How to get another Jeep scam

badmatty

New Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2018
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22
Location
South Shore, MA
In 1993, I got an '80 CJ7. 6 cyl, auto...bone stock, 2nd owner. I sold it when my son was on his way. He almost never rode in the car I got as a replacement.
In 2006, I got a '97 TJ. 6 cyl 5 spd...bone stock, but upsized tires on factory 15" wheels. Did all the repairs to make it 100%, and was side-swiped, pushed into a curb, and it was totaled.

Fast forward to last year (March of 2018, and my scam to get another Jeep.

My 17 year old daughter had no interest in getting her license. Worse, she wanted to NOT get her license. That gets tiresome, and looking towards the future of driving her everywhere was not a good thing. I said to my wife, "Honey, I have a scam." Yes, I said just that. "I'm going to buy a cheap Jeep, fix it up, and I bet our daughter will want her license, so she can drive it."

Wife did not think my plan would work.

It did. After looking around for a few months, I came across this gem. An '03 TJ X. Stock with a small leveling kit. 6 cyl, Auto. ~145k
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I bought it As Is, spent about $275 in lenses, bulbs, hood latches, and mirrors, and it passed a Massachusetts inspection legitimately.
One month later, my daughter had her license.

Scam Success!

For my rides, I like the appearance of stock, and I'm still trying to keep that. Replaced the torn tan top with a black one from Rough Country. I removed the silver stickers that were still there and put on black instead.
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Next was the wheels. I made a trade for some Rubi Moab Wheels. Tires were beat, but that was the price to get the wheels, but even scored the factory Rubi spare, that had never been on the ground.
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Still needed some tires though. Did some research into value priced tires and decided to go with the Kumho Road Venture AT51 in a 265/75r16. Overall, happy with the ride, grip, and look. (fast forward and I ruined them quickly, as I didn't get the alignment I paid for when they installed them)
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Now, I had the appearance I wanted. Still looking virtually stock, but with just a little touch.
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That brings us to last fall. More to come (not too much, but some).
 
You did what I did pretty much. My son didn't threaten not to drive. But he drives my Jeep as much as I do right now. I bought a stock '99 TJ sport. That was weather beat. But mechanically sound. It has 140k and an AT. I did more restoration on mine (alot of paint, new seats front and back, some suspension repair, new headlights and foglights, etc, etc. But I only paid 6k for the Jeep originally. Which is cheap for here in LA.). And I still need to buy some off road tires. My JK moabs came with new original street tires.

BUt I'm with you. I like a stock look. I may someday put a OME 2" on it. But I'm sticking with 31" or 32" tires. Nothing more.
 
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You did what I did pretty much. My son didn't threaten not to drive. But he drives my Jeep as much as I do right now. I bought a stock '99 TJ sport. That was weather beat. But mechanically sound. It has 140k and an AT. I did more restoration on mine (alot of paint, new seats front and back, some suspension repair, new headlights and foglights, etc, etc. But I only paid 6k for the Jeep originally. Which is cheap for here in LA.). And I still need to buy some off road tires. My JK moabs came with new original street tires.

BUt I'm with you. I like a stock look. I may someday put a OME 2" on it. But I'm sticking with 31" or 32" tires. Nothing more.
I paid 6k for this too. Originally said he was going to ask 8500 after it went through the shop. I asked about As Is, he went to 7. I countered with 6 and he took it! Great deal around here. Zero rust on the tub and fenders. Frame is solid, but the rear upper spring mounts may need to be addressed in a few years. Nothing bad now. I had to have the rear main seal done too.
As mentioned in the OP, I have gone a little more since (very recently). 3' BDS and a rear tow bumper. No good pics yet. Because I trashed the tires I put on last year, I'll probably get some 32"s next year.
I also replaced all the speakers this year, including the factory sub.
I'll post more pics when I have some good ones.
 
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Nice job on the scam ;)

That's a great looking Jeep, and I really appreciate the mostly stock look too, so I'm right there with you!
 
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I paid 6k for this too. Originally said he was going to ask 8500 after it went through the shop. I asked about As Is, he went to 7. I countered with 6 and he took it! Great deal around here. Zero rust on the tub and fenders. Frame is solid, but the rear upper spring mounts may need to be addressed in a few years. Nothing bad now. I had to have the rear main seal done too.
As mentioned in the OP, I have gone a little more since (very recently). 3' BDS and a rear tow bumper. No good pics yet. Because I trashed the tires I put on last year, I'll probably get some 32"s next year.
I also replaced all the speakers this year, including the factory sub.
I'll post more pics when I have some good ones.

Mine had $2000 in repairs that were needed. That came up in the dealership inspection I had done on it. My local mechanic would do them for $1000. So I negotiated down from 7k to 6k for the repairs.

My only regret is I paid $900 for new full doors. It came with half doors. What I sold the half doors for - paid for the full doors. But I kind of got scammed on the full doors. Guy showed me pics of pretty much perfect doors. I drove 4 hours to pick them up on a busy day. So I was white knuckle driving in the Jeep for 4 hours. When I got to him. He pulls them out and they have a fair amount of scratches and one dent and the small cracks in the top of the panels. I should have negotiated him down to like $700. But I was so exhausted from the stressful drive. I just paid him, loaded them up and took off for home. I had been looking for a set of black doors for awhile. And junkyards wanted even more for a set. But still I should have had the presence of mind to talk him down some. But anyway. Now I just need to do touch up and have the paint on the entire Jeep color corrected (buffed out). I'll leave the tiny dent and fix the tiny cracks in the panels someday. Or maybe sell them and just buy a better set of black doors.

I have the same problem with alignment right now. I need to get one before I ruin these tires too. It's just feathering at this point. But still.
 
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Mine had $2000 in repairs that were needed. That came up in the dealership inspection I had done on it. My local mechanic would do them for $1000. So I negotiated down from 7k to 6k for the repairs.

My only regret is I paid $900 for new full doors. It came with half doors. What I sold the half doors for - paid for the full doors. But I kind of got scammed on the full doors. Guy showed me pics of pretty much perfect doors. I drove 4 hours to pick them up on a busy day. So I was white knuckle driving in the Jeep for 4 hours. When I got to him. He pulls them out and they have a fair amount of scratches and one dent and the small cracks in the top of the panels. I should have negotiated him down to like $700. But I was so exhausted from the stressful drive. I just paid him, loaded them up and took off for home. I had been looking for a set of black doors for awhile. And junkyards wanted even more for a set. But still I should have had the presence of mind to talk him down some. But anyway. Now I just need to do touch up and have the paint on the entire Jeep color corrected (buffed out). I'll leave the tiny dent and fix the tiny cracks in the panels someday. Or maybe sell them and just buy a better set of black doors.

I have the same problem with alignment right now. I need to get one before I ruin these tires too. It's just feathering at this point. But still.
Had the half doors on my 97. I liked them when the top half was off, did not like them with the top half on. I'd love to find a set of inner door panels, but I probably won't bother. Small cracks like you described.
My CJ had the full doors as well. Even had the "screen door" handles. Classic.
 
I think I'm now where I want to be with tires. I burned through the last set way too quickly. Bad alignment and many parking lot smoke shows (I'm not perfect).
When I got the lift, they sorted the alignment, but it was too late for the tire, so I just rode them out.
This week, I found what I wanted considering price and how I'd actually use them. Also got a decent deal, I think, playing the price-match game. All in and out the door installed, $970. Falken AT3 WildPeak 285/75/16 LR E.
Good looking tire. Haven't really tested them yet, but the feel great. No rub so far.

Happy with the stance too...
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I think I'm now where I want to be with tires. I burned through the last set way too quickly. Bad alignment and many parking lot smoke shows (I'm not perfect).
When I got the lift, they sorted the alignment, but it was too late for the tire, so I just rode them out.
This week, I found what I wanted considering price and how I'd actually use them. Also got a decent deal, I think, playing the price-match game. All in and out the door installed, $970. Falken AT3 WildPeak 285/75/16 LR E.
Good looking tire. Haven't really tested them yet, but the feel great. No rub so far.

Happy with the stance too...
View attachment 175975
Make sure to run about 23-25 psi and it will run way better. The E rating on those tires on that light tj will make you feel ever bump in the road.
 
The OP's daughter reminds me of myself at her age. I didn't get a driver's license until I was 20 and had to drive. I didn't need one earlier, I had a perfectly good school bus to take me to school and home every day. Then in college, my mother was driving right by the J.C. every day at workable times on her way to and from work. Why would I want to deal with a car? All my age-mates were working jobs to pay for their cars to take them to work. Didn't make sense to me then, nor now!
 
I think I'm now where I want to be with tires. I burned through the last set way too quickly. Bad alignment and many parking lot smoke shows (I'm not perfect).
When I got the lift, they sorted the alignment, but it was too late for the tire, so I just rode them out.
This week, I found what I wanted considering price and how I'd actually use them. Also got a decent deal, I think, playing the price-match game. All in and out the door installed, $970. Falken AT3 WildPeak 285/75/16 LR E.
Good looking tire. Haven't really tested them yet, but the feel great. No rub so far.

Happy with the stance too...
View attachment 175975

Looks sweet. My next set of tires are going to be Wildpeak. How much lift are you running? Really nice looking Jeep. Also what color is that? First green I've seen that I don't mind.
 
Make sure to run about 23-25 psi and it will run way better. The E rating on those tires on that light tj will make you feel ever bump in the road.
Interesting suggestion. I'm running them at 35. The ride is great. My pals even have mentioned the good feel. Might be that it is sitting on new suspension though. They are a heavier tire than I'm used to, for sure.
 
Interesting suggestion. I'm running them at 35. The ride is great. My pals even have mentioned the good feel. Might be that it is sitting on new suspension though. They are a heavier tire than I'm used to, for sure.

The vast majority of opinions around here are that you dont want to go more than C. But there are a few guys that run D and E. And report no problems.

I think alot of it depends on what your doing with your Jeep. And what your used too.

I'm still running JK wrangler street radials. And i still want for a smoother ride. But the Rancho rs5000x shocks have given me the most ride quality improvement.

The Wildpeaks i will get will be C. But i have a 17 inch rim. Alot harder to find tires for your 16 inchers. They look awesome though. I really like the aggressive sidewall.
 
Looks sweet. My next set of tires are going to be Wildpeak. How much lift are you running? Really nice looking Jeep. Also what color is that? First green I've seen that I don't mind.
Thank You! Much appreciated.
That's a 3" lift from BDS Suspension. Very happy with that. I got the base lift, plus front lower control arms. The color is Shale Green Metallic.
 
The vast majority of opinions around here are that you dont want to go more than C. But there are a few guys that run D and E. And report no problems.

I think alot of it depends on what your doing with your Jeep. And what your used too.

I'm still running JK wrangler street radials. And i still want for a smoother ride. But the Rancho rs5000x shocks have given me the most ride quality improvement.

The Wildpeaks i will get will be C. But i have a 17 inch rim. A lot harder to find tires for your 16 inchers. They look awesome though. I really like the aggressive sidewall.
Hrmm...again, interesting! I don't need a load range E. I don't go that hard. I got these because that was the rating on the tire for the price. I have a factory (or what I believe is one) Rubicon tire as the spare; that's a load range E. So I figured it was cool. Different size of course.
I do love the confidence I have squeezing between rocks and such though.

Only a few hundred miles with them, and 3 outings.
 
Final post in this thread.
9 days after this post, I was in an accident and totaled this TJ. Very sad day indeed. Thankfully, nobody was injured. I almost drove over the Corolla I hit. Stuffed the front axle into the tub.
I salvaged it from the insurance company and sold it to a buddy. He realized quickly that he didn't have the time to fix it, so he sold it to a friend. It's already on the road at this time. Guy lucked out! Great Jeep. He's getting ready to retire to Guatemala...this TJ will live on down there. Kind of think that's a cool story.

RIP TJ. I am now the happy owner of a 2017 JK Rubicon Recon. It's amazing. Really miss the old one, but not a bad upgrade.

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