What is going on with Jeep prices?

[Bodo]

I've been shopping around for a used TJ Unlimited or Unlimited Rubicon. I think I'm missing something. How the heck are they keeping their value like they are?
Everything I've seen is 15k-20k. They weren't much more that that new.

Used prices for the JKU's are insane too. 1-2 year old JKU's are going for barely 5k under sticker. It's not worth it to buy a used one like that.

Am I just looking at the wrong places or has the world gone crazy?

 

[squint]

Jeep wrangler has one of the highest resale values out there. Even the TJs hold their values pretty well. My dad bought a TJ a number of years ago for 10K, drove it for 2 years and put 30K miles on it, and then sold it for 12K. Go figure. It's a good thing once you buy one

 

[Yellowkayak]

Simple...one word....GREED!

JJ

 

[Harmgrissom]

Occupy Your Jeep Dealer! :bike_rider:

 

[sylgeist]

My 2006 Unlimited Rubicon was $34K new (not what I paid) so holding value in the 15-20k range isn't crazy for what it is.

 

[BKCowGod]

Vehicles are worth what people are willing and able to pay. My $80k Range Rover and my $70k Audi were had for under $3000. For both.

 

[gorogergo]

I bought a 2006 TJ Rubicon with 35k mikes on it this summer. It was below book and still almost 20k. The value is what buyers are willing to pay.
This is my 5th Jeep and 2nd TJ, they definitely hold value.

 

[Bigjerm]

I guess one could say the TJ Unlimited (LJ) is a "rare' vehicle. It was only made for 3 yrs. The TJ Unlimited Rubicon was only made for 2 years.

 

[kvincent]

They only made something like 5000 TJ Unlimited Rubicons. I've owned five Jeeps including a CJ-7, XJ, TJ, LJ UR , and (as of three weeks ago) a 2012 JKUR. My 2005 LJ was my favorite of all of them, but it is for sale. The new JKUR suits my overland needs better, so the LJ is on the block. PM if interested, but I want fair market value (it has lots of extras!). It has 98,000 (all verifiable highway) miles. Sorry if I crossed any lines about posting, just trying to help. It will be listed in several spots with pics by this weekend.

Thanks,

Kerry

 

[bob91yj]

The numbers are posted on the forum somewhere. Over all there were about 45,000 04-06 Unlimited's built, I don't recall what portion of those were Rubicons.

Edit: found the numbers:

Production sold for the 04-06 LJ (by years)
2004 - 11,822 Unlimited
2005 - 7,450 Unlimited
2005 - 5,854 Unlimited Rubicon
2006 - 14,624 Unlimited
2006 - 6,742 Unlimited Rubicon

Totals:
33,896 - Unlimited
12,596 - Unlimited Rubicon
46,492 – Total

 

[plainjaneFJC]

Simple...one word....GREED!

JJ

please explain?

 

[jeep-N-montero]

There is nothing greedy about a limited-production vehicle holding its value. I have a very limited numbers car in the garage that gets driven daily, but its value is still up there.

 

[stoneydude]

I've noticed this a lot too and not only limited to wranglers. The used car market has sky rocketed as a result of the economy. I've been looking for a used car for several months now and I just can't believe that most 4x4's that I've looked at are close to double of what the book values are. I was trying to buy a wd21 1994 pathy, it was from NY state and had a good amount of rust and 160k miles and the guy wouldn't go below $1900! Book was $625-1000! I'm just going to keep searching for that awesome deal, they are out there but much harder to find now.

 

[Viggen]

I dont think that it is necessarily greed or limited production, its that there is no choice. Whatre you going to get if you want something like the Jeep? Nothing is out there. If there were still Scouts, Broncos and FJ40s (disregard the joke that is the FJC), the values would be lower due to competitive pricing. I shopped for JKU Rubicons and laughed in the salesmans face when he told me what out the door pricing was going to be. I can build something for half what they want new and have a better truck in the end (not Chryco cheapness). He was blunt, "What else are you going to get if you want something like this vehicle?" The answer is, nothing else is available. All competitors have either dropped off or moved upscale. No market competition, prices are bound to be high.

 

[gorogergo]

I'm approaching this carefully...
Remember that Cash for Clunkers removed a lot of trucks and SUV's from circulation, thus tightening supply.