Looking at possibly buying a Jeep

[georgewe4]

I'm sure some people here have a Jeep Wrangler. I have been looking at something in the price range of 4,000 to 5,000. Obviously I wont find something in the newer years, but I should be able to find something half way decent. I may be going to look at a 94 tomorrow. It is a 4 cyl automatic. Is the 4 cyl very wimpy? Any towing capabilities with the 4 cyl? Anything I should look for that are known problem areas in the Wranglers? Heres the ad.
I am totally new to the Jeep scene. Its one of them wild hairs you get sometimes.

1994 JEEP WRANGLER

I talked to him today. He is the third owner. He says its a rare color of Blue for a Jeep. It is a factory color. He has a new bikini top with it also. The windows in the doors are glass. They slide. Tires are good. He said he bought the rims for it, approx 500.00 there. Just one rust spot at the driver door. No rust in the floor pans. Everything works on the jeep. He said hes pretty firm on the price because he had already come down. So, give me some opinions here. Also,what is a bikini top?

 

[UNGN]

4.0L is a much better motor.

The towing capability of the 2.5L is a little above zero, but not much.

$4000 for a rusty auto 4 cylinder leaf sprung jeep with 140K miles?

You'd be better off finding a '97-up with a 4L with less miles and no rust for a grand or so more. 2 or 3X times the Jeep.

 

[charlief1]

If you're interested I have a co-worker that's got a cj5 with the factory 225 in it. It does need work but he only wants $500 for it.

 

[zeus87gn]

Don't buy it. The 4cyl is marginal at best in stock form. That Wrangler has oversized tires and it has already started bogging down the engine. Any 4cyl auto that i have ever driven has been a slug. Puttinig one in a vehicle that has the aerodynamics of a brick doesn't help any. It doesn't get any better mileage than the 4.0 and won't last nearly as long. It's offroad capabilities are as good as any other Jeep, but that won't matter if you want it for roadworthiness.

If you want a good all around wrangler, get a 92-95 with the 4.0 and the 5 speed (if you like the manual trani) The 4.0 will run over 300k miles if properly taken care of.

Check out JeepForum.com for lots more info.
I have a link in my sig.

 

[georgewe4]

Thanks for the advice guys. We did go down to look at the one in the ad I have psted. It was a somewhat nice Jeep. I could probably get the price down to 3500 to 3700. I found where the floor had rusted through drivers side. It was patched. It was in pretty nice shape. I drove it. It was a dog. Had great oil pressure and all. But it was a dog. My wife had never been in a Jeep She said it sure was loud in there. I agree. It wasn't a quiet ride. Lots of wind noise, but what should we expect LOL. I could live with a 4 cyl I guess, but I may want to pull a small trailer every now and then of about 1200 pounds. That would probably really strain the 4 cyl. This Jeep has no A/C either. If worse comes to worse I would like to have A/C on a hot humid day.
So...6 cyl, Auto, A/C and not beat to death. I will be happy.
I will continue my quest. My 5 yr old son thought it was cool!

 

[odell4o8]

wrangler

I have a old 92 wrangler red with a black hardtop, 6 cyl, fuel inj, 5 spd,ps,pb,tilt wheel, air cond, no rust, clear coat is peeling on hood,
not for sale, gets 20 plus mph, i bought it in tennessee two years ago for 2500.00 bucks , runs good dont use any oil, but the odometer reads 241000
two hundred and fourty thousand miles i didnt know these old jeeps would run that many miles, around here if you are driving a wrangler and meet another one they wave at you, kindly hard to get used to, good luck finding a good jeep that is not rusty, they are serval around here, good luck, oc,

 

[Ross L]

IMO, I would go with a 97 or newer(round headlights) because they have the coil spring suspension(vs leaf) and ride really nice. The 4 cyl is ok if, like other said, you don't plan on towing more than a 4x6 trailor(just the trailor, nothing in it:biggrin: ). I've had 2 and no issues at all. My 2000 will run about 60mph with the AC on. I know I hit 70 one time(AC off) with good air

 

[georgewe4]

Today we drove 100 plus miles one way to look at a 99 Wrangler. It is a V6 5 speed, A/C, aftermarket CD Radio. Its a nice looking Jeep, Gold outside with the tan interior. Soft top, no rips or tears in seats. All around it was a nice Jeep. It has 120,000 miles on it. Top is in really nice shape. Draw back is that it has a salvage title. It was hit in the fron passenger quarter but did not get into the frame. I looked under it, inside it, checked door gaps, whatever I could think of. I could not tell it had been fixed. I am not however a professional body man. The man and his wife that has the Jeep are two of the nicest people you could ever meet. They have had the Jeep for a month, but they knew the previous owner who had the Jeep when it was hit. The previous owner had it fixed. They bought the Jeep for their 16 year old son, but he didnt like it. So they are selling it. Must be nice.
When we arrived he told me first off that he wanted to show me all of the negatives. The wipers and radio will work with the key off. The blower doesnt work for the A/C and heat. And the kicker is the air bags are blown. The steering wheel where the airbag exploded is split, but its closed back up, like a flap. The passenger side dash is the same way. It is closed, but there is no airbag in it. Of course the air bag light is on. The Jeep ran great. It drove straight with no problems at all. The transmission shifted great and the clutch was excellent. The A/C came on but like he said the blower wouldnt work. When we got going the air was ice cold coming out of the vents. He is wanting $5500.00 for it. He said he would take 5200.00 for it. What do you guys that know Jeeps think? I would like to get the air bags fixed if I get it, but I have no idea what that would cost. You think its worth it??

 

[Ross L]

don't you mean a straight 6? I personally think thats still a little high for the problems you mentioned and the salvage title.PLus getting the airbags is probably $$$. Blue book is $5500 for a good condition(clear title) Jeep.
Ross

 

[zeus87gn]

Personally, I don't like the TJ's. The interior doesn't appeal to me.
$5k+ for a jeep with electrical gremlins and a salvage title? NOT!
Yes, a 99 should be in I6 4.0l.
If you don't mind working on electrical problems or mind paying someone to fix it, it may be a good buy. You have to consider all the possible negatives that may come up.

Does the 4WD work?
Does the motor spark knock under load?
Does the motor oil smell like oil and look good?
Are there any defects in the soft top?
Will your state allow you to license it with a salvage title?
If so, will it have to pass inspection? It won't with blown airbags.

You may can find some air bags on evilbay for cheap, but you will still have top pay someone to reset the computer to the tine of $100 or more....unless you happen to have the test computer in your pocket.

$4700...48 tops. And that's just a guess without having driven it.

 

[faster]

Get the one with the 4.0 six in it.

Fuel mileage is almost the same and they both get horrible mileage.

My 4.0 Cherokee gets 13/17. That's it. Some guys say they get better but not by much. The two wheel drive versions do get better mileage but then what's the point?

Good points is you can't kill them, they run forever and take an absolute pounding.

I love my little Cherokee.


Mikey

 

[georgewe4]

Well folks....I bought my Jeep tonight. I should say "our" Jeep.
I found a 2000 Wrangler Sport.
It is a 6 cyl, auto. Black in color. It has - AC, Power Windows, Tilt, Cruise, In-Dash After Market CD Player, Hard Top, Soft Top, Bikini Top, Soft Doors (Top & Bottom), 3" Suspension Lift, 32x1150 Tires with 85% Tread, Custom Front & Rear Bumpers, Spare Tire, Sound Bar, K&N Cold Air Intake.
126,000 miles. A lady was the original owner until 120,000 miles. She had everything that was ever done to it professionally done. The second owner who is the guy I bought it from had it 9 months and was selling it because of a newborn baby, which made 3 kids.
I was able to get it for $7,050.00. It was hard to find one around here with any options for that price. Do you guys really think I did okay?
The suspension is "Black Diamond" You ever heard of it? Im new to this!!!
AND YES..I understand a straight 6..:smile:
George

 

[Welby]

Personally, with that many miles I think you paid $1,000 or so too much, but it looks to be in nice shape. Be careful, mods are addictive! My advice would be to leave it the way you bought it and enjoy, once you start modding, it's all downhill. Black Diamond is a known brand, all the TJ lifts are pretty much the same for the most part. If you want to lift it any more, be aware that there a lot of supporting mods you have to do to make it work; driveline angles become an issue, axle strength, gearing, etc. etc... Stick with the 32's, especially if you have the D35 rear axle. They're notorious for breaking under hard off-road use (although I had a 4-banger '95 YJ on 33's and never had a problem. The key is to know what you have and drive accordingly to let it live. Don't get wedged in rocks and keep trying to throttle through it, etc. etc. )

Here's a pic of my '00 that I sold in '04. I sunk more than a little money into this thing. I loved it, but it's time had come to go. 4.5" Rubicon Express lift, 1" body lift, Dana 44 rear axle, 4.56 gears, Detroit locker in the back, Lockright up front, Warn winch, 35" General Grabbers (also had 36" Super Swamper TSL's on it for awhile), etc. etc. The thing was a beast and would pretty much go wherever I pointed it. Had well over $4,000 into the thing and in the end it sold for $10,000 with only 27,000 miles on it . I actually had it built up to the point where it became appealing to only a small percentage of buyers. It took a long time to sell it and the price kept dropping lower and lower. Honestly I'd have probably done better to part it out, lol...

I miss it quite a bit. Nothing's better than cruising around in a built up Jeep with the top down in the summer. Have fun

 

[zeus87gn]

Good job George. You found a nice one. Price wise, if your happy than that's whats important. It doesn't sound too bad of a deal to me. A little less $$$ probably would have been in order, but if there isn't any rust you did real good.

Take Welby's advice and drive it for a while without changing a thing. Get to know it. And Yes....be careful because modding will become addictive. How I know? I own 2 Wranglers. The 87 is quite the project, the 92 only needs a few things. Both need regearing something awful.

Happy Wheeling!!