So, I find out my truck will not get what I thought when I trade it in. Problem with that is not huge, but it will require a small loan, rather than paying 4-6k cash for a cherokee as I had planned.

Here's where I am on this...

If no loan comes through the bank, I will be shopping dealers. There are a few locally that have cherokee's with under 100k miles, even as low as 60-70k. The catch is they want 6-8 thousand clams...well, dollars really. I could handle a car loan, it will be waaaaay less than the tacoma payment, but I don't want to get taken either. I am looking at a daily driver, not a trail rig ( as fun as that sounds, cant do it right now ). Saving is always good, finding deals even better. However, I am starting to think maybe I should just bite the bullet and start thinking that haggling with a dealer may be the way to go.

First question now is, how likely is it to get a 98 or so with low miles that wont require you on your back every weekend with a wrench in your hand? The jeeps are out there, just not sure if the higher price is worth the lower miles.

Thanks...

 

First of all, don't be scared off by something with 120k. As you will quickly see around here, these things will run forever. However, take that with a grain of salt. There is no way of telling what is gonna go wrong 1000 miles down the road. Case and point: I bought a K5 blazer for my first car from the dealer several years back. Drove good, clutch didn't slip or anything. Head out to do some shopping, and find a little mud hole behind the store. Run through it once and go to leave. Step on the clutch to shift and can't move the shifter so I lift it there overnight and towed it home the next day. Turns out one of the retainers on the fork for the throwout bearing broke and consequently wouldn't disengage the clutch this was within 2k of my ownin it. There is know way of knowing things like that will happen later on. Looking back, it was probly a good thing I ran through that mud hole, otherwise it would have happened in the middle of traffic. The next vehicle I bought from a dealer, my current 00 WJ, looked and drove fine at the dealer other than needing some new tires. Got it home and it pissed antifreeze on the driveway, still haven't figured out where its coming from. My point in all this is that if you're buying a used car, ****'s gonna happen no matter what. You can tell a lot about how it was treated in its previous lifes belt looking at all the basics. The better it looks, the better it was PROBABLY treated.

 

Good advice.


I bought my '00 cherokee 4 or 5 years ago now. 32 miles after I bought it it spun a rod bearing (less than 75k on it). Good thing I had a jasper rebuild with 30k on it sittin around.....Now I have like 83k on it. Haha

 

Sound advice for sure.

I have been internet eyeballing an ex state vehicle with 65k on it.

Its way overpriced, like everything in Maryland. But the low low miles are attractive. Still need to take a look at it, so we will see.

blue_on_blackXJ....Leadville, home of the Leadville 100 right?

 

Sure is.

 

depending what the state Jeep was used for it could be a good deal.. How much are they asking for it and what was it used for? any pictures of it?

 

Its an independent lot, in Maryland. Small operation, standard deal..."come dis is good price...you are doing the killing me all the time...", than I will say no way you are nuts, I have cash...than I will get in return "this good price, I have kids to feed, come on this is 4x4, the jeep, ladies will love you all the time"...

No idea what its true use was, but it was owned by the state. Not sure I have seen state workers in cherokees before. I know the county I am in used to have them and probably still does. They were mostly used by inspectors, code enforcement, that sort of thing.

The price is nuts, 6999.00, 65,000 miles. It seems like everything from DC up through NJ is pretty pricey for low mileage cherokees.

 

blue_on_blackXJ...very cool! Have you run it? I know, I know, just because you live there it doesn't mean you have...but, you never know!

 

No I haven't Haha. Frankly I despise running, I much prefer mountain biking. Besides I've only lived here since late august when over up for school and the race is mid summer.

 

Gotcha.

 

I work at a dealership, so I'll give you a little insight. Granted I'm just a detailer, but I've worked here long enough to pick up on a few things.

First, the dealerships aren't there to screw you. Trust me, we gain a lot more from making customers happy because you might come back to us someday, or tell your friends about us, or recommend us to someone looking for a vehicle. Last thing we want to do is purposefully screw someone over and have them telling everyone how horrible we are.

That said, you MAY get a sleezeball salesperson, but he'll still jump through hoops to sell you the vehicle if you're really interested in it.

The salesperson really DOES have to consult with the manager on your offer, because the manager doesn't usually tell the sales staff what the bottom number is. Say the dealer has $5,000 into the vehicle, including what they paid the previous owner, the oil change, inspection, and whatever work it needed. Then they put it on the lot for $7,000.

If the salesperson knew that they only had $5k into it, he wouldn't try as hard to haggle for the 7k price tag, he'd come down a lot quicker and easier than he should. The managers will decide the bottom number on a case-by-case basis, with some determining factors: Has this person bought from us before? Will they buy from us again/are they local? Will they get their service done here? If we take a hit on price, are we investing in a future with this customer?

There is dealer mark up, but it's not always because they want to rip you off.

Sometimes when trying to make a deal on a car, the dealer has to offer blue-book value for that person's trade in.

Let's say you're looking at this XJ... the previous owner traded it in on a much newer, more expensive vehicle, that would put a good chunk of change in the dealer's pocket. To make that deal work, the dealer offered top number for the XJ, just to get that guy into the more expensive vehicle that's been sitting on the lot for a month.

Now, the dealership has this XJ that they paid blue-book value for (blue book is not very accurate, btw), and they have to TRY to make money on it, or whole-sale it.

Some people get this idea in their head that the dealership should sell cars at the price they are worth. It doesn't work like that, the dealership would make NO money doing that.

What you get from buying at a dealership is a group of people that are going to try to help you where and however they can, to keep you coming back.

Don't be a jerk to them, don't be overly suspicious of them, just be friendly, straight forward and honest. If you treat the salesperson like a friend, they'll treat YOU like a friend and I've seen more than enough times that my dealership in particular will go out of their way to help out loyal customers.

Oh, and don't take it through a mud hole if you're not gonna buy it. As a detailer, it REALLY pisses me off when a customer test drives a vehicle that I spend a day cleaning and then brings it back completely trashed.

 

I hear ya', I definitely don't think car dealers are "out to get you" at all. But on the other hand, most small lots are set up to haggle. They keep a low inventory and try to work the best deal. A large lot like a Carmax is setup to offer a lower, fair price out of the gate and move lots of inventory. A small independent dealer can't do that.

Bottom line is, I either keep searching for the needle in the haystack, or bite the bullet knowing that these vehicles go at a premium in this area. Even from private sellers they are higher than KBB or NADA. They go at a premium for good reason though. I just looked through the "mileage" thread. Guys running stock cherokee's, on the ROAD are routinely getting over 200k miles with little maintenance. That's really what I am looking for.

I will however take note to avoid any puddles on test drives I take!

 

hey DD, I was just in this same spot. First thing go to penfed.org. Follow the steps to become a member. Very simple takes lik 10mins and costs $20. Once a member apply for a used auto loan. They have them for 1.99% right now! I just got mine less than a month ago . Here is the deal, they will loan NADA value and give you a 3yr term on any vehicle with less than 100k on it. If the vehicle has between 100k and 125k they will still loan NADA, but only for a 2yr term which sounds like it was no big deal in your case.

I searched dealers high and low for more than a month. Drove 250miles + trying to find the Jeep with lower enough miles and low enough price tag to work. I came to this forum and got the best advice so far. Stop looking at dealers these XJ's are hot right now and the dealers know it. I physically witnessed an 00 Limited with 101K with a price of $9,998 and they would not budge. Its ridiculous.

Get on craigslist and search relentelessly. Stay on top of it and be the first one there. If you have a smartphone download the craiglist app which automaticlly tells you if someone adds something within a given search criteria. Call immedietaly and set up a time within the next day or 2 to look at it. I had 3-4 sell right out from under me literally as I was going to look at them.

I got my 99 XJ Classic. 101K for $5400. I probably overpaid just a bit, but given my constraints it worked out OK.

Ebay and dealerships are running wild on the XJ market. Stay local and private owner if you can

I let penfed credit union know I was selling my current car and they gave me financing before I sold it. This way you get the XJ for cheaper from a private seller and it gives you more time to sell your truck instead of trade and lose money.

Good luck!!

 

I got mine from a small lot dealer too. Guy only has 10 or so cars at a time. 58975 miles on it, 2001, 2x4 for Tax, tag, title out the door 7600

 

What was it listed at?