Swayzeexpress

I have done tons of research and found a 99 sport 4.0 with the trans cooler and 8.25 in the rear. Body has a small rust spot on the lower corner of the door and some underneath the body. The rockers have been sprayed by the owner before the seller so it's tough to gauge how bad it is. I tapped under the floorboards and it feels a little soft but not positive. I am looking for a nice starting point. Other issues are no front speakers, needs o2 sensor and a few little things. Rear leafs are flat but may be just the excuse I need for a new pack. I have only had full size trucks with frames so I am just concerned about rust with the unibody. I did search and it was tough to find a similar situation. I know you all see this a lot and really appreciate the advice. I have till 530pm to let him know before the next guy comes and checks it out. he's asking 3000.

Again I am in no rush to get into something but the interior and exterior are in great shape and I'd hate to miss this one if I am being over cautious. Everything in my area has much more rust than this one... long story short should I go for it or keep saving for a cleaner truck.

Thanks folks I can't wait to get going!


http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/Ha...r7474/library/

andrewmp6

Only bad rust i see is that rear door corner,Everything under it i can see looks like normal surface rust to me.Did you look up the blue book value of it where you live ?

Cane

most of the rust you see is surface rust. the undercoating seems to be the factory one, so that's good. honestly it looks pretty clean from those pictures. if you're concerned, take a wire wheel or sand disc to the rusty spots, it'll be the best way to know for sure. if it doesn't poke through, get some self etching primer for the bare metal you'll have uncovered and then cover that up with some rubberized spray undercoating. personally that's what I'm going to do this summer, my floor looks similar to yours and I'm not too worried. I used my thumb to apply pressure in the rusty area and it's pretty solid.

when I did the same thing on my rocker panels, since they rusted from the inside, i just poked through 2-3 rust spots with a wire wheel, that's when you know it's rotted.

your frame rails are also still covered in the undercoating, so you don't have to worry about that. where it's more rusted on mine is the front leaf spring bracket, so the one that doesn't have a shackle. lot's of paint chip peeling from the rust in there.

Swayzeexpress

Awesome news and thank you both - I'm gonna pick it up this afternoon. KBB for clean retail shows 4250 but that's pretty unrealistic from what I have seen. He's firm at 3k which is more than I wanted to spend but everything near me under 2500 is rotting away or over 200k and leaking...

Very much appreciated!

PJ

Fred/N0AZZ

Well congrats on the new XJ and its the best year for one also best of all the old and the new without the problems of the 00/01's.

Swayzeexpress

Thank you! It'll be coming home tonight - 35th bday gift approved by the wife and baby lol I figure any dad worth his weight has to have a jeep to tinker with

andrewmp6

I do feel sorry for the northern people,Rust is bad up north and most have a hard time finding a xj not looking like swiss cheese from rust.Even me living south of the rust belt its still hard to find a xj here not rusted bad at a normal price anymore.

dlancer

If the rust is not wide spread and limited to just a couple of areas I'd definetly pick it up. It is getting really hard to find XJ's with no rust what so ever. Several months ago I bought a 98' limited with 210K for $3500. It rune great was well taken care of over the years. The rockers were good. I found some rust on the front of the floor boards behind the front fenders. No holes just some flaking. I removed as much as I could then sprayed some rust converter on the areas then rubberized undercoating over that. I check it every now and then. This past weekend I did find a small rust hole in the right rear quarter under the bumper end cap I cleaned the whole area up again used rust converter then a heavy coating of bedliner over that. I did not repair the hole since it is hidden under the bumper cap. Once again I will check it often to make sure it is not getting worse. You just have to keep up with it and you can control it.

Swayzeexpress

Just to close out the story - a little late but it was a bummer at the time.

I offered 100 less than asking so I didn't have to explain to the wife I paid full price on craigslist. He politely said he had one person interested who was going to check it out and if he offered the same he would sell it to me, fair enough.

I got a text later to call the seller, he said "I think this was a blessing in disguise but I can't sell you the jeep"

long story short, second guy who came out took it for a test drive and was slamming on the brakes to a point of skidding. I guess the third time the brake lines failed and were useless. All he said was I know you just had a baby and if this would have happened on the highway or if someone was hurt I would have felt terrible.

Thanks for the advice though, ended up working out great though as I picked up a different xj that I am MUCH more excited about I'll post in the welcome forum

salad

Glad to read that you wound up with a different XJ - that thing has been sprayed very recently to hide under-body rust. The uniframe is integral and a REAL pain in the *** to replace. Mine was treated in a similar manner, long story short the transmission cross member was held in with a few millimeters of metal and the driver's side frame rail is cracked from the rot. That seller was definitely trying to trick you.

Welcome to CF!!!