I could see 10-15k, but 30k seems way too high. Almost any vehicle takes a big hit as soon as you drive it off the lot. I mean ya lose 5k on taxes on a $60,000.00 vehicle, doc fee, licensing ect.
I'm talking $30,000 trade in value loss after paying taxes. You have ~$4K to $5K in taxes owed upfront. There is ~$6,000 total built into this for the dealer, then you mix in miles put on it & a change of standard equipment (8/9 speed transmission within 2 years) then viole'.
Most of you will attest that there was major changes made almost every year to the WK1 from 2007 on, everyone of those made a difference but never a major mechanical shift like a new 8-9 transmission. Chrysler didn't spend ~$980 M without the intent of every model getting a high end box, so I'd plan on & these original over-priced ones get shelved. There was different electronics available with new Nav then TV came online, then new HID lights.
So I'm figuring about $10-$12K in misc. Start up losses & another $18,000-$20,000 in mileage use / equipment changes, which for a ~$65,000 American car is a very real scenario. Buy a loaded Chrysler minivan & trade it in 2 years later, your looking at 65% of the value gone easy. Thinking your going to get more than $40 K on trade at a dealer 2 years from now is fantasy, goodluck.
Sounds very close to me. Buy one loaded at $66k, add tax, license etc. and you are at $70k. Drive it off the lot and you lose $10k. A year later it drops another 10k, and 10k more the next year, total loss in 2 years = around 30k ($40k trade-in value). And in 2 years the 2014 models will be out with some upgrades/tweaks, which will cause the earlier models to drop a bit more.
Yeah, RS had it pegged while I was writing this. I'm being a realist here & it's a very big bath to spend over $1,250 to drive this car for 2 years. I'd just as soon lease a real high end car for the same money with a real badge, past Jeep.
