Long-time lurker here, finally posting. I’ve gotten a lot of value from this forum over the years and figured it was time to tap into the collective wisdom.
I’m looking to get out of my Jeep Gladiator with about $3-4k in negative equity. I know that’s not ideal, but it’s time to move on. Located in North Georgia (Cherokee County area).
Here’s where I went wrong: I’ve always leased my vehicles, but for some reason I decided to buy the Gladiator. Regretting that decision now. Lesson learned—back to leasing I go.
I’m in the market for a full-size ICE truck. Been eyeing the Ram 1500 Big Horn, but I’m open to other options. My main question: Which full-size trucks are currently hackable right now?
What I have to work with:
Costco Auto Program
Stellantis Lease Loyalty
Navy Federal
What I’m looking for:
Full-size truck (Ram, F-150, Silverado, Tundra - open to all)
Don’t need a base model, but nothing over the top either
Must have bucket seats up front (no bench)
I’m assuming staying in the Stellantis family makes the most sense given the loyalty discount and potential to roll the negative equity, but curious if there are better deals out there right now that would offset losing those incentives.
Any advice or broker recommendations for the Atlanta/North GA market would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
ICE trucks generally don’t lease well, but there are exceptions and despite your history on a purchase vs. a lease you might want to look at buying if you will keep it for a while as many truck peeps do. For example, you can get 60m for 0% and no payments for 90 days right now with a Ram 1500 or an F-150, and if you get a good enough deal on the purchase and the right dealer, maybe you can finance that Gladiator negative equity at 0%.
For a lease there have been a few recent deals posted on ICE trucks but I would contact @Jrouleau426 to see what he can do on a Tundra.
I agree with this post on all of it. In addition to the Mark Dodge dealership, the Dennis Dillon, Dave Smith and Granger Motors dealerships are also heavies when it comes to huge volume so you may want to check them out as well if you can get there or ship it if the deal is good enough.
The difference between the lease vs. 60m 0% purchase payment can be almost double depending on the deal, and again the question is how long will you keep/need the truck and also how hard you will be on it. If you use it like an actual truck it may be hard to avoid costs when you turn it in on a lease if it has “truck” wear and tear.
@garronte - here are some recent lease data points on a Ram 1500:
As for a Tundra, again check out a lease with @Jrouleau426:
Ram’s gonna be the best bet considering you have loyalty. If there’s any way you can get away with a mid-size, the Chevy Colorado has $2,000 conquest in some markets. Wrangler, Gladiator, etc qualify.
As others have said, Ram is likely your go-to given your loyalty. If you’re interested, I can put you in touch with a dealer in GA I referenced in my post linked above.
