Looking to get into a 392.....need some advice/feedback. Apologies in advance for a long post.
The decision I am trying to make is - to order one vs. to try to find one in stock.
The decision is complicated due to my trade-in situation. I currently have a 2013 Range Rover Sport Supercharged with 64,3xx miles on it. I've had the car since 2015 and absolutely love it. It was maintained at a Land Rover dealership (I have all the service records), has a clean Carfax, etc. It was under extended Land Rover warranty until 2021, but now that it's out of warranty and aging, it's going to need a steady investment to keep it running. The local Land Rover dealership charges $250/hour for labor. The nearest qualified independent Land Rover mechanic (charges $100/hr) is 2 hours away from me. Every time I need something fixed, I'd have to drive for 2 hours, drop off the car at the mechanic and ask a friend to pick me up from there and drive me back home. When the car is fixed, the process has to repeat. In addition, there is a widespread parts shortage and some things are on indefinite backorder. I may end up in a situation where the car breaks and I can't even get it fixed because some hose is not available. I am a single father with 2 kids and a demanding job in IT, so this arrangement is a huge problem for me. I need something that I can drive, enjoy and not think about. My plan was to trade in the Land Rover (cars similar to mine retail for $25K-$35K online now) at the dealer and get the trade-in credit (also saving on sales tax) and lowering the overall cost of the transaction.
This brings us back to the original problem. From one perspective, ordering is better. There are some offers on this forum for $8,000 off MSRP, plus I get to choose the exact color / options I want. From another perspective, based on what I read on forums, there is about a 4-8 months wait between ordering and taking delivery. This has three potential issues:
One -with inflation running off the cliff and the Fed desperately trying to slow it down, the finance rates are already insane today and will probably be much worse 4-8 months from now. Most auto loans I see today (for 60-mo) are in the 3.59%-4.5% range, so we could see rates of 5% to 7% towards the end of the year.
Two - with economy slowing, inventories recovering and borrowing rates going up, the used car price bubble is bound to pop soon. When that happens, the value of my trade-in will plummet.
Three - if something breaks on my Land Rover in the next 4-8 months, I may have to spend thousands of dollars and many hours of my time on getting it fixed (assuming parts are even available) and then I will effectively lose this money because I am going to trade it on when the Jeep arrives.
Four - Jeep already raised the MSRP of MY23 by thousands, so anything I order will already cost a few grand more than a '22 would.
The alternative to ordering/waiting is of course to try to find something that's either on the lot or en route (cancelled order, etc). I am not very picky on options (I just want a base model with an off-road camera) or on colors (I am OK with anything except red and Sarge green). This solves ALL the problems associated with ordering and waiting for 4-8 months, but creates other problems:
One - I am not going to get the color/options I want and will probably end up paying for options that I don't want or need.
Two - it may be complicated to find anything below MSRP in the next few months. Looks like Jeep dealers are not yet aware that they are selling a vehicle with a 14 combined mpg rating in a time when premium gas is $6+/gallon. The actual operating cost of a 392 is about .43c/mile (21.5gal tank at $6/gal. with an avg. range of 300 miles). The awakening shall come, but probably not until the fall.
Three - even if I eventually find a dealer that wants to sell at MSRP, I will have a problem with my trade-in if that dealer is very far from me (I am in NYC). I would have to drive the trade-in there and drive the Jeep back (could be a problem if the dealer is on the West Coast or in the South).
Four - I am super tired of wasting time on dealers that advertise fake (MSRP) pricing online, only to announce a $5K-$15K ADM as soon as anyone inquires about a 392 they have on the lot. I hate dealing with sleazeballs.
I've been thinking about this for the past few days and not sure what to do. Let me know your thoughts.
The decision I am trying to make is - to order one vs. to try to find one in stock.
The decision is complicated due to my trade-in situation. I currently have a 2013 Range Rover Sport Supercharged with 64,3xx miles on it. I've had the car since 2015 and absolutely love it. It was maintained at a Land Rover dealership (I have all the service records), has a clean Carfax, etc. It was under extended Land Rover warranty until 2021, but now that it's out of warranty and aging, it's going to need a steady investment to keep it running. The local Land Rover dealership charges $250/hour for labor. The nearest qualified independent Land Rover mechanic (charges $100/hr) is 2 hours away from me. Every time I need something fixed, I'd have to drive for 2 hours, drop off the car at the mechanic and ask a friend to pick me up from there and drive me back home. When the car is fixed, the process has to repeat. In addition, there is a widespread parts shortage and some things are on indefinite backorder. I may end up in a situation where the car breaks and I can't even get it fixed because some hose is not available. I am a single father with 2 kids and a demanding job in IT, so this arrangement is a huge problem for me. I need something that I can drive, enjoy and not think about. My plan was to trade in the Land Rover (cars similar to mine retail for $25K-$35K online now) at the dealer and get the trade-in credit (also saving on sales tax) and lowering the overall cost of the transaction.
This brings us back to the original problem. From one perspective, ordering is better. There are some offers on this forum for $8,000 off MSRP, plus I get to choose the exact color / options I want. From another perspective, based on what I read on forums, there is about a 4-8 months wait between ordering and taking delivery. This has three potential issues:
One -with inflation running off the cliff and the Fed desperately trying to slow it down, the finance rates are already insane today and will probably be much worse 4-8 months from now. Most auto loans I see today (for 60-mo) are in the 3.59%-4.5% range, so we could see rates of 5% to 7% towards the end of the year.
Two - with economy slowing, inventories recovering and borrowing rates going up, the used car price bubble is bound to pop soon. When that happens, the value of my trade-in will plummet.
Three - if something breaks on my Land Rover in the next 4-8 months, I may have to spend thousands of dollars and many hours of my time on getting it fixed (assuming parts are even available) and then I will effectively lose this money because I am going to trade it on when the Jeep arrives.
Four - Jeep already raised the MSRP of MY23 by thousands, so anything I order will already cost a few grand more than a '22 would.
The alternative to ordering/waiting is of course to try to find something that's either on the lot or en route (cancelled order, etc). I am not very picky on options (I just want a base model with an off-road camera) or on colors (I am OK with anything except red and Sarge green). This solves ALL the problems associated with ordering and waiting for 4-8 months, but creates other problems:
One - I am not going to get the color/options I want and will probably end up paying for options that I don't want or need.
Two - it may be complicated to find anything below MSRP in the next few months. Looks like Jeep dealers are not yet aware that they are selling a vehicle with a 14 combined mpg rating in a time when premium gas is $6+/gallon. The actual operating cost of a 392 is about .43c/mile (21.5gal tank at $6/gal. with an avg. range of 300 miles). The awakening shall come, but probably not until the fall.
Three - even if I eventually find a dealer that wants to sell at MSRP, I will have a problem with my trade-in if that dealer is very far from me (I am in NYC). I would have to drive the trade-in there and drive the Jeep back (could be a problem if the dealer is on the West Coast or in the South).
Four - I am super tired of wasting time on dealers that advertise fake (MSRP) pricing online, only to announce a $5K-$15K ADM as soon as anyone inquires about a 392 they have on the lot. I hate dealing with sleazeballs.
I've been thinking about this for the past few days and not sure what to do. Let me know your thoughts.
