Alright, so I have a little bit of a problem I would REALLY appreciate you guys' help with. You definitely have the wealth of knowledge and experience that I completely lack.

My father passed away last year and I inherited a '79 CJ-7 with a 90's-era Wrangler body on it. It has a 304 V8, custom headers, and could be mildly built (not sure). The odometer reads 71,000 miles.

Now I am a college student, and really need a good daily driver. Seeing as that the CJ gets about .5 miles to the gallon, my first instinct was to sell it and try to upgrade my daily driver since my current one is about to bite the dust.

Anyways, long story longer, I found the person my dad bought the CJ from and called him up to find out more about it. Turns out he was thinking about tracking it down and trying to get it back because he had bought it as his first car and did all the custom work himself. He said he had to sell it when he got divorced. My dad bought it for $7,000 in 2004.

This person cannot afford to buy the CJ back from me right now, but instead offered me a '99 Cherokee Classic with 60,000 miles on it. However, he got the '99 XJ from an auto body shop that had it sitting outside their place for a year. Turns out it was a lease vehicle that had been in an accident in 2004. So this guy bought it and repaired the damage because he is a body guy himself. Sounds like it has been sitting in his garage as a side project for the last year. It sounds like the passenger side door and front fender was replaced along with the passenger side rocker panel. he also said he had another body guy put it on a rack to pull out the door frame as well.

I have no idea what I should do. I understand the market for a '79 CJ that gets 8 miles to the gallon probably isn't that big right now, but I don't know if I should trade it for a vehicle that hasn't been on the road in at least 4 years and has a history of damage.

Do I take the (good?) daily driver? Do I then try to sell it? Or do I try to sell the custom '79 CJ-7? What do you think something like that is even worth anyway?

I really appreciate any insight you guys may have. I trust that you are the experts! I know nothing about Jeeps, and have thought this through so many times my brain is about to explode. I figured it was time to seek outside advice!

Thank you to anyone who actually read all this!

Here are some pictures of the aforementioned Jeeps-

'99-


'79-

 

Sweet, your the first person I've ever seen put a YJ front clip on a CJ. Is it a YJ tub also?

Makes me miss my YJ, I really need to build another...

 

Yes, the entire body is off a YJ I believe.

 

This guy is REALLY attempting to take you for a ride....

If he wants that CJ/YJ.... he needs to be giving you the Cherokee and some cash...

 

WHO is trying to take who for a ride?

 

The guy who wants to swap the OP the CJ/YJ for the rebuilt XJ...


The OP needs to get a fairly sizeable amount of cash to even think of that trade. The market for rebuilt CJ's isnt looking at the MPG.

 

Dont do the trade unless he offers a good amount of cash with the XJ. That CJ/YJ is sweet.

 

Wow. Thanks alot for the advice guys. I will definitely be asking for some cash if he wants to do this deal. If not, then I will walk away.

I really really need a good daily driver though, so I will probably have to sell the '79 CJ...what do you guys think something like that is worth? I know its hard without knowing all the details, but can you guys at least point me in a general direction?

Thanks for the replies, guys!

 

with the knowlege i know from the description my .02 says atleast 2000

 

$2000 for the CJ? I was thinking more like 5-8k by the sounds of it?

 

Most the CJ7's I've seen go for around $5-7K but most for about $5K..

 

I'm talking about if you went to trade with the other guy.

 

Ohhh. Yeah, that's kinda what I thought. I figured I'd ask for 3k since the XJ has a history of damage. I still haven't seen it in person yet, so who knows if it is even straight or what...

 

I'd ask for more then 3k..That CJ is worth about $8k easily and that XJ has a history of body damage and what not. So I'd say that XJ is worth no more then $4k at best..I'd ask for the XJ and $4k if it was me..

 

I'd hang on to that CJ. You'll kick yourself down the road no matter how good a deal you get. If you have to put it in storage and buy you a $700 dd.