Too good to be true?

[t00th]

long story short, my TJ was stolen a week ago and I need to replace it. The one linked below looks suuuuper clean and really great price. Frame looks like you could eat off of it, was recently cleaned and painted but does look like they did an excellent job. Is there any way for me to tell if the frame is hiding rust on the inside? Any other places it may be hiding that they could’ve missed or that the pristine sections would distract me from?

Based on it being in much better condition and lower price than everything else I’ve seen, I’m pretty close to ready to pull trig on this like ASAP.

2003 Jeep Wrangler
https://york.craigslist.org/cto/d/york-springs-2003-jeep-wrangler/7206530288.html

 

[Chris]

Looks pretty good to me. There's some rust on the tub underneath, but it looks very easy to address.

I would say that thing is priced to move.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Take a small hammer to tap around on the frame to listen for dead spots indicating a problem under the paint.

 

[Flivver250]

Every Jeep up north is suspect. Proceed with caution. It does look like someone paid attention to the frame.

 

[Irun]

Do yourself a favor and pay the money to run a Carfax before you buy. This will tell you where the Jeep lived over its life and what the title status is. Also, make sure to check behind the add-on Rubicon rocker guards (you can look at the rocker area from underneath the Jeep). The rockers have a tendency to rust, especially the passenger side. Also use a flashlight to check the area around and above the gas tank. Other than that, frame, frame frame!

 

[taylormade73]

Outside of the frame means little as ut can be easily seen. Its not going to rot out under the exterior paint without having already rotted from the inside. Therefore, the most important areas to check are inside the frame. Stick your fingers and a camera in every frame hole. Check for uneveness. Inside should feel and look smooth.

 

[glowell222]

Looks good to me at that price and condition. As Chris noted, one of the torque boxes might need to be closely checked (probably the driver's side but hard to say from these pics).

 

[Kevin Q]

CL ad deleted. York is a funny area because you get a lot of folks from the south. Sometimes you can find a solid frame.

 

[RobertJ]

I've never been one to advocate pounding on a TJ's frame with a hammer when it's someone else's property. I'm always kind of surprised to see this response, and as much as I appreciate Jerry's advice on this forum I disagree with him on that.

Do yourself a favor and get a cheap inspection camera with a light and inspect it that way when you find one you like. I think I got mine at Harbor Freight, and it's a fun little toy if nothing else.

 

[TheBoogieman]

It must have good since it's gone.

 

[TWiG01]

Did you buy it OP? Seems like someone did, or they just deleted the ad

 

[jeepguy03]

It must have good since it's gone.

If you see a good Jeep, you have to drive there THAT DAY.

 

[t00th]

Really really appreciate everyone’s responses and insights and I’ll keep it all in mind next time. And there WILL be a next time. The guy posted it at 6:30pm, I saw and contacted at 11:30, he let me know it was being seen the next morning and I was second in line, it was sold to first buyer by 8:30 am. I had a feeling.

 

[TheBoogieman]

View attachment 193909

If you see a good Jeep, you have to drive there THAT DAY.

SO TRUE! My Rubi would have been gone within 8 hours of the craigslist posting to someone else IF I hadn't brought cash on a Sunday. Thankfully I had just sold my 00' Sahara and had the cash on me. When I list my Jeeps, they all sell within a week. 9 times out of 10, I change my mind because I don't really want to sell them. If I see a really nice Jeep for a decent price and it hasn't sold within 5 days, I know something is wrong with it. I always get my asking price and have made a profit on most of them. At least 15.

 

[TheBoogieman]

Really really appreciate everyone’s responses and insights and I’ll keep it all in mind next time. And there WILL be a next time. The guy posted it at 6:30pm, I saw and contacted at 11:30, he let me know it was being seen the next morning and I was second in line, it was sold to first buyer by 8:30 am. I had a feeling.

I recently saw a rust free, garage kept, one owner local Sahara with 148,000 miles for $5,800 FIRM. I emailed him asap, because he didn't post a phone number on Craigslist. It sold to the first guy that answered the ad. I don't need another Jeep, but I buy and sell them if I can make a few bucks. I could have easily got $8,000 for it.

 

[WallyWest]

I've never been one to advocate pounding on a TJ's frame with a hammer when it's someone else's property. I'm always kind of surprised to see this response, and as much as I appreciate Jerry's advice on this forum I disagree with him on that.

If the frame is in even decent shape a hammer is not going to hurt it.

If it's not, the hammer is the least of it's problems.

I agree a scope is better, but as a seller I don't care at all if someone smacks the frame with anything short of a jackhammer.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

Take a small hammer to tap around on the frame to listen for dead spots indicating a problem under paint.

I've never been one to advocate pounding on a TJ's frame with a hammer when it's someone else's property. I'm always kind of surprised to see this response, and as much as I appreciate Jerry's advice on this forum I disagree with him on that.

When using something hard, tapping and pounding are two different things.

Just in case anyone's mind is in the gutter, I'm just saying we could probably do that tapping with something about the size and weight of a 1/2" drive socket but the pounding would require something much heavier. Hammers in either scenario are acceptable.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

I've never been one to advocate pounding on a TJ's frame with a hammer when it's someone else's property. I'm always kind of surprised to see this response, and as much as I appreciate Jerry's advice on this forum I disagree with him on that.

Hold on there, I never recommended he "pound" on the frame. Don't change or mischaracterize what I said. I specifically recommended he "take a small hammer to tap around on the frame"... totally different.

Take a small hammer to tap around on the frame to listen for dead spots indicating a problem under the paint.

 

[1J4FY]

Hold on there, I never recommended he "pound" on the frame. Don't change or mischaracterize what I said. I specifically recommended he "take a small hammer to tap around on the frame"... totally different.

Agreed. This is commonplace on boat surveys and those are typically fiberglass, not steel like the Jeep's frame.

If the seller won't let you lightly tap a JEEP with a small hammer then you probably don't want that Jeep.