Sorry if this is in the wrong spot.. I am new to the world of jeeps, I have been looking for a new car and decided on a jeep because of their reliability. I have always had cars but decided it would be nice to have more room & 4wd. Won't really be taking it off-roading but would be nice to have for camping & trips to the mountains. Have looked at a WJ but have heard that they are less reliable than the XJ's, and just really love the look of the classic jeep, although I've never actually driven one. I found one on CL today but it is a rebuilt title, I talked to the guy and am supposed to go look at it later today. He says it was hit in the front and he replaced all the parts and paint and it runs great. It is a 2000 Cherokee Classic with 150,000 miles and he's asking $2750. My budget is only around $3000 and all the good ones I've found have been sold before I can get to them, and it's hard to find one in that price range that is not over 200k miles. So, it seems perfect but I was just worried about the rebuilt title. I don't know much about jeeps or cars in general so I wanted to ask if I should be ok or should I keep looking? Thanks so much

 

I would never buy a vehicle with rebuilt title since it is a big red flag that it has been rebuilt but you don't know what all was really done and why. Plus the resell value when you go to sell it is low to non existent as most people know better than to buy one with rebuilt title.

Keep looking, there are a lot of Jeeps out there.

 

You should worry less about it having over 200k miles and worry more about rebuilt titles. You may have issues with insuring a salvaged vehicle and there is essentially no book to determine their value. Typically a dealership will look at book values, then cut them by 50-65% because of the title issue. The vehicle had very little monetary value with a salvage title.

 

Having a good friend who is an insurance claims rep I wouldnt be completely against the reubilt title.

THOROUGHLY inspect the unibody, that's where the problem would lie if there is infact real un-reparable damage.

Hell, a 2000 XJ could easily be considered totaled with smashed fenders, grill and hood, the front cross memeber between the 2 unibody rails is usually the first thing to go.

There are crumple zones located in both front wheel wheels where the unibody will fold in the event of a head on collision.

I say go check it out, look for repairs to the unibody, and if there are none then use the rebuilt title as a way to hagle the price down.

I found a 99 with 90k confirmed miles (vin check) with 1800 and the unibody was mint, took a tree to the passenger door and had both replaced and looked just fine.

Provided I didnt buy it...it was still in good condition.

 

The title wouldn't bother me in the least considering what your buying after all its not a $25-35k car and you want to insure it for that. If it looked OK I would buy it in a heartbeat I have bought several with salvage titles in the past never any issues and always under 10k invested in them.

 

I would skip it over the salvaged title.Its been wrecked before bad enough to be totaled out then someone rebuilt it.Most insurance companies will only give you liability with a salvaged title if they even will cover it.And like said the book value on it will be cut in half.

 

i have a salvage title only because a older person died in it. not in a fender bender

 

Salvage titles mean nothing on anything of this age or value even to insurance companies because of what book shows them to be worth. It takes very little damage to an XJ for it to be a total loss in most cases take to a dealers body shop and see even what a small accident estimate is. Then you will see why a salvage title means nothing the newest 2001 XJ will book for no more than $4-5k with a loan value of much less.

 

Wow.. that sounds interesting!

 

Thanks for all the replies.. it turns out the jeep I was looking at was 2wd so I'm going to keep looking

 

Look for a 1999 or older xj and 200k on the 4.0 is nothing,We have members pushing 300k and still running strong.

 

^What he said.^ My "99" had 230,000 on it when it was bought still going strong as far as years IMHO the 97-99's are what I searched for improvements in those years not in older ones! 200-2001 my advice be careful had several issues that were serious plus the fact of to many sensors for emissions 4 total vs. 2 for earlier ones and the 0331 head problems, distributor less with coil packs. for just a of them.

 

Cool thanks for the tips

 

And look for rust in the whole floor and the rocker panels which are the metal under the doors.Both are the most common rust places on a xj.Only xj i would stay away from is the 84-86 those used a gm 2.8 v6 the 87 and newer used the inline 6 4.0 and that's the engine you want.As far as mileage i rather have a high mileage vehicle that has been taken care of over a low mileage one that has sit around forever.From what i have seen from my friends daily driving a low mileage vehicle all kinda of problems pop up.

 

my xj does not have a salvage title but should have at least 2 times so....i wouldnt be scared of a salvage title it really don't mean alot just be sure to look it over good