Talk me out of this sub 10k mile LJ

I was so shell shocked by the absurd prices I somehow completely glossed over the year.

Dennis Collins also has a 2004 hardtop LJ with 500 miles asking 68k. I pity the fool who pays almost 70 thousand dollars for a non rubi LJ that was basically abandoned in a garage for the last 18 years.
Check out Davis Autosports near me. Someone bought a 02' with 89,000 miles for $25,900. More money than sense. Luckily, I have neither. :unsure:
https://davisautosports.com/wrangler-tj/
fool.jpg
 
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So at today's prices, double what it was new then?
I'm not suggesting that its ideal. I'm just saying that I'd rather pay more for something like that that doesn't have a pile of expensive bullshit "technology" on it. I think no/low tech cars are going to skyrocket in price for obvious reasons - they're already starting to.

With that said, I wouldn't pay $38K for any vehicle, new or old!
 
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I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but over the years looking at Collins Bro jeeps they are always way overpriced. Regardless of miles or condition there's a certain point after which too much is too much. I truly don't believe you could sell it for more than 38k, you may even lose money trying to sell it in a few years. Watching videos of the guy going around a jeep and giving a "tour" he really doesn't seem like even that big of a deal or someone with a lot of technical knowledge...more like just really deep pockets.

I get it, it's really hard to get a jeep that is clean, especially with this covid crap. You just have to be patient. People like myself from New York literally plan trips to your home state to get a jeep, look around within California and the southwest.
Agreed fully. So it only has 4K miles….and? Are we gonna stick it in the garage under a cover and preserve the 4K miles, or are we gonna drive it? Only having 4K miles means it’s somehow magically worth more than it was brand new 18 years later? The parts are still 18 years old and despite Collins bros all inclusive fluid changes they do, that doesn’t make any parts less old or brittle. It will still need work here and there and nobody wants to be doing repairs on a 18 year old Jeep that cost them $38 grand.

Collins bros is always way overpriced. I would say I hope they don’t actually sell for anywhere near their asking price but I feel like they do since they keep listing them all way up there.
 
Have you seen any LJ’s with comparable milage for cheaper?
I haven't seen any LJ's with comparable miles, but a person would have to be crazy to only drive a vehicle 2.25 miles a month over 18 years. Even older retired ladies put on more miles than that going to the grocery store and seeing their grand kids. I personally think it doesn't matter how low the miles are, below a certain mileage, say 10k. Any decrease in mileage should only marginally, not exponentially increase the price. Let's just call out the people at CB for what they are, price gougers. OP said he wanted to learn how to work on things. CB's target demographic are rich guys who want a jeep that looks nice is "all set to go" without having to do anything and they don't care how much it costs or if the best quality lift is installed.
 
Very often super-low miles is equally problematic as super-high miles. Things need to keep moving. Dry rot sets in on hoses and bushings etc. It's nice to have a low miles vehicle but you pay heavily for those low miles and likely won't have any relieve in the cost of getting it road worthy as a DD.

That said, I DD my 2000. I fill up twice a week. I try to convince myself that the cost of fuel is the price of admission for enjoyment but who am I kidding.
 
I haven't seen any LJ's with comparable miles, but a person would have to be crazy to only drive a vehicle 2.25 miles a month over 18 years. Even older retired ladies put on more miles than that going to the grocery store and seeing their grand kids. I personally think it doesn't matter how low the miles are, below a certain mileage, say 10k. Any decrease in mileage should only marginally, not exponentially increase the price. Let's just call out the people at CB for what they are, price gougers. OP said he wanted to learn how to work on things. CB's target demographic are rich guys who want a jeep that looks nice is "all set to go" without having to do anything and they don't care how much it costs or if the best quality lift is installed.
Especially when someone who wants to buy it to drive it, will easily bring that 500 or 4K original miles up to 20K+ in a year of 35 mile one-way commutes. What’s it worth after a few years of
that? Nowhere close to what they paid extra on the low mileage for.
 
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"Have you seen any LJ’s with comparable milage for cheaper?"
Well there are 5 LJ's in my area in the 90K to 150K range, all under $30,000 and one is even $19,000, but it's a stripper soft top.
"It would depreciate about $18-20,000 after one year of driving. Buy a $12,000 LJ and put a new engine in it. 🥳 "
I second that comment. The L6 4,0 is good for at least 300,000 miles if you take care of it. The trans will go out before the motor.
 
So at today's prices, double what it was new then?
Considering all new vehicles after 2018 by law have backup cameras (even on tiny 4” screens some of them), Zorba would drop $100 grand on a TJ before he’d buy anything 2018+.

Or, you could just unplug the backup camera and change the screen to a coin pocket.
 
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Considering all new vehicles after 2018 by law have backup cameras (even on tiny 4” screens some of them), Zorba would drop $100 grand on a TJ before he’d buy anything 2018+.

Or, you could just unplug the backup camera and change the screen to a coin pocket.
If it was just a backup camera, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Its the rest of the crap new vehicles are saddled with. But the backup camera law is exhibit A of our overreaching cradle-to-grave Nanny State.
 
If it was just a backup camera, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Its the rest of the crap new vehicles are saddled with. But the backup camera law is exhibit A of our overreaching cradle-to-grave Nanny State.
I get it, to an extent. I don’t mind most of the tech, seeing as the annoying ones like sonar systems that scream at you can usually be bypassed by unplugging their control box. I don’t like being forced to buy tech that I may end up disabling. I have no opposition to things like backup cameras though because that only benefits me. Giant screens you can usually avoid by choosing a lower trim level which would probably suit you better anyways.

I get the frustration, and I don’t really like the new market at all either, but there’s not a lot that can be done about it. I still wouldn’t ever pay $38k for an old TJ no matter what miles though. I just can’t justify that.
 
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If it was just a backup camera, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Its the rest of the crap new vehicles are saddled with. But the backup camera law is exhibit A of our overreaching cradle-to-grave Nanny State.
This is so true, If it was just a camera no big deal, But the way big tech vehicles are intergrated if the camera malfunctions, then the PCM will not
allow an enable to engage four wheel drive or some bullshit like that.
I had a 96 S-10 shorty reg. cab 4.3, 5 spd. 4X4, but it had the damn " pushbutton " 4X4. It worked fine until it didn't, it would occasionally grind, pop, not engage, etc... after going crazy troubleshooting the switch, encoder, PCM, ABS, wiring, t-case actuator, etc.. for months, I finally sold it because it was needlessly complicated.

That's when I bought the Jeep that the front drivetrain was always turning and to engage 4X4 you pull a simple lever connected to a rod ultimately to the shift fork in the T-case. Even with the Rube gold-burg bell crank in the linkage, this is a much more reliable system. ( High Tech Rant Out. ) :cautious:
 
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I get it, to an extent. I don’t mind most of the tech, seeing as the annoying ones like sonar systems that scream at you can usually be bypassed by unplugging their control box. I don’t like being forced to buy tech that I may end up disabling. I have no opposition to things like backup cameras though because that only benefits me. Giant screens you can usually avoid by choosing a lower trim level which would probably suit you better anyways.

I get the frustration, and I don’t really like the new market at all either, but there’s not a lot that can be done about it. I still wouldn’t ever pay $38k for an old TJ no matter what miles though. I just can’t justify that.
Backup cameras are great for motorhomes, trailers, and similar situations - Goddess knows I've gotten out of the cab to go take a look enough times. I don't however need one to back up a passenger vehicle, that's what mirrors and a neck are for. Or like my late father used to do - and I do myself on occasion: Open the driver's door and lean out looking back! But apparently Americans can't back up safely. The only tech I want in a vehicle is A/C and cruise control. And a cheap Garmin GPS that I can toss and replace for $100 if it screws up. The rest of it that is supposedly "demanded" by an effete populace - as well as mandated by our Benevolent OverLords - they can keep. Again, not that I'd pay $38K for *any* vehicle, only that I'd pay that sooner than anything with "technology". That's why I'm "done" with new vehicles - not gonna buy anything newer than 2017 exactly as @machoheadgames correctly guesses unless I'm absolutely forced to by Gov't goons. Which at this point isn't beyond thinking. If I'm lucky, I won't have to buy another vehicle for the approx. 25 years I have left on this planet - new or old!
 
Or like my late father used to do - and I do myself on occasion: Open the driver's door and lean out looking back!
Man that’s just something you don’t see much if ever anymore. I still do it once in a while too. Used to be a very common occurrence, not sure why it faded, maybe because cars were more like boats back then, not really sure, just seems a lost art.

I think if a kid saw you do that now they might assume you’re having a stroke & falling out of your car.

Regarding the price for that LJ I think everyone needs to take a deep breath & step away from the crack pipe
 
Man that’s just something you don’t see much if ever anymore. I still do it once in a while too. Used to be a very common occurrence, not sure why it faded, maybe because cars were more like boats back then, not really sure, just seems a lost art.
My mother always said that she tried it once with the '63 GMC 1 ton. She almost fell out!
 
I didn’t look up the ad but someone said the LJ was a soft top version. My 2 cents as an LJ owner, don’t pay top of the market (or past it) to use as a daily driver and not get a hard top with it. They are harder to find on the second hand market, more expensive than a Tj top when you find one, and they won’t you still won’t be wired in for the defrost and wiper controls if you pick up one second hand. Also much easier to add a soft top to one of it only has a hard top.

If you search nationally through Marketplace, etc. you should find a really nice one with decent miles for less than half that and have a hard top.
 
If it was just a backup camera, it wouldn't be such a big deal. Its the rest of the crap new vehicles are saddled with. But the backup camera law is exhibit A of our overreaching cradle-to-grave Nanny State.
If folks would stop backing over their toddlers in the driveway, they wouldn't need a law.
 
I think if a kid saw you do that now they might assume you’re having a stroke & falling out of your car.

Who are you kidding? You cannot open the door on a newer car and reverse... it'll put itself into park.

@Zorba you don't like the tech, yet try to start and drive your TJ without the tech...
 
My 89 YJ has 46K on it. When I bought it in 91 it had 32K on it with 12K of those from flat towing. It now has 46K on it after owning it for 31 yrs. That equates to 450 extremely fun mi per year. In that time I’ve put on 2 sets of tires, a new fuel tank. A new alternator, 2 bikini tops, several batteries and oil changes every year. Even with 46K on it I’d be lucky to get $2500 for it if I sold it today. Best $7200 I ever spent. I have put 600 mi on my 05 LJR since I bought it last year for $22500. Plugs and an oil change done since I got it. No one buys a Jeep because it’s the logical thing to do. We buy them because they are a hell of a lot of fun. Money be damned.