I apologize if this isn't in the right thread, I'm new here.

I know I need to go see any vehicle in person before buying it, but I wanted to get a feel for whether this one is even worth going to visit since it's 5 hours away. So I thought I'd try asking people who know these vehicles a lot better than me.
Background - this particular model is interesting to me for sentimental reasons—my family had a 1990 Cherokee Laredo in the same color red - the only difference is we had a tan interior.

The seller is a dealer who recently retired from his day job with BMW and says he's trying to get rid of whatever he can because he doesn't have any employees. He listed it at $3,900 but said "If you're interested, I'm sure we can come to an agreement on the price." So it sounds like he's pretty flexible and ready to sell.

It has a lot of obvious issues though, and I'm more worried about the ones that may not be as obvious to me. I don't want to overpay or end up getting into a nightmare of a situation.

Link to photos and video

Details from the seller:
It runs and drives (according to him) but hasn't been driven in a long time so he can't vouch for hoses belts etc. He suggested I trailer it home to have it looked at by a mechanic, rather than attempting the 5-hour drive.
It has an oil leak, and he says based on what he's seeing under the hood, it looks like the valve cover.
200k miles on the odometer, he's the second owner.
No headliner (in the pics, it looks like some parts up there may be missing as well).
The rest of the interior looks pretty good compared to other early 90s jeeps I've seen in my price range on facebook marketplace.
Power seats and windows don't work. He suspects a relay under the driver's seat or something related.
In the photos I see the windshield is cracked, and there is rust all the way through the fender around the antenna. the passenger side mirror is cracked off, assorted dents, missing door trim, banged up rear driver side fender flare, the paint is toast, etc.
I'm fairly handy, so I think a lot of it I would enjoy figuring out have to fix myself, but when it comes to paint and bodywork, I'd probably want to hire that out.
He showed me the carfax with a clean title.

On the one hand, to have a restored 1990 Colorado Red Jeep Cherokee Laredo would be a minor dream of mine to accomplish—but I don't want to accidentally find myself caught in a nightmare, so I'd be interested to hear if you all think it would be a good deal if I could get him to agree at a certain price point, or if it's an altogether bad idea to get into it.
I greatly appreciate the voices of experience that I'm hoping are in this forum.

 

You need to get a lot of good pictures of the underside to look for any rust before you'll know anything.
It's interesting that it didn't include any since that's always a big issue with old xjs





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4k is a lot of money for a jeep that has a lot of known problems, has to be towed 5 hours, does not run, and is of unknown shape on the underside...i would barely touch it for free.

 

rust would make it not worthwhile, and it sounds like there is a very high chance of that

from what you said, lots need doing, new paint, can you do that and fix electrics yourself ?

how much would it cost to buy an ok one that needed little work ?..if you could get one for $10k you would be ahead

serious rust is a killer on unibody cars unless you can fix it yourself, even then, I hate it

some of the rusty ****boxes I see on here, dont know whether to laugh or cry

 

The seller is going to take some pics of the underside for me today. But I feel like I'd probably have a lot of hours and $6k in cost to get it up to 75% restored, even if the unibody is good. I'm thinking I'd offer him $800-$1200 and be perfectly okay if he turns me down, but I'd be curious to know what other people think is a fair price.

 

Maybe get one that isn't a basket case and get it painted red?
Also note that while it may or may not "run" you have no idea if this vehicle that the seller says should be towed actually "moves" . the transmission and/ or axles could be trash.
To answer your question on value: not worth towing cost knowing what you know now

 

Take the emotional factor out of the equation and you probably wouldn't even be looking at such a questionable vehicle. Be patient, you will find what you are looking for. I sold my really clean rust free Cherokee for a fair price to a person who had been " looking for that model and year" for awhile. My point is he was patient and eventually found what he wanted. Dont buy on emotion.

 

Good advice. I'll take the emotional factor out, sit, and wait a while.

 

I think the above suggestions are as good as it gets. Keeping the emotions secondary to the overall condition will definitely keep you out of trouble. I can also attest to getting plenty of pictures and definitive, honest answers to your questions and concerns. If that seller knows the travel your willing to take and isn't going out of their way to share info, pictures, answer to your concerns then don't waste your time.

I have a build thread related to a very similar situation like this. (https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f46/bi...manche-266044/ )To put it simply, I honestly way overpaid to purchase a built jeep that I had adored while following through its build process. When the opportunity came for me to make a deal on it, (some 5 different uncaring owners later) i waived a number of red flags to still follow through with the deal. Between unanswered questions, lacking photos, clarity and the guy even being at the house when i picked it up after a 7 hr drive one way. I still made the purchase and In a way I'm still happy with the deal but sure am paying for it quite literally.

 

He sent video and a pic of the underside. I told him I was going to pass. He’s still trying to To convince me to give it a try.

the pic is of the worst looking part.

 

No, no, no,no..

 

That guy is one of those mooch salesman. No way jose

 

one thing i have found is you cant weld fresh steel to rusty steel ( or fresh air)

to misquote Michelangelo, once you chip away everything that isnt rust, you will not be left with an iron horse, but more like bad bad Leroy Brown

That is a parts car bro (and the seller knows it) $1000 is ok fir a good spare

There are 2 things that in my opinion, render an XJ economically unrepairable, and that is major rust or electrical harness issues

I have seen vehicles worth more than 100K that people would baulk at resto costs with that much rust