It is a beautiful piece of marketing. Nothing is quite like a Jeep. Its ingrained into the American automotive psyche since WWII.

Make sure you feel comfortable with the dealership. You will see them often.

My brother has had at least four Jeeps. He is pulled in by the looks I think. They consistently have expensive repair problems. On one vehicle, the frame rail was designed so that it held water and salt, and rusted out - the frame broke.

From his experiences and those of friends, I know that I don't want any Jeep. My SUV needs are similar to yours, just to use for family trips and towing. I found a near-mint 1999 Suburban about a year ago for about $7000. It gets better fuel mileage than the significantly smaller Jeep SUVs, and seats eight adults plus luggage space.

Ken300D

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1982 300D at 351K miles
1984 300SD at 217K miles
1987 300D at 370K miles

"I've decided that I won't buy the Commander unless the difference is less than $5,000. I'm a carsalesman's worse nightmare."

By making an unrealistic offer, you are doing nothing more than wasting the salesman's time. He'll know it immediately, and label you as an uneducated buyer. To try and out negotiate an experienced sales professional would be the same as you going to Vegas and trying to beat an experienced poker player (one who plays everyday) when you only play once every year or two.

BTW the Jeep is not a bad vehicle when you calculate what you're getting for $24K. Even if it depreciates 70% in 3 years, as one poster suggested (and I doubt) you'd lose about $16K. You'd lose that in one year with an X5.

Just my 2 cents...

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Marc Galassini

'93 300CE 38K Sold
'89 560SL 19K Sold
'91 300SE 191K Totalled 11/6/08
'90 300SE 90K

I'm gonna throw in with the large GM SUV crowd here. My 2003 Yukon XL has been great in the nearly 5 years I've owned it. Plenty of room for folks and stuff, quiet and comfortable to drive, will get 19 mpg hwy if driven sanely and you can find good ones for a good price. If you really look hard you can find a good pre 2000 model for cheap. They do depreciate from new but get a 2 year old one and you're past the big hickie. I know lots of people with over 150K and several with over 200K on theirs so longevity isn't an issue. If it does need work, any Chevy or GMC dealer and most indies can do the work that you can't.
I'll also agree with your thinking that selling the BMW outright and buying for cash elsewhere is a good idea.
There are lots of them for sale in OK. Go to autotrader.com and make sure your mileage radius includes Oklahoma City.
Good luck.

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1983 M-B 240D-Gone too.
1976 M-B 300D-Departed.

"Good" is the worst enemy of "Great".

JEEP: Just Empty Every Pocket.
I know of a couple of Wranglers that have gone over 240,000 with just maintainance. The old straight 6 is still a solid if not economical performer.

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51 willys M38
62 willys M38A1
79 chevy
92 300D
95 300D
96 vision recumbent
2004 Wrangler

I guess I'm the contrarian.

I like the Commander because it looks like a Jeep. What's wrong with that?

My good friend has had a Commander Limited 4x4 with the Hemi for two years, and hasn't had a problem. And by the way, with the Hemi, it has the Mercedes 722.6 transmission.

He does get absolutely shameful fuel economy, just barely above 10 mpg.

I also like the Lifetime powertrain warranty.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

$4875.00 worth of gas for a full year (15K miles).

I think that tells you everything you need to know..............

Actually the Jeep Patriot is closer in size to the old Cherokee. It gets 25mpg and has decent off-road ability. I think it will be my next car.

But it's not a 7-seater. I think the Commander will be getting the axe by Chrysler due to poor sales, so keep in mind you might be driving an 'orphan' car.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

What about a G500 or ML? You can get older G500's for low 20's. I can't imagin they will be to unreliable, they have 722.6 trans and M113 V8's. Pretty standard stuff.

I'd buy the older Jeep before the newer one.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Make sure to run those numbers at $5 a gallon.

Actualy you better dump that X5 fast before gas hits $5, and its worth $5k.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Get one of the old original Cherokees, dump the motor and put a MB diesel in it.

I had a 1990 Cherokee for 250k miles. No problems. Had to have the front end rebuilt at 160k, cost $600.

Had a 97 Grand Cherokee Limited, loaded with VC8 and fulltime 4WD. Awesome ride. Only got 15MPG max.

Now have 2004 Grand with the 4L six. Easily get 20 around town. Not too big, handles great.

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MB-less

He already said he's going to garage it, using his MB diesel as his daily driver. So gas isn't a biggie to him. The BMW drinks fuel like crazy, and he's used to that. The BMW depreciated like crazy, so that's nothing new either.

People intent on buying a new vehicle have already decided to take the hit on the depreciation, and, in this case, he's trading-in the BMW for the sake of a turnkey deal. There's no way in h*ll I'd ever buy a new vehicle again, as long as I live, the depreciation hit is too wallet-numbing.

The '96 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited V-8, bought new was garaged, hardly saw the light of day, it had 17K miles on it when sold for $10K cash in 2004, and it cost $31K new. Nothing ever broke on it, because it was driven so rarely. It registered cumulative 14 mpg on it's computer. The only reason I sold it, was because there was no reason to keep it where it doesn't snow.

Were I him, I'd do the same deal as they are offering on this 2007, but on a 2008, or walk. But if he were me, there's no way he'd be buying a new one.

My parent's own a 2003 Jeep Liberty with the 3.7 L V6 and the manual transfer case. This vehicle was purchased new and has approximately 45k on the odometer. Total warranty claims = 0. Total repair cost for non-wear items = $0.

My brother currently drives a '06 Jeep Commander with the 3.7 L V6. He's a gorilla from the perspective of treating/maintaining a vehicle, but has had zero problems with his Jeep. The Commander replaced a '02 Grand Cherokee that was also issue free.

I also looked at the Commander when I was last in the market for a vehicle, but passed for reasons related to ergonomics (narrow driver's footwell wasn't hospitable to my size 13E's and rear window visibility is not good, especially if the third row seats are deployed. I instead followed Brian Carlton's advice and leased a '07 Tahoe, which has been an excellent vehicle.

Few SUV's are inexpensive to operate, and if that is an issue, seek an alternate form of transportation.

Well, really you're right at the KBB number when you factor in the $2,500 in repairs that you deferred to the Jeep dealer. Who do you think will foot that repair bill when the next X5 owner comes back to the Jeep dealer and screams bloody murder?

Eventful day.

Got within $5,000 on the 07, but walked. I don't want to waste that much money on a car I don't love. I found another loaded 07, USED, and came within $2,000; again, I was tempted, but walked.


Then I drove upon this oasis near Augsta, a specialty late model Jeep dealer. I didn't know this existed; whoohoo!!! I had 6 '98-01 Cherokees to choose from. 2 of them, I liked:

01 Jeep Cherokee Limited: Dark Red. Every option imaginable (including leather, heated seats, infinity sound system), great condition. I pointed out a few issues after a test drive: chipped windshield, blown speakers in front, about 4 light hail dings on the hood, broken brush guard, and bald tires. 98k; $7995. He agreed to fix everything I listed, using a PDR guy to fix the dents, newer tires, new windshield, good used speakers and fix anything I come across after an independent inspection. Seemed like a nice guy, and a huge Jeep enthusiast. He has a great inventory of parts cars, and repairs Jeeps as well.

00 Jeep Cherokee Sport: Pewter. all power options but base model. near perfect condition, minus a minor dent in the rear bumper. 105k $5,000.

Both have clear titles, no carfax yet.

He had a few wholesalers look into buying the X5, one came back with a $17,000 bid, another $18,000.

I'm leaning towards the Limited, its a rare and great looking Jeep, very clean inside, and great options. I plan on getting it looked at by a Mechanic Monday, we'll see what comes back.

I might give ebay a try for the X5, but then I lose quite a bit of tax savings by trading it in. I'd need to sell for around 19,000 to break even. and the pos factor. I was really hoping for over $20,000, but I suppose I'm saving myself $2-3,000 in repairs. I couldn't stomach not discosing that if I sold it independently, a costly repair that would scare many away.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

I'm trying to get a car with less headaches, not more.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!