Looking for a wheeling rig...whats this XJ worth??

[rckymntn05]

Just came accross an XJ built up pretty nicely locally, but it needs a motor. I have no problem doing that, but what in your opinions is this thing worth realistically? It's modded pretty nicely for my needs, and the guy is willing to do $2500 for it at the moment. Heres his description, and the body seems to be in pretty decent shape from his pic.

1997 jeep cherokee country. 4.0h.o. auto. 180k miles. Needs head gasket.
- tera low 4:1 tcase. cold air intake. Chromoly axle shafts. bigger injectors. full clayton 7 inch long arm lift. yukon 4:11 gears. 8.25 Chrysler rear end. detroit lockers. yoke eliminator. Newer 35's. 16 inch procomp rims. the entire front end has been rebuilt,wheel bearings,hubs,everything. not a show jeep but there is no rot. just did floors.has 2 new doors that need to be aligned better. borla exhaust header back. Just past inspection. Body isn't perfect. had rock sliders so the rockers are perfect. overall a decent jeep. Was my daily driver

[Daven]

This used to be your daily driver? I'd say 2-3k is fair. However, buying some one elses project is always a risky choice especially if they have lower standards than you.

[rckymntn05]

This used to be your daily driver? I'd say 2-3k is fair. However, buying some one elses project is always a risky choice especially if they have lower standards than you.

Wasn't my daily driver, that was the sellers description that I copied and pasted. I'm very mechanically inclined and am not worried about fixing little issues here and there, and I own a welder as well. I basically wanted to be sure that the value of what I was getting as a whole was worth the price. Seems like theres a lot of aftermarket goodies on it, which would save me the trouble and cost of doing them myself.

[rctrav]

Your definitely not going to lose your money. As it is it can be parted out for that price and make your money back. Used 4.0 can be found cheap.

[bangarang]

Your definitely not going to lose your money. As it is it can be parted out for that price and make your money back. Used 4.0 can be found cheap.

x2 on this one if worst comes to worst and you have the space to part out a jeep.

[Hudson]

Is he at $2,500 or you knocked him down to $2,500?

If he's at $2,500 i'd try to knock him down more for the "motor issues". Does he know you're mechanically inclined? You can tell him that your mechanic is going to charge you at least a thousand for a headgasket and you'd think it would be fair he knock the price down a few hundred.

Assuming the head isn't cracked it shouldn't cost you more than $200-300 to do the headgasket and a day or two of your time.

tldr; It's worth $2,500 IMO but it'd still try to beat him down more because why not?

[HeavyMetal]

tldr; It's worth $2,500 IMO but it'd still try to beat him down more because why not?

because its not always the right answer to be a cheap douche?

[Henchman]

Not always will. But most of the time

[customcreationsllc]

sounds like it is worth it to me.
I'm guessing stock axles so besides the lift which is a quality production lift there is very little custom he obviously has money $1400 for the terra low kit and $$$ for the clayton kit, I would feel better than buying something hacked together.

Head gaskets cheap and easy.
It's a push rod motor with hydraulic lifters cannot get easier than that. No setting timing what so ever. You cannot screw it up. Well you need to try hard to screw it up.


that being said what is it worth to you?

does he have a receipt for the chromo shafts? that is a hard one to prove.

[rckymntn05]

I've owned a few jeeps now and did a head gasket job on a previous 2000 XJ we owned. I generally know what to look for to be sure he's not BSing anything. He originally said $3K, but after talking he said for a quick sale he'd let it go for $2500. I still think it may be a bit more than I want to spend, considering I have found 3-4 running XJ's on craigslist now with quality longarm lifts, good tires, and one even had the terra low case, all around the $3600-4000 price range. Just not sure if I feel like doing an engine job, or just putting down the cash for a ready to go XJ.

And FYI, he mentioned to me that the motor will not even start, so it may have a bad head as well. I'm thinking it needs a whole motor. Not a huge deal, but it's work that I might be too lazy to deal with LOL.