Quandary... Keep the Raptor or...

[Maxx2893]

Another note. If it's a convenience issue, I would deal with it but that's your call. If it's a money issue, get rid of it while you still can. Don't go in to hardcore debt and mess up your credit over a vehicle. If you have to sell it, you may regret it but life will go on.

 

[DirtNasty]

if you cant afford it dont do it.

if you can afford and want to do it, do it.

affording something isnt always about if you can pay for it or not, but if it fits within your fiscal plan.

 

[A.I.I.Raciing]

I'm in a similar situation. I have no "need" for a Raptor, I have no intention's of using the truck in the dezert. I have a perfectly fine paid off low mileage Titan that I love driving with absolutely nothing wrong with it.
We just had a kid and the old lady is buggin the shit out of me to move into a bigger place even though this place is perfectly fine to me. But she is also buggin the shit out of me to order a Raptor this week cause she know's how much I "want" one by my next birthday.

I generally make these tough decisions with a flip of the coin

 

[Double Tap]

Well, no moves are going to be made in the next few days or even weeks. If we part with the Raptor it will likely be after the first of the year when I've saved up a couple more thousand dollars to use to drive the cost of a Jeep -- or whatever -- down even further. Or do nothing at all and stay with the vehicles we've got.

Until then we'll just keep enjoying the Raptor and sucking it up at the gas station, in parking garages, smaller parking lots, etc.

 

[swoop1156]

I again feel what you're saying. Without going into a huge post like you did, which was awesome, by the way, I have to say I always think about, "What if I didn't pay $700 a month...", Where would I be? What would I be doing?

I can easily afford the payment, but some days man, I just don't want to. I know that there are damn millionaires on here, business owners, family money people and stuff like that that can easily plop down cash for one of these bad boys. I'm in the military, made a few good decisions with money and am able to make the payment.

I bought my first Raptor, put down $8k and drove off with a $640 or something a month payment. I then traded it in after a less than a year and they paid it off for $41k. I still lost all my payments of $640-ish AND my $8k down payment to get into my new one. Stupid, yeah, probably...

I just went out and got this Focus for $271 a month. That IS cheaper than the gas bill for the Raptor, so if I can asbstain from driving the truck too much (which I really have no reason to drive it), I'll come out ahead.

But I'll be damned if I am not stretched tighter than I would like. But that's what we do in this country. We live life, we max out credit cards and we have expensive shit we don't really NEED.

All truth be told, I should sell the Raptor, suck up my losses, because there would be a lot of it, drive the Focus for $271 a month and save the ******* $700/month into savings, instead of having a truck sit in the garage to look at. When I type it out, that sounds just ******* STUPID! But losing what, $6-7-8 GRAND to just get rid of something sounds pretty ******* stupid as well.

I could easily turn around, go get a standard cab XL truck that I could use to occasionally pull my trailer and get house shit when I need to.

****. But all in all, I'm sitting ok for now, but if shit hit's the fan, the Raptor is the first thing to go.

...and I don't have kids or a wife yet. I do have a house that I pay on monthly, though.

 

[Vettster]

Went and looked at a 2012 Rubicon Unlimited tonight. I liked it quite a bit. My wife was completely opposed to it for a variety of reasons, many of which didn't particularly have much of anything to do with the Jeep but more for the fact that she thinks I'll get tired of it and regret the decision later.

The other idea posed -- by her -- was to keep the Raptor, trade her Nissan and get a Jeep if I want a Jeep. That's not exactly congruent with my desire to lower the monthly payment, though. Not sure she "gets" where I am coming from, or doesn't believe I really am tired of paying $900/mo for a truck.

Anyway, impressions of the Jeep:

• The Pentastar 3.6L is a torquey little V6 engine. It had plenty of get up and go.
• The new-to-the-Wrangler 5-speed automatic transmission is geared just right. Quick off the line and still nicely in the power band at highway speeds.
• Fit and finish inside the 2012 model is very nice. Also considerably quieter inside than the previous JKs were.
• Quite a bit smaller inside compared to the Raptor, but, seriously...what isn't?
• 16 City / 20 Highway MPG? Sign me the **** up for some of that.

The new Jeeps are nice with the new Pentastar engine and 5 speed automatic.
I just bought one for my Wife.
But, it's like apples and oranges comparing one to a Raptor.
Two different vehicles altogether. Ones a pick-up and the other is an SUV.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Double Tap]

As a follow-up...

We've decided to keep the Raptor but we've also decided to replace my wife's aging Nissan Armada with a Rubicon Unlimited. We work pretty close to each other so we'll carpool frequently and save gas by driving the Jeep the most (20mpg) and let the Raptor rest a bit.

It's not really going to hurt or benefit us financially, and is just a wash, but it will give us the flexibility of having a smaller vehicle that we can have some fun with and save a little on fuel costs.

Neither one of us really wanted to give up the Raptor, so this is a win-win-draw I suppose.

Should be putting in our Rubicon order tomorrow after work.

 

[Madcowranch]

As a follow-up...

We've decided to keep the Raptor but we've also decided to replace my wife's aging Nissan Armada with a Rubicon Unlimited. We work pretty close to each other so we'll carpool frequently and save gas by driving the Jeep the most (20mpg) and let the Raptor rest a bit.

It's not really going to hurt or benefit us financially, and is just a wash, but it will give us the flexibility of having a smaller vehicle that we can have some fun with and save a little on fuel costs.

Neither one of us really wanted to give up the Raptor, so this is a win-win-draw I suppose.

Should be putting in our Rubicon order tomorrow after work.

Double Fap, have you seen the new Call of Duty Jeep Wrangler? Cool as shit.

Jeep announces Wrangler Call of Duty: MW 3 special models

 

[NY SCREW]

As a follow-up...

We've decided to keep the Raptor but we've also decided to replace my wife's aging Nissan Armada with a Rubicon Unlimited. We work pretty close to each other so we'll carpool frequently and save gas by driving the Jeep the most (20mpg) and let the Raptor rest a bit.

It's not really going to hurt or benefit us financially, and is just a wash, but it will give us the flexibility of having a smaller vehicle that we can have some fun with and save a little on fuel costs.

Neither one of us really wanted to give up the Raptor, so this is a win-win-draw I suppose.

Should be putting in our Rubicon order tomorrow after work.

congrats man !!!

 

[BigJ]

Do you have to replace the Nissan now? Why not wait for the 2013s to roll out?

If you have to have new, waiting on the 2013s will let you score a honey of a deal on a 2012. Buy now and you'll pay a relative premium.

Also why buy a new Jeep? Again why not wait 6mo or so and start looking for the lease returned 2012s and let someone else take the depreciation hit? A new Jeep will drop 30% its purchase price the second you drive it off the lot.

Just thinking out loud. If you don't have to have the thing right now, you can save some serious coin by waiting.

And by the way, have you actually tried the Raptor out on some of those trails you're worried about? I've been pleasantly surprised at the places I've fit mine. All it takes is a little patience, maybe a minute or two hoping out and scouting, and the willingness to hit reverse sometimes. Seriously head out with wife in the Raptor to one of those trails before buying the Jeep and see... my wife and I love working together to get around and thru stuff. Makes the experience more fun for both of us.