Stealership wants my Jeep!

[Robsama]

I received 2 calls from my local stealership over the past few days. They say they are interested in buying my Jeep from me to build up their used vehicle inventory. They would rather buy a Jeep from a "valued customer" who wants to upgrade to a newer Jeep than buy an unknown from auction. Obviously this is just a ploy to get me in to buy a new(er) Jeep from them. But I figure if I could get a newer Jeep for the same $$$ per month, what's the harm? The problem is I checked their pre-owned inventory and it *****. There's a handful of KJ's that are about the same as mine but not Renny's and a 2007 Compass. The only thing that interests me about that is I'm starting a new job in 2 weeks and the gas mileage and smaller size (therefore ease of parking in a city) is better on the Compass. I don't really offroad so losing that capability won't really harm me. Plus, I have my CJ that I can get dirty once it's back on the road. And the Compass is still 4WD for the nasty New England winters we get here.

What do you guys think?

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I get those sometimes. If they can beat my payment of $0 a month, ok.
If you have the CJ for real wheeling, and the Compass is still 4wd, I'd go for it, if it's in good shape, good price, and the options you want. If you didn't have the CJ, I'd keep the KJ.

 

[Dave]

I agree with HJ.

One thing that comes to mind though is that you are considering the gas mileage difference. Only the difference though. So the gas mileage gain (difference between the two) needs to be weighed against the increased cost of the new vehicle. It might take a while to even out or might not be that much overall.

That said, it doesn't cost anything to look.

Dave

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Also, a Compass might have lower maintenance costs. I agree with Dave about the MPG, if you'll be driving a lot. Heck, depending on the price of the Compass and what you owe on the KJ, you could come close to just buying it out right.

 

[04 Silver Renegade]

Just do your research about the Compass. I was at my local Mechanic last week when a owner of a Compass drove in and said he was having a problem with it starting. Come to find out it was an '09 with 36,*** miles and warrenty was expired.(He bought it new)
He Had to replace the starter on a 1 year old Compass. To add insult to injury....He had to pay more money for labor than the part cause the mechanics had to remove the front half of the motor just to get access to it.
If you haven't had any problems with your KJ, I say keep it. Who knows, maybe the stealership got those other Jeeps from an Auction and wants to get rid of them........

 

[jnaut]

Standard operating procedure. I get those in the mail all the time.

It's a sales pitch. They're essentially trying to get you to trade in your vehicle on a newer (or different) model.

But I figure if I could get a newer Jeep for the same $$$ per month, what's the harm?

Because the same $$$ per month doesn't equal the same price... or interest rate, or amount of interest paid out over the life of the loan.

Believe you me, your dealer will work very hard to make sure your monthly payment is as reasonable as possible. That's how the game works. They'll be very happy to hook you into a high interest seven year loan to keep your $$$ per month the same as what you're paying now.

Always consider total cost of ownership. Make sure you're looking at all the factors-- especially interest rate and length of loan.

The only thing that interests me about that is I'm starting a new job in 2 weeks and the gas mileage and smaller size (therefore ease of parking in a city) is better on the Compass.

Is it? The jeep is one of the easiest vehicles I've ever parked in-city. And parallel parking in tight quarters is something that's done six times a day here. If you can't parallel park with .9 inches of clearance, a man from the department of transporation will come out and ask you to leave on the next bus out of town.

As for gas mileage, again, if you spend any significant sum to save gas, unless you're doubling your mileage it's going to take a long time to make up the cost. Run some numbers before you dive into this.

 

[Robsama]

jnaut - Those were pretty much my thoughts too. Even if my payments are the same a month, I'll have to pay them for longer. There's no way they'd be able to match my payment and current loan term for a newer vehicle. Plus, I think my Renny is damn sexy (and so does my wife).

 

[J-Thompson]

we were not in the same boat as you with the dealer calling
we were faced with more driving ,A LOT MORE DRIVING
we looked at the KJ,s claimed average and what we got in the real world
we then looked at other "cars" and what they claimed

bottom line our car note is under $100 a month when you factor in fuel savings
on top of that we got a 5 year 60K warranty ,the remaining 3/36 ,car had 5K on it
+ 2/24K after that
we had 0/0 on the KJ ,just crossed 70K
best part is that with the new car we average better than the claimed MPG
in fact we broke 30mpg on a long highway trip
back that with the fact that it has the ability to pass on the highway
and I am very happy with our choice to drop the KJ
I would NEVER drop the KJ for a Compass ,IMO they are ugly
Patriot is OK looking but not worth the money

 

[desertkj]

It's a scam. One of the dealerships here in Phoenix does that after you go to their service department, regardless of what you bring in.

 

[LibertyFever]

I have a similar situation but I have a YJ plus a KJ that I can get dirty and I have a North Edition Patriot for a daily driver. The Patriot is capable of 4WD for the rough Canadian winters providing I get a decent set of snow tires.

Does the Compass come with 4WD? I thought it only came in a FWD model.

Oh, one last thing. I get about 29 MPG "real world" gas mileage with the Patriot which isn't that much better than my KJ at 23 MPG highway.

If the dealership offers to give you a good price for your KJ maybe it would be a wise trade. The new vehicle would come with a great warranty but remember you'll have to pay the sales tax on the new vehicle purchase.

 

[ThunderbirdJunkie]

If you're that interested in saving gas, why don't you buy a 1994 Toyota Paseo?

After all, it's only $1500 out of pocket, and it will likely bring your insurance premium DOWN (ThunderbirdJunkie's insurance premium will rise by $8/mo when he sells it; no joke), gets 35 mpg, has cold AC, and a *******' Sony CD player from 1998.

Plus, RAM AIR BRO

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Robsama]

You know TBJ, I knew you would chime in as soon as I posted something about buying/trading a vehicle. But if I was to ever buy a used (old) car again, I would go back to my ThirstyBird. Even though the thing couldn't pass a gas station and had a steering wheel like a school bus, I loved that car. Plus, I'd love a beater to drive around so when I saw an a**hole that deserved to be hit, I wouldn't mind getting a few new dents and scratches in it.

 

[Jeepin05]

Haha I do like 4-bangers, so simple to change the plugs.

Do I see an Optima Redtop...wait that's a Duralast just like my beater

 

[Dave]

^^looks like ABS too.

Dave

 

[kb0nly]

we were not in the same boat as you with the dealer calling
we were faced with more driving ,A LOT MORE DRIVING
we looked at the KJ,s claimed average and what we got in the real world
we then looked at other "cars" and what they claimed

bottom line our car note is under $100 a month when you factor in fuel savings
on top of that we got a 5 year 60K warranty ,the remaining 3/36 ,car had 5K on it
+ 2/24K after that
we had 0/0 on the KJ ,just crossed 70K
best part is that with the new car we average better than the claimed MPG
in fact we broke 30mpg on a long highway trip
back that with the fact that it has the ability to pass on the highway
and I am very happy with our choice to drop the KJ
I would NEVER drop the KJ for a Compass ,IMO they are ugly
Patriot is OK looking but not worth the money

Are you saying your KJ couldnt pass on the highway?? I pass vehicles every day and quite quickly thank you. Put your foot into the go pedal....

 

[67Customs]

I wouldn't trade simply for gas savings. You will most likely always lose. If you get an older vehicle with good gas mileage, you might have to put more money into fixing problems. If you trade for a newer type, payments and total cost of vehicle will easily offset any gas savings.

Unless you want to get an old Civic beater (or Paseo) and only care about what mileage you can get, you aren't going to gain enough in mileage savings to go through the hassel of trading. Especially when you are thinking of trading for another SUV, even though it is a smaller one.

Unless you just plain want another vehicle, I wouldn't do it.

The KJ is extremely easy to park.

 

[tjkj2002]

It is cheaper to keep and maintain a 5-10 year old vehicle that gets 15mpg's then it is to buy a new vehicle that gets 30mpg's after all costs are considered.Even if you have a major failure like a engine it is still alot cheaper to keep the older vehicle.

 

[Robsama]

I know parking the KJ is easy, especially for parallel parking. It wasn't my parking I was worried about. It's other peoples who tend to park way too close to my Jeep. But then again I guess me having a smaller vehicle doesn't cure their lack of skills. As for the gas, yeah not really gonna be any savings there. I mapped out my new route to work and it looks like my current one way trip is about the same as my new round trip distance. So, automatic savings right there. Plus, I really like my KJ so I'm sticking with it. I was just a little star struck by the idea of a newer vehicle. But I just got my KJ less than a year ago and I plan on keeping it for a long time.

 

[SurfGuitar141]

Most all of the used '07 & '08 Compass's on the local dealership lots here are rental cars purchased at auction. Some are good deals with less than 40K on them, but most are beat, scratched, dented, and have well over 60K on them.
One thing I will say in favor of the Jeep Compass, they can take a hit. My son got a used '07 recently, had it less than two weeks and some woman from India jacked a left turn right in front of him and he hit her head on. Totaled his Compass, but he got out and walked away without a scratch......