Not a TJ Owner..... Yet

The paint could very well be an aftermarket respray that was done improperly. Maybe one of the guys on here who paints, such as @Stinger could chime in as to why paint does that. It could be factory paint that has just been poorly maintained though.

A lot of things could be causing that feeling of the rear body leaning or shifting. Could be bad control arm bushings, track bar bushings, etc, etc.

A body lift or old springs aren't going to cause that feeling though, that's or sure.

I wouldn't buy it, plain and simple. Her price is too high, way too high. Walk away from it, because you're going to dump thousands into it (I'll bet you money on that) to get it to where it's running right. You're in Nevada, and there's plenty of rust free Wranglers in Nevada, Arizona and the Southwest. Be patient and find one that doesn't have any issues at all. The price she is asking is what one would go for with good paint and NO issues.
 
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Thank Chris.. I appreciate all the advise. Im going to go look at a 99 TJ with 6 cylinder, manual, sahara model with 141K. Guy wants 7k or best offer. The guys said there's no rust, no accidents, runs good. He said it does have a very small leak between the rear of the motor, front of the transmission. Sounds like the main seal. He said the leak very minor and has never had to add oil between services.The guy said that he has kept up with all the maintenance on it and runs good. A friend of mine knows the guy and my friend says he takes really good care of his vehicles. I don't know, we'll see. I look at it as I get to go look at another jeep to get more experience.
 
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cKc99 said:
Thank Chris.. I appreciate all the advise. Im going to go look at a 99 TJ with 6 cylinder, manual, sahara model with 141K. Guy wants 7k or best offer. The guys said there's no rust, no accidents, runs good. He said it does have a very small leak between the rear of the motor, front of the transmission. Sounds like the main seal. He said the leak very minor and has never had to add oil between services.The guy said that he has kept up with all the maintenance on it and runs good. A friend of mine knows the guy and my friend says he takes really good care of his vehicles. I don't know, we'll see. I look at it as I get to go look at another jeep to get more experience.
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That could be a good buy. The 4.0 is notorious for rear main seal leaks. Fortunately it's a relatively easy fix. Most mechanics would charge between $300 to $400 to fix it including parts and labor.
 
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cKc99 said:
So I found a 2003 Wrangler X, 4.0L, automatic,with 96k on it. She's asking $10,250 obo. The interior is really nice and it runs really well. It kinda feels like it has been regeared. Didn't see any leaks any where, little surface rust on the frame.

Concerns I have is the paint is like spider webbing, hard to explain but it's The entire body. Almost like the clearcoat is cracking.

Also, when I drove it, while making turns, it felt like rear or the body was leaning or shifting. When I asked her about the lift she said she didn't know anything about it, the previous owner put it on. The front looks like it's a pro comp coil springs and shocks. The rear looked like they could of been old coil springs. It also had transfer case lowering kit. Not sure if it had a body lift.

Would a body lift or old springs cause that feeling? If I replace the lift kit with one I want,do you think that would make that go away?
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My black 02' had the same spider webbing issue in the clear coat. Mine started showing up in year 5 (I bought it new). Although mine was only on the hood. It never showed up anywhere else on the body.
 
My main seal was fixed two times in ONE YEAR! The second time the shop did it for free, honoring their work. But since they used a shit seal from AutoZone, the main is leaking again, a little over a year after the second fix! Needless to say, I won't be going back to them. This time it'll be DIY job. Luckily it's leaking very, very little.


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So I checked the 99 TJ out tonight. Not as "clean" as described. Price was $7,250 by the time I picked the Jeep apart, I got him him down to $6500 and I think I could even go low as $6250. He shut me down at $6k.

Here's the good. It is super solid, no rust at all. It's a Nevada Jeep. It runs good, clutch felt nice and tight.

The bad... there is an oil leak on the back side of the motor, on the passenger side. It looks like it could be coming from the valve cover and/or the oil pressure sending unit. I can't tell if there's a leak at the main seal or not because of this oil leak.

When shifting gears, it shifts good in all gears but a little difficult to go into third, but that could be me not use to it.

When driving it, it sounds like it's almost whining or like it's in 4 wheel drive.

The shifter boot keeps popping out of place and under it look like there's suppose to be a cover plate or something. I can see all the way through it. At some point, someone used duct tape to cover the hole.

The oil pressure gauge is stuck at 80. Long story short, I walked away from it.
 
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Good choice on walking away. That's got a lot of things wrong with it.

The oil leak is an easy fix, probably $400 or so. The difficult shifts are syncros in the transmission going bad, which means a transmission build. The whining noise you hear is likely from the differentials, which means they probably need to be rebuild.

Realistically, you'd probably have to put $6000 into it to get it where it needs to be. At that amount, you're better off just buying a TJ that doesn't have any issues.
 
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Being out in Jersey w all the rust issues and the overpriced Jeeps, @6k, NO rust, w a small leak and a noisy trans, I'd probably cop it.

When I bought my TJ it had a noisy, whining trans. I ran it for 75k before I got sick of hearing it and replaced the trans outright for under 2k. But I loved the color and it came w all the options (except lockers) that I wanted at that time. Again- that's me.
Being where you're at, you've likely got a wide range of choices for clean TJ's.


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Found another one I want to run by you guys. Photos attached. 2001 Sahara, 4.0L automatic with 135k miles. Basically stock. Hardtop, soft top, a/c, theft deterrent system and a lift system to remove and install the hardtop. Owner bought it couple years back for her daughter. The owner bought it from the the original owner and the reason she is selling it is because her daughter doesn't like how much gas it uses. Jeep is originally from Nevada, so no rust. New tires, battery cables, water pump, thermostat, radiator, main seal, oil pan gasket, shocks, brakes, spark plugs, brake box?, water pump, A/C. Asking 11k OBO.

The owner stated that when she bought it from the original owner, he had it parked in his garage for a few years so she had her mechanic look it over and they had him replace all the above parts. She said it cost her around $2,500. She also said she has all the paperwork from the original owner.

The issues the owner has told me so far, after the Jeep sits a while, you have to turn the key 2 or 3 times and then it starts right up. Battery cable gets loose after driving it a while and one scuffed fender flare.

I'm pretty excited about this one. What do you guys think?

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cKc99 said:
Found another one I want to run by you guys. Photos attached. 2001 Sahara, 4.0L automatic with 135k miles. Basically stock. Hardtop, soft top, a/c, theft deterrent system and a lift system to remove and install the hardtop. Owner bought it couple years back for her daughter. The owner bought it from the the original owner and the reason she is selling it is because her daughter doesn't like how much gas it uses. Jeep is originally from Nevada, so no rust. New tires, battery cables, water pump, thermostat, radiator, main seal, oil pan gasket, shocks, brakes, spark plugs, brake box?, water pump, A/C. Asking 11k OBO.

The owner stated that when she bought it from the original owner, he had it parked in his garage for a few years so she had her mechanic look it over and they had him replace all the above parts. She said it cost her around $2,500. She also said she has all the paperwork from the original owner.

The issues the owner has told me so far, after the Jeep sits a while, you have to turn the key 2 or 3 times and then it starts right up. Battery cable gets loose after driving it a while and one scuffed fender flare.

I'm pretty excited about this one. What do you guys think?
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It looks extremely clean and well cared for from the the photos. The seats and carpeting look immaculate. If you have all the records, the two tops and you like it (the most important part). I'd say go for it. 11K might be a little high but you should be able to get it for 10K (or around that price).
 
Damn... if at as clean as it looks in person with all those maintenance records and little to no rust, I would be ALL over that!

Offer her $500 less just to see if she takes it (assuming it's clean), but be prepared to pay full price if need be!
 
Did you happen to notice or ask if it had a Dana 44 rear axle? Not a deal breaker, but if it did, with all the other things you listed, I would be waiting on their front porch with cash in hand.

White Jeeps are one of my favorites. Judging from that garage, I can see why the Jeep is so well kept.

Edit - never mind...
 
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I love it!! Esp that its white. 11k seems a little high, I was in sales for quite a while and when selling private party my rule of thumb was ask 1500 more than what u want. I would have someone check out that "turn key 3 time to start" thing. Good luck man, the way that looks she might get asking price but it looks worth it.


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So I drove 2 1/5 hours to find out it wasn't anything like described. The main seal was leaking, a knocking noise under the motor, ticking noise on the the top of the motor, leak from the radiator, radiator had not been replaced, the turn signal had issues and the brakes had issues. I won't bother describing the cosmetic issues.

The ignition issue was when the motor is cold, it cranks 4-5 seconds before it starts. Once its warm, it starts right up.

I went and looked at another one while I was down there. Really nice 2002 with low miles but the control arm was wobbled out, and it overheated while I was looking at it. Came home empty handed. Oh well, I just keep looking.
 
cKc99 said:
So I drove 2 1/5 hours to find out it wasn't anything like described. The main seal was leaking, a knocking noise under the motor, ticking noise on the the top of the motor, leak from the radiator, radiator had not been replaced, the turn signal had issues and the brakes had issues. I won't bother describing the cosmetic issues.

I went and looked at another one while I was down there. Really nice 2002 with low miles but the control arm was wobbled out, and it overheated while I was looking at it. Came home empty handed. Oh well, I just keep looking.
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Wow... one thing I can't stand is shady sellers who make there cars sound way better than they are in the ads. All of those issues should have been disclosed in the original ad.
 
cKc99 said:
So I drove 2 1/5 hours to find out it wasn't anything like described. The main seal was leaking, a knocking noise under the motor, ticking noise on the the top of the motor, leak from the radiator, radiator had not been replaced, the turn signal had issues and the brakes had issues. I won't bother describing the cosmetic issues.
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Wow! That sucks having driven 2 1/2 hours just to find out that it wasn't what was advertised. I know it's a silly rhetorical question but why in the world aren't people up front with what they're selling? The minute someone shows up to look at it all of the hidden crap is going to become painfully obvious.

Sorry :-(
 
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