Wow. Some of those priced very high. That 01 besides the head issues needs rear leaf springs. See how much the *** end sags? Out of all of those, the orginalone you posted doesn't look too bad. I'd be happier at 1500 for that one considering you have to put money into it as soon as you buy it.

Note To Self:

Buy Jeep.
Drive it to Montana.
Sell it.
Fly home.
Repeat.

After spending months looking at dozens of Cherokees to replace my beloved '92, the most important lesson I learned is this: 99% of those "low-miles-for-the-year" XJs ... likely aren't. Never trust a seller's mileage especially on pre- '97 Cherokees. Never. It's way too easy to swap in a low mileage cluster and call it done. Recently I Carfaxed a Cherokee whose seller was boasting 125k, that turned out to actually have had 185xxk miles ... back in 2003! Only the good lord knows how many miles that thing actually had on it. And that was just one of so many. Granted the 4.0 can run for more than 300,000 miles, but remember that the drivetrain & wiring also have 300k miles. And who knows what kind of miles those were anyway?

There was another with multiple accidents showing up over a period of years on Carfax, "severe damage" in bright red letters all over the darn report, and a salvage title. But suddenly it was sold in a different state & all that went away, showing a clean title & no other red flags. That's a CLEAR example of title washing. Buyer beware. Get a Carfax report before you buy.

And no, I don't work for Carfax.

Carfax was very helpful when recently buying a WJ. First time using. Won't buy another used car without getting one.

I'd like to check out the '01, much newer year and doesn't look abused like the others, but I'll keep the cylinder head issue in mind.
So if it's made it 175,000 miles, and the head hasn't cracked yet, maybe it won't ever crack ? Any way to inspect it ? I could take it to a mechanic over in Missoula. I can do a lot of maintenance and change out minor things, (I did rebuild a transfer case on an old J-10 pickup), but I am no means a mechanic.
The green '01 does look like it sags in the back, but I plan on putting a 3-4 inch lift on soon, so it would be getting new springs.
And yes, a Carfax would be a good idea.
I drove the $1000 blue '88 Pioneer and it was a pile of crap. RPM's were very low and fluctuated a lot, and a couple of loud clunks from the tranny/transfer case area while I was driving it.
The faded, peeled red '89 will be my back up. It did drive really well, smooth, no wobble, and acceleration strong.
Whether it really has only 134K on it is questionable though.

i got lucky, the big ford dealer wanted ny 00 out of his lot. $1200 out the door. did apx $400 in starter,brake lines,floor pans. very little rust,runs strong. 331 head, 170000 and good so far.lovin it. keep looking.

I have a renix 90 model it's great nothing to be afraid of modded mine drastically wouldn't trust the mileage carfax might tell you more. I love mine. Even stock. Rust is an issue though. $1800 would be a better price. For that area. Though they don't have the hp of newer ones they run great and simple to fix. I stroked mine and has great power now. Check mine out on the Cherokee of the month for this month. Only issue with renix is wiring grounds but easy fix. Cruser's site is the best. And he's a great guy mete him recently while in Az. Always willing to help.

I've had a couple renix XJ's myself, not bad if you know what to look for and how to address the wiring issues when they pop up. (and they will pop up). Typically I stay away from the renix models, but it's hard to resist a good deal when you find it.

The most trouble free XJ i've owned was my '92 Laredo, had 160k on it when I bought it, had it for 5 years and sold it with 285k on it and it was still going strong.

[/QUOTE]Will look at this one tomorrow, a good three hour drive to see it. Looks pretty clean, except for some rust on bumper, and a 2001 model:
https://missoula.craigslist.org/cto/6146506636.html[/QUOTE]

If you go look at this one I would double check that oil pressure. My experience with a pegged out oil pressure gauge is the sending unit gets stuck sometimes. Not a big deal but just make sure thats what it is.

I would pay extra just cause its green with tan interior.... my favorite combo. Hope you get it! The rust part scares me though.

The green/tan is my favorite as well. I called the girl again before I drove over, and found out she had sold it. I would have been pissed if I had made the 200 mile drive and then found out it was gone, plus taking off work Friday and the fuel to get over there and back.

I ended up buying the red '89 that I started out this thread with. Out of the 3 that I went and looked at, this one drove the best. It does have the peeled clear coat on the hood and roof, a couple rusted out spots on the rocker panels, and a big hole in the drivers seat.
Mechanically, I need to replace the idler pulley, ($18 at Napa, plus rent a puller), replace the two struts on the rear lift gate, and I saw a couple vacuum hoses that were kinked bad or cracked. I'll have to clean the engine compartment to inspect things better, maybe do the oil filler cap mod ( extra gasket) as the valve cover has a lot of oil on it. It did die twice while backing up slowly, but like the PO said, starts right back up.
Cosmetically, I'm going to tint the windows myself, and give it a paint job, maybe a copper metallic. I painted a truck topper that I got for the Dakota I traded in last year, and it came out pretty good, anything will look better than it is now. Don't want it too nice, as it will get scratched when out wheeling.
It needs a driver taillight lens, and a rear bumper. I need to try to mount the spare upright, as now it's laying flat in the cargo compartment taking up a lot of room.
I could just put it up on the roof rack, but that's a lot of weight up there, would hurt gas mileage and putting it up on the roof rack would just have it taking up room up there that I might need for other things from time to time.
Or just get a back bumper that has a swing out carrier.
There is a decent aftermarket stereo, it is all wired in but doesn't work. I'll check the fuse today, if that's not it, I might have to take it in to an audio shop, wiring is not my strong suite.
Not sure why the PO had taken the driving lights off the top of the bumper, and put them under the bumper, they look kind of exposed down there. When I get a nice front bumper, I'll get some better lights anyway.
E-brake needs to be tightened, and power door locks aren't working, but everything else works, all gauges, cruise, power windows, etc.
There is some clunking noise coming from the suspension when going over bumps, maybe due to the budget RC lift the guy bought. It is the better RC lift with new leafs, shocks, coils and control arms. Any ideas what to look for to remedy, or at least reduce that clunking ?
Yesterday, I took the XJ to a fishing hole on my Aunt's river property, you have to cross a few dozen big mud holes on the way in. I wasn't barreling along real fast, so it didn't get real muddy, but here's a pic from last eve. Today I'm going to take it up to my shooting range on one of the upper pastures, it's a nice twisty two track that goes through some big gullies to get there.

I'd say you've done well.

If the clunking is up front check the sway bar bushings.

Well, just my luck. 3 days after thinking I had found all of the XJ's for sale within a 400 mile radius, and buying the '89 Laredo for $2000 ( with low miles but rust issues ), I got the Sunday paper yesterday, and there are three XJ's that all sound ( and look) better than mine, and much newer.
A 1995 black Sport with 170k for $1200, a 1998 red Sport with 128K for $2800, and a 1999 blue 5 speed for $2750.
My finances are still recovering from buying the 2015 KL, maybe one day I'll sell the 2015 and the 1989 and buy something in the 1998-1999 range.

Don't dwell on it. You said XJ's were bringing big money out your way so maybe there's a reason those 3 are priced that low. That's a good looking '89!

I agree ^^^

When I was living in Colorado Springs the XJ's were bringing big money as well, I went to look at a couple that were cheaper priced and all though they looked decent in the craigslist pics, when I went to see them it was a different story. One I looked at had stop signs for floorboards and a cracked exhaust manifold, none of which where stated by the seller. Another I went to look at had been in a wreck of some sort and the passenger side rocker was smashed flat, again not mentioned by the seller.