Jeep offered a buy back of my in-law’s Grand Wagoneer after it was at the dealer for nearly two months for a relatively minor warranty issue (lack of part). It was fixed. I love their truck, especially the engine which is no longer available, and since I’m privy to this not being a catastrophic lemon issue, I would consider buying it. Does the dealer they turn it into have the first option to keep and sell it? Is it possible to go with them at turn-in to buy it or do all lemons go straight to auction and I’d have to wait to see its VIN pop up for sale somewhere?
If the title will be branded by your state as a 
you don’t want it.
At what price?
If it was a minor issue, why did you let jeep lemon it? Just ask them for a discounted buy out on a clear title.
I’m curious about that as well. If the dealer is able to keep it, they presumably get it for (lemon?) wholesale value?
It’s my sister in-law. They were just fed up with being in a loaner for two months on a relatively new lease. And Jeep offered them a lemon buyout I guess.
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That’s what I’m not sure of either. But at the same time, I know it’s not a major issue so the lemon discount could be advantageous? For the right price I’d hold onto it until the kids are out of high school.
This is all moot without knowing
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Price
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Other stipulations such as are you foregoing the remainder of the warranty? Pretty obvious you’ll lose lemon law protection; important to know what other protections you’ll lose.
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Will your insurer insure it and at what delta over a normal Wagoneer?
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Lots of terms being used here without really knowing what is going on. As in all “buybacks” are “lemons” (some are courtesy, goodwill and/or “warranty” buybacks which may or may not result in a “branded” title depending on the state), “protections” being lost, “branded” title, etc.
The law and regulations will vary by state, but only the manufacturer, your state DMV and an attorney that handles warranty cases can answer your questions for sure depending on the ultimate disposition of the vehicle.
Another question: when has an insurer ever asked to see the title to your vehicle? How would you even give it to them if leased or financed, or in an “electronic” title state? Like the insurer contacts Bank of America or Audi Financial, etc. to “see” an electronic title when writing the policy on a financed or leased vehicle? They ask for the lienholder name and address, visually verify the VIN, mileage and condition (maybe) and that’s about it. I have never been asked to by an insurer to produce a title even for any car fully owned with no lienholder.
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You may want to check with the Jeep dealer handling this for them. I went through a Grand Wagoneer buyback last year. I had one of the early ones that was a disaster. Mine had a powertrain issue and a whole slew of other problems. What was interesting is that Stellantis just offered to buy it back or replace it for me without much pressing or threats on my end; I opted for the former. In retrospect I feel as if doing so mitigated them having to formally lemon the vehicle. It’s like they simply unwound the deal and refunded me. I handed the keys to the dealer, signed an odometer statement, and that was that.
It ended up at auction and then making its way to a Lincoln dealer in the Chicagoland area for sale. It didn’t sell at Lincoln and was sent back to auction. Found it for sale at a Jeep dealer in Iowa a month later with a $115k asking price (bless their hearts). It never showed as a lemon on the CarFax on the dealer’s website.
Poor unfortunate souls who ended up buying it - I hope they’re okay and still with us. Don’t blame you for loving 6.4L Hemi though. It got like negative miles per gallon but its smile per gallon rating made up for it. The cold startup was amazing.
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Thank you for the first-hand clarity. That’s really interesting as far as not tagging it as a lemon. Officially tagged lemon or not, I was merely hoping that (lemon and/or buyback) would further discount the vehicle. I do see “buyback” disclosed on auto trader ads sometimes at various Jeep dealerships. Either way, they did not have the issues you encountered and it is spotless and a color I love. Their warranty headache was a long backordered part, other than that it’s been perfectly fine. If they had the issues you encountered I would not be interested at all. And I’m really not a fan of used cars in general with all the uncertainty. I guess I’m just wondering the best way to go about trying to arrange to buy their buy back for a good price — if that’s even possible. Because I wouldn’t otherwise be in the market for a used Grand Wagoneer.
If they could manage to sell mine there’s got to be a way for you to buy your sister-in-law’s. While unfortunate how it ended with mine, I have no complaints about how corporate took care of it. I purchased after market rims and tires through my dealer for my GW and even that cost was reimbursed to me as a courtesy.
My selling dealer is almost 2 hours away. My biggest issue (aside from the vehicle itself) was finding a dealer willing to help me deal with the process. Per Stellantis I was supposed to be able to walk into any of their dealerships for help. In reality, I was met with management who didn’t want to waste their time. Wagoneer Client Services was fantastic and I had the same person who helped me from start to end. You may want to give them a call. It’s in their best interest to make you an extra special deal and not have one more lemoned Wagoneer product IMO.
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Then don’t get a lemon either.
Btw it doesn’t really matter “why” the car was in the shop for so long and ultimately got lemoned. Losing your car for two months is losing your car for two months. Doesn’t matter if the cause was one part or fifteen.
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