Hail all, I've been reading for a while, but haven't posted as I've found nearly everything I've needed in previous posts. This is an awesome community and I look forward to contributing and exchanging ideas.

Well, it's time to pull the trigger, I should have new Jeep this week. It'll be my second vehicle ever, and my first new vehicle. I have a couple of questions and would like some advice from the wise Jeep sages here

First off, my dealer (Lithia in Anchorage, AK, only DC dealer for several hundred miles) has this "Assured" program. I did a few brief searches on it and haven't found anything, but essentially it's a no dealer markup deal. They have a drive-away price of ~$100 off MSRP. It doesn't seem like a terrible deal as I really need a new vehicle and they have several I'd like. They have about 30 on the lot and sell around one per day. Should I haggle or accept this? I'm only hesitant because they've had such a horrendous reputation for screwing people, especially our military. It's been a couple of years since I last heard anything bad, so maybe that's changed, but I personally know people that have quit because of the way they treated people. I was just curious if anyone had experience with this Assured program or Lithia in general? (I did read one post where a road-tripper got his oil changed there, it was a positive experience for them)

Second, the salesman said that anything over a 2" lift and 35" tires would void the warranty. I have a buddy with a set of mounted 36s (worn to 35ish) that he's willing to part with, but I figured I'd need the 2.5"BB to fit 'em. There's probably a few topics concerning this, but maybe I'm teh suck at searching. Is this true, partially true, or false?

Third, what defects should I look for before I drive off the lot? The one I'm really gearing for (Rescue Unlimited X, 4.10 soft top) has a bit of a dimple on the door by thing hinge, but I'm cool with that. Otherwise I want to do a really good inspection before we drive away.

Other than that, is there anything else to be wary of when purchasing my first Jeep? Thanks in advance!

 

i ordered from a lithia dealership in west texas. i paid about $500 over invoice for pretty much the same jeep you're talking about (i ordered power/airbags as well) and they gave me a surprisingly good deal on my trade. i thought it was a pleasant experience overall after i got the point across that i wasn't a clueless customer (thanks, much in part to the members of this forum).

if they're going to give you that price out the door, i'd say jump on it. these jeeps aren't getting any cheaper, and you're looking at markup over MSRP combined with applicable TTL fees with most dealerships. though i'd probably try to haggle a few more dollars off due to the pre-installed door dimples.

aside from that, don't let them put on dealer stickers, tags, license plate frames. if they do, have them take it off (unless you like that sort of thing). check for scratches on the inside plastic and give it a good hearty test drive to make sure everything is smooth. i would also probably check the production date against the list of TSB's and recalls here to see if it needs any work before i drive away. oh, and a lot of people complain about the rear brackets for the soft top popping out. might want to look into that.

as far as the warranty thing, i would seek clarification. the general consensus around here interprets the law as putting the burden on the dealership to prove that any modifications directly caused a warrantied part to fail. thusly, it wouldn't make sense for them to say your warranty is voided by a lift/larger tires if your fuel pump (for example) were to take a dive. if they try to hold their ground on this, i wouldn't feel bad about buying from one dealer and finding another to perform warranty service. or perhaps you could convince another dealership to match the price?

good luck and enjoy

 

Welcome to the site. You will have a ball with your New JK. You should beable to get one for a few hundred over invoice price in most places. I don't know what the going price is up in AK. I think you can find out if you go into Kelly Blue Book and it will tell you what the ave. people are paying for a JK in your area. (Anyway I think that's how it works.) There is a thread on here about warranty. Hopefully one of the other members can hook you up with it, I can't find it. Again Welcome aboard. I found this site Specialty Equipment Market Ass. ( sema.org) There is a Fed. laws that cover the Warranty thing and we are protected on certain things. Try the site and see what you can find. the law it called the Magnusson-moss warranty act

 

Welcome as well - this is my first Jeep and just started posting myself

I paid $500 under MSRP, but in reality I should have had a supplier affiliate discount to get it at invoice. However, the dealership said that due to the inventory shortage of the model and options of the one I wanted (Rubi-Hard Top), that they would not participate in the affiliate discount (at least they spotted the $500).

However, they did say that if I wanted to opt for one of the X Soft Tops, as the inventory demands on those were much lower, they would honor the affiliate discount.

Bottom line is that if you're going with a model that doesn't have the inventory problems then I would suggest haggling hard. If there's a particular unit that is hard to come by and has a long lead time for ordering, then you have much less leverage with the dealer and will most likely paying MSRP (although, in several threads I've seen people pay over MSRP).

Good luck, Sir!

 

Thanks a lot for the info and the advice. I'm either picking it up tomorrow or the next day, and may try to work for a free hard top or just buy one lol. I'm freakin stoked!

 

Welcome to the board and congrats on your first new purchase!

My2Cents....In my car buying experiences there are only deals that I have been satisfied with, not necessarily great, good or bad deals. I suggest that you decide what you want to pay for it and work/haggle with the dealer to get as close as you can to the price that you want.

L

 

i'll point out that he mentioned the price he was offered was ~$100 under MSRP as a "drive-away" price. i'm pretty sure he's saying that that is "out the door", to be understood as including TTL (tax, title, licensing) which can run towards $1500-2000 typically. considering the fact that the difference between MSRP and invoice is generally around $1500 on JK's (personal research), if his "out the door" price is under MSRP, it sounds like he's actually getting it for right around invoice.

i would *almost* not hesitate to scream "JUMP ON THIS DEAL" at him, but who knows, maybe they're trying to sell him a test drive unit with a few hundred miles on it already or some other dying-to-be-unloaded anomaly.

 

The Jeep I drove has 29 miles on it, and is currently set aside for us. The thing is, we found a Jeep a few hundred miles away with a hard top, Infinity sound, and the tow package for around the same price. My job requires parking in a high-crime area, and I believe the hard top would be more secure. (I know not to leave anything visible in the vehicle, but that doesn't mean someone wouldn't trash the inside regardless of the contents if I had a soft top).

I'm torn now, I'm unsure if this other dealer has the Assured program with the out-the-door price. We'll see what both dealers can do, if Lithia can offer me dual tops then I'll go with them, if not I'll take a (free) flight and pick up my new Jeep somewhere else. However, like superboo said, this may be a great deal and they may not haggle since it's going to sell regardless of li'l ol' me. We'll call both dealers tomorrow.

Both Jeeps are close to what I want, other that the lack of dual tops and lack of manual trans. If anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it, otherwise I'll let you know how it goes!

 

i was adamant about getting a manual, but perhaps that's just me. if you're willing to compromise, then no problem, right? also, unless you're planning on moving to paris or just have that many enemies, i wouldn't worry so much about security if you're already committed to not leaving valuables inside the jeep. we've got something of a petty crime problem here on this island (crystal meth and poverty driven), yet i still haven't had a problem leaving my glass windows down and plastic windows out.

regardless of what you decide in the end, i'm sure you'll be quite pleased with your purchase. but personally, if the hard top'd jeep isn't more than a couple hundred dollars more expensive as you seem to be alluding to, i'd go with that one over the other. but only because later on, the hard top could fetch a decent amount of pennies were you to sell it. otherwise, i prefer the options the soft top affords me. then again, i live in hawaii, you live in alaska...

 

See if you can buy it through jeepwarehouse.com (SP?) and pick it up at your dealership. Then you wont really have to deal with them. Worth a try!