2012 Jeep Wrangler Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

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bankerdanny

We paid $22,578 for the Jeep (plus tax and title), way back in 2011. It depreciated about 23 percent. For reference, average car depreciation is about 22 percent. So the Jeep didn't do too badly, given that we had decreased the condition level.

......So you stripped off the thousands of dollars in lift kit, tires, wheels, sway bar disconnect, front bumper, and winch you added? Your depreciation was far more than 23%.

fordson1

Honestly. Hard to believe anyone could run those numbers past us thinking we would just forget about all the mods done to the vehicle.

duck87

In most cases, aftermarket additions to vehicles don't affect its value (depending on the modifications it could hurt resale value too). I don't think it should be included as pure 'depreciation' costs.

yellowbal

They were able to give Dan a great discount on a vehicle he loved. Good stuff.

fordson1

I would like to have seen how they filled in the Edmunds TMV calculator to get these "Average" and "Clean" condition prices. I mean, TMV is supposed to be based upon actual transaction prices...so you can't have the actual sell or trade dollar amount in there, reflecting the condition AND equipment levels the vehicle is sold with, without having the actual cost involved to get the vehicle to that condition and equipment level (the mods). You can't just put in the sell price with the mods, put in the original purchase price LESS the mods, and then go, "wowie, zowie - look at that low depreciation!"

greenpony

It's hard for "calculators" like TMV to take into account modifications. To determine a more reasonable value, you start with the TMV of the unmodified vehicle, add in the value of the modifications, subtract the value of the components you replaced, and depreciate your mods. As duck87 said, some mods may end up having negative value, depending on the buyer...

rm2008

Duck87 is right. You can't account for aftermarket modifications when appraising a car. If anything, they reduce the value of the car. Not everyone will see the value of a lift kit and super winch. Determined sellers can try to recoup some of the funds when they sell it to a private party, but this was a sale from a company to an employee. We have to go by TMV value. The depreciation for a one year old jeep was impressive given the miles and condition level. For reference, the only options I filled in to the TMV tool was air conditioning and Bluetooth. Hope this clears things up.
-Ron Montoya

stovt001_

Even if you like the mods themselves, the quality of the install and the source of the parts is often an unknown. In this case they're certainly not unknown to the buyer, but in the case of TMV it makes good sense to just disregard them altogether. While Edmunds has a ton of data they work with, it doesn't seem very reasonable to have a calculator that can accurately determine the value of aftermarket mods. The range of possible outcomes is just too vast.

stovt001_

Also, has anyone else noticed TMV tends to be lower than most other appraisal values out there? Carmax seems to reliably offer a competitive bid compared to it right off the bat. I've looked up my 06 MX-5 Miata on both Edmunds TMV and KBB. KBB quoted $13K which seems a bit high considering what I see them listed for around here, but TMV quotes me $6K, not even half KBB's (admittedly high) quote. That's quite a range.

bankerdanny

I appreciate the update Ron, but the TMV tool and resulting depreciation calculation is meaninngless when selling a highly modified vehicle to an internal buyer. Additionally, the Wrangler is not like most other cars and your particular geographic location makes an upgraded Wrangler particularly appealing. I believe that the generally thoughtful upgrades you made (except for not upgrading the diff ratios for the larger tires) add substantial value to your Wrangler and it would have sold very quickly and certainly for more than the depreciated value of the base model you priced it on. Personally I think Dan got a screaming good deal.

throwback

Will Dan still let the other editors drive it? it is his car now

fordson1

"Not everyone will see the value of a lift kit and super winch."

Stop. Please stop. Somebody consciously buying a lifted, big-tire, winch-equipped WRANGLER for god's sake won't appreciate those items, because golly gee...he thought he was getting something more like a Camry? Yeah, maybe it's hard to quantify these mods' value when adding to the original purchase price, but that doesn't mean you just throw up your hands and go with TMV like it was stock. I mean, I realize you would like to promote TMV as a black box that solves all these thorny buy/sell questions on all things automotive, but...

nyccarguy

Dan - congrats on your new ride & getting a good deal on it too. Those wheels really make the Wrangler look much tougher than the stock steel wheels.

sodaguy

Dan, congrats on the new ride.

hybris

In what world is 32,000 or so miles considered "high mileage"?

The only two vehicles that I can think of are motorcycles and ATVs.

thunderlungs

Wow, Dan: Congratulations! I would like to have an exchange with that person among you who put the most miles on this Jeep.
Who might be and how do I reach him/her?

Jon Lundberg

desmolicious

Well, the left cylinder head on my 2012 Wrangler just failed at 18,123 miles.
Edmunds' one failed too but they mysteriously kept silent about it after the initial mention, with no follow up.
Not cool.