People can trash and replace stock parts just as much as they can aftermarket and you can inspect parts whether they're stock or not. If it's clean and doesn't have obvious trail damage odds are it's a mall crawler that someones taken decent care of.

 

I agree completely.

We were having this discussion in a similar thread a few days ago. I think a lot of the time buying a built rig can be a great deal.

If you don't plan on major mods then maybe a stock rig is the way to go. But if you plan on adding bumpers, armor, lift, tires, lockers, etc... you can usually save a ton of money buying a Jeep with this stuff already.

And like motorcharge said, if you are going to inspect a jeep before you buy it, it's no more difficult to inspect aftermarket parts. Most anything done on a Jeep is big bolt on parts, should be pretty easy to see if something is wrong.

 

thats a good point. i guess i just look at it like a blank canvas. i may not have the same tastes as the next guy and there aren't many things besides tires and a good winch that i would personally give any kind of value to, unless i could make $$ reselling it.

 

If money were no object I'd rather start with a stock jeep and build it exactly the way I want. But in reality when you can get a Jeep with $5k in parts for around the same price as a stock one... sometimes it makes sense.

 

The likelihood of a stock jeep having a hard life is lower than the likelihood of a lifted jeep having a rough life.

 

Agreed. Stock jeeps have been owned by soccer moms who don't drive them off road. The 90s were very popular for these and any type of person wanting a new car. Extremely popular for woman that didn't want a mini-van. I.E. My first jeep. My mom put 250K on her jeep before it became my first ride. She had never put it into 4x4. Finding a great jeep isn't hard. There are so many of them out there its easy to wait and find the one that is perfect for the buyer. Also if you take your time you can get a good deal because of small things the owner does not know how to fix. I bought mine for $1300 because owner had no idea what DW was. I got a buddy one for $500 that just needed a CPS. (It got totalled shortly after but different story)

Take your time and find the perfect jeep for you.

 

Idk, my wife drives a stock XJ and she drives it like a racecar. She takes it thru as many ditches as possible, over curbs, thru the fields. This is why I married her.

 

THIS

And never buy from a dealer!

 

The problem is too many people cut corners, hide things, half *** so much stuff and use cheap parts, it ends up costing you more in the long run. That's why I'd rather start with stock.