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No longer a Jeep Virgin!

7K views 50 replies 18 participants last post by  bromhead 
#1 ·
Hey everyone! The day finally came and I am now the very proud owner of a new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee! Of course I've added pictures below and will take more "cool" ones with scenery when I get the chance. I picked it up yesterday from Plano, TX and drove it back home to San Antonio so I got a great chance to break it in. This will be a long message as I detail my deal, my issues and my overall impressions and satisfaction with the new Jeep so grab a drink and enjoy!

The DEAL: :D :thumbsup:

I negotiated this deal last week. I had found the vehicle on a routine Jeep.com search and immediately contacted the dealership via e-mail. I ALWAYS do ALL of the negotiating over e-mail so I have everything in writing. It's especially important if you plan on buying from a dealership not close to home (317 miles away in my case). His initial offer was $44,495 on an MSRP of $48,645. This included the $1,000 Chrysler Customer Cash and $500 Military Rebate. This was only $1023 below the invoice price of $45,518 which was obviously not acceptable since this offer represented the dealer selling for $477 over invoice before rebates. I wrote him back and explained that he was too high with his initial offer. I explained that I was ready to buy now but that he would have to do better. I do not like to tell dealers where I want them because there are incentives between manufacturer and dealer that we're never aware of in terms of volume discounts etc. I've learned to keep pushing until you really see how low they will go. He quickly replied telling me "I would really enjoy earning your business, but I am afraid I am going to have to fold in this poker game. The price I gave you is very low for that vehicle." I then thanked him for his effort and told him I wouldn't pay that price because he was essentially making $477 over invoice before the $1500 rebates were applied and then he was retaining all of his holdback of $1459.35 for a total profit of AT LEAST $1936.35. I knew I was going to be adding accessories and have the dealer install them but I hadn't let on to this yet because I knew this could influence the price and I wanted to keep those things separate. He thanked me and told me he was sorry he couldn't earn my business. He was very polite and told me to enjoy the new Grand Cherokee and that it was a great vehicle.

I moved on in my search and the next day wouldn't you know it, he contacts me again over e-mail and tells me "I spoke with the New Vehicle Director and he approved the price of $43,547 for the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4X4. That price is $500 in back of the invoice price of that vehicle." He had now just come down $948. Now he was at a position where he was selling me the Jeep at $471 below invoice BEFORE the $1500 in rebates was applied.

I now knew we were going to end up making a deal because he was very close but not quite there yet. At this point I wanted another $258 off the price so that we were splitting the holdback down the middle. I let him know this and he agreed after talking to his New Car Director. We were now at a price of $43,289 and I was happy. During the negotiations, I received a targeted $500 Chrysler Bonus Cash incentive card that now lowered my price to $42,789.

Now I told him that I wanted to add accessories. Specifically, I wanted the following: Tow Hooks, Skid Plates, Two Trail Rated Badges, Chrome Tubular Side Steps, Chrome "Grand Cherokee" Door Sills, "Jeep" Illuminated Door Sills, Pedal Kit, Splash Guards (Front/Rear), Chrome Air Deflector, Wheel Locks, Tinted front windows to the max legal limit in TX (25%) and the Chrome fog light bezels.

Not surprisingly, he came back with list price (MSRP) on all the accessories and a labor rate that translated to $169/hr based on the installation times listed on the Accessories Guide and 2011 Data Book found on the WK2 site. I called the dealership and spoke to the Service Director and asked him what his labor rate was and he replied $94.95/hr. I then put together a spreadsheet and calculated what the labor should cost based on their labor rate and the installation times called out for in the WK2 site documents regarding the accessories mentioned above. I also know that there is a 30% mark-up over actual cost on accessories. I told him I wanted 10% off the accessories and that the labor costs should equal what my spreadsheet said based on the installation times called out for in the Accessories Guide and Data Book. I sent him my spreadsheet with my justification showing him he was still making profit on the parts and the labor (20% on the parts and who knows on the labor). A few hours later, I received an e-mail agreeing to the 10% off parts and he met me halfway on the labor which I was happy with. He was $493.77 higher on labor than what I calculated and he gave me $250 of that back.

Now I had one last part of the deal to work...the warranties. I told him that all that stood in the way of a deal was him agreeing (really it's his F&I Director) to MATCHING the following prices on the warranties. $1830 for the Lifetime Maxcare $100 deductible warranty, $1380 for the 6yr/96k Chrysler Scheduled Maintenance Care Plus plan and $250 for the Chrysler Tire/Wheel Protection Package that covered aftermarket wheels and tires as well. The next day I received a reply telling me they agreed to match the Lifetime Maxcare price and the Scheduled Maintenance Care Plus price but that the lowest they could go on the tire/wheel warranty was $300 which was only $50 higher than what I asked. I agreed and the deal was set and I was going to pick it up Friday/Saturday of the following weekend (9/10 Sep).

The Issues: :mad::(

So the deal had been agreed to on Saturday, September 3rd prior to closing time. I fully expected the parts to be ordered first thing Tuesday morning when the service and parts department opened (only Sales was open on Labor Day). I got an e-mail early Thursday telling me that the Tow Hooks wouldn't be in because they couldn't do a Saturday delivery and it would take three days since they were coming from somewhere in Louisiana. I wasn't happy because I knew that meant they didn't order the parts Tuesday morning like they should have. I expressed my disappointment but was assured everything else was going to be installed so they would remove the Tow Hooks cost and labor from the final numbers. I figured that was fine after initially being upset because now I could wait and order the Chrome Tow Hooks when they become available. Then, the next day (Friday) I receive an e-mail telling me that although the Chrome and Tinted Air Deflector's show as available in Chrysler's ordering system, when they went to order it, it was greyed out for both and they couldn't order it. I wasn't happy about that but I couldn't blame them for that if they were showing as not available.

After knowing I had a deal, I went online and purchased a set of Chromed Wheels outright for my new Jeep and had them shipped to the dealer so they would be installed when I picked up the Jeep. I was a little nervous because I was told that the wheels "should" be there on Friday the 9th but that it couldn't be guaranteed. I debated whether to have them shipped to my house instead but decided to take the chance. They arrived on Friday at 10:57am so I was really happy about that and that issue had been negated.

So I hopped on a flight from San Antonio to Dallas Love Field late Friday afternoon and arrived at the dealership at 6pm. I was told the vehicle would be ready for me so I was excited. I had brought an overnight bag just in case but figured I would be on my way by 7pm and home by midnight. So I show up and the vehicle is obviously not detailed and cleaned although it looked sharp!!! I then notice that the front windows hadn't been tinted so I call this out to my salesman and he immediately sighed and admitted it was his fault. He told me he could put a priority on it but that the place they send it to (off-site) was not open until 8am the next day (Saturday). They tinted it the next day and detailed it and it was finally ready at 12:30pm. I did a full inspection and caught a few things. My DVD stuff wasn't in the vehicle so I brought that up and he went and got the box. I noticed the second key fob didn't work and then looked and saw it had the wrong stock number on it so he went and got the correct one. He also forgot the user guide w/ DVD but I brought it up and he went and got it. The last issue was that I asked where my original black bezels were and he and another salesman tried telling me that the chrome ones just "stuck" on top of the black ones. I told him that wasn't true and explained how it worked. I also asked where my original "Jeep" door sill was (the non-illuminated one that was replaced) and he said he didn't know. I told him I needed something in writing stating they would send those original parts to me when they found them and if they threw them away, they would order new ones and send them to me. After all, I paid for them :)

Final Numbers: MSRP = $48,645 (4X4 Mineral Grey Overland w/ DVD, RHR, V8, ACC and Saddle interior)
Vehicle = $42,789 ($1,000 Chrysler Customer Cash, $500 Military Rebate, $500 Targeted Bonus Cash)
Accessories = $1476.49 (wheel locks thrown in for free)
Labor = $682.50 (included wheel mounting/balance & TPMS transfer)
Fees = $331.76 (Inventory tax, title, license, etc.)
Sales Tax = $2766.59
Warranties = $3510
OTD = $51,556.34

Initial Impressions: :D:thumbsup::D:thumbsup:



I am VERY impressed with the HEMI fuel economy so far. I had about 165lbs of wheels in the back, about 150lbs, in skid plates and tube steps and splash guards and a brand new unbroken in engine with 11 miles on it. I know it’s rated at 13/19, but I saw 21.5 (hand calculated but EVIC was spot on) the entire 317 trip home with some hills and using ACC the whole way with the exception of Dallas and Austin traffic. This was 45 minutes of heavy traffic in the Dallas area and 15 minutes of heavy traffic in Austin. The rest of the way was light to moderate traffic. In the first full tank (471 miles), I saw a combined MPG of 18.9. Needless to say I was impressed.

GET ACC! I had never used ACC before and I was a little hesitant at first since it feels counter-intuitive to let the Jeep slow itself down but wow it was awesome! I had my foot ready but the Jeep calmly and quickly slowed down from 75 to 15 without me even touching it (at 15 it disengages and you have to slow the rest down on your own). I played with the three different distance settings and was comfortable with the closest setting after a while. I also got to test out the Advanced Collision Warning when a guy cut in front of me so that is extremely useful as well. My wife LOVES the Blind Spot Monitoring when changing lanes.

I don’t know what people are complaining about with respect to the Bluetooth streaming of music because it worked flawlessly with my Jeep. I have an iPhone 3GS and it worked perfect…sound was crystal clear, no skipping etc. Easily one of my favorite features. I already trained the voice recognition and so far have no complaints about it’s use. It easily picks up my commands and hasn’t had any issues executing them. I have yet to try out the RES or DVD up front so I’ll have to check that out later.

My Jeep was built on June 22nd and it has the latest Navigation software version as 1108 4.1.1. I had seen on here that people were saying they only had version 1035 4.0.8 and that Navteq had indicated the newest version was 1051 3.4.0 which only applied to the RER. Anyway, mine does have 1108 4.1.1 and it has my house which is only three years old and a lot of the new places around me so I was impressed with that.

The Jeep drives so smooth and the HEMI pushes it effortlessly. There is plenty of power and I don’t feel a lot of throttle lag at all. It shifts smooth and isn’t jerky at all. The brakes feel firm and stop the Jeep without an issue. The feel of the meety woodgrain steering wheel is great and the leather on the other part is a nice change when you slide your hands down. The AC is cold and works quickly and the cooled seats were fantastic on the ride home from the Dallas area. The new Grand Cherokee is one sexy ride inside and out and I love the Saddle leather. Mineral Grey really does look amazing and hides dirt well. The metallic flakes really give it a nice sparkle in the sunlight. I must be one of the few that also likes the green lighting and appreciate it in the door handles and other places. Overall an outstanding interior and well thought out layout. Heated and cooled cup holders would be nice though! Overall, so far I love the Jeep and look forward to many thousands of happy miles and I have plenty of people here at Jeep Garage to thank for that! I have tried to be a good contributor to the forum and will continue to do so. Thanks for everyone’s support and knowledge on the site and I look forward to interacting with you all more through the years of ownership and beyond. If you made it this far, congrats and thanks for reading! Now....check out the pics below in the next post. I hope you like! :D:D:D:D
 
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#2 ·
On to the pics...
 

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Some more...
 

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More...
 

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Still more...
 

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And more...
 

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Still going...
 

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Almost done...
 

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Getting there...
 

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#10 ·
Last one...for now ;)
 

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#28 ·
Thanks!
 
#12 ·
Wow, that is purdy!

I wasn't considering that color until just now. I still haven't managed to go to a dealer and actually look at any colors in person. Just seen a couple driving around.

Did you somehow get the rear end to lift up and the front to drop for those last few pictures?
 
#24 ·
Wow, that is purdy!

I wasn't considering that color until just now. I still haven't managed to go to a dealer and actually look at any colors in person. Just seen a couple driving around.

Did you somehow get the rear end to lift up and the front to drop for those last few pictures?

Kev,

No my driveway is sloped at the beginning so the Jeep is angled down in the photos so that's why you see the front lowered and the rear raised.
 
#30 ·
Thanks and I know what you mean...loving it so far!
 
#15 ·
Sharp looking Jeep HEMI. You did all your homework when buying it. Nice job. Congratulations and best of luck. :thumbsup:
 
#31 ·
Thanks Cherokee I appreciate it!!
 
#32 ·
#18 ·
Nice!

That color was our second choice. We mostly didn't get it because I think it really needs the chrome accents of the Limited & Overland to look good, on the Laredo its a little bland without them.

If it was only my choice though that vehicle is what I would have bought!
 
#33 ·
Nice!

That color was our second choice. We mostly didn't get it because I think it really needs the chrome accents of the Limited & Overland to look good, on the Laredo its a little bland without them.

If it was only my choice though that vehicle is what I would have bought!
Thanks!!
 
#34 ·
I appreciate it Cherodude!
 
#26 ·
The rears come from the factory at 18%. I had the fronts tinted at the dealership. The max legal limit in TX is 25% on the fronts so that is what it's tinted at.
 
#35 ·
LOL..you'll be in the club soon enough Bromhead!! Thanks for the support!
 
#27 ·
Congrats! What did you do with the stock rims? Hope the dealer didn't forget what they did with those too.
LOL..no those were boxed up in the back of the Jeep when I picked it up. I have a thread selling those for $1,000 in the Jeep Stuff for Sale classifieds.
 
#36 ·
Thanks Suprand!
 
#41 ·
Hem,
In regards to the extended warranty. The 7/100, etc is transferable, lifetime is not. So, if you sell your car before the non lifetime runs out, you help with resale. The lifetime won't do anything for you. Did you game this out? Is the expectation that you will not get rid of the vehicle prior to the expiration of the non LT warranties, so it didn't matter...etc

Just curious. I would like to think i would keep the wk2 beyond 100k, but if i wanted to flip it mid life, i wouldn't get any credit for the extended warranty if i went the lifetime route...

As you seem to have gone into EXHAUSTIVE detail regarding your decision :D, i was curious as to your insight.... :)
 
#44 · (Edited)
Brom,

Part of my reason is that I drive a lot of miles. My wife and I average about 36,000 miles a year between two vehicles. I would break 100K in about 5.5 years and I absolutely plan on keeping it at least 10. I'll probably be pushing between 175-200K by then so the lifetime was a no brainer. With all the electronics, gizmos, air suspension, DVD, ACC, etc. etc. it was an easy call for me. Same goes with why I bought it for my truck. If you don't drive a lot of miles and/or plan to get rid of it in 5 years, it definitely makes sense to get a transferable one. I always purchased extended warranties as far out as I could even with cars I knew I'd get rid of in 3 years because it helped easily differentiate my vehicle from somebody else's when I sold it and I've been able to easily and quickly sell my past four vehicles all on Ebay as a result of that. Look at how long you plan on keeping your Jeep and how many miles you drive a year and make your decision that way. The 7r/100k makes a lot of sense if you definitely will get rid of it in 7 years or less and don't drive more than 14-15K a year.

Exhaustive research? Nah...lol. I actually enjoy the research and negotiation part of it. I do the same thing for all my friends and family. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the dealership with family and friends who want me to help them negotiate...lol. You should have seen how I was with buying my house! Now that was exhaustive but I got a tremendous deal so I felt that all the work I put in paid off!
 
#45 · (Edited)
Sweet! Thanks for the compliment! That makes three of us I think that have Chromed Overland Wheels. I bought mind outright and the other guy on here that did his (white Jeep) did the chrome exchange. These are by far my favorite factory wheels on any vehicle I've ever had. As for the grill I considered the Summit grill and figured I could sell my Overland grill since the Summit grill comes as a kit. However, I really really like the look of the mesh insert but at 300 I'll have to wait until I can get one at a better price. I know justforjeeps sells it but I just can't stomach paying that much for a mesh insert when I could buy a Summit grill in its entirely for 30 bucks more.
 
#46 ·
Thanks and I agree! Honestly, at first I had decided I wasn't going to do the tubular steps on the Jeep since it has the park setting with the Quadra Lift but I figured it would be great for my daughter when she's old enough and I really love the look. I have them on my truck too but I would say on the Jeep they're more for looks right now than anything :D
 
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