TJ Buyer's Advice: 2004 30k mileage or 2001 70k mileage

koning2e

koning2e

Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
59
Location
Farnborough, United Kingdom
I have the opportunity now to either buy a 2004 Extreme Sport 4L Auto (4 speed) TJ with 30K mileage. No rust. Half doors, Soft Top. Lifted with TerraFirma shocks. But it needs wider tyres, new fenders, which increases the overall cost.
Or buy a 2001 Sahara Auto (3 speed) TJ with 70K mileage, almost no rust, full doors, Soft top, Lifted with Rugged Ridge ORV shocks. Comes with new wider tyres which means it will be 10% cheaper than the 2004 TJ.
I welcome thoughts to help me decide :)
 
How about some pics of each? I'd go for the NO rust model, regardless of mileage. Fixing rust is frighteningly expensive.

Why does the first one need new tires?
 
I believe the "Extreme Sport" edition in the UK has the Dana 44 rear axle (cross between Sahara and Sport), but the Sahara might also have the Dana 44 over there. Worth checking out for sure. That said, I'm with @Mike_H , the one with no rust (and half the miles) is the likely the better choice here. Tires and fenders can be fixed easily, but rust cannot. Post up some pics so we can see what you have.
 
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Mike_H said:
How about some pics of each? I'd go for the NO rust model, regardless of mileage. Fixing rust is frighteningly expensive.

Why does the first one need new tires?
Click to expand...
Hi Mike. ‘Need’ is a big word. I would like it to have 33 12.5 instead of 33 10.5 tyres to change the look.

Here are a few photos of the 2004 underside.

4C944D6E-06B7-43C4-8740-8C519ACCC6BC.jpeg


EABC224D-EA11-4DE6-98A4-DB2A67E71E64.jpeg


87C9E590-1151-44C4-BF69-9192135E9FC2.jpeg


96069B6A-13E2-422A-ADE2-6226AA6DA7A7.jpeg


88119198-D6DD-47D3-B603-A7CC56606C8B.jpeg


3FA7DADA-3436-4B89-8DAD-996F6713F3AF.jpeg


5DE47D62-7506-4116-B550-B96AEF4C6CC2.jpeg
 
The 2004 with low miles and no rust seems like the winner if there is nothing wrong with it. The white one has a transfer case drop of about 1", and the red one does too it looks like to me.
 
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I'd go with whichever one has the least amount of rust.

IMHO, nothing is more important to look for on these things than rust. Mileage means pretty much nothing, it's rust that will kill you.
 
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No question in my mind. The red one. Even with the smaller tires. You can get the factory flares pretty cheap, the tires...Drive on them a while, see how you like them, or sell them and buy wider ones.
 
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mots said:
I believe the "Extreme Sport" edition in the UK has the Dana 44 rear axle (cross between Sahara and Sport), but the Sahara might also have the Dana 44 over there. Worth checking out for sure. That said, I'm with @Mike_H , the one with no rust (and half the miles) is the likely the better choice here. Tires and fenders can be fixed easily, but rust cannot. Post up some pics so we can see what you have.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Yes the Extreme Sport has the Dana 44 at the rear.
 
Thanks all for your comments and wisdom. I have made my decision and opted for the red TJ. It’s my first. A childhood dream realised. This forum has been excellent to help my learning. I look forward to sharing and contributing going forward. 👍🏻
 
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