Hey guys,

Need my last piece of advice being part of the Cherokee Forum. I am giving up on my XJ build. For context, I bought my 96' XJ when I was 19 for 2k and planned to rebuild it very well. Fast forward 6 years later, I tore apart the original XJ down to the frame, pulled the motor and got a 4k stroker job done on it, bought all sorts of special crap for it (custom performance torque converter, stroker injectors, Banks headers, Trucklite LED headlights, Smittybilt front and rear bumpers and winch, Bushwacker fender flares, etc.) All this stuff was never used, because I simply never finished my build. I stopped halfway through because I deployed, then I got married, and then I went back to school while working full time. I'm now stuck with 2 96' XJs, one SE and one Sport, and thousands in brand new and spare parts. I'm going to sell everything because I just don't have the time and drive for this anymore. My last attempt was getting a third XJ (lol) and swapping parts out one at a time. I don't have the desire to do this anymore either. I figured I have multiple ways to offload everything, part by part on eBay and marketplace, or as a package deal. Yes, I understand no matter what route I take I am taking a monetary loss, it is what it is. Just wanted to ask before I start this process if anyone has any tips or advice, I appreciate all input and feedback.

 

I feel your pain. I'm in the same boat with a Supra project I started before getting married and having children. The Supra offers my family nothing.

The Cherokee however can carry around everyone on fun adventures and trips! So I was able to justify the time, money, and effort to fix one up.

I enjoy this forum but I do not do the facebook. But when I do go to sell my Supra, I am going to have my wife join one of the Supra facebook groups to advertise it on. That way the prospective buyers are Supra people and know what it is and what its worth more so than the average joe.

Maybe joining in and posting in one of those groups would be a good start.

I hope you find a way to moving everything without taking the large financial loss that is typical in these situations.

 

It’s good for me to know that other people have been in the same boat, it makes me feel less bad for what ended up happening. I’m gonna take your advice man, I’ll join some XJ communities in AZ and see if I can find someone who is interested in taking this over. Any other premium parts can just be flipped on eBay. Once again I appreciate it man, and I wish you success in letting go of the Supra!

 

Oh the heavy weight of forgoing a once thrilling and fulfilling project.

Ive done this a few times now myself and have come to not looking back to harshly on the decision(s).

Within the last year or soo ive seen 2 MJs that I had heavy/light commitment into "the build" come back to light for sale Again



the 86 was a ground up rust proof and year 96 update build with new parts galore! It's not nearly as nice as when I sold it now

The crewcab truck was a cheaper approach to what was going to be a crewcab 6x6 comanche. Also its only degraded in condition since the initial sale.

One got a lot of $$ invested into it and the other got not much money but became far more time than i wanted to deal with.

Both of these trucks after 5-7 years and countless owners (seeing them here and there with different names attached id guess 5-6+ owners) and the overall appearance hasn't changed... What comes of projects like this is either parts scavenging or rotting away unfinished with "great intentions".

Your situation- I would take the money fetching items that could sell quickly and easily and get them gone. Cash in hand deals, then what remains as all the generic readily available common parts let them go cheap and quick to whoever wants them.

Facebook and marketplace is no longer reliable as seemingly everyone wants it for nothing or they don't actually want to show up for it anyway. Unless you have something truly rare and valuable to connect with a long distance buyer is when it pays off but for something as common as an unfinished jeep project - prepare to cycle through hopes and dreams with little to offer unfortunately. They arent there to give someone their perceived value of their commitment- they are there to jump on a screaming hot deal as if its stolen goods.

 

Sell the complete XJs as-is, bundle the high-end parts separately, and dump the rest as a bulk lot. Focus on moving the stroker, headers, and bumpers first they’ll sell fastest. List locally to avoid shipping headaches. Cut your losses and be done with it.