Help me with an offer on this Jeep, Please.

[Conrad906]

I'm going to drive this Jeep in the next day or two and I want to know what you guys think I should offer for it. The guy was very honest with me about it and he gave me some room to bargain with him.

Here it is.

2002 Wrangler X
104k
4.0 I6
Auto
Brand new soft top


The bad:
-R.Front fender is aftermarket... its missing the Jeep logos. Paint matches.
-1 tire is almost slick. The other three are almost new.
-It has no rear seat.

He's got it listed for $8600. Already told me, "I'm not stuck on that price, I'm probably looking for about $8k on it."

What do ya'll think?

 

[superj]

been doing alot of burn outs, that is the drive tire, i think.

 

[xt master]

I am a little confused on this.

I dont think there is any logo's on the fender.

If you are looking at the passenger side where it does not say Jeep.That is part of the tub itself.Only way you would lose that is if some one cut and welded in a new piece of metal.

 

[Tazz]

Thats a pretty nice looking jeep, With just the info. you gave the kelly blue book has it valued at $8,640 even without rear seat, value will go up alittle if it has power locks, cd player, ect.ect. $8,000 is a good buy, just remember you can start low and then come up. Good luck

 

[Jeepergeo]

You need to figure out why oe tire is bald and the fender has been replaced. Sounds to me like it has been wrecked and not fully repaired. The worn tire could be a sign of serious misalignment, and possibly the tire was rotated to hide it.

All that said, if all is true, it can still probably be fixed. I would assume you'll need or want to do about $1K in work on it, so make sure you get it at a price that will allow you to do the work.

 

[jfrabat]

If you are looking at the passenger side where it does not say Jeep.That is part of the tub itself.Only way you would lose that is if some one cut and welded in a new piece of metal.

This is the part that I would worry about as well... No Jeep logo (in the metal itself) means metal work (major!) was done to this rig, which is not a good sign. I think this Jeep has had some accidents in its past. Check twice, and check well!

 

[xt master]

It may be worth your time and money to check on car fax for any magor accidents.

 

[rubn1out]

See...this is what kills me about Us jeep people....we boast of climbing trails as high as everest....toppling rocks the size of houses....forge through the deepest revines and swamp mud....All for bragging rights in the name of JEEP ownership validity...just about anything you could possibly due to void a warranty on any vehicle....twist it's frame....knock it out of alignment.... and in the same forum let alone the same paragraph....scrutinize the very same vehicle for some sheet metal work?!?!?! after all I've read and seen here? I think the missing "JEEP" logo is the LEAST of your worries! lol!

 

[superj]

i was thinking it looks like they were removing the badges for hte sleeper look. that way no one would know what type of vehicle it was

 

[rubn1out]

oh yeah...Suzuki Samurai was my first gues until i saw the driver's side....

 

[Jason4x4]

As mentioned before, the Jeep logo he is referring to is in the tub, not the fender. So the fender may or may not be factory, but there is something else going on that the owner is not telling you about. I'm not necessarily saying you should walk, but you definitely need to let the owner know you know that something is up and find out what's really going on. If he tries to play dumb, then I would walk.

 

[Jason4x4]

i was thinking it looks like they were removing the badges for hte sleeper look. that way no one would know what type of vehicle it was

If this were the case, why would he leave the "Wrangler" decal near the antenna?

 

[jakec]

the sheetmetal work isnt the issue, the reason for the work is. if it was wrecked bad enough to need that done what else could be going on. looking at the jeep it doesnt look like it was ever driven off the pavement so its not like he leaned into a rock while wheeling or something like that it is more likely a wreck. if the bald tire came from the pass side front also there could be all kinds of problems with the chassis. maybe not but id check it very carefully.

 

[superj]

i was playing when i said the debagding deal, a bit of humor for the thread but as always, internet gets in the way of comedy.

just tell the dude it looks odd that this stuff was replaced and the one tire is worn out. you want to know why all the work was done. tell him it won't necessarily keep you from buying it but not knowing why will surely keep you from buying it. tell him you have no problem if there are issues but you need to know them up front so you can be ready to handle them versus learning them on your own, which you are not willing to do. tell him if he can give you no answer as to why stuff was replaced and why one tire is bald, your walking because the appearance is that the jeep was wrecked and not put back together properly and you would like to not assume something that might be what happened

 

[Conrad906]

Alright, here's what I've found out so far.

The jeep was bought at auction. He is a John Deere salesman who deals 4x4's recreationally on the side. I know it shouldnt matter, but I went to his house to look at and drive the jeep... lets just say he's not hurting for money. I took it out on the trail around his lake that sits on 10 acres. He seems to be very honest person.
That being said, I haven't checked the carfax yet, but will. He says the title is clean, and that he knows it was wrecked and his mechanic pointed out the missing Jeep embossment... he also pointed it out to me.

The used tires were put on there because when he bought it, it had cheap chrome rims and low-pro tires on it. I saw one of the tires... they did, indeed, look dumb, so i understand why he put the tires on it that he did... purely asthetic. In fact, you can see one of the old tires in this pic.

Also, my hunch is that the rear seat was removed for a speaker box... and most likely sold. But that's just a hyphothesis.

So, that's what I can add to the puzzle now.

 

[Jeepergeo]

If this were the case, why would he leave the "Wrangler" decal near the antenna?

So others would know the vehicle driver is a cowboy, and that his real transportation is a horse.

 

[jackflack44]

Rofl

 

[Conrad906]

Well Shit. We can kill this thread. Just carfaxed it. So much for him being hones. It's got a salvaged title.

 

[jackflack44]

Sorry about that man. Keep looking!

 

[Conrad906]

Apparently the salvaged title got washed in mississippi before it went to auction. It somehow got issued a new clean title. I wonder how you can do that.