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95 xj 5-spd, price?

J

JohnR

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Laredo, Texas
I found a straight-bodied 95 (build date 1-95) for $2,500. It has a 4.0, is 4x4, with the 8.25 rear end. Not sure on the gears, that tag has long since rusted away. This was a Maine vehicle, so there is some rust spots. The back half of the passenger side rocker is pretty much missing (still there, but I removed about 2x4" of it with my finger). It has 175,000 miles on it, but runs damn strong and smooth, not sure if there is a newer engine in there. It feels like it had more power than my old Wrangler. I have a lead for a 29-spline 3.55 8.25" for 500 at a junkyard, so I'm pretty sure i'm going with that. What do you guys think? It was obviously a girl's car, as it still has the owner's manual, and little punky-fairy stickers everywhere :hang:. It has a 5-speed as well, shifts smoothly, seems like all the synchro's work just fine. The chassis rails front and back are straight as can be, and don't seem to have any rust on them.

My questions are, this has the fiberglass hatch right? Could I get a metal one from the junkyard and bolt the new one up? Secondly, the hood latches (on the side) were obviously rusted shut, and when they opened them, they got stuck in the open position, so only the middle latch is holding the hood down. The latches themselves are fine, but it's the bracket in the middle that the cable connects too that rusted up. How hard would it be to fab up a new one?
 
JohnR said:
I found a straight-bodied 95 (build date 1-95) for $2,500. It has a 4.0, is 4x4, with the 8.25 rear end. Not sure on the gears, that tag has long since rusted away. This was a Maine vehicle, so there is some rust spots. The back half of the passenger side rocker is pretty much missing (still there, but I removed about 2x4" of it with my finger). It has 175,000 miles on it, but runs damn strong and smooth, not sure if there is a newer engine in there. It feels like it had more power than my old Wrangler. I have a lead for a 29-spline 3.55 8.25" for 500 at a junkyard, so I'm pretty sure i'm going with that. What do you guys think? It was obviously a girl's car, as it still has the owner's manual, and little punky-fairy stickers everywhere :hang:. It has a 5-speed as well, shifts smoothly, seems like all the synchro's work just fine. The chassis rails front and back are straight as can be, and don't seem to have any rust on them.

My questions are, this has the fiberglass hatch right? Could I get a metal one from the junkyard and bolt the new one up? Secondly, the hood latches (on the side) were obviously rusted shut, and when they opened them, they got stuck in the open position, so only the middle latch is holding the hood down. The latches themselves are fine, but it's the bracket in the middle that the cable connects too that rusted up. How hard would it be to fab up a new one?
Click to expand...

Gears are 3.07
What year was your wrangler. In 91, they switched to a high output engine and gained around 20+ horse power.

The metal hatches were on the 97+ and ups and will not bolt up.
 
Well, I think I'm going to go through it with anyways. Sucks about the gears, means I have to get front and rear for even more. Junkyards here suck.

Anyhow, prices for them down here are hugely inflated. They go straight to Mexico for top-dollar. Grand Cherokees are widely available, but I really don't like them.
 
It seems a little high, but that's from the Vermont perspective, where I would guess this one would go for half that. I have a 95 5 speed with bad rust and 260K miles that runs fine, but it would be hard even to give it away.

For the hood latches, usually a lot of oil and a lot of wiggling around will get them back in action. Just get some vise grips on the rod that connects them, oil the crap out of them, and move the rod back and forth 50 times, and it will usually limber up. If the latches were closed with the hood open you need to put a screwdriver into the latch and pull it open again before it will latch. But don't do that until you're sure you can unlatch the hood. Someone may have done that on purpose to prevent the hood from latching and getting stuck. You can take the latches themselves off and soak them, or replace them. Don't neglect the cable. Sometimes the cable rusts inside the sheath, and the first symptom is that you have to push the knob back in to allow the hood to latch. The second symptom is that the cable breaks and you will have a frustrating time opening the hood from beneath or through the headlight holes (plenty of posts in the archive on this).

Pity you're so far from Vermont, land of cheap beater vehicles. You could likely get an entire rustbucket XJ with good 3.55 axles for what you're paying for the one.
 
As long as you limit yourself to just shopping Laredo, then you are stuck with Laredo prices. Plus your point about going to Mexico could be valid since a lot of cars end up there without their owners. A friend still hasn't found his daughter's xj since being stolen in Austin. Yet the price of your vehicle with the rust issues noted is high. Consider expanding your shopping area. Check out craigslist from Houston to Albuquerque and north to Dallas. Get your deal and tow it home if necessary. Austin has several available and it's only five hours from you. You don't live in the rust belt so why buy a car from there. I'd let this one go if I were you. There will always be another, and usually better and priced right. Rust is possibly the biggest dealbreaker on any vehicle...even if those frame rails look ok, that crap can hide everywhere.
 
Last edited:
I have been constantly browsing austin, sanantonio, houston, and corpuschristi.craigslist.com. Been looking at mysanantonio.com and some other websites that "read" sanantonio's dealerships also. I drove up to SA last week, drove around for 250 miles, and found crappy, overpriced cherokees. I'm about to pull my hair out
 
That's high. My rig is comparably equipped (97 4.0, 5spd, 3.07's, 150k miles, and C 8.25). It had minimal rust (2- 1X2" spots). I paid $3k two years ago. I doubt that's worth over $2k in the condition you described.

You can find a 91-95 XJ for $2-3k any day of the week...I would pass on one that requires much over minor repairs.
 
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