Hi All,
So last minute we took the plunge and traded in our 2018 MDX for a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe PHEV. Why? Well simply put this was a very good deal. The Jeep PHEV still qualifies for the $7500 EV tax credit, Jeep has sent me multiple cash rebate offers (which actually stack) so had an additional $3750 from Jeep and the dealership was offering us top top $$ on our trade in. Couple that with the fact that the new Jeep can drive 25 miles in pure EV mode and gets a combined 56 MPG vs our MDX which on a good day gets 18 MPG but needs premium gas and the financials made a lot of sense as we essentially picked up the vehicle for over $11K below MSRP and also covered over 50% of the actual vehicle cost with our trade in. I also think that the new Grand Cherokee 4xe is much nicer than our MDX and perfectly suited for our ski vacations.
So this brings me to where I need some advice. The Jeep comes standard with flush roof rails, but it is so new they do not yet have the crossbars or running boards available (likely a month out). So the question is do I wait for the Jeep corssbars and running boards to come out or should I get aftermarket? Curious as to what others have done and more importantly what would be a better choice regardless of availability. We have an Inno roof box and load it up for every ski trip with 6 pairs of skis, boots and helmets so want to make sure whatever we do can handle that kind of weight during highway driving. Sometimes we also strap on a Sporttube with an additional two pairs of skis, so easily have a combined 150-200lbs on our roof rack. The MDX has handled that like a pro so want to make sure our Jeep does the same. Any and all advice is appreciated.
Thanks
So last minute we took the plunge and traded in our 2018 MDX for a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe PHEV. Why? Well simply put this was a very good deal. The Jeep PHEV still qualifies for the $7500 EV tax credit, Jeep has sent me multiple cash rebate offers (which actually stack) so had an additional $3750 from Jeep and the dealership was offering us top top $$ on our trade in. Couple that with the fact that the new Jeep can drive 25 miles in pure EV mode and gets a combined 56 MPG vs our MDX which on a good day gets 18 MPG but needs premium gas and the financials made a lot of sense as we essentially picked up the vehicle for over $11K below MSRP and also covered over 50% of the actual vehicle cost with our trade in. I also think that the new Grand Cherokee 4xe is much nicer than our MDX and perfectly suited for our ski vacations.
So this brings me to where I need some advice. The Jeep comes standard with flush roof rails, but it is so new they do not yet have the crossbars or running boards available (likely a month out). So the question is do I wait for the Jeep corssbars and running boards to come out or should I get aftermarket? Curious as to what others have done and more importantly what would be a better choice regardless of availability. We have an Inno roof box and load it up for every ski trip with 6 pairs of skis, boots and helmets so want to make sure whatever we do can handle that kind of weight during highway driving. Sometimes we also strap on a Sporttube with an additional two pairs of skis, so easily have a combined 150-200lbs on our roof rack. The MDX has handled that like a pro so want to make sure our Jeep does the same. Any and all advice is appreciated.
Thanks