How much is she worth?

[Eistla]

I have an old 2001 4 cylinder TJ Sport that I'm debating on parting with. Location is Austria.

It has failed inspection, has a rusty frame and the driver fender well is rusted. It has sat outside for about three years. The starter is bad. When driving in a curve uphill a grinding clicking noise is made, I believe it’s coming from the rear axle? The positive is that it has a 2” Old Man Emu suspension lift with 31" tires and 15" wheels.

With this information and assuming it also has all the problems of a TJ this age, what would be a ball park figure of what it is worth? Or what would be the minimum that I should not go below to sell?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

[Austin O.]

I have an old 2001 4 cylinder TJ Sport that I'm debating on parting with.

It has failed inspection, has a rusty frame and really rusty fender wells. It has sat outside for about three years. The starter is bad. When driving in a curve uphill a grinding clicking noise is made, I believe it’s coming from the rear axle? The positive is that it has a 2” Old Man Emu suspension lift with 31" tires and 15" wheels.

With this information and assuming it also has all the problems of a TJ this age, what would be a ball park figure of what it is worth? Or what would be the minimum that I should not go below to sell?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

People are gonna ask for pictures…

 

[BlueC]

Pictures... Also, you should mention that you are listed as located in Austria. Location will play a role here.

Ultimately, a broke-down rusty Jeep is likely worth more in parts than whole.

 

[Eistla]

People are gonna ask for pictures…

Thanks! I've added some now.

 

[primetime4]

That’s a parts Jeep so whatever you can get.

 

[TheBoogieman]

Ultimately, a broke-down rusty Jeep is likely worth more in parts than whole.

That’s a parts Jeep so whatever you can get.

 

[BlueC]

@Eistla Your Jeep needs plenty of work, but I’ve seen much worse. How does it compare to other Jeeps in your area? Here (USA) in our dry southwest your Jeep is a rusty basket case, but in our salty northeast it looks factory fresh.

Seriously, how does it look compared to other TJs in your market? Making that determination should help you decide if it's a parts only Jeep, or if you could sell it whole as a project.

 

[Eistla]

@Eistla Your Jeep needs plenty of work, but I’ve seen much worse. How does it compare to other Jeeps in your area? Here (USA) in our dry southwest your Jeep is a rusty basket case, but in our salty northeast it looks factory fresh.

Seriously, how does it look compared to other TJs in your market? Making that determination should help you decide if it's a parts only Jeep, or if you could sell it whole as a project.

I would say that it is not exactly all that terrible. I'm unfortunately not a mechanic. But I think that if you knew what you were doing it would be in good enough shape to fix up and resell for a good price. I have a friend who is mechanic and is willing to help me with it. But it would still be very time consuming and lots of work getting parts and relatively costly. My hesitation is is that I would prefer a 4.0 and give it lockers etc. Jeeps are expensive here. I'm not sure if I should fix it up and be happy with it or part with it and try and get the one I really want. But I worry that if I let it go I might have a hard time finding another one that I can actually afford.

 

[BlueC]

I would say that it is not exactly all that terrible. I'm unfortunately not a mechanic. But I think that if you knew what you were doing it would be in good enough shape to fix up and resell for a good price. I have a friend who is mechanic and is willing to help me with it. But it would still be very time consuming and lots of work getting parts and relatively costly. My hesitation is is that I would prefer a 4.0 and give it lockers etc. Jeeps are expensive here. I'm not sure if I should fix it up and be happy with it or part with it and try and get the one I really want. But I worry that if I let it go I might have a hard time finding another one that I can actually afford.

The mechanical aspect will not be the hard or expensive part. The rust repair and repaint will be expensive.

 

[ChasUGC]

Yikes! I must admit that is scary.

 

[Austin O.]

I would say that it is not exactly all that terrible. I'm unfortunately not a mechanic. But I think that if you knew what you were doing it would be in good enough shape to fix up and resell for a good price. I have a friend who is mechanic and is willing to help me with it. But it would still be very time consuming and lots of work getting parts and relatively costly. My hesitation is is that I would prefer a 4.0 and give it lockers etc. Jeeps are expensive here. I'm not sure if I should fix it up and be happy with it or part with it and try and get the one I really want. But I worry that if I let it go I might have a hard time finding another one that I can actually afford.

I agree with what bluec just said. The mechanical part isn’t necessarily hard, especially if you’ve got a friend who knows what he’s doing and is willing to help. The rust is the main problem.

If you believe you have the time and a bit of money to put into it, I’d encourage you to try to fix it up and drive it.

The difficult thing is that you’re in Austria, and almost none of us on the forum are going to know how hard it is to get parts and how expensive it is there. I imagine it is more difficult than in the US where I assume there are quite a few more Jeeps. That said, we also don’t know how rare it is to find a good quality TJ where you are. You said they are expensive there.

Ultimately, it’s your decision and that depends upon what you want to put into it. A good option might be to fix up a few of the major issues you mentioned along with the frame rust and then reevaluate - see if it’ll sell for a higher price then and look for a nicer one. Or you might just fall in love with it as many seem to do with tjs, and you’ll slowly fix it up to where it is in excellent condition.

- just my thoughts. Some people will be looking for a project, others just want to drive a jeep and enjoy it that way. You’ve gotta make that decision. If I had that jeep, Id totally choose to tackle the project But Im 17 with basically no bills to pay and way too much time on my hands…

 

[ChasUGC]

If you know the battery is damaged, why not just get a new battery? I know these Odyssey batteries are expensive, but why not just get a new Duralast or Interstate, or a new Odyssey and be done with it? I set up all my off road lights and LED lights to only work when there is ignition power. I also made sure that all my warning "beeps"? are working so that if I leave my lights on, I get a loud warning. I know what happens when I kill my battery. One bad discharge can damage it. Two or three discharges and it's toast. I'm no expert, but this is my experience after driving all these 40 years. By the way, nice battery. It is expensive.

 

[BlueC]

If I had that jeep, Id totally choose to tackle the project But Im 17 with basically no bills to pay and way too much time on my hands…

That's what I call cheating, but I remember those days.