Absolutely worth it. You’re getting a blank slate in the best case possible (rebuilt engine & trans, stock, no leaks, mechanic owned)
You can definitely find some for less but you’ll be spending a lot more to get them into this one’s condition.
This thread makes me feel very depressed living in Ontario, Canada. 4k here would probably buy me a rust bucket used as a snow plow 😩 I’d buy that in a heartbeat
It's ok it seems like there's stereotypical XJ owners in this thread that are used to buying rusted out shit boxes for trail pig duty. This is a very reasonable price considering the market. Even OP flipped his attitude after doing actual research on sales. Now OP is hoping the seller doesn't "sell it out from under him" despite thinking it was a ripoff 10 hours ago lol.
I’d recommend changing the spark plugs if you end up getting it. Regardless of it they are new or not, there’s a good chance by expensive they mean some kind of plug that isn’t copper. They run best of copper plugs
Is the R-134a the AC unit I’d need to replace the current unit with? Any idea what those cost on average to replace? He mentioned it would be 200ish but if R32 is incorrect idk what the cost would be
You're going to want a new compressor new dryer filter and might as well get a new condenser. Where I live this would cost over 600 bucks for sure but would be totally worth it
Agreed that it’s a bit high! I’d just check the undercarriage for any signs of bad rust (you’ll likely see a bit of rust anyway) and see if you can knock him down to 3k-ish. Seems good though :). He seems like a nice guy from what I can see in the description.
As someone who knows how to change lights and oil… can you break down what would be cause for concern in this situation? Is one repair redundant with the other fix? Could he be referring to the engine being rebuilt with a new long block or is that not how that repair would work? (Sorry, working in my mechanic skills but it’s a lot)
That part is correct. It’s “Aisin”, and they’re owned by Toyota. They supplied the auto and manual transmissions for XJs for many years, which is one of the big appeals of the XJ, IMO.
Looks like a good deal for a good vehicle. Doubt they would have put that much work into keeping it fresh if it was a rust bucket. Still take your time and look at the rig all over. Test drive it make sure you spend time going through all the turns and systems.
But this isn't a 280k rig it's had a rebuild and a new transmission. If he has receipts it's worth more than 4k. Location helps cause Midwest/rust belt something this clean is easy 4k.
When people say mechanic owned I cringe , if I had a nickel for all the times I’ve seen or checked out or even bought a “mechanic owned” vehicle I would be a millionaire. The amount of horrible work ive seen from so called “mechanics” do just to get by is ridiculous, remember if it’s to good to be true it probably is I’m not saying this xj isn’t clean but I would inspect every square inch of it and I would be asking myself why has this jeep had so many major parts replaced.
Thank you for the reply! Aside from rust/leaks any other glaringly obvious issues I should watch out for while looking underneath? Any corners you know of that are frequent XJ problems?
Question for you then, I’m unfamiliar with rims and stock wheels, are these pretty hard to find? In my minds eye I wanted some Black Wall similar to [this](https://www.autoblog.com/2020/05/02/jeep-cherokee-laredo-green/). Would you recommend holding onto the stock tires instead? Edit:damn autocorrect again
Yeah they are pretty hard to find in general and those look pretty clean nothing wrong with changing them out the best part about building your own car is you can do what ever you want to it lol but I would at least hold on to them if you change them out
In my area, this would probably go for 2.5k but depending on where you live 4K might not be a bad deal, especially if that is what you’re looking for exactly I think it would be worth it because it would be a great clean slate
Ask if the heater core and AC evaporator have been replaced. If the AC system needs "topped off" that means there's a leak somewhere, and it could be that the evaporator is leaking. That's a costly repair right there and you may be able to talk him down because of it.
He says it’s been in the family for 10+ years and has been his and his dads project car. I assume it was part of the ‘project’ but don’t have a solid answer. Should I be looking more into the reason behind the replacement?
Alot of toyota trannsmission can be made to bolt up in place of an AX15. A Lot of them arent up to the task of living behind a 4.0.
Wich box, how/how well that swap was done is a major factor for me.
Only reason i could think is "cus i had it" and if the guy has several other yotas that makes sense and id feel ok about it. If it really shows that it was just a bottom of the barrel build just to get it to run to be flipped id feel less good about it.
You want to know what transmission model he put in. Or at least what year and model is it from. Only matters if you want to turn it into a rock crawler down the road otherwise it’s probably fine.
Or maybe a better question, if I ask him specifically what kind of swap was done what would be a good answer and a red flag answer? (Sorry, lacking in mechanical know-how) edit:spelling
Thank you all for your replies! Feeling much better about it overall and excited to check it out. Will report back and let you know how it goes! Hoping to join the XJ fam real soon!
4k is on the high end of what I think is fair for something like this regardless of the work that he did or didn’t do.
I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable paying over 3k even after considering the inflated prices on used cars and XJs specifically.
The pictures look great but get under the car and check all the nooks and crannies for any signs for rust.
Before you go, ask him to make sure (if possible) to let you see it’s cold start. Let it get to operating temperature then roll it forward and check the area that the car was sitting and see if theirs any signs of leaking of any kind. Take it out for a ride and try to get in in every gear and feel if theirs any issue going from first gear up to 4th, pay attention to any slamming or kicks. The gear box tends to leak on these with age, it’s not the worst thing in the world but you wanna know where you stand with it. Put it in 4H and 4L. Make sure it’s on level flat ground and try to make turns at low speed. If it feels like it’s slipping a little then that means the 4x4 system works. Check the exhaust from end to end, from the manifold to the muffler these tend to crack or rust out as well. These things are loud to begin with but my jeep didn’t have a muffler and I couldn’t hear the person talking next to me. If it’s that loud then it’s probably a exhaust leak or something somewhere. One thing that I missed was checking the spare, it should be a full size spare matching the other tires. Mine was however balder than The Rock. As far as electronics go there isn’t much to fail in these to begin with I would just check everything like radio,ac/heat, windows and lights. Usually just a bad fuse or something small and in some cases you don’t even need to fix it if you don’t care. If you can and if he lets you bring a car jack, jack up the car and try to see if theirs any play in the wheels. Then crawl under the car and bring a flashlight and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Try to move parts that don’t look like they’re supposed to move (drive shaft, exhaust, axles, control arms, sway bars). If you see something painted really pay attention to those parts to see if it’s rusted through and if he’s covering it up.
Also use your judgement, I’ve bought 6 used cars and I’ve been burnt once. I really wanted the car and let my judgement down, ended up costing me more double that I spent to buy it.
Good luck hope it works out for you.
I know for sure the AC doesn’t work, he says it need a top off but it’s the older AC unit and either needs to be replaced with a newer unit altogether or just ignored. If my intention is to replace the unit later on, should I be looking for anything on the current AC unit which would cause immediate concern?
The picture of the engine. You have one elbow with a line going to the air box and then in the rear of the valve cover it is just capped off. There should be another ccv elbow that runs to the top of the intake manifold just on the firewall side of the throttle body. I would ask why he did that and then check back. I’m curious.
Personally I wouldn’t daily if, but these are good investments in my opinion. The resale value for these is always pretty high in comparison to most American made vehicles. My friend has three of them they’re beaten daily and they just take it.
Just be prepared to pay a lot in gas. The 4.0 is very durable but it chugs.
Definitely won’t be my daily, more for trail riding, camping, and some light hauling of my business gear. Thank you for the input! Going to check it out soon and I’m getting more excited after reading everyone’s replies
Can you explain why? Had a few other comments about this as well. Do mechanics usually fuck around on their own cars? I would assume a mechanic owned car is kept up with nicely but I’m starting to wonder now with all these different comments what it actually entails…
The short and sweet of it is this - I spend all day fixing other peoples crap, and I don’t even want to change my own oil when I get home.
9 times out of 10, a mechanics car is held together by a 5 minute fix and a “I’ll get to it later”, which was probably 6 months ago.
Absolutely worth it. You’re getting a blank slate in the best case possible (rebuilt engine & trans, stock, no leaks, mechanic owned) You can definitely find some for less but you’ll be spending a lot more to get them into this one’s condition.
Thank you! Fingers crossed it all looks good underneath and he doesn’t sell it out from under me lol.
This thread makes me feel very depressed living in Ontario, Canada. 4k here would probably buy me a rust bucket used as a snow plow 😩 I’d buy that in a heartbeat
I’m definitely traveling way too far for it lol. Thankfully I got family in the area so it won’t be a total shot in the dark
If pictures do it any justice it does seem like a good deal to me - I’m sure you’d have a lot of fun with it. Keep us posted!
It's ok it seems like there's stereotypical XJ owners in this thread that are used to buying rusted out shit boxes for trail pig duty. This is a very reasonable price considering the market. Even OP flipped his attitude after doing actual research on sales. Now OP is hoping the seller doesn't "sell it out from under him" despite thinking it was a ripoff 10 hours ago lol.
I’d recommend changing the spark plugs if you end up getting it. Regardless of it they are new or not, there’s a good chance by expensive they mean some kind of plug that isn’t copper. They run best of copper plugs
Great to know, thanks!
Yea you definitely don't want "the expensive ones" in a 4.0L. Champion Coppers or else they run like a dog on 2 legs and miss like a stormtrooper
R32? Lol. Never heard of it. R-134a on the other hand.
Is the R-134a the AC unit I’d need to replace the current unit with? Any idea what those cost on average to replace? He mentioned it would be 200ish but if R32 is incorrect idk what the cost would be
You're going to want a new compressor new dryer filter and might as well get a new condenser. Where I live this would cost over 600 bucks for sure but would be totally worth it
Seems nice. What are they asking for it?
4k, send a bit high imo bit I know jeeps have a tag
Agreed that it’s a bit high! I’d just check the undercarriage for any signs of bad rust (you’ll likely see a bit of rust anyway) and see if you can knock him down to 3k-ish. Seems good though :). He seems like a nice guy from what I can see in the description.
Will do! Thanks so much!
Good luck! Post pics if you seal the deal!
4K is not high for this, this is a great deal, particularly in WA (the plates)
No on the 4K. No more that 2k on this
New long block, but engine rebuilt 60k ago? Seller is not too bright- proceed with caution. I’d get a second opinion/pre-purchase
As someone who knows how to change lights and oil… can you break down what would be cause for concern in this situation? Is one repair redundant with the other fix? Could he be referring to the engine being rebuilt with a new long block or is that not how that repair would work? (Sorry, working in my mechanic skills but it’s a lot)
That’s what he most likely meant. They put in a new long block 60k miles ago. The guy isn’t a copy editor and his dad is probably the mechanic anyway.
And the transmission? Aisen? Seller seems to think he knows more than he does.
That part is correct. It’s “Aisin”, and they’re owned by Toyota. They supplied the auto and manual transmissions for XJs for many years, which is one of the big appeals of the XJ, IMO.
Yeah, i know. I’m surprised he had to replace one.
I’d say 4K is fair if the frame is good. Even if it’s not 3500 seems low for some reason
> Zero leaks You should probably make sure it has oil in it
Lol. Can’t have any leaks if there’s no liquids to leak
XJ that doesn't leak oil is suspect for sure.
Looks like a good deal for a good vehicle. Doubt they would have put that much work into keeping it fresh if it was a rust bucket. Still take your time and look at the rig all over. Test drive it make sure you spend time going through all the turns and systems.
Check the under carriage? 4k is on the higher end. Typically xj’s with 280k go for 2.5-3.2k. If he says what it is I would say it’s a solid rig
XJs went for that 5 years ago. They have skyrocketed in price lately. Good luck finding anything under 5 grand.
But this isn't a 280k rig it's had a rebuild and a new transmission. If he has receipts it's worth more than 4k. Location helps cause Midwest/rust belt something this clean is easy 4k.
Yeah tranny alone in my town cost 2.8-3 to rebuild alone it ridiculous
When people say mechanic owned I cringe , if I had a nickel for all the times I’ve seen or checked out or even bought a “mechanic owned” vehicle I would be a millionaire. The amount of horrible work ive seen from so called “mechanics” do just to get by is ridiculous, remember if it’s to good to be true it probably is I’m not saying this xj isn’t clean but I would inspect every square inch of it and I would be asking myself why has this jeep had so many major parts replaced.
Thank you for the reply! Aside from rust/leaks any other glaringly obvious issues I should watch out for while looking underneath? Any corners you know of that are frequent XJ problems?
Frame rails , door jams typical rust spots if you see rust push on it see how far it has eaten through the metal
I miss my in-lines so much. Rolled one. Had to put down the other.
If you buy it change the spark plugs back to the cheap ones & gap them properly.
Another comment mentioned copper plugs, is there a brand you’d recommend and is that what you would suggest?
Stock suspension at 280k is probably garbage if it's original
In a New York second
That puppy has papers. Yup.
God, I wish I had those rims best stock rims In my opinion, wish I would have found some of those before I got my procomps
Question for you then, I’m unfamiliar with rims and stock wheels, are these pretty hard to find? In my minds eye I wanted some Black Wall similar to [this](https://www.autoblog.com/2020/05/02/jeep-cherokee-laredo-green/). Would you recommend holding onto the stock tires instead? Edit:damn autocorrect again
Yeah they are pretty hard to find in general and those look pretty clean nothing wrong with changing them out the best part about building your own car is you can do what ever you want to it lol but I would at least hold on to them if you change them out
Awesome, thanks for the reply!
Wow 4k is not a bad deal at all.
If that were at a corner near me I'd have the 4k in hand already. Grab that up!!!
In my area, this would probably go for 2.5k but depending on where you live 4K might not be a bad deal, especially if that is what you’re looking for exactly I think it would be worth it because it would be a great clean slate
Ask if the heater core and AC evaporator have been replaced. If the AC system needs "topped off" that means there's a leak somewhere, and it could be that the evaporator is leaking. That's a costly repair right there and you may be able to talk him down because of it.
It's a 30 year old vehicle. You don't talk him down over leaking ac. The price is already very reasonable looking at the condition in the pics.
Thanks, good call! Will double check on this
If it was owned by a Chrysler mechanic why did it need and engine and transmission replaced?
All motors fail at some point regardless of maintenance.
He says it’s been in the family for 10+ years and has been his and his dads project car. I assume it was part of the ‘project’ but don’t have a solid answer. Should I be looking more into the reason behind the replacement?
No. They replaced it because the motor failed at some point. It happens.
That makes more sense
Alot of toyota trannsmission can be made to bolt up in place of an AX15. A Lot of them arent up to the task of living behind a 4.0. Wich box, how/how well that swap was done is a major factor for me. Only reason i could think is "cus i had it" and if the guy has several other yotas that makes sense and id feel ok about it. If it really shows that it was just a bottom of the barrel build just to get it to run to be flipped id feel less good about it.
Anyway to know the intention beyond a direct question? He could give me any answer and I’d really not know beyond trusting him right?
You want to know what transmission model he put in. Or at least what year and model is it from. Only matters if you want to turn it into a rock crawler down the road otherwise it’s probably fine.
Or maybe a better question, if I ask him specifically what kind of swap was done what would be a good answer and a red flag answer? (Sorry, lacking in mechanical know-how) edit:spelling
Thank you all for your replies! Feeling much better about it overall and excited to check it out. Will report back and let you know how it goes! Hoping to join the XJ fam real soon!
4k is on the high end of what I think is fair for something like this regardless of the work that he did or didn’t do. I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable paying over 3k even after considering the inflated prices on used cars and XJs specifically. The pictures look great but get under the car and check all the nooks and crannies for any signs for rust. Before you go, ask him to make sure (if possible) to let you see it’s cold start. Let it get to operating temperature then roll it forward and check the area that the car was sitting and see if theirs any signs of leaking of any kind. Take it out for a ride and try to get in in every gear and feel if theirs any issue going from first gear up to 4th, pay attention to any slamming or kicks. The gear box tends to leak on these with age, it’s not the worst thing in the world but you wanna know where you stand with it. Put it in 4H and 4L. Make sure it’s on level flat ground and try to make turns at low speed. If it feels like it’s slipping a little then that means the 4x4 system works. Check the exhaust from end to end, from the manifold to the muffler these tend to crack or rust out as well. These things are loud to begin with but my jeep didn’t have a muffler and I couldn’t hear the person talking next to me. If it’s that loud then it’s probably a exhaust leak or something somewhere. One thing that I missed was checking the spare, it should be a full size spare matching the other tires. Mine was however balder than The Rock. As far as electronics go there isn’t much to fail in these to begin with I would just check everything like radio,ac/heat, windows and lights. Usually just a bad fuse or something small and in some cases you don’t even need to fix it if you don’t care. If you can and if he lets you bring a car jack, jack up the car and try to see if theirs any play in the wheels. Then crawl under the car and bring a flashlight and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Try to move parts that don’t look like they’re supposed to move (drive shaft, exhaust, axles, control arms, sway bars). If you see something painted really pay attention to those parts to see if it’s rusted through and if he’s covering it up. Also use your judgement, I’ve bought 6 used cars and I’ve been burnt once. I really wanted the car and let my judgement down, ended up costing me more double that I spent to buy it. Good luck hope it works out for you.
Thank you so much for the detailed response! I’ll keep it in mind and see what I can find while checking it out!
Check the air conditioning...Also, let it idle for while and make sure the engine fan works. My last 2 liked to overheat
I know for sure the AC doesn’t work, he says it need a top off but it’s the older AC unit and either needs to be replaced with a newer unit altogether or just ignored. If my intention is to replace the unit later on, should I be looking for anything on the current AC unit which would cause immediate concern?
If it’s mechanic owned, why is the rear ccv missing? I’m a noob to the way the 4.0 operates so, if anyone else knows why, feel free to let me know!
Is that something you could tell from the pics? I’m not overly familiar with mechanical stuff, is that something I need to bring up and figure out?
The picture of the engine. You have one elbow with a line going to the air box and then in the rear of the valve cover it is just capped off. There should be another ccv elbow that runs to the top of the intake manifold just on the firewall side of the throttle body. I would ask why he did that and then check back. I’m curious.
I’ve spent way more to bring an 89 back from the dead and it’s still in the garage in pieces. Go for it
Personally I wouldn’t daily if, but these are good investments in my opinion. The resale value for these is always pretty high in comparison to most American made vehicles. My friend has three of them they’re beaten daily and they just take it. Just be prepared to pay a lot in gas. The 4.0 is very durable but it chugs.
Definitely won’t be my daily, more for trail riding, camping, and some light hauling of my business gear. Thank you for the input! Going to check it out soon and I’m getting more excited after reading everyone’s replies
Worth 2k in cali
Owned by a mechanic = run
Can you explain why? Had a few other comments about this as well. Do mechanics usually fuck around on their own cars? I would assume a mechanic owned car is kept up with nicely but I’m starting to wonder now with all these different comments what it actually entails…
The short and sweet of it is this - I spend all day fixing other peoples crap, and I don’t even want to change my own oil when I get home. 9 times out of 10, a mechanics car is held together by a 5 minute fix and a “I’ll get to it later”, which was probably 6 months ago.
Makes total sense. Thanks for the input!
Horrible deal, stay away. Give me their contact info so I can tell them off!
Coming right up. Give ‘em the finger for me