Going to look at a 2014 Rubi unlimited X this week , what kind of bs am I going to get about the value of my Rubi with the mods listed in my signature ? Anybody have a recent experience in the southwest area? I am in phoenix az right now.

 

For a trade-in, usually mods don't really equate to value.

Mods that make the Jeep look "cool" may have a bit more positive value. Mods that could be perceived to damage the vehicle less so.

 

You would be better off by selling Private Party.

 

I work in auto finance on the lender side and banks dont take after market items into consideration when financing a vehicle.
For example, if your jeep is worth $30k stock, and you have $5k in mods, the bank will only see it as a $30k vehicle.
Lenders look at loan to value, I.e how much the vehicle is worth compared to how much the are lending, and if that does not fall into a certain percentage they wont do the loan ( or they might raise the rate ).
So, basically, the dealer will not be able to mark up the vehicle because it has aftermarket mods. At least not to someone who will be taking out a loan.

I would suggest selling privately or removing the mods before trading it in.

 

Yea unfortantally most dealerships won't equate mods into trade in value, and some will even take money away for them(even though Im sure they make way more caz of them), when I traded in my 2010 sport I was told that since I lifted my jeep myself and didn't have it "professionally done" it took away from the value lol. Im sure I did a better job then joe shmo at the local accessory shop, but thats how dealerships work I guess, if you can find a buyer you would def get more private party, but the problem with that is it usually takes time and the trade in is right there and you have your new Jeep. What ever you think you want for your jeep in your head deduct about 4-5K and thats probolly what they will offer you.

 

The worst part is, that same dealership will mark up a vehicle that has the mods and use it as a selling point...

 

When I traded my 2010 JKU sport with 2 pages worth of mods, I got 21K for it; paid 28K.

 

I had a dealer show me his Kelly Blue Book one day, because he wanted to prove to me that a "modified suspension" was an automatic $2000 deduct as far as resale value was concerned. He was right, it said that right in the book. So trading in a modified Jeep can sometimes get you less on trade in than if the Jeep was entirely stock.

But dealers can be all over the place on trade in value, depending on the quality of work that has been done, and depending on their local resale market. My last trade in was a JKU with an AEV installed 6.4 Hemi under the hood. I got $60K on trade in, which was almost exactly double what trade in would have been without the hemi. The hemi cost $30K to install, and it got me an extra $30K at trade in, so the net price of the Hemi was $0.

 

Wait wait wait... You traded in a JKU that had a 6.4l Hemi?!

 

My thought exactly. Wish I had money to just play around with like that. I know you said it basically cost you nothing in the end but it cost $30k in the beginning.