Max Conrad

tjwalker

Buy the cleanest, most WELL MAINTAINED, lowest mileage XJ you can find. With the least amount of rust.

But more to your point. If I could choose either a low mileage XJ with no idea of how it has been maintained, or a higher mileage XJ with meticulous, believable maintenance records......I'd go with the higher mileage XJ with maintenance records every time. It's "maintenance" that makes the biggest difference.

98-99 the sweet spot for the XJ for years in my opinion. I am a bit biased, but I'm also basing this on the XJs I've worked on and the thousands of threads I've read and answered on this and other XJ forums.

Good luck and keep us updated on what you decide on!

Friar Mountain XJ

You're looking at buying a 20 year old vehicle plan on spending additional funds to keep it road worthy. I purchased my 98 with 3 miles on it from a dealer. I was a hawk on the maintenance. I had 168,000 miles on it before I had to replace anything related to the steering, control arm bushings ect. I did replace the motor at around 150,000 miles because I hated to hear it knock. Still ran well just knocked! Other than adding a mild suspension lift, replacing the starter, alternator and power steering pump that's it besides oil changes and tune-ups. I have 330,000+ miles on everything else.
Maintenance, maintenance and more maintenance is key.
With a $24,000 dollar sticker price, about $7,000 in maintenance and a remanufactured engine I'm invested at around $31,000.

It's not about what it cost to put you in an XJ and keep you rolling. From what I've seen on TV, you can spend $60,000+ on a Range Rover and it still has to take the steps to get to the top of the mountain!

PatHenry

I sometimes envy you automatic drivers. My options were dictated by the requirement that the major components were working and it was a manual. Just to find one available around here meant a 2 hour drive. So I sometimes envy you guys... just not enough to drive an auto.. lolol

dzywicki

I agree a bout going with the maintenance. At some point, everything that can wear will need replaced. Shocks, control arm bushings, ujoints, front hubs, rear leaf springs, front coils etc. Once all those pieces get replaced, you should be good to go for another 75-100k miles. The maintenance comes in with fluid changes in the engine, transmission, transfer case and differential. If those were maintained, the drivetrain should be good for a long time. If the PO did not change fluids or doesn't know if they were changed then you start looking elsewhere.

jordan96xj

I paid a little more for low miles (49k, bought 3 years ago). I have 105k on it now. I'm glad I did that. I probably paid about $1500 more than average (for this area) for the low miles. If it means I get to enjoy it for a few additional years, then the extra cost was well worth it. In 3 years I have done a ton to it, but the only things that actually -required- to be fixed were a water pump (started to get noisy) and a front axle seal.

Ralph77

My thinking with any vehicle is buy the most rust free, cleanest interior, with good glass one that you can. The clean interior and good glass is even somewhat optional. Mechanically I don't really care. When it comes to body work/paint I am useless. Mechanically I can get by. And if I can't handle something mechanical I know people that can and will for a reasonable price. Basically you want a good platform to build on.

tech

I went about 4 hours away to get my xj , it was clean and no rust but I live in California so rust not a problem if it live in ca.all its life . the paint isn't that good but that's some thing I'm working on a little at time .also doing all the work on it my self . they are not that hard to work on .

Max Conrad

GreaseMonkey17

dave1123

I'm going to tell you a story about my 2000 WJ which you probably don't want to hear about a WJ, but I'll tell you anyway. I bought this immaculate garage queen in 2012 with 125K miles on it. It had perfect maintenance records done by a dealership and had just been detailed! The only thing I could find wrong on the whole car was a crack in the soft cushion of the driver's door arm rest. This car came from southern PA and had never seen salt.

It now has 248K miles on it and is very tired. I faithfully maintained this jeep and I had no problems with it except for the ****ty Teves brakes until the 0331 head cracked at 165K miles! Nothing but problems since then. I caught it before any oil contamination could happen, installing a Clearwater head. Then without warning the rear axle blew up, damaging the t/case so it wouldn't go back into 2wd, so I drove it in 4wd full time for 6 months until I replaced the t/case. Now it seems I have a cracked piston skirt on cylinder #5 and it's using a lot of oil. The key to this story is the body is still very rust free considering it's been exposed to Upstate NY winters for the past 6 years. It's left outside, washed occasionally, and driven hard delivering newspapers. Because of the condition of the body and undercarriage it's still worth putting an engine in it.

The only reason the original owner sold it was because it was 12 years old. Soccer-mom's grocery getter. A veritable gold mine for me! Good maintenance is the key.

96XJ_MrFantastic

I would recommend spending more up front to get lower miles and better condition. I spent $5.5k on my '96 Country 4x4 with 145k miles. Two owner, no rust, all maintenance records since new - including the original window sticker and dealership paperwork. Interior is immaculate, engine bay is super clean, not a hint of the wobbles.

dave1123

You see? I just bought a 2000 XJ Sport with 125K on it that has spent all it's life in the Adirondacks in lots of snow and cold and salted roads. I spent $800 on it but it needed an additional $1000 for brakes, shocks, and frame welding. Body and floors are pretty good, but the wheelwells and rockers are rusted and the frame needed welding around the crossmember and front swaybar. The PO had replaced all the front steering stuff, starter, and radiator. Engine and transmission are perfect. I have NO records on it as far as maintenance is concerned except for the new parts with labels still on them. I spent an additional $700 for tires and wheels.

Newer model, cheap, but needed lots of help because of poor maintenance. It looks like it was not driven much and parked with snow and ice still on it, probably parked all summer.

GreaseMonkey17

dave1123

Oh, I totally agree! The XJ is by far the more rugged of the two and the most fun to drive! I was actually looking for a Cherokee when I found this WJ and it was too good of a deal to pass up. It has quite a bit more room in the front seat for my newspapers than my XJ, but the XJ turns tighter and handles more nimbly. I had owned a 97 ZJ before buying the WJ and I liked that very much, more so than the WJ. I like the AW4 much better than the 42re. It shifts more cleanly and more positive than the 42re. When accelerating up an on-ramp with the 42re, the computer spends way too long deciding what gear it wants to be in and that drives me nuts! I'll usually pull it down manually instead.

My buddy put jeeps into perspective this way, "The XJ is an off road vehicle that's capable of road use whereas a WJ is a road car that's off road capable." I think that puts it in a nutshell. I really don't think WK's or WK2's can really be called Jeeps. Fiat has destroyed the brand and it's reputation for reliability. The big thing is they don't support the buyer on warranty work anymore. My girlfriend wanted to buy a Renegade. I told her she'd be better off with a Hyundai Tucson.