Is this really a NEW vehicle?

[Spock]

I recently moved from the desert SW to the Land of Ice and Snow (queue Immigrant Man by Led Zepplin). So I need to turn my 0 ground clearance Mazda3 into something 4x4.


Everything I want is being discontinued and can not order. Jeep Cherokee. Ram 1500 Classic. Toyota Rav4 and 4runner are not discontinued but are unobtainium.

I found a 2022 Jeep Cherokee about an hour away. It's listed as new. Has a window sticker. Price is advertised as competitive (per KBB) for a new vehicle within a few grand of MSRP.
But. It has almost 6200 miles on it!?!


Same dealer has a 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee WK (previous generation). Same thing. Advertised price is within a few grand of sticker MSRP.
But. This one has just over 12,000 miles on it! In my mind that is used. Period. In which case KBB suggests the price is 5-7K over typical.


I've put a question into the dealer to find out if either of these has been registered before or otherwise how did a "new" vehicle get a years worth of miles on it.


That seems like a lot of miles for a demo/loaner.

They just sound like used cars to me.


It's been 18 years since I last bought a new vehicle so maybe I'm just ignorant of the modern car buying times.
Has anybody come across this before??

Would you consider this a new vehicle and pay sticker MSRP for it?

 

[Kings over Queens]

Not a new vehicle and I would expect it to be priced as such.

 

[Aerides]

Jeep Cherokees are probably commanding a higher price based on demand, since that is a discontinued model. Keep looking locally for other cars instead.

4runner should be available, if not in stock at your local dealer they should be able to help you order one.

 

[bobandsherry]

Could have been a courtesy vehicle, could have been vehicle of GM or some other dealership employee or even their spouse. As long as it's never been titled it can be sold a new. However warranty typically starts with the in-service date, so gonna be short on that.

 

[Spock]

....

4runner should be available, if not in stock at your local dealer they should be able to help you order one.

The Toyota dealer says they can not order anything from Toyota. They can only take what Toyota ships them, when ever they ship it, and 95ish% of them are sold before they get to the lot. No choice on color, option packages, nothing.

 

[Spock]

I pried open the wallet and ordered a carfax on the Cherokee.
It shows it being serviced:
8/15/22 - 2 miles, (washed and fluids checked)
3/06/23 no miles logged, no description other than "vehicle serviced"
4/17/23 with 2481 miles (washed)
5/19/23 - 3301 miles (washed)
8/23/23 - 6186 miles (oil and filter changed and washed)
There is no record of title registration like I see in dealer supplied carfax reports on other used vehicles.

And the warranty meter has been running with only 17 months left.

 

[dmpi]

This can might have been a service loaner. If that's the case I'd rather have a one owner car vs. one that's been driven by 200 people. You should be able to just ask the dealership what's the history of that car is. If they don't know or won't tell you then that's a bad sign. Anyway I think your best bet is to get yourself on the waiting list for a new forerunner or rav4. As long as you're not looking for a hybrid the wait isn't that long.

 

[Montecfo]

I would pull a Carfax on the car if seriously interested.

 

[bobandsherry]

I would pull a Carfax on the car if seriously interested.

He did, look up a couple messages.

 

[DrRoy]

I've lived in Ohio or Michigan most of my life. You do not need a Jeep, and they have a poor reliability record. Something with AWD will be fine. We really liked our Honda CRV until we wanted something bigger. Now have a Toyota Highlander.

 

[pb4uski]

Subaru Outback or Subaru Forester

We have a 2016 Outback with 90k miles that has been a great car. No repairs. Just oil changes, tire rotations, replacement tires, etc. It still has the original brake pads.

 

[Gumby]

I have been very happy with my 2018 Forester. Reliable. Holds what I need it to hold. Has high ground clearance and AWD.

 

[Spock]

This can might have been a service loaner. If that's the case I'd rather have a one owner car vs. one that's been driven by 200 people. You should be able to just ask the dealership what's the history of that car is. If they don't know or won't tell you then that's a bad sign. Anyway I think your best bet is to get yourself on the waiting list for a new forerunner or rav4. As long as you're not looking for a hybrid the wait isn't that long.

Found out the vehicle is/was indeed in their Service Loaner Program and the factory warranty clock started counting down when it went into the program, leaving only about 17 months of warranty left. (I'm sure I could get a warranty from some foreigner cold calling me... ). Since it was in the program, my local dealer says they can't exchange/trade dealer-to-dealer for it.


I have no information, but I would assume that a factory service loaner program would compensate the dealer for the new->used depreciation.


From my perspective it's a used car. It's priced decent for a new car (about 10% off MSRP), but as a used car KBB etc suggest average retail would be another 10% off that yet.


This could well be the last vehicle I buy, so I guess I could amortize the higher price over 15ish years to take the sting out. (Still, thats $22 a month and I've changed bank accounts to earn/save that much..)

 

[Sunset]

I've lived in Ohio or Michigan most of my life. You do not need a Jeep, and they have a poor reliability record. Something with AWD will be fine. We really liked our Honda CRV until we wanted something bigger. Now have a Toyota Highlander.

I lived in Canada for many years, and never had a 4 wheel drive. The 2 wheel drive did fine.

Snow tires do make a difference in both starting and stopping, unlike 4 wheel drive that allows a person to speed up faster, but does nothing to stop the skidding off the road.

 

[OldShooter]

Could have been a courtesy vehicle, could have been vehicle of GM or some other dealership employee or even their spouse. As long as it's never been titled it can be sold a new. However warranty typically starts with the in-service date, so gonna be short on that.

A couple years ago DW bought a Mini Countryman that had been driven by the Mini zone rep. It had some miles on it IIRC but not as many as the OP's target. The big difference was that it came as "Certified Pre–Owned," which is a sort of extended warranty that the dealer buys from the manufacturer.

If I were the OP and wanted the car, I would open negotiations at the asking price but with the car put into the mfg's certified pre-owned program. I would not accept any kind of aftermarket extended warranty as a substitute, though that would probably be the counter-offer.

 

[Car-Guy]

But. It has almost 6200 miles on it!?!

That seems like a lot of miles for a demo/loaner.

They just sound like used cars to me.

Would you consider this a new vehicle and pay sticker MSRP for it?

I bought a "demo" once with about that many miles on it. It was sold to me as new but I got a little better deal (I think) and they extended the manufacture warranty by the number of miles on the car.