Hi all,

New to the forum, looking to purchase. Looking at a 99 Cherokee XJ SE 2dr 4.0 I6 automatic for sale in Canada. Priced at $4200 CAD, 270k kms on it. I have attached pictures here. The jeep is in a different city and I would have to drive to check it out and purchase. I want to know if it is even worth my time due to the rust. Is this too much rust? Does the undercarriage look fine? These pictures were provided by the seller. I would not be able to fix the rust myself, unless it just requires me to completely replace the part. Unsure how to do patch work etc. Should I just avoid? This is by far the best one i've seen in my province.

 

$3136 American money, 149,000 miles. Miles is low, but rust is an expensive thing to fix. rockers shot, rust in rear quarter panel also.
Under coating might be hiding more rust, is she a repaint? if so there maybe lots of bondo under it to hide other rust. usually this much rust in rockers means more elesewhere, and if bondoed over and repainted, or undercoated it can be hidden well.
Price seems high for that much rust damage

Assuming that is only rust, which is a big generous assumption, figure many grand to fix and repaint. maybe 2, 3, even 4 grand in repairs at shop rates. add that to the $3136 American asking price and yikes.

 

You say this is the best XJ you've found in your province.
I don't know your laws, but is it a major PITA to buy a car in the States and return to Canada?
If so, then I understand why you may not look down here, but if it isn't that big of a deal, why not check out some of the south western states where rust is not an issue.
You may pay some more up front, but save a lot of heart ache down the road.
Just my 2 cents.
Mike

 

Thank you for the response Rob.

It is a 2nd owner vehicle, all stock except window tint. I don't believe it has been repainted. Unsure about undercoat. I will keep looking, thank you.

 

Thanks Westy. I never thought to import from the US as it seems like an inconvenient process. I will do some more research and keep an open mind!

 

I did not notice which province you reside in but I'm assuming you're in Ontario. That XJ looks very very similar to mine in Wisconsin with almost identical corrosion damage. I paid $1000 USD for it and dumped about $1200 USD into it in repairs (replaced a cracked head with a TUPY, new NiCopp brake lines, etc. etc.). It has the equivalent of about 320 km on it. I wouldn't pay $4.2k CAD for the one you are showing. The structural unibody "frame" rails look okay. If you're dying to buy it then take a screwdriver and try poking holes in the frame rails. The rockers don't actually look that bad; the bottom of the inner/outer rockers seem very intact. Splash guards would have prevented the damage... Keep in mind that you are required to have this pass biennial safety inspection (if you are in Ontario). I have a buddy that owns a shop in Ontario and he has so many people abandon cars at his shop due to them failing inspection. I've seen nicer cars than this left behind. I'd set a maximum value at $2400 canadian pesos (about 1800 USD) if you're willing do the work yourself to fix stuff. The body actually looks nice on that. Importing a rig into Canada is not hard at all. Just follow the instructions from the RIV. I was just out in Utah visiting family and there were so many XJ's I wanted to buy and drive back...