So this jeep i found is being sold (bad pictures) for 500 dollars with a cracked engine block (Huge crack down the side). It is a 1998 4 door with 4x4 (rare in florida) and a 5 speed with power locks and windows and this is what caught my eye because i mean its a stick with power windows! But i went to look at the title and the miles were exempt and the odo said 23k miles and the owner "claims" it is true miles but the jeeps interior has alot of wear and tear and the paint is worn with the carpet having being worn right to the metal underneath. I will admit the underneath was clean for being near the water. But i went to look at the vin number and it looked like it was tampered with as it wasnt attached and i could move it. And when i closed the doors it smelled heavily of weed inside and had no plate on it to see when it was last on the road (but i wasnt expecting a plate anyways). But the title also did not feel right it felt very heavy compared to the title i got for my jeep and didnt have the perforations. It was from florida but also the title said it was issued in 2004 with exempt miles so i kinda just flaked out on it and wanted to ask your opinions on it. I mean it is in decent shape underneath but it seems to have more than whats being told on it. The vins matched on the title and jeep but if it can be moved then i dont trust it and thats where i kinda left after that. I dont know if its stolen, used as a drug jeep or what. He also had it under a cover with a for sale sign on it when i drove by it the other day today he was working on it a little putting different wheels on it.

 

That jeep definitely has more than 23k on it.

I'm guessing "exempt miles" is FL's way of saying that the ODO reading is not accurate? If so it's a risk like anything is. The engine is bad anyway, it's almost 20 years old, so yes - it is not perfect and needs some serious attention before being road worthy. Of course, it's 500 bucks.
I'd ask some more pointed questions of the seller and see if they'll take a trip to the RMV with you to make sure that the title is authentic if you do want to take the plunge on it.
It's awful hard to tell the condition of the tranny/x-fer case and the such without being able to drive it, but hey, if it didn't need an engine it'd be selling for a higher price. If you're willing to do an engine swap, you could do a tranny rebuild while you're at it.

 

The way i saw it was it isnt my daily driver and i so happen to know where a 98 engine is laying around for 300 bucks too.... So this would give me epic experience to fix my jeep and know it better without breaking it! Plus i wouldnt know if i would make it a beater jeep or not the body was fairly clean so i dont know what i would have done with it lol. But that is a very good way of finding out too. This is the first time i really genuinely would have purchased a car myself but then i had this gut feeling about it as well. Plus maybe plans to be somewhere else and everyones hounding at me wondering where i am meanwhile im looking at an old beat up jeep lol. If he refuses to go to the dmv should i just forget about it? To me that would be a clear sign to leave.....

 

It sounds sketchy to me, but short of it being stolen or having a forged title, it is what it is. I mean it's not your fault/liability if it was used to transport drugs and you can probably get the weed smell out.
I'd tell the dude my concerns on the title. If he balks at going to the RMV (really the point is - you're not paying until you can verify the title is legit.) then I'd not do it.

 

it does sound sketchy. But what if it is legit? If it is, if I'm the seller I'm balking at going to the dmv... in my area the minimum wait is 2 hours haha. Plus he might feel insulted that you are accusing him of it being stolen.... But then again if it is not legit, and he doesn't want to go, well....... but I guess you'll never know unless he agrees haha....actually, we have a mvd express here so that may be an option.

could you call your local department and ask them questions as well?

 

I mean the point is - verifying the title. The seller could let him take it down himself. If the title is legit, and you've got someone willing to buy your Jeep with a blown engine, maybe you let them take the title to verify it after copying down the info.

When I bought my 95 it was a 2 hour drive so I asked the seller if I could drive it home on his plate and mail it back to him. He agreed and that's exactly what I did. I even got pulled over on the way home for a bad taillight and just explained to the cop what was going on and he let me off with a verbal warning even though I didn't have the registration.
The point is you explain the situation, ask nicely and respect the other party and 99% of the time reasonable people can come to an agreement.

 

Oh of course i wasnt trying to insult him i simply told him i need to think about it. He did give me his phone number so i will call him about the title.

 

It occurred to me, there are some easy checks you could do. The VIN should be on the manufacturer sticker inside the drivers door. That would be an easy comparison. Also there may be other stickers under the hood or on the tailgate that you could match.
Also it may be possible to do a title check via the state's website. Maybe it is as simple as punching in the title number and Vin and getting info about the legal owner to match against the paper title.
Beyond that there are free VIN decoder websites that give you information about the car based on the VIN - so you could check that the VIN decoding shows it's what you're seeing in front of you.
I used one of those sites to find the paint code for my 95 after I bought it while I was at work (and hence couldn't look at the door sticker).. it was cool to know that my XJ's original sticker price was $16500...

 

Well sadly the vin has been changed i went back there and i got the numbers and the door didnt match so i put in the vin and they came up for a silver 2001 jeep. So i asked if i could take the title to the dmv to get it checked and he freaked out and said he doesnt have time and its all correct and started to get irate so im leaving it. What should i do leave it or do what now?

 

let it go

 

"But i went to look at the vin number and it looked like it was tampered with as it wasnt attached and i could move it."

 

x2

If the title doesn't match the Vin or if the Vin on the door is different then there's some major illegal activity going on there.
I think that the Jeep is probably stolen.
Did the other Vin match the vehicle?

If you have a good relationship with the local police, I'd talk to them about it. You probably should report the seller since it's illegal to mess with Vin tags.
I'm purely speculating, but you might be able to get the police give you first dibs on it if they seize it and it goes unclaimed.

Just my $.02

 

That would be nice lol ill talk to a few guys i know who worked in the police force. Sadly tho if it was used in drug smuggling (which is popular in this area) then it will most likely be seized and possibly crushed but i need to ask my friend again how exactly that went but im sure he said under specific circumstances it has to be crushed or atleast impounded with a huge bill because legally cars cant sit on a property without tags or insurance so maybe to get it it will cost a small fortune to get it all legal again because i planned on using it.

 

If you're really interested in an XJ with a manual and power windows you might be better off seeing how hard it would be to add power windows to a clean titled manual XJ.

 

No way in hell