Looking at getting my first ever wrangler! I need your help!

Kerolos

Kerolos

New Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Messages
9
Location
Massachusetts, United States
Hey guys, I am new on here and I need help with a wrangler I am looking at. I read many threads about what to look for when physically looking at it but I wanted to run it by you guys. this is going to be my daily driver. i live in massacheusetts, i commute quite a bit to college and work. i dont care much for comfort and im getting this to go to cool places and have adventures with my girlfriend. here is the posting. with some pics.its by a private party. haven't seen it yet. I'm going today. and it comes with a hard top so no extra money will Be spent before winter

thank you so much and sorry if I said anything obnoxious. I'm new to this

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Looks wise, I'd do away with that light bar, the snorkel, and that ugly bra on the front end, but that's just personal preference. It looks good, and it might be clean, but who knows what's lurking under that bra.

I've said it before though, and I'll say it again... Unless we can see photos of the underside, I can't give you a real answer. If that underside is rusted out, then it's not worth even $1000 and you'd be better off walking away. Rust should always be the determining factor on whether you buy these vehicles or not.

Also... I'm confused about why it has three tops... Does it come with a hard top as well? And air suspension?
 
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Well, you're kinda stuck with the snorkel, but not a deal breaker. Looks like it has JK 17" wheels/tires? By chance was this jeep set up to be flat towing behind an RV? Would explain the bra and fender protection. If the frame is clean, looks like a decent buy. 03 Sahara might have the coveted Dana 44 rear.
 
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Nice color, looks clean.
Trying to decipher the write up and it sounds like it has:
Auto trans
A/C
Door Locks?
Three tops
Frame in great shape with no patches
158k miles
Navigation system
Air (again?)
Suspension

It's a pretty good place to start, and that color! Just wow. One of my favorites.

Loose the light bar, bra (Jeeps should run braless) and that snorkle. It would be worth replacing and color matching a new fender to get rid of that thing.

I agree with @bobthetj03 that it was probably a toad.

CHECK THE FRAME! Post up close up pictures of the frame and suspension parts if you can so the experts here can chime in on condition. If the frame is reasonably clean, go for it. Almost everything else on that would be fixable.
 
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Chris said:
Looks wise, I'd do away with that light bar, the snorkel, and that ugly bra on the front end, but that's just personal preference. It looks good, and it might be clean, but who knows what's lurking under that bra.

I've said it before though, and I'll say it again... Unless we can see photos of the underside, I can't give you a real answer. If that underside is rusted out, then it's not worth even $1000 and you'd be better off walking away. Rust should always be the determining factor on whether you buy these vehicles or not.

Also... I'm confused about why it has three tops... Does it come with a hard top as well? And air suspension?
Click to expand...


so the car will come with a soft, hard, and bikini top. I checked it out yesterday and the car is amazing. paint is good. interior is good, engine and fluids are good. will check under the bra tomorrow when I get more time with it. the only rust is a very tiny amount near the bottom of the drivers side door and it's rust that I believe can be treated cause it's just surface rust and it's not much. the frame looks good rust wise and I will post photos tomorrow of the entire bottom. the car drives fine. the steering feel loose. idk if that's normal or not. I currently own a semi new coupe so i realize that the steering is gonna be different. the air suspension looks something like this.
he never used it and got the car like that so we don't know what's up with that.

The weird:
The cars underside frame does look good but I saw some crusty paint on the bottom and I peeled some off to find no rust under. not sure if that's the original or new paint so I'm gonna leave it to the pics to decide. and my girlfriends dad who is coming to see it tomorrow and is an auto damage appraiser.
another weird thing was this weird whining high pitched noise happening when we drove. I could not figure out what it was and he refused to acknowledge it but said he will fix anything wrong with it before the sale. the noise was not coming from the engine from the sound of it. maybe it's a jeep thing with the soft top. because I noticed it got louder when I opened up the windows even more.

overall the car is good besides those weird things. got aftermarket nav, auto lock, auto start, body is good etc. let me know if u need more infor and what you think Chris. thanks man
 
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I know Sahara's come with body color fenders and wondering if it's not a true Sahara. Take the vin number and check to make sure what you are really buying.
 
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The TJ transfer cases can be a bit noisy if you aren't used to a 4 wheel drive vehicle. And the steering in our TJ's are loose by the design of the steering linkage. Almost a dead spot if you will in the wheel.
 
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bobthetj03 said:
Well, you're kinda stuck with the snorkel, but not a deal breaker. Looks like it has JK 17" wheels/tires? By chance was this jeep set up to be flat towing behind an RV? Would explain the bra and fender protection. If the frame is clean, looks like a decent buy. 03 Sahara might have the coveted Dana 44 rear.
Click to expand...
very likely to be honest from the type of person the first owner was. anything I should look out for with those. is it bad in any way?
 
The Dana 44 has this shape with a steel threaded hex plug to add oil. The Dana 35 is round with a rubber fill plug.
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That's awesome that it comes with a hard top too, that adds value right there. I don't know man, if that frame is pretty much rust free, I would say that you have a solid Jeep for a great price on your hands.

If it has a Dana 44 rear end, that sweetens the deal even more!
 
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I hope it works out for you. It's a nice TJ that doesn't look like there's anything "unfixable" wrong with it. The only further advice I can offer is if you get it, drive it awhile before throwing mods at it.
 
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so when it came time to see the tj again the guy was being shady. completely butchered the plan and said he would drive it to us for my gfs dad to look at it. he was being an ass on the phone and the rubber paint on the bottom of the car was a turn off. so I started looking again and I found a jk. not sure if I'm allowed to post on here about that or not but here goes I guess. it's rusty. the frame seems decent tho. the shocks will be changed right away almost cause they are rusted and I want a lift.

The car is mint and very stock. everything works no leaks etc. it's a right hand drive x with aux and the basics. non unlimited cause unlimited is ugly
this is by a dealership that deals a ton of wrangler. very professional guys and the car was serviced.

I know it's not a tj but any help is good

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Oh man... walk away from that thing. Way too much rust under there!!! Huge red flag!

Not to mention that I'm assuming it's a 07-11 JK? If so, it has the dreaded, horrible, and very problem prone 3.8 minivan engine. I wouldn't touch a JK unless it was a 2012+ with the 3.6 Pentastar engine. But I certainly wouldn't touch that thing with all the rust. There's a reason they are offloading that for so cheap.
 
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