This is solid advice. Unless there's some sort of attachment to this particular Jeep, you will regret your decision to keep it after you've spent thousands of $, lost lots of time you can't get back and, worse, it ruins the fun of owning a Jeep.
downthepines
TJ Enthusiast
I live in an area with lots of rusted out TJ's that are beyond repair. I just can't imagine the bills in the end to repair this. If you don't cut the losses now, it will add up so fast, it will be more than(hopefully alot more) than the price of the Jeep. I wish that wasn't the case for your sake. It sucks. I got completely screwed on my first car. It happens. Best of luck to you. Keep us updated.
From the looks of those torque boxes and body mounts I’ve got to ask, what is holding the body to the frame?
DD and "restoring it fully" do not belong in the same sentence. You're going to have to get a new daily driver. I'm a big fan of the Saturn S-Series. They were often owned by older people and had few miles put in them. They are a breeze to work on. I've found under 100k mile Saturns for less than $1,500.
Did you purchase the jeep from a dealer or a private party? I don't know the legal side of this for your state, but you were sold a rotten lemon and it should have been disclosed. You're a month in now and doesn't help.
I wonder what carfax would show.
I'd like to know more about the sale. You say it's your daily driver, did you trade anything in for it?
It pains me when I look at the pictures. The rust is one thing, the atrocious attempt at fixing it is quite another! It doesn't look like it was done professionally, although you never know.
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I don’t think the National lemon law applies, but I’d go in and find the owner. Other state laws may apply.
Depends on your state laws, but I believe you should have a Consumer Protection Law especially regarding any fraudulent sale where serious frame damage was covered up or not disclosed. I would consult with an attorney that specializes in auto purchase cases.
I would not delay and talk to the dealership and try and unwind the deal. There is no way they didn't know about the damage. To be honest it's not safe to drive!
I would approach them from the angle that if you get into an accident resulting from the frame damage then it could be a big expensive problem for them.
I hope they'll see that it could be a major can of worms if you seek an attorney and ultimately make it right. If they want to play hardball then you can tell them you'll be obtaining an attorney to include all losses.
As taylormade73 stated you can try to talk to an attorney in the auto field.
Give the dealership a chance to make it right and threaten with attorney if you can't work it out with them.
I think this might be the course of action I might take. I have the guy I bought it from's number, he personally told me there wasn't an issue with frame rust and I looked under and it looked fine, but as I continued to drive it I'm assuming that whatever they used to cover it up came off. He also admitted that they worked on it and gave it the wrap it has now which is a matte red line-x type deal on the entire body. attached is a pic of the upper of the jeep
Especially if 1: your locality requires a safety inspection or 2: the dealership claims to have done a "130 point inspection" or something similar.
There is a spot waiting in the Stalin wing of hell for your salesperson.
Also, to add, I had him run the Carfax at the dealership and I ran it myself. it said it was in one fender bender in 1999, other than that, no accidents and has been inspected and tuned up yearly.
yeah it said it was from Ohio for its first 2 years but as been registered to georgia from 2000 onward
It may have been registered in Georgia but there is no way you can get that much rust in two years in Ohio.... can you??
Update: I now have access to a shop free of charge thanks to a family friend, all I need is the frame and to eventually patch up the tub
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