Well I made a thread earlier about a Cherokee I wanted to get some opinions on. As you can imagine since this is in the introductions I bought it. It is pretty clean and only has 116K miles. It is a 1999, clean title and I love the color. It is bone stock as of now The interior is also very very clean I was pleasantly surprised. Engine bay is kind of dusty but a good wash should take care of that.

Pictures taken today


I would say that the rust is minimal and nothing crazy, what do you guys think?





I will post more pictures tomorrow when I get off work.

Need to fix
-Looks like valve cover might be slightly leaking
-Pass window only goes down with driver side control
-Could use a re-tint
-Side trim needs to go (was re-glued poorly)

I am sure I will find other little things once I start messing with it tomorrow, well I told myself I was not going to buy a vehicle until I closed on my house but hey for $4,500 it was worth it I think.

My last car before the XJ

 

Congrats! Looks like you got a good deal on a nice jeep there. Good luck with it.

 

Nice! I think you damn Arizonians are very spoiled down there. That is one sharp looking XJ!

Any preliminary plans? Love the Gunmetal Pearl color

 

^Thank you!

Yes, I plan on removing the trim around the doors and a tune up (sparks, fluids, check the brakes and things of that nature).
I also want to look into getting it re-tinted as it looks a bit hazy in the passenger window. Just little things for now to enjoy it and make it reliable as this is now my daily.

 

Good luck with the trim, it's a pain. I used a wax remover wheel for my drill that I got at Advance Auto, it helps a lot but there is still a lot of residue. If I were to do it again, I'd use a heat gun, and then the wax wheel for the rest of the goo. I was thinking of trying Goo Gone or something for the leftover residue but haven't gotten around to it.

 

I'm going to buy some Goo Gone, a "smart eraser pad", and I already have a heat gun. I should be able to do it with all of this stuff. I have a feeling it will take some patience but I should be able to tackle this job. I am more worried about the paint underneath the trim and looking terrible with the trim gone. I guess only one way to find out haha.

 

It will likely be dirty but will wash right off. The trim actually does a good job of protecting that thin strip of paint

 

^^ Good to know, just went to Autozone and got some Copper Champion plugs (apparently they are OEM and work great).

One trip to the DMV and two hours later it is officially under my name

 

Nice XJ best color they put on these.

 

^^I don't know if it is the best, after all that is all opinion but I certainly love it!

-Radiator cap is slowly leaking pressure (have a tester here) so I bought a new one.
-Also draining the coolant, filling it up with the Prestone radiator flush and adding fresh coolant. Who knows when was the last time it was done as the coolant looks like murky water. I did drive it for an hour straight yesterday with the AC on high without overheating or anything so that is good.

 

Drained and flushed the system out once and I am still getting dirty dirty water..... Blah might do this one more time drive around a few days and do it again.

 

Make sure you get the heater core clean, heater on, heat on high. Just keep flushing till everything is clean. Time for a new thermostat as well and check water pump for ware/seeping.

As far as rust you do not have any really I've never saw one so clean on the underside. As far as the valve cover gasket you might try tightening it first and see if that does it, just snug it up good not to much and crush it.

When you remove the trim you may find the paint very bright and new instead of faded like the rest from being in the sun. On the other hand as nice as it is the entire Jeep might buff out and look as it did when it came off the showroom floor. I'm not for sure on that with clear coat anymore and buffing.

Anyway you are very lucky to have such a nice looking, low mileage, all stock XJ here in 2014 a lucky find indeed.

 

Thank you! Yeah I honestly looked for about two months before pulling the trigger on this one. Like you said they are hard to find clean with "low" mileage. Taking it off road tomorrow, I'll post pictures.

 

Welcome

 

Put a garden hose to the hoses going to the heater core, going both ways. You'll be surprised as to what comes out of there.