Looking at buying a 98 Cherokee, and found a local one that looks pretty nice. Was wondering if you all would take a look at the ad and let me know what you think. I've never owned a 4x4 vehicle, so i'm clueless.

http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/ctd/1259751375.html

Test drove it today, and it ran really well. Engine was smooth, transmission had no issues. There are some cosmetic defects, a window regulator needs replaced and the latch for the hatch is sticking, but all of those are relatively minor.

One thing of concern (which may be nothing.. I have little to no knowledge of these things.) In the third picture down on that link, next to the spring, it looks like a bunch of tape wrapped around a joint of some sort. When I looked at it today, there were a couple of zip ties there? This may sound stupid...but what is that exactly? The asking price isn't the $3000 in the ad.. i'd be paying closer to 2. Oh, and how much lift does that look like? Thanks for the help.

 

That taped area appears to be the swaybar disconnect. It may be rattling because it is worn and/or loose. Notice the rubber strap further forward to hold the swaybar out of the way when disconnected. A minor consideration.
There is no good view of the rear but it appears to have extra tail lights in the hatch cover. That may be the source of the sticking rear hatch.
As to the lift I would guess 4-5 inch lift. Overall a nice clean XJ IMHO.
Blue

 

IMHO, it is over priced. Try to talk them down some. It seems like a decent unit, but there are definitely some issues with it. It is hard to gauge from just pictures, but I would see if they would take $2,500.00, or something...

 

It's closer to $2000 than the $3000 in the ad. Got to thinking about it last night and asked a friend about it as well, and now i'm kind of reconsidering. There was a panel of switches in the dash that didn't do anything, and I mentioned that to my friend, who was concerned that that inactive panel is a pretty clear sign that someone has done some wiring work to it. With no way to make sure that it was done right, I could end up with a lot of electrical problems in the future.

 

Did you ask the PO about the panel, and what it was for??

 

It's being sold by a dealer, and they had no idea.

 

Okay, well.. I talked to the previous owner, and he told me that when he got it, those switches had been set up for a bunch of lights and such, but the owner before him had disconnected everything before he sold it. He had some issues with lights in the dash, so he pulled out all the disconnected wiring and fixed it. From what I could tell when I test drove it, all the electronics worked fine, aside from the power locks on the driver's side not working.

Should I be worried about possible electrical issues in the future, or go for it..?