Hello everyone. I just joined the forum and am already excited by the wealth of knowledge I can find on here.
I've driven a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee for the last 11 years, but it decided to throw a rod at 192,000 miles in Sept. I started looking at SUV's and have always wanted an H3. Since I'm in Vegas I started looking locally, along with Salt Lake, LA, and Phoenix. I wanted to find something with under 70,000 miles and under my max budget of $18,000. Which was a tall order. Everything I would find online or at dealerships were either 90,000 miles + or they wanted $20K+ for it. I used craigslist and carguru a lot and when I would filter for my two requirements it would go from "30 H3's found" to "2 H3's found".
Long story short the lowest mile H3 I found in a month of searching that was under $20,000 was a black 2007 with 57K miles. But it was pretty dinged up and had a damage report on its Carfax. So I extended my search filters to $21,000 and found this beauty:
Its a 2006 model that the guy in Phoenix had bought in 2007 from a local dealership with 15,000 miles on it. He bought it for his elderly father in law who drove it "to bingo and the grocery store". So since 2007 he only took it from 15,000 miles to 34,500 miles. He said it "has always been garaged, never off roaded, never seen snow, etc." His father in law is now 92 and unable to drive, so he decided to sell it. I called him immediately to see if it was still available and to negotiate. I had been trying to avoid an 06' model because of the 3.5 and potential header issues. But this was the nicest condition and lowest miles H3 in a over a month and a half now of searching in 4 states.
The Carfax was clean with no wrecks or damage reported, he had all maintainance records, he put brand new tires on it on Oct. 15th, and I had him take it to a dealership in Phoenix for a full inspection. I called the dealership after and the tech even told me "this is the nicest H3 I've seen in a very long time". The only issue they found was a TPS sensor in the spare that should be replaced, and he recommended a power steering flush. That's it. No leaks, nothing.
Because it was still and 06, and the last 6 of the vin were below the number which means a big risk for the header issue I was able to negotiate him down to $18,000. My original limit I set for myself. I know it's not a "screaming deal" for a 2006. But since it's private party there is no sales tax, so it's like finding it at a dealer for $16,500.
So I went down and picked it up last Saturday. And man do I love it. And it rides surprisingly really smooth and quiet on the highway. Much smoother then my Cherokee did.
I apologize for the novel, I'm just excited to be an H3 owner!
I've driven a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee for the last 11 years, but it decided to throw a rod at 192,000 miles in Sept. I started looking at SUV's and have always wanted an H3. Since I'm in Vegas I started looking locally, along with Salt Lake, LA, and Phoenix. I wanted to find something with under 70,000 miles and under my max budget of $18,000. Which was a tall order. Everything I would find online or at dealerships were either 90,000 miles + or they wanted $20K+ for it. I used craigslist and carguru a lot and when I would filter for my two requirements it would go from "30 H3's found" to "2 H3's found".
Long story short the lowest mile H3 I found in a month of searching that was under $20,000 was a black 2007 with 57K miles. But it was pretty dinged up and had a damage report on its Carfax. So I extended my search filters to $21,000 and found this beauty:
Its a 2006 model that the guy in Phoenix had bought in 2007 from a local dealership with 15,000 miles on it. He bought it for his elderly father in law who drove it "to bingo and the grocery store". So since 2007 he only took it from 15,000 miles to 34,500 miles. He said it "has always been garaged, never off roaded, never seen snow, etc." His father in law is now 92 and unable to drive, so he decided to sell it. I called him immediately to see if it was still available and to negotiate. I had been trying to avoid an 06' model because of the 3.5 and potential header issues. But this was the nicest condition and lowest miles H3 in a over a month and a half now of searching in 4 states.
The Carfax was clean with no wrecks or damage reported, he had all maintainance records, he put brand new tires on it on Oct. 15th, and I had him take it to a dealership in Phoenix for a full inspection. I called the dealership after and the tech even told me "this is the nicest H3 I've seen in a very long time". The only issue they found was a TPS sensor in the spare that should be replaced, and he recommended a power steering flush. That's it. No leaks, nothing.
Because it was still and 06, and the last 6 of the vin were below the number which means a big risk for the header issue I was able to negotiate him down to $18,000. My original limit I set for myself. I know it's not a "screaming deal" for a 2006. But since it's private party there is no sales tax, so it's like finding it at a dealer for $16,500.
So I went down and picked it up last Saturday. And man do I love it. And it rides surprisingly really smooth and quiet on the highway. Much smoother then my Cherokee did.
I apologize for the novel, I'm just excited to be an H3 owner!
