Listen to experience. Go south young man and buy rust free. High mileage is fine. Engines and transmissions are rebuildable but rust repair is never ending.
Thanks for the advice
Listen to experience. Go south young man and buy rust free. High mileage is fine. Engines and transmissions are rebuildable but rust repair is never ending.
Agreed on all points, I bought mine with 190k on it. A well maintained high mileage TJ is a better choice sometimes than a lower mileage TJ that hasn't been taken care of.
Get under the Jeep, and take pictures and post them here. One bad sign is clumpy and bumpy paint to cover the rust. That's the worst attempt at deception. The other obvious problem is rust and flaking badly. Look under the carpet too. If there are holes and a lot of rust, that is a bad sign. Walk away. If it is smooth and black underneath, you are probably good. Check below the doors along the body on the outside for rust too. Especially the corners right next to the front wheels. If it is heavily rusted or pitted, the frame is probably much worse. If it has Rocker guards, that is normally a sign of someone hiding bad rust, unless it is a Rubicon.
Drive a little south for one without rust. I bought my one owner Texas Rubicon from a retired military guy who moved to Washington D.C. ((90 miles from me) The Jeep spent a couple years there (road salt). It was perfect and I treated inside the frame a couple years later and found a "dime bag" of rust. All is well nearly 8 years later. Rust is like Cancer, catch it early and the survival rates are much better. I've survived both.
p.s. The #1 killer of men is MARRIAGE.
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If I were shopping for my son, we would :
- avoid rust
- avoid one that has been repainted
- avoid one that is heavily modified
- avoid terribly high mileage
For sure post pics or links on here-wealth of knowledge-
Good on you for earning , and saving to buy. It is not illegal to do that contrary to popular opinion.
You are smart to come here and learn what to look for. We've seen far too many people come here after the fact and find out they got screwed. Stay with us here and we'll do our best to help make sure your hard earned money is well spent and you don't get screwed.
Some sellers may not even realize the frame is bad so you can't count on them to tell you the condition.
Wow I didn’t even know that. Thank you
Do you guys know where I should look?? I have been looking on facebook marketplace but is there any other sites?
Do you guys know where I should look?? I have been looking on facebook marketplace but is there any other sites?
Drive a little south for one without rust. I bought my one owner Texas Rubicon from a retired military guy who moved to Washington D.C. ((90 miles from me) The Jeep spent a couple years there (road salt). It was perfect and I treated inside the frame a couple years later and found a "dime bag" of rust. All is well nearly 8 years later. Rust is like Cancer, catch it early and the survival rates are much better. I've survived both.
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Getting sick and fucking tired of the
“ don’t look north “ of the Mason Dixon line bullshit.
Wake the fuck up and realize there certainly are rust free TJ’s up here. Just have to sort through them a little more.
Do you guys know where I should look?? I have been looking on facebook marketplace but is there any other sites?
Getting sick and fucking tired of the
“ don’t look north “ of the Mason Dixon line bullshit.
Wake the fuck up and realize there certainly are rust free TJ’s up here. Just have to sort through them a little more.
