My first "browsings" into the TJ world, I immediately wanted an LJ.
The simplicities of a TJ, with additional benefits for what I wanted to use the rig for.
I live in a Snow/Ice area, I snowboard a lot, and I like to off-road some fairly aggressive trails.
So I wanted the extra Cargo space, and longer wheel base to make some of the street driving a bit more comfortable.
But the pricing of LJ's turned me away. So I settled back down into the realities of buying a "normal" TJ.
There were a few options I wanted with my TJ, but was "okay" with not having.
Hard Top (+extra soft top was a plus), Full Doors, and I wanted it BONE stock.
I wanted something I KNEW had not been beaten/neglected.
Needless to say, I had a lot of troubles finding that, within a good price point that I felt was reasonable to spend.
So I bought my 2000 Sahara, lifted by the previous owner, with soft-top/etc.
Pretty much I missed 1/2 the boxes I wanted to check. BUT I HAD A TJ FINALLY...
So I've enjoyed my current TJ along the way, but those things have still lingered in the back of my head the last few months..
Until this morning.
I usually scroll facebook marketplace before I get out of bed.
And I came across this listed as a "2006 Jeep Wrangler" for $5,500 , in my town.
Look closely. I was absolutely MINDBLOWN.
A 2006 TJ UNLIMITED. AKA. LJ.
For $5,500 bones.
It was posted 30 minutes prior to me seeing it, and I just knew in the back of my head "someone knows what this is, and this thing is GONE".
But I messaged the seller anyways.
Seller responded a few minutes later, and not to my surprise, there were already 4 people ahead of me wanting to see it.
I'm not sure what kind of good karma i've run into lately, but I get a message 1 hour later saying:
"there's 20+ other folks wanting to see this jeep today. The first few people bailed out. If you're interested, it's still available."
followed by
"Just know, we won't take a penny less than $5,500"
When I tell you i've never ran downstairs so fast, I mean it.
I practically broke my neck trying to get my TJ fired up to go see it.
I drove 20 minutes to the sellers house, and there it sat, in the driveway.
The photos were literally taken TODAY before posting. It was EVERYTHING the ad said it was.
2006 Jeep Wrangler "LJ". Flame Red. 4.0L Engine. 6-Speed Manual Transmission. Clean Title.
Hard Top AND Factory Soft Top STILL IN THE BOX.
I crawled underneath, and there sat the Dana 44, and the seller informed me it also had the "Trac Lok" differential installed.
There was one issue. It had 200,000 miles on it.
This immediately stung me in a bad way. But I kept replaying the old saying "maintenance is more important than mileage", so I decided to start questioning the owner a bit.
Turns out, to my surprise, the owner is the ORIGINAL owner, and bought the Jeep in 2006 off the showroom floor.
He was an older gentleman (I'd guess 70 - maybe late 60's) and was extremely meticulous about maintenance.
He had every service record since 2006, and never allowed as much as a spot of fluid to drip onto his garage floor.
(I'm being serious. He replaced the windshield wiper tank, and when I pointed it out he replied "the old tank was too dirty to sell that way" )
He had also taken it to the Jeep dealership for majority of the services on it, and had records of him staying on top of all drivetrain, transmission, etc schedules.
The jeep was flat-towed for a portion of its life behind an RV, which I assume could explain at least SOME of the mileage.
But the frame matched the rest of the jeep. Absolutely PHENOMENAL condition.
The engine fired up, and sounded like it just left the showroom floor. Absolutely ZERO leaks, creaks, ticks, etc.
Ran like a sewing machine.
It was blatantly obvious to me that this was the cleanest TJ I had ever seen in person, and to top it off it was the cleanest LJ i've ever seen in person.
To top all of that off, it was the best price I've ever seen on ANY TJ of this condition.
I told the seller I needed to go to the bank, and I would be back within the hour with cash.
No haggling, no gimmicks, I WAS GOING TO BUY THIS JEEP.
The entire way to the bank, I'll admit I had an absolute rock in my gut. But not in the bad way.
I think I was genuinely shocked and anxious about the absolute DIAMOND I had found.
As quick as I could, I gave $5,500 to the seller, shook his hand, thanked him 30 times, and drove away.
I now own a bone-stock, un-molested, damn near PERFECT CONDITION Jeep Wrangler "LJ".
An absolute unicorn find if you ask me, and I am still near shaking with excitement.
I don't know how it happened, but it did...
The simplicities of a TJ, with additional benefits for what I wanted to use the rig for.
I live in a Snow/Ice area, I snowboard a lot, and I like to off-road some fairly aggressive trails.
So I wanted the extra Cargo space, and longer wheel base to make some of the street driving a bit more comfortable.
But the pricing of LJ's turned me away. So I settled back down into the realities of buying a "normal" TJ.
There were a few options I wanted with my TJ, but was "okay" with not having.
Hard Top (+extra soft top was a plus), Full Doors, and I wanted it BONE stock.
I wanted something I KNEW had not been beaten/neglected.
Needless to say, I had a lot of troubles finding that, within a good price point that I felt was reasonable to spend.
So I bought my 2000 Sahara, lifted by the previous owner, with soft-top/etc.
Pretty much I missed 1/2 the boxes I wanted to check. BUT I HAD A TJ FINALLY...
So I've enjoyed my current TJ along the way, but those things have still lingered in the back of my head the last few months..
Until this morning.
I usually scroll facebook marketplace before I get out of bed.
And I came across this listed as a "2006 Jeep Wrangler" for $5,500 , in my town.
Look closely. I was absolutely MINDBLOWN.
A 2006 TJ UNLIMITED. AKA. LJ.
For $5,500 bones.
It was posted 30 minutes prior to me seeing it, and I just knew in the back of my head "someone knows what this is, and this thing is GONE".
But I messaged the seller anyways.
Seller responded a few minutes later, and not to my surprise, there were already 4 people ahead of me wanting to see it.
I'm not sure what kind of good karma i've run into lately, but I get a message 1 hour later saying:
"there's 20+ other folks wanting to see this jeep today. The first few people bailed out. If you're interested, it's still available."
followed by
"Just know, we won't take a penny less than $5,500"
When I tell you i've never ran downstairs so fast, I mean it.
I practically broke my neck trying to get my TJ fired up to go see it.
I drove 20 minutes to the sellers house, and there it sat, in the driveway.
The photos were literally taken TODAY before posting. It was EVERYTHING the ad said it was.
2006 Jeep Wrangler "LJ". Flame Red. 4.0L Engine. 6-Speed Manual Transmission. Clean Title.
Hard Top AND Factory Soft Top STILL IN THE BOX.
I crawled underneath, and there sat the Dana 44, and the seller informed me it also had the "Trac Lok" differential installed.
There was one issue. It had 200,000 miles on it.
This immediately stung me in a bad way. But I kept replaying the old saying "maintenance is more important than mileage", so I decided to start questioning the owner a bit.
Turns out, to my surprise, the owner is the ORIGINAL owner, and bought the Jeep in 2006 off the showroom floor.
He was an older gentleman (I'd guess 70 - maybe late 60's) and was extremely meticulous about maintenance.
He had every service record since 2006, and never allowed as much as a spot of fluid to drip onto his garage floor.
(I'm being serious. He replaced the windshield wiper tank, and when I pointed it out he replied "the old tank was too dirty to sell that way" )
He had also taken it to the Jeep dealership for majority of the services on it, and had records of him staying on top of all drivetrain, transmission, etc schedules.
The jeep was flat-towed for a portion of its life behind an RV, which I assume could explain at least SOME of the mileage.
But the frame matched the rest of the jeep. Absolutely PHENOMENAL condition.
The engine fired up, and sounded like it just left the showroom floor. Absolutely ZERO leaks, creaks, ticks, etc.
Ran like a sewing machine.
It was blatantly obvious to me that this was the cleanest TJ I had ever seen in person, and to top it off it was the cleanest LJ i've ever seen in person.
To top all of that off, it was the best price I've ever seen on ANY TJ of this condition.
I told the seller I needed to go to the bank, and I would be back within the hour with cash.
No haggling, no gimmicks, I WAS GOING TO BUY THIS JEEP.
The entire way to the bank, I'll admit I had an absolute rock in my gut. But not in the bad way.
I think I was genuinely shocked and anxious about the absolute DIAMOND I had found.
As quick as I could, I gave $5,500 to the seller, shook his hand, thanked him 30 times, and drove away.
I now own a bone-stock, un-molested, damn near PERFECT CONDITION Jeep Wrangler "LJ".
An absolute unicorn find if you ask me, and I am still near shaking with excitement.
I don't know how it happened, but it did...
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