What are our TJs really worth?

gg1

gg1

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 3, 2018
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Pittsburgh, PA, United States
I did a price on Kelly Blue Book and it came back at between 11k to 13k for my Rubi with 48k miles and in very good condition. My frame is nice and very little rust on the underside. If I detail it it would look very nice. I am thinking my Jeep is at least $16k. Am I wrong? Thanks.
 
Just my 2 cents but I think the deal with Jeeps, especially TJ/LJ's, is that there is almost always someone willing to pay that high price. I think the dealers know it and I think private sellers typically know it too. I think there are also some factors unique to TJ/LJ's specifically that skew pricing and muddy the waters a bit.

- Often a second vehicle, used for rec purposes only, not a DD. Seller might not necessarily be motivated to sell quickly
- Often modded out, beauty is in the eye of the beholder type -ish. For some people (me), I was looking for bone stock. I don't need/want your crappy DIY mods and I dont need/want rock crawler mods - I couldn't afford the worthwhile ones anyway even if I did want/need them! Stock can be harder to find though and scarcity means higher prices as we all know.
- Often an impulse buy; whether you're a young kid looking for a sweet first ride or approaching your mid-life crisis, Wranglers seem to fit the bill for a lot of impulse buys at any age. Again, as we all know, an impulse buy often does not require a lot of logic or dispassionate decision making. People will spend too much to get that ONE TJ/LJ they've been thinking about for X months/years.

I purchased my '04 Sport for (I think) about $11.5 - it's an automatic and it came with around 95.5k miles. It's got normal rust and also some I didn't know about when I bought it but really is in pretty great shape considering I live in the midwest and we definitely get ice/snow and we definitely salt. With responsible upkeep and due diligence, I have no doubt I can get many many more years out of it as a DD, hopefully keep forever if life is kind to me.

At various times, I have felt that I both underpaid and overpaid. I probably overpaid a little but I also saved a lot of time that would have been spent searching, driving to see one, being disappointed, driving home, repeat. All that to save maybe another $500? MAYBE $1000? Not sure it would have been worth it.

Knowing what I know now, yeah I'd do some stuff differently but I love my Jeep and I have a blast driving it even when it absolutely sucks to drive. And I know I would have spent roughly the same amount or a little more to get a perhaps newer/safer/more gas efficient car but I don't think it would have had nearly the same charm or fun appeal. Also, I think I can get a good resell price if it ever comes to it with the way I baby this thing.

Sorry for the essay!
 
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Our TJs are only worth what we can find a person willing to purchase it for. Prices are all over the place around here so its hard to say. I know KBB says one thing, but know no one selling in my area is basing their sale price on the KBB. They are all way high. Some sell, some don't. I think time of year has as much to do with it as anything.
 
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Prices around here have dropped quite a bit. What used to be a $12-14k TJ is now $10k on the high side. A buddy of mine has a 99 that is clean as a whistle with less than 90k miles and he is not even getting a nibble at $8k. Probably because the release of the JL
 
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gg1 said:
I did a price on Kelly Blue Book and it came back at between 11k to 13k for my Rubi with 48k miles and in very good condition. My frame is nice and very little rust on the underside. If I detail it it would look very nice. I am thinking my Jeep is at least $16k. Am I wrong? Thanks.
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I believe most lenders use NADA value not KBB.

while I dont disagree, what are you using to base your Jeep’s value at $16k? Where did the other $3k in value come from?
 
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I paid the equivalent of 10k USD for my 03 Rubicon Manual Hardtop with 45k miles but I got extremely lucky. I could detail it and flip it easily and make a couple of grand profit but I bought it to keep.

I am in the market for an LJR with under 60k miles and I say that the prices are a bit too high, especially from dealers. I will only pay $25k-$30k if it is in damn mint condition with less than 20k miles and comes with a hardtoo.
 
The TJs definitely went down in value considerably since the JL came out, that's for sure. I've noticed this a lot lately.
 
You can go in autotrader right now and find a nice TJR for under 15k and under 75k miles. Tj prices have finally fallen off haha. Ljs are still on the high side, but I see those falling soon too.
 
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gg1 said:
I did a price on Kelly Blue Book and it came back at between 11k to 13k for my Rubi with 48k miles and in very good condition. My frame is nice and very little rust on the underside. If I detail it it would look very nice. I am thinking my Jeep is at least $16k. Am I wrong? Thanks.
Click to expand...

You can start at 16k I guess, but be prepared to sit on it for a bit. 14k would be a quicker sale for sure.
 
Starrs said:
You can go in autotrader right now and find a nice TJR for under 15k and under 75k miles. Tj prices have finally fallen off haha. Ljs are still on the high side, but I see those falling soon too.
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I hope you are right about the LJR!!!
 
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I just did a search on auto trader for an '03-'04 Rubicon with under 75K miles on it and came up with two only within a 500 mile search.

One is $16,900 and there other is $18,000. Guess mine is worth less.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...e1=JEEP&modelCode1=WRANGLER&clickType=listing
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...e1=JEEP&modelCode1=WRANGLER&clickType=listing
If I listed mine for such a low number, it would be the cheapest across the country that I can find, but maybe these Jeeps listed will never really sell.

Here are the results for a search for the '03-'04 with under 75K miles.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...Records=25&firstRecord=0&marketExtension=true
 
gg1 said:
I just did a search on auto trader for an '03-'04 Rubicon with under 75K miles on it and came up with two only within a 500 mile search.

One is $16,900 and there other is $18,000. Guess mine is worth less.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...e1=JEEP&modelCode1=WRANGLER&clickType=listing
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...e1=JEEP&modelCode1=WRANGLER&clickType=listing
If I listed mine for such a low number, it would be the cheapest across the country that I can find, but maybe these Jeeps listed will never really sell.

Here are the results for a search for the '03-'04 with under 75K miles.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...Records=25&firstRecord=0&marketExtension=true
Click to expand...
Remember those are asking prices. They woll probably sell for lower and not to be paranoid but it is possible for some dealers to artificially increase their prices by telling autotrader that a car sold for more than it actually did
 
tworley said:
Prices around here have dropped quite a bit. What used to be a $12-14k TJ is now $10k on the high side. A buddy of mine has a 99 that is clean as a whistle with less than 90k miles and he is not even getting a nibble at $8k. Probably because the release of the JL
Click to expand...

$10K for a Rubicon with less than 50K miles? Sign me up and I am a buyer so I can resell it.
 
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gg1 said:
$10K for a Rubicon with less than 50K miles? Sign me up and I am a buyer so I can resell it.
Click to expand...
That is what I paid for mine but it was not bought from the US and the seller was looking to sell it quickly. Frame is immaculate,not one lick of rust inside.
 
gg1 said:
Well that is not in the US.
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Yeah but the thing is that outside the US they are a lot more expensive. The asking prices for TJRs in Germany are downright mad. 20k EUR for one with 130k km and they don't even sell well. You pay tax on the engine's displacement in a lot of European countries and not a lot of people will go for the 4.0 TJ. They will choose a 2.0 JK. The reason I got mine for so cheap is because the guy didn't really care about the price as he was quite rich. The car has been neglected for the past couple of years and it shows.
 
gg1 said:
I just did a search on auto trader for an '03-'04 Rubicon with under 75K miles on it and came up with two only within a 500 mile search.

One is $16,900 and there other is $18,000. Guess mine is worth less.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...e1=JEEP&modelCode1=WRANGLER&clickType=listing
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...e1=JEEP&modelCode1=WRANGLER&clickType=listing
If I listed mine for such a low number, it would be the cheapest across the country that I can find, but maybe these Jeeps listed will never really sell.

Here are the results for a search for the '03-'04 with under 75K miles.

https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for...Records=25&firstRecord=0&marketExtension=true
Click to expand...
The ones I was finding were around 80k miles I guess. Truth is tj prices are not holding right now. They are dropping. A buyer can buy a decent JK rubicon for onky a little more than some are asking for their TJ. TJs will sit if you arnt reasonable with the price of a 2003-2006 jeep
 
Starrs said:
The ones I was finding were around 80k miles I guess. Truth is tj prices are not holding right now. They are dropping. A buyer can buy a decent JK rubicon for onky a little more than some are asking for their TJ. TJs will sit if you arnt reasonable with the price of a 2003-2006 jeep
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That is what I was thinking. Why spend 20k on a TJU when you can get a JKU for the same money. Really low mileage TJs will hold their value better though. I still expect to pay over 20K USD for a LJR with less than 20k miles in ten years from now.
 
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