Good deal or is rust dealbreaker?
 

I've been looking into buying my first XJ and being in the Chicagoland area, rust seems to be unavoidable. I came across this craigslist posting:
https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/cto/6089260358.html
I am interested in the opinions of the members of this forum, as I have minimal experience. From the pictures in the posting the rocker panels look to be in good condition, but I am unsure of the engine bay and underbody. It looks like surface rust but I cannot tell.
From the pictures in the craigslist posting, can you determine if this is worth checking out/test driving?

more hidden than showi

They engine bay thats all dry mud/dirt,Under it a few spots like the bottom of that one rocker panel looks like its about to start rusting through soon.And the one back door the piece of plastic over the rocker/door jam has rust under it.I see one font axle shaft seal leaking besides that everything else looks normal to good for its age.

Definitely worth going and taking a look.

well its worth a look.. just go over it real well..

under hood is what bothers me.. can't tell if thats dirty from someone beating the hell out of it in the woods or thats radiator crap from over heating..

From what I can see, and if the unseen parts of the undercarriage match what's showing, I'd be interested. What does concern me - like someone else said - is the brown stuff in the engine bay. I bought an XJ once with that stuff under there, thought it was clay/dirt from wheeling, but it turned out to be crap from overheating. Make sure you check under the rad cap, and poke around in there. Go with your gut. That said, cleaning up the cooling system (if needed) isn't so hard to do, and fairly inexpensive even if you replace the radiator. He took the trouble to clean the exterior, but didn't touch under the hood. Kinda makes you wonder if that's how he maintained the XJ.

Get the VIN & I'll run a Carfax for you. I still have a few hits left on my account.

Like what the other guys said. It looks like the water pump impeller rusted off and over heated. you can tell by looking at the coolant overflow bottle. It is brown inside. It was over heated and blew that radiator cap and the brown rusty coolant all over. I would look at it but start low on the price. check the oil dipstick for signs of coolant entering the crank case. If there is then I would walk away and look else were.

I don't see anything scary there. But then, photos don't tell the whole story. I would certainly go take a look, and that would include crawling under it with a camera and a screwdriver. Poke at any rusty areas. Take lots of pictures.