Minnesota Advice on finding a good TJ deal in MN

Rangerdanger88

Rangerdanger88

New Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2020
Messages
9
Location
Anoka MN
Hey everyone , I am new to the Jeep world , been driving trucks and a little motorcycle riding ,for the last ten years, have been very interested in Jeeps as of lately have been obsessed with researching them and learning about them, I have test driven a tj and a jk in the last few months , have had my heart set on a manual tj 4 liter , any advice on brokers or niche markets That could help me in finding a pretty clean old tj , I had seen a good deal recently on an automatic Sahara 4liter , would prefer manual but travel to find one is an issue w my work schedule
 
Be careful, you’re going to have a hell of a hard time finding a rust free TJ in Minnesota. My advise is to look for a clean TJ down south, or on the west coast / south west, as they won’t have rust issues typically.
 
Chris said:
Be careful, you’re going to have a hell of a hard time finding a rust free TJ in Minnesota. My advise is to look for a clean TJ down south, or on the west coast / south west, as they won’t have rust issues typically.
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Chris said:
Be careful, you’re going to have a hell of a hard time finding a rust free TJ in Minnesota. My advise is to look for a clean TJ down south, or on the west coast / south west, as they won’t have rust issues typically.
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Yeah ,that is what has kept me from making purchases on ones I have tested, I have found some in Georgia there was one for sale in Blaine I thought was worth checking out
 
Rangerdanger88 said:
Yeah ,that is what has kept me from making purchases on ones I have tested, I have found some in Georgia there was one for sale in Blaine I thought was worth checking out
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Yes, there are some clean ones down south, and a lot in Alabama as well. Basically the good ones are usually in states where they don’t use salt on the roads.
 
Chris said:
Yes, there are some clean ones down south, and a lot in Alabama as well. Basically the good ones are usually in states where they don’t use salt on the roads.
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So far out of state searches have been a little overwhelming and time consuming , I have found some good deals and also found some shady ones ,,, been spending 10 bucks here and there on some vin searches after I had found one w a rolled back odometer ! Can’t always trust the car fax , here are a couple I was considering
The automatic Sahara is 20 min from home and pics show it promising to have a decent frame ,,
Another out of state one looked good with a manual which would be my preference , and I am just debating with going through the extra work Of a vacation to test drive if I go that route
I’ll post a couple pics
 
I bought mine at Park Jeep in Burnsville. Mine is relatively rust free and I assume that means it was garaged in winter or extremely well taken care of.

If you could buy one from a snowbird who dragged theirs south for the winters would work too.
 
Rangerdanger88 said:
So far out of state searches have been a little overwhelming and time consuming , I have found some good deals and also found some shady ones ,,, been spending 10 bucks here and there on some vin searches after I had found one w a rolled back odometer ! Can’t always trust the car fax , here are a couple I was considering
The automatic Sahara is 20 min from home and pics show it promising to have a decent frame ,,
Another out of state one looked good with a manual which would be my preference , and I am just debating with going through the extra work Of a vacation to test drive if I go that route
I’ll post a couple pics
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I have no doubt you can fine a good TJ in MN, you’re just going to have to look for the person who took really good care of it and ever drove it when there was salt on the roads.
 
Both fairly low miles , the red manual was a one owner , black auto was 4 owner

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I looked on Craig's list and dealer listings for a long long time. Drove to see some, scrutinized any photo showing even a corner of frame. No one in MN WI takes many frame pictures, because they would never sell if they did. Eventually found one that spent most of its life south, only in WI a couple years and in good shape.

I toyed with the idea of making a Jeep search trip to the SW, but that is not a cheap option and I would never buy any vehicle sight unseen.

You just need to persevere and not be in a hurry and watch your sources daily and be ready to pounce with cash in hand if you find one because it won't last for long.
 
foresterdj said:
I looked on Craig's list and dealer listings for a long long time. Drove to see some, scrutinized any photo showing even a corner of frame. No one in MN WI takes many frame pictures, because they would never sell if they did. Eventually found one that spent most of its life south, only in WI a couple years and in good shape.

I toyed with the idea of making a Jeep search trip to the SW, but that is not a cheap option and I would never buy any vehicle sight unseen.

You just need to persevere and not be in a hurry and watch your sources daily and be ready to pounce with cash in hand if you find one because it won't last for long.
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Yeah I hear ya , I have been looking online and at dealers for a few months now , I backed out of deal on a jk that I was going to travel 6 hours to see , have done a lot of research on problematic years , and feel most comfortable with an early 2000s tj , I currently drive a 4 cyl manual pickup as my daily commuter and thought about settling for that in a tj if the price was right , I’m crossing my fingers on the black one that I posted that the frame looks as good as the body , should be able to check it out this week I live close , in that case I might get an automatic
 
Checked out the black Sahara it was rust free , frame was in excellent condition, had a good idle drove great , we had snow so I tested 4x4, 4hi was good at first , I tried 4low with transmission in neutral , experienced some grinding, then experienced some grinding from 4hi to 2hi and vice versa. That was my main concern , not sure if it was operator error or mechanical issue, it wasn’t real bad for most part one time it made a real load noise that made me concerned , any advice??
 
Rangerdanger88 said:
Checked out the black Sahara it was rust free , frame was in excellent condition, had a good idle drove great , we had snow so I tested 4x4, 4hi was good at first , I tried 4low with transmission in neutral , experienced some grinding, then experienced some grinding from 4hi to 2hi and vice versa. That was my main concern , not sure if it was operator error or mechanical issue, it wasn’t real bad for most part one time it made a real load noise that made me concerned , any advice??
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Some grinding into 4low can be normal, 4 to 2 not so much.

Is this a daily or an off-road fun vehicle? No how you look at it, you are buying a 20 year old vehicle. There are bound to be some issues. There are a number of good off-road shops in the twin cities area that can help.
 
You make some good points , I have about 93xxx miles on my daily commuter right now so I figure I could get another 5-6 years out of it , have some decisions to make , on the topic of the transfer case shifter , I think I was stuck in neutral going back towards 2hi when I had the loudest grind , I think I might not have shifted the handle to the left a lil like the line shows , it was dark and I was getting the feel , it all worked I’m hoping just operator error, and I didn’t do anything real bad, besides that ,, w automatic tjs it says to be rolling 2-3 mph Then shift Tranny to neutral before 4-lo, is it ok to shift from drive to neutral without braking to keep the roll going , this is a situation I find a manual to be more convenient, also if you u could send me some of those shop names ide appreciate it thanks
 
You can shift from 2WD to 4H up to 45mph in gear.

Shift from 4H to 4L in neutral between 2-5mph.

same procedure when shifting back down. It could have been user error. If it’s not fully engaging.
 
Rangerdanger88 said:
You make some good points , I have about 93xxx miles on my daily commuter right now so I figure I could get another 5-6 years out of it , have some decisions to make , on the topic of the transfer case shifter , I think I was stuck in neutral going back towards 2hi when I had the loudest grind , I think I might not have shifted the handle to the left a lil like the line shows , it was dark and I was getting the feel , it all worked I’m hoping just operator error, and I didn’t do anything real bad, besides that ,, w automatic tjs it says to be rolling 2-3 mph Then shift Tranny to neutral before 4-lo, is it ok to shift from drive to neutral without braking to keep the roll going , this is a situation I find a manual to be more convenient, also if you u could send me some of those shop names ide appreciate it thanks
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Two decent off-road shops run by good people.

https://www.facebook.com/zeusoffroad4x4/

https://www.facebook.com/lakevilleautorepair/
 
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