Buying Advice

nappy1515

nappy1515

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Missouri
I find myself really wanting to get back into a Jeep. I've been on the hunt for a few months now and have seen a few that caught my eye, but for some reason I haven't been able to seal the deal. I have the money ready to go and am willing to hop on a plane to pretty much anywhere. I haven't had to try and spend money this hard ever. Is there a secret to getting a response from people on Craigslist? Every ad I've inquired about I never getting anything back. Am I doing this wrong? I've been looking locally but it's either a beatup shit box or a ridiculously high price. Sorry, I'm not dropping 25K on a Jeep with 150k miles.

Any tips on actually getting people to respond?
 
Try Facebook Marketplace or sites like Autotrader. I've bought all of my Jeeps through craigslist and a couple on Ebay. Usually if it's a decent deal and I don't get any response, it's already been sold and they don't want to bother with responding. Good deals sell within hours.
 
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TheBoogieman said:
Try Facebook Marketplace or sites like Autotrader. I've bought all of my Jeeps through craigslist and a couple on Ebay. Usually if it's a decent deal and I don't get any response, it's already been sold and they don't want to bother with responding.
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I've been looking at Autotrader, cars.com, etc, but it seems the vast majority are listed by stealerships and it seems like they are all smoking crack. I can't bring myself to pay what they are asking. Seems like the deals are all from private sellers.

But i do hear you on if it's a good deal it moves fast.
 
nappy1515 said:
I've been looking at Autotrader, cars.com, etc, but it seems the vast majority are listed by stealerships and it seems like they are all smoking crack. I can't bring myself to pay what they are asking. Seems like the deals are all from private sellers.

But i do hear you on if it's a good deal it moves fast.
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I agree with you there. I'm looking for an auto TJ myself and dealerships are crazy. People asking what they're actually worth are getting rare too. I found an 04' LJ auto with 165,000 miles on it and the guy wants $12,000. I wouldn't pay over $9,000 with that mileage.
 
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regardless, I think about 10-11k for one with a good straight rust free body is the norm.. mileage doesn't seem to matter on the price market unless you luck out and find one with 150k or less.

they're just unfortunately expensive and people just drop the cash nearly sight unseen.

I had a difficult time a few years back purchasing mine.. either just sold, someone already on the way or were in process of pulling the ad. craigslist seemed dead and facecrap marketplace seemed to be the ticket for the most listings but pickings were slim. rusted out junk, highly modified pricey someone else's project and a few reasonable options (which were moving fast). the 2 dealers I went and looked at (listed through marketplace) were very over priced and trashed.. and they pestered me often with sales phone calls.

I remember a dealer listed rubicon in what looked to be mint condition with low mileage for $13k. upon driving 3 hours to look it over after talking about it on the phone, it was severely covered in hail damage. tried bartering with them about the photos didnt show hail damage and requested them to repair it but they laughed me out of the dealership. said they weren't interested as they are easy to move and they already had someone else lined up to see it. of course this was the dealer that called me the most.
 
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Found mine on craigslist, but I had been looking on and off for several years. On anything worthwhile, if I was the second or third caller, I was already too late. If I was the tenth caller, I didn't even get a response. So I wrote a little script to check craigslist every few minutes and flag me if something new showed up. And even that often wasn't fast enough. Eventually I found one 300 miles away, because people were driving 200 miles to beat me to them, but 300 was a little too far for most people. If you're in a populous area, you might have to make your search a lot wider.
 
When I bought my 05 LJR with 112k for $22.5k in Feb 21 I looked on Craigslist multiple times a day with a 1K mi search area. It took me 3 months. I was only looking for a LJR which limits your choices. Luckily the guy held it for a week until the wife and I could fly up to Denver rent a car and see it. My bank had a branch down the road from him so getting a cashers check was easy. My son and I drove up 800mi from LA the next week with my trailer and brought it back. I have a love hate relationship with Craigslist but I have found many great deals on it. I know that I miss some great deals by not being on FB Marketplace but I do not do FB. I looked at many LJRs locally but they were all overpriced shit.
Part of the adventure is the search. Keep looking and do not settle for lees than you really want.

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OldBuzzard said:
Found mine on craigslist, but I had been looking on and off for several years. On anything worthwhile, if I was the second or third caller, I was already too late. If I was the tenth caller, I didn't even get a response. So I wrote a little script to check craigslist every few minutes and flag me if something new showed up. And even that often wasn't fast enough. Eventually I found one 300 miles away, because people were driving 200 miles to beat me to them, but 300 was a little too far for most people. If you're in a populous area, you might have to make your search a lot wider.
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That sounds familiar. I do check craigslist fairly frequently, not every few minutes but hourly. Maybe i'm just not as on it as I need to be. I'm willing to travel just about anywhere, if i can find a good deal.
 
bucky said:
When I bought my 05 LJR with 112k for $22.5k in Feb 21 I looked on Craigslist multiple times a day with a 1K mi search area. It took me 3 months. I was only looking for a LJR which limits your choices. Luckily the guy held it for a week until the wife and I could fly up to Denver rent a car and see it. My bank had a branch down the road from him so getting a cashers check was easy. My son and I drove up 800mi from LA the next week with my trailer and brought it back. I have a love hate relationship with Craigslist but I have found many great deals on it. I know that I miss some great deals by not being on FB Marketplace but I do not do FB. I looked at many LJRs locally but they were all overpriced shit.
Part of the adventure is the search. Keep looking and do not settle for lees than you really want.
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I was really close to grabbing up an LJR, thought I had a deal worked out, money in hand was going to drive down and do the deal. Woke up to a text message saying he sold it during the night. I've not really been searching all that long, maybe my Jeep Lust is getting to me but I'm starting to get a little frustrated with being just a little too late.
 
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nappy1515 said:
I'm willing to travel just about anywhere, if i can find a good deal.
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I’m afraid that this is your problem.

A Jeep with zero rust, a Jeep from down south with a clean car fax, or a Jeep from out West that’s been well taken care of is going to be near impossible to find for a “good deal” based on how drastic the market has changed in the last 1-2 years for used TJ’s and Unlimited's.

I’d say a rust free, average milage (90-120k) with a clean carfax is around $16k-24k easily.

Make it Rubicon or an Unlimted and the markwt seems to be leaning towards the $22k-24k easily.
 
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nappy1515 said:
I was really close to grabbing up an LJR, thought I had a deal worked out, money in hand was going to drive down and do the deal. Woke up to a text message saying he sold it during the night. I've not really been searching all that long, maybe my Jeep Lust is getting to me but I'm starting to get a little frustrated with being just a little too late.
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As silly as it sounds, you waited too long and it seems like someone bought it out from under you with more cash than you offered or was willing to get cash in hand faster than you were.

Keep going, you know how it works though, as soon as you stop looking, they’d be everywhere for sale and owners couldnt get rid of them.
 
Fouledplugs said:
As silly as it sounds, you waited too long and it seems like someone bought it out from under you with more cash than you offered or was willing to get cash in hand faster than you were.

Keep going, you know how it works though, as soon as you stop looking, they’d be everywhere for sale and owners couldnt get rid of them.
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Nope, bought it for the same amount I was offering. It sold on Ebay, someone hit the buy it now button. So i guess they just beat me to it.

I have no issues with paying 16-24K if it's what I want in a color I want.
 
Facebook marketplace is 100x better than Craigslist, or if you’re patient, good deals pop up here from time to time.
 
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I could argue supply and demand. The Stealerships would not be asking the prices they are if they were not occasionally selling them. Meanwhile, normal people have realized that Jeeps with realistic prices tend to sell pretty quickly. Probably does not help that demand is somewhat seasonal and we are entering the season.
 
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I believe Colour first reliability 2nd and mods 3rd!
With a dealership it is easy to get an independent mechanical check of the TJ you like in the colour you like with the mods (if Any) you like because you are window shopping! Private buying you are always playing pot luck and you eventually start to lower your expectation bar during the purchase hunt period!

There are very few un bastedized one owner low mile perfect running rust free TJ,s in the colour you may prefer! Colour and paintwork matters not to a person who just wants a rock crawling "Toy" Appearance means everything to others while DD ability means most to yet another group!

Which one do you want? Choose accordingly and you will be happy until you want to change vehicles and sell it. :)
 
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Email craigslist sellers twice. I had to do that to find out the status of a trailer that was listed for sale. FWIW, I found my Jeep on craigslist.
 
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