Rmanf150
New Member
- Feb 8, 2020
- 2
- 0
- Truck Year
- 2014
Hello All,
First, I want to say Thank You to everyone who posts valuable information on this, and other forums just like it. The information on this and a few other forums were instrumental in getting what I believe to be one hell of a deal on a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4WD EcoDiesel. This is the second vehicle I’ve purchased, that the ownership community, will most likely always outperform a dealership for most troubleshooting, and maintenance advice. I just wanted to share my story of how you guys helped!!
My girlfriend owed about 6k for her car, and we got a CarMax buyout quote of $3500, and it was showing some signs of needing transmission repairs. We discussed her finances, and credit, and we decided on 14K being her budget. I told her to give me the top 5 features she wanted, and I started searching. After building a custom search on cars.com, I cast about a 200 mile net. One of the first vehicles to pull up in a by distance sort, was this Jeep Grand Cherokee listed for 12k only 10 miles away!. The miles were a little high at 130k, so I saved it for later, but at this point over 100k miles was disqualifying it in my mind. I looked for another 2 weeks and was getting disappointed with the options. We found a Lincoln MKX for 14.5k, with decent low miles, but they didn’t want to match the CarMax trade in numbers, so we killed the deal. I went back to this jeep again, and realized it had the EcoDiesel.
I'm a car guy, and I keep up with vehicle news. I was impressed by the initial information coming out about the ram EcoDiesels, but that was more from a review standpoint, not really ownership perspective. The 7.3L Diesel excursion my grandfather had went 320K miles and over 15 years before he sold it. So I know a good diesel can last a very long time if properly maintained, so after browsing this and a few other forums, and pulling a very clean vin report, I decided I would go see this vehicle in person. I filled out the form online that I was interested in the vehicle, and within an hour the vehicle disappeared from cars.com. I went directly to the dealership’s site, and there it was relisted for $18,999 (I was doing my browsing from bed, and it was very close to midnight, so this may or may not have been a coincidence.) Luckily, I remembered I still had a tab open on my laptop with the Jeep up on it, so I went and took a screen shot of the vehicle and price @ $12,999 with the VIN in the picture.
When I get to the dealership, the first thing I’m told, is unfortunately there is a problem with this vehicle, and we can’t sell it. I told the sales manager, well that sucks, but I’m mechanically inclined, what is the problem with the car? and I would still like to look at it regardless. So, they take me to look at it, and its in limp mode. DPF filter full. (it did not have the no start countdown yet). The dealership said its so bad they must replace it, and it’s going to cost 5k to get it back up and running. I still took it on a test drive, and the suspension felt fine. Air suspension worked well, the 4wd functions worked and I was able to get it up to highway speeds, just very slowly. Armed with the information I gained here, I told them that I want this car as is for 12K. The sales managed scoffed, and said this vehicle is listed for 19k. That’s when I pulled out the screen shot of the car listed for $12,999. When he said again, they didn’t want to sell the car, I told them that before I got home, this information would be on every public space I could find to put it on, on top of the BBB, and that Bait and Switch sales tactics are illegal. He asked for some time to go talk to the finance manager, and they came back and said the only way we will sell this car is if you buy it cash here and now and with signing paperwork stating it is an as is purchase, otherwise this deal dies today. I already had a 10k Cashiers check in my pocket just in case. So with her trade in value of $3500, that brought the owed down to 8.5K and ate into the taxes by about $300, After adding in the negative equity from her car, and TT&L and a $650 dealer fee we walked out the door paying $12,300. Because I was aware of how good a deal this was, I wasn’t too worried about the $650 dealer fee, I guess some of the salespeople deserve to eat too =)
The information I had found here and on a few other forums was useful in making me confident enough that the problem with this vehicle could be solved for less than $1500, and some decent mechanical knowledge. After I get the car home, I start really digging into what I need to buy, and I start researching everything I could find about the EcoDiesel’s, and their aftermarket options. The odd thing, to me was a lot of Canadian websites were coming up, I didn’t figure out till after contacting GDE, that just about all the tuners in the US were shut down by the EPA. So, I was in a little bit of a panic mode, until I read a little further into the situation, and realized that’s why all the websites advertising EcoDiesel tuning were from Canada. So, I started researching some of the tuners that were popping up. The first one was a Kit. If there was one thing, I can remember from the NHTOC (National Harley Truck Owners Club) most kits were not very good. Most people who got them wound up getting additional tuning elsewhere, that’s if their trucks survived the original tune sent. So, that wasn’t an option for me. I eventually stumbled across LightSpeed innovations. For the moment, I’m only going to say these guys were amazing. I am going to write up a separate review of my experience with them, because they deserve the recognition. I didn’t see them popping up on many of these forums, and I truly believe, especially in the current climate of the tuning world in the US, that people need as many options and information as possible.
Long story made longer =), The EGR is deleted, the intake manifold is clean, (and 5 gallons of purple power solvent ruined lol), and the DPF system has been deleted. I bought the EGR block off plates for $175, and intake tube, and intake baffle delete tub for $130 from CFT Performance, I found the SS 3 inch delete exhaust kit on amazon for $270 , and finally my ECU sent to, cost slightly under $860 after paying to ship it to Canada, and for the services to be done. I also changed fuel filters, and did an oil change so all maintenance, and parts/services totaled a little under $1600
All total, my girlfriend got an auto loan from her bank for 13.5K to pay me back. Her payments are lower now, because she has much better credit than when she financed her last car. I believe totally that we got this vehicle for 4-6k below what it should have ever sold for!! Once again, thanks for the helpful info guys!
Thanks!
First, I want to say Thank You to everyone who posts valuable information on this, and other forums just like it. The information on this and a few other forums were instrumental in getting what I believe to be one hell of a deal on a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 4WD EcoDiesel. This is the second vehicle I’ve purchased, that the ownership community, will most likely always outperform a dealership for most troubleshooting, and maintenance advice. I just wanted to share my story of how you guys helped!!
My girlfriend owed about 6k for her car, and we got a CarMax buyout quote of $3500, and it was showing some signs of needing transmission repairs. We discussed her finances, and credit, and we decided on 14K being her budget. I told her to give me the top 5 features she wanted, and I started searching. After building a custom search on cars.com, I cast about a 200 mile net. One of the first vehicles to pull up in a by distance sort, was this Jeep Grand Cherokee listed for 12k only 10 miles away!. The miles were a little high at 130k, so I saved it for later, but at this point over 100k miles was disqualifying it in my mind. I looked for another 2 weeks and was getting disappointed with the options. We found a Lincoln MKX for 14.5k, with decent low miles, but they didn’t want to match the CarMax trade in numbers, so we killed the deal. I went back to this jeep again, and realized it had the EcoDiesel.
I'm a car guy, and I keep up with vehicle news. I was impressed by the initial information coming out about the ram EcoDiesels, but that was more from a review standpoint, not really ownership perspective. The 7.3L Diesel excursion my grandfather had went 320K miles and over 15 years before he sold it. So I know a good diesel can last a very long time if properly maintained, so after browsing this and a few other forums, and pulling a very clean vin report, I decided I would go see this vehicle in person. I filled out the form online that I was interested in the vehicle, and within an hour the vehicle disappeared from cars.com. I went directly to the dealership’s site, and there it was relisted for $18,999 (I was doing my browsing from bed, and it was very close to midnight, so this may or may not have been a coincidence.) Luckily, I remembered I still had a tab open on my laptop with the Jeep up on it, so I went and took a screen shot of the vehicle and price @ $12,999 with the VIN in the picture.
When I get to the dealership, the first thing I’m told, is unfortunately there is a problem with this vehicle, and we can’t sell it. I told the sales manager, well that sucks, but I’m mechanically inclined, what is the problem with the car? and I would still like to look at it regardless. So, they take me to look at it, and its in limp mode. DPF filter full. (it did not have the no start countdown yet). The dealership said its so bad they must replace it, and it’s going to cost 5k to get it back up and running. I still took it on a test drive, and the suspension felt fine. Air suspension worked well, the 4wd functions worked and I was able to get it up to highway speeds, just very slowly. Armed with the information I gained here, I told them that I want this car as is for 12K. The sales managed scoffed, and said this vehicle is listed for 19k. That’s when I pulled out the screen shot of the car listed for $12,999. When he said again, they didn’t want to sell the car, I told them that before I got home, this information would be on every public space I could find to put it on, on top of the BBB, and that Bait and Switch sales tactics are illegal. He asked for some time to go talk to the finance manager, and they came back and said the only way we will sell this car is if you buy it cash here and now and with signing paperwork stating it is an as is purchase, otherwise this deal dies today. I already had a 10k Cashiers check in my pocket just in case. So with her trade in value of $3500, that brought the owed down to 8.5K and ate into the taxes by about $300, After adding in the negative equity from her car, and TT&L and a $650 dealer fee we walked out the door paying $12,300. Because I was aware of how good a deal this was, I wasn’t too worried about the $650 dealer fee, I guess some of the salespeople deserve to eat too =)
The information I had found here and on a few other forums was useful in making me confident enough that the problem with this vehicle could be solved for less than $1500, and some decent mechanical knowledge. After I get the car home, I start really digging into what I need to buy, and I start researching everything I could find about the EcoDiesel’s, and their aftermarket options. The odd thing, to me was a lot of Canadian websites were coming up, I didn’t figure out till after contacting GDE, that just about all the tuners in the US were shut down by the EPA. So, I was in a little bit of a panic mode, until I read a little further into the situation, and realized that’s why all the websites advertising EcoDiesel tuning were from Canada. So, I started researching some of the tuners that were popping up. The first one was a Kit. If there was one thing, I can remember from the NHTOC (National Harley Truck Owners Club) most kits were not very good. Most people who got them wound up getting additional tuning elsewhere, that’s if their trucks survived the original tune sent. So, that wasn’t an option for me. I eventually stumbled across LightSpeed innovations. For the moment, I’m only going to say these guys were amazing. I am going to write up a separate review of my experience with them, because they deserve the recognition. I didn’t see them popping up on many of these forums, and I truly believe, especially in the current climate of the tuning world in the US, that people need as many options and information as possible.
Long story made longer =), The EGR is deleted, the intake manifold is clean, (and 5 gallons of purple power solvent ruined lol), and the DPF system has been deleted. I bought the EGR block off plates for $175, and intake tube, and intake baffle delete tub for $130 from CFT Performance, I found the SS 3 inch delete exhaust kit on amazon for $270 , and finally my ECU sent to, cost slightly under $860 after paying to ship it to Canada, and for the services to be done. I also changed fuel filters, and did an oil change so all maintenance, and parts/services totaled a little under $1600
All total, my girlfriend got an auto loan from her bank for 13.5K to pay me back. Her payments are lower now, because she has much better credit than when she financed her last car. I believe totally that we got this vehicle for 4-6k below what it should have ever sold for!! Once again, thanks for the helpful info guys!
Thanks!
