Going to look at this XJ today. Its a 2000 4 door automatic, 4WD, 2" BB, 30" BFG A/Ts. Has 23x,xxx miles. From what the seller says its in good shape body wise, no rust but clearcoat peeling on the roof. Needs headliner, relay for turn signals, passenger front window doesnt work and driver seat bracket is messed up. He is asking $1000.

I am pretty familiar with Cherokees but more so the older ones. Is the 2000 when they started using coil packs? Let me know what you guys think and if theres anything to beware of. Thanks!

 

I would start by asking him a lot of questions on why he's trying to sale it for so little. At that price I would suspect that there is something wrong with it. Also being a 2000 do a compression test on it to make sure the head is good since that year has the crappy 0331 head on it and is know for cracking. I would climb under it and look real close for lots of rust and make sure that the uni-frame isn't rusted out beyond repair.

 

As long as the body is straight and not a rust bucket it sounds like a good deal. Even if the engine is toast you can always drop another grand into it and rebuild an engine.

 

The seller said he got something better on gas and just doesnt have time to fix the things on it and would rather sell as is. Thanks for the info on the head. Are there any tell tale signs of it being cracked?

 

True. Thanks for the input.

 

Seems like a good deal. If it made it that far with that many miles, maybe that's an indication that the cooling system was well taken care of. Pop the rad cap off and check the overflow bottle and see what the coolant looks like. You want it to be nice and green.

 

If the head is cracked can a older head be swapped in?

 

Engine is usually trash before people worry about it.

 

Yes, but if it has coil packs you have to figure out a way to mount them. You can get bolt on reman heads that are not the 0331 head for a reasonable price.

 

I mean for $1000 you can't complain. I wouldn't expect it to be a dependable daily driver. You would definitely want to have $ set aside for maintenance & repair. Like most jeeps for sale around this age i would expect needing headliner, tires, brakes, probably leaks oil, in need of cooling system flush. Etc. You'll probably need an engine, rebuild tranny and t case. I see alot of them out there with the same problems and people want $3-5k for em.

 

I guess I got lucky, I paid $1500 for my '98 back in '09 & only thing I've done is a CPS. No oil changers or nothing, it leaks so much......no need.
It had 25_ K on it when I bought it.

It's my DD, has been since I got it.

 

The engine was warm and had obviously been run before I got there. Engine ran smooth. Good oil pressure and temp stayed around 210. Has a few leaks as expected. Trans shifted fine. Could not determine if the head was cracked or not. Has a reese hitch. Pro comp lift. Driver seat base needs replacing. Interior is filthy. No rust. And turns out to have only 205k miles. He mis-spoke because his new car has 13x,xxx miles. Heres a pic:

 

Can you afford a better Jeep?
You can invest thousands into this and still have a ratty old XJ with 200k+ miles.
You're better off buying something with 125k miles for $2500-$3000.

 

Don't listen to this guy. Simple repairs take him all day. I would jump on that in a heartbeat for the price.

 

You haven't changed your oil in almost 4 years? Please tell me you at least replace your oil filter.