mkpopcorn

So, my boyfriend bought a '96 Cherokee (XJ) SE, for way too much, like around $3,000. It broke down and he has put another $2,500 in it and totally rebuilt the engine and did a lot of after market work on it. Now, he finds out that the motor needs to be taken back out and fixed again and is looking at another $700. I said he should just sell it and wipe his hands clean, he says he won't make enough.

Firstly, what is your guys' opinion on what he should do? Secondly, how much do you think he could make parting it versus just the whole car as is?

Thanks for your guys' opinions!

XJx3

Sell it, no..... find another mechanic... YES....

Texas XJeeper

UM yeah I second that.

mkpopcorn

He is doing all the labor himself. Him and his buddies. That is why I said sell it, because this not only means $700 more in parts, but also hours upon hours of him doing more labor.

CJ7365

Maybe he needs to find a mechanic

Bigguy45

agreed, not to insult his mechanical skills. but it comes to a point you might want a guy who does it for a living.

mkpopcorn

But at what time does one just give up? Like even if he got a mechanic, then that'd be how much more money? Is it really worth that if when it will just break down in x amount time?

mcssls

Just EmptyEveryPocket

tjwalker

It is really hard for us to predict the maintenance or breakdown frequency of a specific XJ.

Generally speaking, they are pretty reliable and pretty easy to work on.

But there are money pit vehicles out there, usually ones that haven't been maintained and have been driven hard.

Everybody has to decide what their own personal threshold is before moving onto a different vehicle.

Just curious. If the engine was totally rebuilt, what happened that $700 now needs to be put into it? A rebuild if done properly should be a done deal.................

Spunkmeyer

+1. "Blue Book" value of a '96 Cherokee is probably $3000 if you're lucky.

Getting his money back out of the car via resale or salvage is pretty much impossible at this point if he has another $2500 into it already, and it needs another $700.

The question now is, after spending that $700, does he have a car that will run well for him for the foreseeable future.

XJ711

I always look at it this way...your gonna spend money making payments, or working on something...or making payments and working on it at the same time...i personally would rather have something paid off, and make it new again...so i know i have something reliable...sounds like that's what he's doing...sound's like he may need to inlist the help of a few friends (this forum) to help him figure out what's going on with the motor...I've been working on an 01 xj...new "used" motor, got about 2 grand so far...not including the 700. on the engine..it will be nice because when it's done...i won't be stuck in payments. just my op.

cherokeefamily

I've owned 4 different XJ's. They were all bought used and all required work at one point or another but, as XJ711 said, I don't have any monthly payments. Why don't you have him post on here what the problem is and as suggested by someone earlier we can possibly help diagnose the problem. There are a ton of people on here with years and years of experience on these things that are more than willing to share their knowledge. These are very reliable vehicles and again if properly maintained will last a long time. My wife's 2000 XJ has 239,000 miles on it!

als98xj

There is a certain amount of catharsis in working on one's own car. The pride in completing a given task. If he has the means to do the repairs I say let him. One can never recoup money spent building any vehicle. It's still better than a car payment. If he could spend enough to equal a new car he'll have ONE SICK RIG!!

mkpopcorn

He knows what the problem is, one of the pistons was not screwed on right and burnt through after a few miles of driving. That is why he has to open it up again and redo it. I guess though, I am just worried that even after he fixes this it will be something else and something else ect...

2Evil4U

Given the descriptions so far, you can pretty much guarantee that something else will be screwed up after this "fix".

I'm trying to figure out what he possibly spent $2500 on for repairs? I bought a running but near basket case 97 for $1500 and for $1100 more everything on it now works properly.