can go to ..............
If a buyer accepts a price, then it's worth that much to them and their circumstances, others be damned.
I've told the people on the fakebook AMC pages, especially Eagle pages, I'll die with my car and parts before I'll ever post anything for sale there. Always a bunch of fools bitching about prices - and yet someone buys, so it must be worth it to them. I see "no Eagle is ever worth more than 4 or 5 grand -regardless, and yet a lady a few years ago, she tracked me down as I was getting into my car in a parking lot - she said she wanted my car, I said not for sale. She said - you don't understand - give me a price, I want that car.
I know I could have said 20K and gotten it. People would freak if they knew what I got for my 70 Javelin! "It'll never be worth over 20 because of the color and it's an automatic".
HAHAHA - joke's on them. And I got CASH.

Anything is worth what the market will bear, what a buyer and seller agree it's worth. No other opinions matter and that's what most of them are - opinions. If you don't want an item at that price, then don't buy it at that price! Someone may, and if not, then the seller will soon find they are over-priced. Pretty simple.

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[Greg_L]

Hmmmm....I smell politics. Turn around, Greg.....

 

[Bully4]

As Gonemad noted, smaller turbo engines are the norm. I always revert back to the first thing I learned in diesel mechanics about turbo's. You're supposed to let the engine idle before shutting it down to allow the turbo to cool. I doubt that most drivers will have the patience to do so. How long until there are big $$ issues?

I blame the intricate, expensive issues with new vehicles on fuel economy standards and big brother mandates.

 

[Badunit]

Hmmmm....I smell politics. Turn around, Greg.....

I hope we are not so muzzled here that we cannot mention government regulation and its effect on automobiles, as long as we don't piss on each other's political party or candidates.

 

[Greg_L]

I hope we are not so muzzled here that we cannot mention government regulation and its effect on automobiles, as long as we don't piss on each other's political party or candidates.

Sure, but people bashing a specific news network (in this case CNN) as if they're not all two sides of the same stupid coin reeks of partisanship.

If you pre-determine "news" as not trustworthy because of political cult groupthink, well, that's silly. They're all biased and for-profit, but if you read stuff from a "side" you don't usually agree with, it actually makes you better than just living in an echo-chamber.

 

[LostWoods]

I saw value in my brand new ‘23 rubicon I picked up in August for $40K plus tax sticker $61K:

And therein lies Jeep's chief issue. When you play pricing games like that they ultimately come back to bite you in the ass. It tanks resale value relative to the market and scares buyers.

 

[LOL WUT]

I bought my diesel Gladiator on March 28, 2024. The sticker on it was $80,000 minus the freedom cover delete at $120. I got $17,000 off of the sticker, $12,000 from Stelantis, $4,000 from the employee discount, and $1,000. While I agree inflation was a factor in the high prices, I believe another factor was as the article implied, a market strategy that believed that American's would be willing to spend the money on their MSRP. My hope is that Gladiator's survive this downturn, but I am confident that Wrangler's are here to stay.

80k? Is that with mark up or something stupid? Let’s see that window sticker.

 

[Jeepdoggydog]

80k? Is that with mark up or something stupid? Let’s see that window sticker.

You don't get out much do you? https://www.chrysler.com/hostd/windowsticker/getWindowStickerPdf.do?vin=1C6JJTBM5PL594457

 

[Undecided]

It’s gotten better with the 2024 model, but I see the cost vs features a huge problem.

I bought in 2021, and even then found it unbelievable that a $40k truck does not have LED standard lights. $20k Hondas get those. Let alone powered seats, crash detection, side air bags, blind spot monitoring, wireless car play, etc. things (most) other brands have in their cheaper models.

Of course there is definitely a segment of Jeep fans who prefer that. However, a non Jeep fan shopping has got to see that as ridiculous.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Sure, but people bashing a specific news network (in this case CNN) as if they're not all two sides of the same stupid coin reeks of partisanship.

If you pre-determine "news" as not trustworthy because of political cult groupthink, well, that's silly. They're all biased and for-profit, but if you read stuff from a "side" you don't usually agree with, it actually makes you better than just living in an echo-chamber.

I bash them not for the reasons you think. And they are bleeding viewers and money pretty fast. They are trying to turn it around.
But honestly, for their automotive stuff, they need some people who keep up a bit more quickly and know what they are talking about.
It's not politics to laugh at the source of some stories when they have a history of old news, and reports from people who have no clue (often just repeating blogs and other sources).
But some tend to jump and assume when there's a comment about something like a news sources, it MUST be politics! Wouldn't matter if CNN leaned 360 degrees, I don't find them to be a great source - especially stories like this. I would see NBC as a better, more CURRENT, source of "news" for the automotive world. And it's not politics. I laugh at CNN for any story.
STOP assuming it's political!

 

[LOL WUT]

You don't get out much do you? https://www.chrysler.com/hostd/windowsticker/getWindowStickerPdf.do?vin=1C6JJTBM5PL594457

LOL that price is comical. And I get out plenty, but not to look at overpriced vehicles .

 

[Jeepdoggydog]

LOL that price is comical. And I get out plenty, but not to look at overpriced vehicles .

It would have been comical to pay the sticker price, that is the precipice of this thread. Prices of Stelantis vehicles are comical. Read the sticker, many of us that are buying new Jeeps are getting insane discounts. Did you pay full sticker for yours?

 

[LOL WUT]

It would have been comical to pay the sticker price, that is the precipice of this thread. Prices of Stelantis vehicles are comical. Read the sticker, many of us that are buying new Jeeps are getting insane discounts. Did you pay full sticker for yours?

I don’t think I’d ever buy a Jeep or any vehicle at sticker, I bought mine used.

 

[Viper501]

News outlets are no longer really news. The art of journalism has succumbed to click bait and automated articles. The writing in that article smacks of AI or a very bad human writer.

Jeep prices are nuts creating a perception of poor value. That perception is aggravated by the ongoing perception of poor quality and poor ride.

My gladiator has surprised most folks who previously denigrated it before they’d ridden in it. Jeep just isn’t doing itself any favors with the high sticker and the higher discounts.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

The writing in that article smacks of AI or a very bad human writer.

we've seen articles like that here before - clearly AI written. Not saying this one is or isn't, but we've determined that others in the past were AI, or the worst human writer in history.
AI would make sense as it often relies on other articles, and that could explain why it's old news, nothing new or fresh. We've seen and read it all before. I bet there's articles like it from months ago linked to in other posts here.

Almost everyone who has ridden in my JT, including my son who is used to pretty decent riding vehicles, have commented on the nice ride, and how well it handles. My wife's aunt drives a small pickup as her daily driver (got used to that before her husband died) and she's commented on how nicely our JT rides.

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