hello all. my lease end on my 2008 sahara is somewhat quickly approaching. this is my 2nd time leasing and i think it is time to buy and keep. i got a sales guy looking around and he called me up real excited and wants me to come in saturday. he says year end clearances are coming and i did tell him an unused 2010 unlimited rubicon would be of interest if the numbers were right etc. otherwise i am hoping for a 2011 unlim rubi. anyone have anything to say about the 2010's vs the 2011's?

 

I am sure you will get a lot of comments about the 11's. I personally do not like the new interor in a wrangler but that is a personal choice you have to make. I don't think there are any differences other than that.

I can give you some information on numbers though. I just traded in my 2008 Sahara for a new 2010 JKU Mountain. I had close to 60k miles on the Sahara but it was fully loaded (dual tops, MYGig, etc.). They gave me $20k on the trade in and I got them to knock a whole $2k off the $30k sticker price on the JKU

I don't feel like I got a great deal but I don't think it was a bad one either. You can use these numbers to compare if you would like.

 

I'd go for the 2011. Sit in one and you will be sold.

 

I would love the new seats. They are comfy.

 

I would do a couple things.

First - take a look at your residual value (the cost for you to 'buy out' you lease at the end). If that residual value is well below current market value then you may want to consider buying your lease out. You can take out a standard car loan to buy it out (through Chrysler (or whomever holds your lease) or your own bank). Sometimes that can be a good deal.

Of course if the residual value is inflated or above the market value then turning it in is the best way to go.

I mainly mention this primarily because in today's automotive market, some dealers get first dibs on buying an off lease vehicle if they are the 'turn in' dealer. That means if the residual value is below market value they stand a good chance of buying the vehicle from the leasing company at a price that is lower than what they would have to pay a customer for a trade in. Basically that means you left money in the tiny little storage area of your Jeep and the dealer promply cleaned it out.

With regards to the 2010 versus the 2011. Me personally? I went with 2011 because I (dare I say it? - yeah - there are others like me) liked the new interior. I personally don't see any issues with the new dash and improved trim (and noise isolation). I don't feel like I need to suffer to enjoy my Jeep, although I have in the past with my TJ's.

If your Jeep is your daily driver and you spend the majority of your time on road getting from point A to point B, I suspect you will like the new interior and other improvements on the 2011.

If you spend most of your time off road, I think you would still like the interior improvements and I don't see cleaning and caring for the new interior to be any more difficult than the previous model year. The textures and materials are similar to my 99 TJ that I just sold and should clean up fine and wear well.

The only benefit with 2010's right now would be the ability to get a bigger discount under invoice. There's no factory incentive that I know of on 2010's (other than low APR financing) so getting as far under invoice as possible is your goal on a 2010.

Personally unless I could get 6% or more under invoice on a 2010, I'd go with 1% under on a 2011 (which I did using the Tread Lightly Friends and Family pricing - no haggle, easy way to do business).

It's all personal preference in the end.

Just don't let that dealer talk you in to a lease turn-in if your Jeep is valued above it's residual value. If your residual is under the market value - use it as a trade in just like any other vehicle that you owed money on. Your trade it is worth ACV (Actual Cash Value) less what you owe (residual value on a lease). So if ACV is Greater than Residual - you have a reduction in price

 

Its really up to you. Figure that you will be driving this for a while so you need to like it. If you personally like the 2011 interior better then get that. Its up to you man. Get what you want. Either way I dont think you will be disappointed.

 

I would go 2010 because if the leather in the 2011 gets screwed up since you plan to keep in the long run the leather won't do you good, theres always seat covers but still. To me leather in cars to keep is alright but I live in the desert and have the top down all the time so no wonder it gets ugly. Its a personal choice