I don't know how old you are, but as a 66 year old guy, I've financed exactly TWO vehicles in my entire life, and I can tell you unequivocally that by the time they were paid for (5 year loans) I couldn't WAIT to get rid of them! My wife and I own ALL of our four vehicles right now; having said that, the newest one is a 2016. We also own our house outright. Despite all this, my wife's company (where she's been for NINETEEN YEARS), which has been by & large immune to economic downturns, is merging two divisions in January 2023 and the odds are 50-50 that she will be "packaged out" - meaning that if we don't wanna eat through (what's LEFT of) our 401K, we'll be selling two of four vehicles and downsizing to a smaller house...
When I look at the prices of new vehicles, I shake my head - "Who in the BLUE FCUK can afford these things?!" I ask myself. I would advise you to look back on your life to when you "coveted" something, and did whatever it took to make that "thing" yours. In all truth - after 6 months to a year wasn't it "just another thing" in your life that needed X amount of care & maintenance? I've got a house FULL of "things", and I can count on ONE hand (and prolly give you some "change" back) the # of things that I wouldn't sell for the right price...
And quite simply (assuming your TJ is in decent shape), you're considering selling an asset that is (at worst) prolly holding its value - at BEST it's appreciating in value - for something that will plummet in value like a stone the minute your back wheels hit the pavement out of the Stealership lot. As far as parts go, let me remind you that Jeep made close to ONE MILLION TJ's, and the secondary market for new parts & accessories MAY just be the #1 automotive secondary market - FAR larger than any other "classic" vehicle that *I* can think of!
Caffeine-induced rant off - go get yourself a dog or cat from a Rescue Shelter instead if you want something "new" in your life; you'll be doing BOTH of youse a FAR bigger "favor"...
I'm 38, 39 in February.
I can't disagree with the price of new cars - gotta love inflation and the downside of supply/demand. As for the did whatever it took, I guess you could say that for my M3. I got $25k from the Gov (T-SGLI coverage) since I had to have an operation to repair my leg when the IED got us, and spent $22.5k of it to get the M3 and ship it to my parents in Ohio while I waited to recover enough I could actually drive it back to post. That was in 2011 and I fully intend to keep the M3 until it blows up or I can't get it fixed (biggest pain is the closest shop that'll work on it is in Denver or the suburbs... a nice 4 hour drive one-way). I love that car - I just don't have that kind of connection to the TJ.
I think the TJ is in decent shape for it's age - going to get it's yearly inspection later this week and see how she's doing. Only think I know of is the heater core (I have the part, just haven't bothered to schedule getting it installed). I also think it's time for an oil change, though the sticker fell off so I'm not entirely sure. lol
The $6k figure the dealership said was just me seeing what THEY think it's worth - I certainly know it's worth more in a private sale, which is how I'd want to go if I chose to.
As for what I want to do to it, I want to get:
- LED headlights
- Power windows and locks
- New head unit, maybe new speakers
- New rotors/pads (Mr. Blaine [I think?] will be hearing from me about that)
- Upgrade the steering
- Possibly upgrade the suspension (need to decide if I want to go through with getting everything so I can run 35"s)
- Get the engine/transmission bullet proofed (I think something might be up with the transmission - acts like it has a slipping clutch with stop/start)
- New front/rear bumper
- Maybe a winch
- Maybe armor up the underside a bit more
So, looking at everything above, I could get most of that done with a new JL from the factory and have a warranty for 3 or more years and have a new vehicle that would have aftermarket support for 10+ rather than trying to keep a 140k TJ from 2006 going with dwindling support for parts.
Trust me, financing $55k with interest is an intimidating idea, I've never done anything close to it. But what the past 10 years or so show, car prices are only going up. And I figure they're never getting cheaper unless something catastrophic happens. Hell, over on the JL forums, reading the Orders thread, with the 3-4 month wait folks are getting charged thousands more than the original invoice, so it's even getting more expensive in the short-term. So, if I wait another year, the same spec will probably be $60k. Two years, it could be $70k, etc. Let alone the push to go all-electric - how many more years of ICE Wranglers are we going to get before they're all EVs?