thoughts on this jeep?
 

It's a 96 Sport with 129,000 miles. I test drove it and it starts right up and drives quite nice. 4 wheel drive seems to work ok, but I don't know how to test that.

I've attached photos.

What concerns me is that the gasket is leaking and there is oil on the oil pan below the car. No drip on the road though. Also, there is rust on the bottom of the passenger side door and some mild rust on the floor pans. The rest of the undercarriage looks ok. The attached photo is of the drivers side undercarriage where the floor pan is.

Some minor things are that the drivers side electric window doesn't seem to work and cosmetically the paint is crap (see hood photo). Other than that it seems like a nice vehicle.

The dealer is asking $2495 for it. Would this Jeep be worth it?

Offer $1,500

^^ if $1500 cash dont get it i would strongly advise you to look around. 2500 buck is quite a bit. Does it have a v8 or the 4.0? but with 120,000 plus miles i believe you can find a better deal than that.

OP disregard the posts above they're just trying to up their post count or something, completely irrelevant... :p and there never was a V8 for cherokee unless you like tomatoes..

That's actually a pretty good deal, and there is no way ol Charlie is coming down $1,000...

The rust you see on the undercarriage appears to be just the coating coming off and the actual metal has surface rust... easy fix with POR-15 or equivalent rust encapsulater..

Its typical of these Jeeps to have clear coat coming off and is also a pretty easy fix, it appears to have all original paint (so no hidden body damage), has a decent aftermarket front bumper, and a hitch in the back...

I say Charlie wont go lower then $2300, so I'd off him $2100 and see what happens...

all jeeps leak and if there is nothing on the ground I wouldn't worry...bring it up to operating temps and drive it around a bit, let it idle for a long time while talking to charlie and looking it over... then check the oil, the coolant and tranny fluid

you coulda had a V8 :D... you can do better than a '96 with 120K miles for $2400???

do tell.....

Its the holiday season trust me you can find some good deals. But thats my opinion on that deal.

sure there's always deals out there but I think that's pretty much the normal asking price from what I've seen nation wide... if you can overlook the paint and if its nice inside I think that is a decent value...

on second thought OP offer him 2K and see what happens, the problem is once again (from your previous thread) you're coming back to look at it for a second time... which means you're interested and he's got a hook in you....

if you live where it snows a lot, I doubt this will last long on his lot, but the longer it sits the cheaper you can get it..

It really isn't a bad looking Jeep. And it isn't a bad deal. But I would do like DieswlDaze said and offer $2000 and go from there. You may be able to walk out of there for around $2200. Personally I would go for it.

It is what it is, a 17 year old Jeep, the red flags would be if there is new paint & undercoat could be anything hiding underneath.

Cash usually speaks loud to a small dealer. 2000-2200 sounds reasonable. The oil leaking could be as simple as the bolts needing to be retightened or a new gasket set. You have to consider in the price the time of year it is as well.

2K does sound reasonable to me. Really low mileage for a 96' if its accurate.

The oil leak also sounds pretty minor - most that you will find around that price will need some work done to em, and gaskets are pretty cheap (minus the time needed to install them).

The rust doesnt look too bad - its possible that you could just knock it down with a wire wheel and POR15 it. Worst case, a little welding (I am not really that versed with rust myself, best for someone else to chime in here).

Go and nitpick about most of the problem areas, grumble about how much time/effort/$$ it will cost to make it right, and offer him 1900 cash.

When he declines, I would go up by $100 until you can find a meeting spot but I personally would rather wait for a deal to arise.

Paint isnt a big deal, you can monster-liner or plastidip it for pretty cheap anyway as a quick repair. Drivers side window could be a regulator, or the stupid plastic clip that holds the glass to the window-track could have cracked. Both are pretty cheap/easy to fix anyway.

This is the best advice, offering less never bury anyone (obviously within reason) dont show your hand it's all about the haggling. His bottom dollar could be less then you think

if it had a v8 in it then id have a few questions..

I think I'll offer 1900 up tomorrow with an expectation to pay around 2200.

This guy is a dealer. Are there any differences when working with them as opposed to a normal Joe? Fees, paperwork, etc...

$1500. Here's why.

The roof and hood need to be painted. Rust is coming through soon.

Driver's floor is gone. That needs to be replaced.

The driver's side rocker is tweaked, but not dented. Combined with the floor, this tells me that someone welded in a new rocker OVER THE OLD ONE in order to get it to pass a safety so it will sell. Inside the old rocker is most likely rotting away, in a couple of years you'll lose the rocker backing plate. If you were to pull up the carpet you'll probably see the floor pulling away from the sill plate.

The hitch is quite obviously rotten. Rather than being a selling point this is more of a liability that it's holding that much car cancer close to the rear frame.

Rust is the #1 enemy of any XJ. I'd much rather buy one that doesn't run than one that runs great but has rot. That XJ has several signs that someone is covering up substantial ruin. Looks like it's got about two years left on it if left untreated (which, unless you do it yourself, will be several thousand bucks). DO NOT BUY.