In my effort to research all avenues, I noticed on the Jeep website Loan, lease, or Finance Plus. This appears to be a loan/lease combo. You get the title and at the end of the term 24-36mo you either pay the balloon or turn it back in.

The payments appear to be the cheapest too. Being a possible first time Jeep owner I was wondering if this might be a good option. If at the end of 3 years I love it I could keep it or if I wanted the 3 year old JK with all the bugs worked out I could just return it and get a new one.

Any opinions on the Finance Plus option? Are interest rates the same as normal financing? (Around 6% right now)

 

My wife and I went this route, it was the only way to get out from under our Land Rover. It worked for us. I don't like the idea of a lease, it's sort of like renting, it isn't really yours. Unless you plan on keeping it after the lease has run out, it worries me to change anything around that can't be changed back come time to turn it in... We have already made the decision to keep it so I'll be cutting, drilling, and changing when the newness wears off.

 

I looked into it and, yes, the payments are pretty good. I decided to make a larger downpayment and just use conventional financing instead. The payment was just slightly lower.

 

So for a 700+ credit person what could one expect the interest rate to be for the Plus option? And how can I get a residual value without having to go through the whole hassle of a dealer (I am still in research mode).

 

Not sure what Chrysler's interest rates are right now, but back in November the residual for a Rubicon Unlimited over 36 months was 69%. An X Unlimited for 36 months was 71%.

 

That is still accurate. X unlimited is 69% also last I heard...

For what it's worth, I would strongly reccomend lease with the residual purchase afterwards. The way my deal is working out I'm saving about 12K over a straight out purchase. My situation was a bit unique though...

If your credit is less than perfect make sure you're at a platinum dealer...if you talk to them real sweet they can buy your rate down a bit..