You kinda just proved my point. More buyers and more automatics to choose from. Every Jeep dealer in a 50 mile radius will have a dozen different used automatic Jeeps to choose from. If you dont like the price at one dealer just drive down the road and you will probably find the same thing cheaper. In that same 50 mile radius there will only be a handful dealers that will have a manual Jeep with the options that you are looking for....therefore you either pay what they want or go without. My Jeep came from a dealer in Maryland and I live in northeast PA because I couldnt find one in PA, NY or NJ with the options I was looking for in a stick. Still boils down to supply/demand.

 

My thoughts:

From a new car standpoint: There is a greater demand and a greater supply for automatic Jeeps, Jeep wouldn't make the vehicles in the first place without addressing this market characteristic. Manufacturing is based on location/region modeling and actual orders. Yes, that provides an opportunity to pit dealers against each other and lower your purchase price, that doesn't effect resale value though... as it is based more on the general value of the vehicle (most commonly MSRP, but also invoice pricing, or common comparison numbers other than what person X paid against person Y).

From a used car standpoint: Regarding resale value... you have a slight flux given that the automatic is an option, thus has a increased cost over the manual. Is it possible that the potential rarity of a manual transmission will/can make up that price difference (between the automatic option and the standard manual) thus pushing up the resale value of a manual transmission equipped Jeep, absolutely. The models (KBB, NADA, etc) don't take that into perspective. You have to consider the sociologic aspect to this, whereas someone may want a manual transmission truck with X, Y, and Z options... if they are shopping for a used vehicle they CAN go with an automatic if it has X, Y, and Z options. Someone on the flip side of that doesn't have the same luxury without learning how to drive a manual transmission (the root of the laziness quip).

An interesting exercise, here, and I am about to wax poetic, would be to map the price fluctuations from a new through, say, five years old vehicle. Look at the depreciation and resale value of automatic versus manual transmissions. I think one influences the other in various ways and I'd hypothesize that the manual transmission equips Jeeps are unduly influenced by the automatic Jeep market. Sadly, they aren't mutually exclusive (or so it seems). The gap between resale value of equally optioned Jeeps with different transmissions probably could swing in favor of the manual transmission (on a resale:MSRP basis) simply due to the option of those drivers to purchase an automatic transmission. It's possible that since MOST automatic transmission pursuers don't have the ability to drive a manual transmission equipped vehicle, that it pushes down the resale value (again on a resale:MSRP basis).

 

Great response and you are completely right. My previous response was from my experience in used car sales. I worked at a boutique dealership for a handful of years and cars that came through that would be harder to come by we could put a higher price on and wait for the right buyer without lowering the price. I did however look up past 2007-2010 Jeep Wrangler sales at Manheim auctions and it appears that transmission choice does not affect auction price at all...just condition and mileage. Hey...we used to say at the dealership....there's an ass for every seat.

 

My brain it turning trying to remember what movie that is from.... Think I'll just have to google it

http://bit.ly/wCdcVZ

 

I used to be the controller for an organization (a holding company) that owned 11 dealerships, a fleet business, and two leasing companies. I vaguely recall a bit of the crap every now and again.

I still think it would be interesting to see if the sticker price gap for the automatic option held after a new vehicle was turned in (became used). My initial thought is that dealers would be able to get away with pricing both vehicles similarly (effectively pocketing whatever residual difference there is in the transmission option), as the manual equipped Jeep is a niche vehicle and the general Jeep purchaser is not looking for the option (predicated on market demands, which reflect actual vehicle production). On the flip side, if the typical purchaser is looking for an automatic equipped Jeep... a dealer would have to bargain a bit to sell it as there may be many choices (at many dealerships) to purchase a vehicle. Perhaps these two points work together, perhaps they don't, perhaps we have really, REALLY over thought this and should be happy with what we have.

 

Supply and demand does apply... there is a much greater demand for automatics than standards. Obviously on the forums and in clubs you are around more enthusiast who might demand the standard, but when selling the car to the general public most of them want the automatic. My friend listed his standard corvette on craigslist and got inundated with calls and emails asking if it was automatic. <- so even sports cars fetch a premium for automatic because most people are not driving enthusiasts.

The auto will get a higher trade value than a standard from a dealership b/c they can turn around and sell it faster than a standard.

 

Haha good job. I was wondering if anyone caught it

 

It's hard to eat and text with a manual.

Mine is a DD also, I work out of it as an appraiser, lots of property inspections, lots of pictures. I do a lot of "drive by" picture taking, some places it is dangerous to stop, whether it be traffic or not enough weaponry to be safe.

I learned to drive in a stick, my first Jeep was a stick. I'm done. I like automatics.

 

I really love my 6 speed its fun as hell to drive but if I had it to do over again I would get a auto simply because my jeep is going to be a offroad toy for me. It's a lot easier to control a auto than a stick when crawling which is what my jeep is going to be built for but with some practice you can master a stick offroad just takes a little time.

 

Most dealers probably order mostly autos becuase they know the ladies are driving them more now, and a lot of people don't want to special order their Jeep. So you go to the lot and buy whats there. Plus like said before, hard to eat, talk on the phone, and hold your oversize drink cup (because it wont fit in the little cupholders) while shifting a stick. That being said, i have owned 3 standards before my auto Jeep, and i really could stand to never own a stick again unless it's a straight up drag car. Even then, autos are a lot more consistent.