Kads

Hi everyone,

I've been scanning and reading on this sight for the past month, as i'm interested in buying an XJ. I've been told by a friend who owns a early 90s, along with everything I've read here that the 98-99 years were some of the best.

I've been looking at 4 doors, preferably with the optional all-time 4WD for the time I spend at home in upstate NY, and in the Adirondacks (quite often). I'm leaning towards a '99. I like the black, white, and gunmetal colorways. I have also been scanning for the 8.25, as eventually I'd like to lift this with a 3-4" kit, and put 31-33"s underneath it.

Was told no rust can be more important than the mileage. Right now i've limited my search to those with less than 160K miles, and somewhere below the 4K price tag. Semi-mechanically handy, but am hoping the jeep will help me build a better knowledge of cars.

Right now im looking at a 1999 XJ Sport with no rust, 138K miles, gunmetal, clean inside and out, upgraded brakes?, and near new all-seasons. - Guys asking $3500, and since its in VT he has a vintage title for it.

Is this priced right? have seen some real clean XJs with lower miles for even less come up in the northeast recently. It looks like the markets pretty saturated with these at the moment.

Thanks!

PatHenry

Price sounds about accurate for the Northeast. Important things to check (with all the salt we get here) are frame rails (obviously) and floor pans. Some folks will claim "no rust" because there's no rust on the visible surfaces... but it's the undercarriage where rust really matters. Almost every XJ in the Northeast has already had or will very shortly need the floors replaced.

What is the upgrade to the brakes? Is it a rear disc conversion or something else?

All in all sounds about perfect for you if it checks out.

Edit - YES, owning a Jeep will certainly help you learn a lot and give you experience wrenching.

Kads

Thanks! I'm going to have a mechanic check it out if I go that route. He didn't really explain the brake deal, but I'll look much more closely when I go to see it.

On another note I found a dark blue XJ with 60K miles from a dealer for 4K... now I just have to see if that's original miles or not

PatHenry

60k would be damn impressive if it's legit.

When I was shopping for my 95 I came across an 88 MJ (Comanche) with 16k original miles. They wanted $22k for it.

dzywicki

I have a 98 and a 99. Pretty much identical except for a few minor things. Injectors are different, air intake is the older squared off style, radio connector is a different, blend door control is manual (cable activated) vs. electronics controlled.
I absolutely agree that no rust is the most important thing. All the mechanicals are very easily overhauled. Suspension is very easy to rebuild/improve. Have a good look underneath to see if there is any rust. I have seen some lower milage XJs pop up, but they have usually turned out to be 2 WD. Not worth the hassle to convert to 4 WD (IMHO).
3.5k for that seems very reasonable, especially if it has new tires.

BlueRidgeMark

Stop that. 200k is nothing on these. Don't limit your options.

Kads

Thanks for your advice guys.

The gunmetal '99 with 138K didn't have 4WD despite the owner thinking it did. Learned how to look for this and researched his build sheet. Kudos to this form for teaching me how to do that.

The black '99 with 60k miles sold before I had a chance to talk with the owner.

The search continues!

fb97xj1

Wow. How could they have missed that!? Just, wow.

PatHenry

x2

The lack of a transfer case shifter and front driveshaft is your first clue you do not have 4wd.

Also shocking is the presence of a 2wd model in the Northeast (VT none-the-less*) - those things are like unicorns around here. I mean I've heard of them, but I've never seen one in real life.

* I have a friend who has lived in VT for several years, they get feet of snow routinely every winter and the back roads there are practically trails - and they don't get plowed very well.

Kads

I live part-time in a similar environment in the mountains in NY. So 4WD was a must.

They guy kept telling me I was wrong - most simply I told him unless he had the Command-Trac or Select-Trac shifting box next to his regular transmission shifter he doesn't have 4WD. The build list confirmed.

Onto a 95K mile jeep around me, hoping this one pans out, excited if its original and seems to have little rust.

PatHenry

Nice!!! Let us know how it goes! Don't be afraid to poke at the passenger side floor and frame with a screwdriver.

Waynerd

From my experience with XJ’s and living in New England it’s the rear areas that rot. The rear bumper holds a lot of dirt and rots from the inside out as well as the brackets. Behind the rear bumper corners is a place that is hidden and they often rot there. There’s a bunch of nooks and crannies like around the rear spring shackles and where the gas tank filler tube passes through the frame and the cover that’s over it. Also the rear wheel wells have plastic splash shields that collect a lot of dirt/salt and will rot from the inside out and by the time it’s noticeable there’s already a decent amount of rot.

Kads

Hi everyone - waiting to hear back from the green '99 with 95K on it - looks a little beat but overall good with little rust.

Found a '01 with 134K miles, dark blue, with a 3" RC lift, new leaf springs, limited, with a trailer hitch and wiring. with practically no rust. They're asking $4,000. Is this reasonable? Or should I hold out for a lower cost 99 to avoid header problems?

Thanks for all the advice!

PatHenry

$4000 is not unreasonable if it's 134k miles with a lift and new leafs and little to no rust. It's possible that they already addressed the 0331 head so that's a question to ask - if they haven't you could haggle them down $500 for the cost of a replacement head and if it's been corrected then it makes 4k a little easier to swallow. 3" is about where lift packages tend to start getting costly and leaf springs are not cheap (especially the longer springs used in a 3+ inch lift).

You definitely want to consider the condition of tires in your shopping process. A new set of quality tires is roughly $6-800 alone and bigger tires (as you probably will find on a lifted Jeep) are higher.

When I bought my 95 I felt like the tires alone were worth the entire asking price ($800) since they were less than a year old without a lot of miles on them.

PatHenry

Aint that the truth! I was under the rear end of my Jeep last weekend and noticed exactly what you're talking about - lots of nooks and crannies and a fair amount of rust. I'm going to try to clean it out as much as I can and then fluid film the crap out of it when I do my leaf springs this weekend.

Edit - Interestingly, the O.P. mentions a trailer hitch and wiring with little rust on the 01 --- a P.O. on mine put a trailer hitch and wiring on mine and the hitch is the rustiest dang thing on the rear of my Jeep!