2022 Wrangler 4xe lease (bend over and lube up)

[Escape.idiocracy]

Just curious…. And this is against your post. Have you considered the diesels? I understand the projected price of fuel is “unknown” right now. Their fuel economy is consistent and better than gas.
I haven’t ran the ROI numbers since we were at $5.70 a gallon (currently at $6.80)- but when originally ran, motor cost return to break even was at 22k miles and this factored in def fluid at 1 gallon per 1k miles @ $12 per gallon.
We consistently get 23 mpg in town, and 26-27 on the highway.

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[dcmdon]

In my opinion, the 4Xe is the best powertrain Jeep offers. As much power as a 392 JL, but without paying a fuel penalty for having the power. The powertrain itself is incredibly smooth and the transitions between the engine and battery are seamless.

This is absolutely true. Power, torque, fuel efficiency, electric only running for most day to day errands.

The problem is that this is a version 1.0 attempt by a company not known for success on their first try at innovation.

inconsistent quality.
Poor dealer service quality
lack of loaners
vehicles out of service for months while parts are on backorder
technicians who don't know how to diagnose problems because they weren't trained

Its a cluster eff of problems.

But if you are going to do it, leasing is the way. Then you walk away if it turns out to her a turd.

 

[Dougstdig]

With gas prices what they are, my wife and I have kicked around getting a Wrangler 4xe to replace her Acura RDX. I'm still not convinced of the longevity of current-day Li-on automotive batteries, so I definitely wanted to go the lease route. She loves blue, so we searched and found a hydro blue 4xe on a semi-local lot.

Test drove it, she liked it. Spent a decent amount of time in it. The salesman was friendly and all that, but there's no way I'm sitting down and going through the charades (especially with 2 young kids). That night I sent out local inquiries for lease prices. I always go $0 down. Now, I admit, I've been purchasing and leasing many, many cars for many, many years and I'm aware this is probably the worst time to ever lease a car. The chip shortages are still affecting inventory and the interest rates / APR are all over the map. I was still curious.

The internet/fleet manager of the dealership we visited came back with a quote on the exact 4xe we looked at. $0 down, $920/mo + tax. So basically a grand a month. In my inquiry I had sent her the baseline Jeep corporate lease advertised at $375/mo for 36 months. $3,930 total due at lease signing (which equates to $484.17+ tax with $0 down) and she said, yeah were not participating in that lease program. Ha.

The funny part was my wife said, "they want a thousand a month for a car that I have to manually move my seat??" Yeah, I'm not sure my wife should be a Jeep owner. One thing is for sure, I'm waiting a long time before I get lease quotes again. Or I'd go the Gupton purchase route (which I'm not ready to do on a 4xe).

I don’t know if someone else has already replied to your message with what I’m about to contribute, so if they have…my apologies.

Admittedly, I’ve never gone the leash route. This being said, you’re looking at leasing one of the most modded vehicles on the market today. From the lease contracts that I’ve heard of, unless a dealer installs a modification at the time of the lease you’re in violation of the lease if you do it on your own after the lease inception. Essentially, it’s no different than if you went down to enterprise Rent-A-Car rented a vehicle for a month and started making alterations to the vehicle. Now all this being said, you may have no intention of modifying the vehicle at all and maintaining it in its stock form. Just keep in mind, that part of the enjoyment of this vehicle is being able to modify it to fit you. It’s a blank canvas. I’ve seen many people purchase a jeep that have had no intention of modifying it. Within a month they start having Amazon Packages show up at their door.

 

[Dougstdig]

Would selling JTR for a Tesla model Y help savings long term? Asking because you seem to do the math and I still can’t figure out if it’s worth it especially if batter has to be replaced costing 8-12k on battery alone.

I’m not sure where you got your pricing on the battery, but there’s a video floating around of a guy that demolished his four year old tesla because a replacement was going to be $22-$23,000. Which brings up another good point. If the batteries are good for four years before the charging is affected by the age, what happens when you try and trade that vehicle in at 3 1/2 years? admittedly, I’m gonna pull some numbers out of thin air so they’re actual accuracy is very suspect. Let’s say “Sam” purchases a $60,000 car and expects to trade it in for $40,000 in 4’ish years. They hit you with a $20,000 depreciated value due to the battery having to be reconditioned or replaced. Now you have $40,000 worth of a loan on a vehicle you’re only going to get $20,000 credit and now you’re automatically $20,000 upside down on another vehicle. I just can’t find the sense in that.

 

[pat11784]

Unfortunately Jeep is fully embracing premium pricing but still manufacturing POS.

 

[dcmdon]

Unfortunately Jeep is fully embracing premium pricing but still manufacturing POS.

Lets not forget about the "premium" dealer experience.

1) sales reps who know nothing about the 4xe
2) technicians and service writers who nothing about the 4xe
3) no spare parts to repair hybrid drivetrain items
4) loaners not offered during prolonged down time.

 

[DirkG]

Admittedly, I’ve never gone the leash route. This being said, you’re looking at leasing one of the most modded vehicles on the market today. From the lease contracts that I’ve heard of, unless a dealer installs a modification at the time of the lease you’re in violation of the lease if you do it on your own after the lease inception. Essentially, it’s no different than if you went down to enterprise Rent-A-Car rented a vehicle for a month and started making alterations to the vehicle. Now all this being said, you may have no intention of modifying the vehicle at all and maintaining it in its stock form. Just keep in mind, that part of the enjoyment of this vehicle is being able to modify it to fit you. It’s a blank canvas. I’ve seen many people purchase a jeep that have had no intention of modifying it. Within a month they start having Amazon Packages show up at their door.

That's a good point Doug about modding because Lord knows I'm the one who will be on Amazon (not her).

I've leased almost every car my wife and I have driven as it makes sense for us (we fit the criteria, esp living in CA) and it gives us the option to buy at the end of the lease. I've modded many of my cars (including my Gladiator) and when that happens, I've already decided to buy it at the end of the lease. My Gladiator is a perfect example.

Leasing is not for everyone...especially now. Now is a horrible time to lease. In fact, we thought about all things considered and realized we need/miss the space of the MDX (we had 4 in a row). New MDXs are still crazy overpriced, so we're looking at buying a newer low-mileage Certified MDX to get the impressive certified warranty. The wife gets her roomy MDX, the kids get 3 rows to fit their friends and their crap, and I still drive my Gladiator. Done. ?

 

[DirkG]

We thought about all things considered and realized we need/miss the space of the MDX (we had 4 in a row). New MDXs are still crazy overpriced, so we're looking at buying a newer low-mileage Certified MDX to get the impressive certified warranty. The wife gets her roomy MDX, the kids get 3 rows to fit their friends and their crap, and I still drive my Gladiator. Done.

To close the loop on this Wrangler 4xe thread, we indeed went back to the MDX camp and purchased a like-new 2019 Acura MDX Advance. This is an absolute gem of a find as it only has 15K miles and looks and smells new. Plus being Certified Acura, it has a 7yr / 100K warranty (not just powertrain). I was able to get a credit of $1500 above the residual for our 2021 RDX lease which was remarkable considering I put $0 down.

My wife wanted the cream/tan Advance Milano leather, so we basically threatened our boys with their lives if they muck it up. But they feel like bosses because we found one with the second row captain chairs. ? Wheels/tires are in our future, but for now, this mofo is clleaaaannn.

 

[Klicht87]

To close the loop on this Wrangler 4xe thread, we indeed went back to the MDX camp and purchased a like-new 2019 Acura MDX Advance. This is an absolute gem of a find as it only has 15K miles and looks and smells new. Plus being Certified Acura, it has a 7yr / 100K warranty (not just powertrain). I was able to get a credit of $1500 above the residual for our 2021 RDX lease which was remarkable considering I put $0 down.

My wife wanted the cream/tan Advance Milano leather, so we basically threatened our boys with their lives if they muck it up. But they feel like bosses because we found one with the second row captain chairs. ? Wheels/tires are in our future, but for now, this mofo is clleaaaannn.

I've never owned an Acura but really considered one before I purchased my current gladiator from a Ram 1500. They are gorgeous. Congrats. I need a truck as I am a homeowner and buy things that require a bed and I didn't want to deal with a trailer. I also considered purchasing the 4xe but the cost savings for running on battery was only about a $1/gallon up here in Connecticut using the Eversource electric company, which is insane on pricing. CT did offer a $7500 tax rebate which was what I was banking a lot of the purchase on on top of a near free charger rebate. Again, just fell back on needing a truck and the 4xe didn't justify enough savings to buy that as a hybrid. Again, congrats on your purchase!

 

[bleda2002]

Congrats on the mdx they're nice and roomy and the driver assist where it mildly steers itself is pretty great for long road trips to reduce fatigue. Wife actually turned in the mdx lease to go 4xe instead and so far it's been a fantastic experience, but they really are just 2 completely different experiences.

 

[dcmdon]

To close the loop on this Wrangler 4xe thread, we indeed went back to the MDX camp and purchased a like-new 2019 Acura MDX Advance. This is an absolute gem of a find as it only has 15K miles and looks and smells new. Plus being Certified Acura, it has a 7yr / 100K warranty (not just powertrain). I was able to get a credit of $1500 above the residual for our 2021 RDX lease which was remarkable considering I put $0 down.

My wife wanted the cream/tan Advance Milano leather, so we basically threatened our boys with their lives if they muck it up. But they feel like bosses because we found one with the second row captain chairs. ? Wheels/tires are in our future, but for now, this mofo is clleaaaannn.

Congratulations. I'm sure you will be happy. That's a great ride. Not as charismatic as a Gladiator, but certainly a better road car with better anticipated reliability.

My dad has been looking at a couple of year old MDX to replace his Ridgeline. He tows a MG-A race car on an aluminum trailer and the MDX has something like a 5000 lb tow capacity. So it works great for him as both a tow vehicle and an every day driver.

 

[DirkG]

Congratulations. I'm sure you will be happy. That's a great ride. Not as charismatic as a Gladiator, but certainly a better road car with better anticipated reliability.

My dad has been looking at a couple of year old MDX to replace his Ridgeline. He tows a MG-A race car on an aluminum trailer and the MDX has something like a 5000 lb tow capacity. So it works great for him as both a tow vehicle and an every day driver.

Yeah Don, if your Dad owns a Ridgeline, the MDX is a perfect next step. I'm a car guy and I've searched high and low for a better Swiss Army knife of a vehicle that can do it all. As I mentioned in my previous posts, this is our 5th MDX (if you count our 2010 ZDX as an MDX fastback, ha) and the sky high prices of the 2022 MDX gave us an opportunity to pivot to something else. Hence this 4xe thread. I honestly couldn't find a better overall vehicle for our family. And I'd imagine it would be a sweet spot of a vehicle for your father as well.

(BTW this is my wife's vehicle and in no way shape or form am I giving up my Gladiator). ?

 

[dcmdon]

Yeah Don, if your Dad owns a Ridgeline, the MDX is a perfect next step. I'm a car guy and I've searched high and low for a better Swiss Army knife of a vehicle that can do it all. As I mentioned in my previous posts, this is our 5th MDX (if you count our 2010 ZDX as an MDX fastback, ha) and the sky high prices of the 2022 MDX gave us an opportunity to pivot to something else. Hence this 4xe thread. I honestly couldn't find a better overall vehicle for our family. And I'd imagine it would be a sweet spot of a vehicle for your father as well.

(BTW this is my wife's vehicle and in no way shape or form am I giving up my Gladiator). ?

I am a car guy also. One of the reasons I got the Gladiator was that it would slow me down. I'm coming out of a Volvo S80. Hardly a hot rod, but it drove well enough that I pushed it every day. It felt good to drive fast and push around corners. (Prior to that it was a Subaru STi, a Miata, and an Audi A3 3.2 Quatro)

I was shopping M2s and RS3s and my wife suggested that I try to find something that would be more fun for the entire family and would also slow me down. The Gladiator fits the bill.

The Gladiator is slow in a way that my '66 Chevy convertible is slow. It actually feels terrible when you push it or hustle it down the road. It incents you to take it easy. Ii am actually enjoying life in the slow lane. Its settled me down, though it hasn't changed me. Even getting into my wife's turbo 6 Volvo wagon, I fall back to my old ways. ha.

 

[DirkG]

The Gladiator is slow in a way that my '66 Chevy convertible is slow. It actually feels terrible when you push it or hustle it down the road. It incents you to take it easy. Ii am actually enjoying life in the slow lane. Its settled me down, though it hasn't changed me. Even getting into my wife's turbo 6 Volvo wagon, I fall back to my old ways. ha.

This is exactly me. I had sports cars before kids and I was probably too aggressive at times. Not a total d-bag, but I pushed the limits for sure. Many stories. The Gladiator is my Dad-mobile and I also enjoy every minute of it.

 

[Teqsand]

But...but...think of all of the trees and baby seals you'll save by going 'E'.

Then you have firewood for that seal dinner...

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