Trying to find a low mileage XJ...

Does anyone know about a dealer in Marietta, GA named Auto Fleet Remarketing? Here is the Jeep I'm looking at:

http://autos.yahoo.com/usedcars/detail/index.html?cid=automobiles-224460044&dst=241.19&rsr=Yj0mbWFrZT1KRUVQJm1vZGVsPUNIRVImY2xfeT0xOTk5JmNoX3k9MTk5OSZjbF9wcmljZT0mY2hfcHJpY2U9JmNsX21pPSZjaF9taT0yNTAwMCZjaz0mZ3VyPTMwMCZjc3o9MjgyMTAmdnR5cGU9YXV0b3MmbWs9SmVlcCZtbz1DaGVyb2tlZQ--

I had a buddy in ATL go look at it for me and he didn't get a good feeling about it. The main thing being that it had 3 different types of tires and electrical issues. This dealer has about 12 low mileage XJ's lined up but my buddy said he thinks they're all roaches.

The one I linked above is an SE and this one has the full instrument panel, not the idiot cluster. Was this standard on the 99 SEs? Or do you think it was switched out?:dunno:

Sounds like car fax may be your friend with this guy. Can the DMV run the vin and give the previous mileage on the title?

Here's the carfax:

Date:Mileage:Source:Comments:08/16/2002 12,256 Service Facility Vehicle serviced
Air conditioning serviced 05/17/2007 22,550 Auto Auction Sold at auction
in Texas
Listed as
a fleet vehicle

Carfax sucks, don't waste your time. Have a mechanic look at the Jeep.

This guy sells old fleet vehicles, probably highway department, police, forest service mainly. These vehicles probably saw some hard usage in their low mileage, and are gonna be rather poorly equipped.

I'd take one with higher mileage from a private party. Look for one that a little old lady only wheeled to church on sunday.

IslanderOffRoad said:

Carfax sucks, don't waste your time. Have a mechanic look at the Jeep.

This guy sells old fleet vehicles, probably highway department, police, forest service mainly. These vehicles probably saw some hard usage in their low mileage, and are gonna be rather poorly equipped.

I'd take one with higher mileage from a private party. Look for one that a little old lady only wheeled to church on sunday.

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From my experience, Carfax has been helpful in finding accidents and verifying mileage.

This particular Jeep has a clean body and interior. There's some mud spots on the engine indicating some off-roading. But, seriously, how much hard usuage can you put an XJ through that wouldn't damage the paint or interior? If it just sat around for years, which it obviously did, maybe some disgruntled/teenage employees took it for a spin a few times, but is that really that bad? Some people suggest breaking in an engine by going WOT from mile 1. I'm going to travel down there to see what these XJs look like, I may change my mind pretty quickly.

Sitting around not being used can be just as bad as high mileage. Parts tend to go bad if the vehicle isn't driven, and moisture/condensation can ruin the electrical contacts. Engine & tranny seals dry out and bearings become bone-dry, increasing wear when they're started. The vehicle could have also been driven on a lot of 2-mile trips, increasing carbon inside the engine.

Personally I think you can do better, unless you're buying it as a project vehicle. There's no roof rack and it has spartan rims.

Kelly Blue Book lists this as $7350 SRV and that's in excellent condition.

Wow, I just paid 4k for a 99 Sport.

KEEP LOOKING.

I'd rather buy one with more miles that's been well taken care of than buy one that's been rode hard and put away wet.

CLTSV650 said:

From my experience, Carfax has been helpful in finding accidents and verifying mileage.

This particular Jeep has a clean body and interior. There's some mud spots on the engine indicating some off-roading. But, seriously, how much hard usuage can you put an XJ through that wouldn't damage the paint or interior? If it just sat around for years, which it obviously did, maybe some disgruntled/teenage employees took it for a spin a few times, but is that really that bad? Some people suggest breaking in an engine by going WOT from mile 1. I'm going to travel down there to see what these XJs look like, I may change my mind pretty quickly.

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Carfax isn't foolproof. A friend has a 97 sport that has a 96 front clip on it. He got a Carfax report on it, and it came up clean. It just showed a one owner vehicle, no accidents or theft. He didn't know about the body style change until after he bought it.

carfax showed nothing for my jeep either, and it has been in two car accidents.

Bzamora said:

Sitting around not being used can be just as bad as high mileage. Parts tend to go bad if the vehicle isn't driven, and moisture/condensation can ruin the electrical contacts. Engine & tranny seals dry out and bearings become bone-dry, increasing wear when they're started. The vehicle could have also been driven on a lot of 2-mile trips, increasing carbon inside the engine.

Personally I think you can do better, unless you're buying it as a project vehicle. There's no roof rack and it has spartan rims.

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Thank you. That is what I needed to hear.

I know carfax can't put everything out there. It's almost impossible to report something that the owner fixed with his own money at a small body shop. But some information is better than no information.

I found a local 98 Limited w/ 91k that has been in the same family and has been girl-driven for the last 50k miles. She says her brother drove it before her and was "really meticulous". Supposedly it has never been off-road and maintained regularly. The carfax backs the maintenance and mileage. It's in dang good condition. Looks like the oil pan needs a new gasket, no biggie. How much should I end up paying for this? (AW4, NP242, not sure of rear)

CLTSV650 said:

From my experience, Carfax has been helpful in finding accidents and verifying mileage.

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Not from mine.

I bought what I thought was an incredible low mileage 03 Mustang GT in January 2004. It had 6k miles on it, bought it at a dealer, they ran the carfax which showed nothing.

In January 2006 I looked at trading the car in on a Mustang Cobra. The dealer ran the carfax, and it came back with a hit for frame damage, and a date from before I bought the car. Turns out carfax didn't get the report until about a year after I bought the car. I wasn't protected. Matter of fact I was screwed because it cut my trade in value from 13k to 7k.

I called carfax, they refuse to stand by their garuntee unless its flood damage or salvage title. I know I'm not the only one who has had this experience.

I won't pay for carfax anymore because their "history report" is not worth the paper its printed on.

I suggest everyone else do the same so you dont get screwed.

6,600 retail value in good condition

CLTSV650 said:

I found a local 98 Limited w/ 91k that has been in the same family and has been girl-driven for the last 50k miles. She says her brother drove it before her and was "really meticulous".

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Ignore everything the seller is telling you and go on either a) the seat of your pants; b) your own eyes and senses (see a) above); or c) what a mechanic capable of making an independent assessment tells you.

Some of the worst vehicles I've ever owned could easily fall into the "girl-owned" category. Not that men are necessarily any better in this regard (males are the worst botchers on the face of the planet), but I note that women tend to run vehicles into the ground in a different way to men. "One lady owner" can equally easily mean "the car my grandmother gently drove to church every Sunday, followed by a quick trip to the grocery store," or "this is the car we gave our 17-year-old-daughter before she went to college and sunk eight grand into keeping it running over four years because it was a better idea than being stuck with a bail-out clause from the payments every time she failed to have the fluids changed."

Male vehicle: "Leaks oil, but they all do that. Shifts rough, but about average for this mileage. That white stuff around the filler cap is because it's been parked for a few days."

In short, DO NOT TRUST A SELLER'S DESCRIPTION. Drive it, see what you think, and go from there. Buying a used vehicle is always a leap of faith, and this is one of them. It's also unreasonable to expect a vehicle of any age - regardless of mileage - to be perfectly flawless. Whatever you get will have issues; it's just a question of how patient you are, and how deeply you're willing to dig into your pockets to keep it going.

Supposedly it has never been off-road and maintained regularly. The carfax backs the maintenance and mileage. It's in dang good condition. Looks like the oil pan needs a new gasket, no biggie. How much should I end up paying for this? (AW4, NP242, not sure of rear)

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Can't tell you. Late-model XJs are still making stupid money here, though that's starting to calm down. Again: get a good mechanic that you trust (AAA is good for this, too) to go over it if you've got any serious doubts. Mind you, if you've got serious doubts in the first place, it's almost certainly better to walk away.

Buying a used vehicle is always a leap of faith

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Truer words have never been spoken. No matter how much you inspect the vehicle there's always going to be something crop up right after you take it home. I went over a 1st gen Dodge Neon like a fine-toothed comb, including three test-drives, and the damn thing waited until I drove it off the lot to flash its check engine light. NEVER believe anything the seller tells you. I've had them lie to me even when it wasn't necessary. Anything to gloss up the vehicle and make you hear what you wanted them to say. Just do your best, be patient, and don't blow off anything you see that doesn't look right.

Great advice, thanks Casm and Bzamora...

I called the dealer that was listed on carfax that had serviced this Jeep and they said they replaced the transfer case due to internal failure at 55k. :doh:

My knee jerk reaction tells me this is bad, but hey it's a new transfer case right? Anyway, it looks like they stopped taking it to the dealer after this service, kinda like they started to neglect it. We settled on a price last night but I think I'm going to have to renege on our deal. Things keep popping up as I investigate more...

Man, 3 weeks of looking and I still can't find a deal!!! Where have all the good XJ's gone? I looked up my old 2000 XJ classic on carfax and it looks like it was totaled 20k after I sold it... I know that one was good, what a mistake I made by selling it...

There's lots of XJ's out there. The problem is 90% of owners abuse or neglect them, meaning they don't change the oil, don't fix things when they break, and never take care to avoid potholes, curbs, overheating, or other hazards. It's hard to find anything more than 5 years old that hasn't been thrashed by the prior owner.

find a better one with 70k.

My Dad is selling a 2001 with 70k, ORIGINAL OWNER, and he has this thing not just looking brand new, but running brand new. This one never had the head problems either. This is what you want to buy, from an original owner, with miles under 100.

I've narrowed it down to two:

#1
http://www.nations-auto.com/vehicles/vehicledetails.asp?recordnumber=9027&rn=24.12719&

Good: low mileage 59k, clean interior, no dents, everything works, fair price 8500, dry underbody
Bad: tow hitch has been used as indicated by sratches on bumper and hitch, deer damage on carfax, black paint underneath just about everywhere

#2
On my way back from checking out #1, I saw this one on a small dealer lot. This one is CHERRY (haven't driven it yet, closed today):
http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/inview/detail.jsp?car_id=225879085&dealer_id=586063&car_year=2001&dealership_view_name=southernpride&first_record=51&sort_type=make_modelASC&pager.offset=50&cardist=0

Good: low mileage 48k, clean carfax, clean exterior, no tow hitch(altough I will need one), dry underbody
Bad: high asking price 11900, havent' driven it yet.


If the prices were closer together, I'd be all over #2. If I can get #2 below 10k, do you guys think it's worth it? Do you think either #1 or #2 are worth the price? Should I keep looking for something around 75k miles and a 5-6k price?

I hate used car dealerships, they always get the good ones and know nothing about the history of them... :wierd: And just FYI and in case you're wondering, my ideal XJ would be a 99 maroon classic in very good condition with no more than 80k miles for no more than 6500. Beggers can't be choosers though.

EDIT: Hey if anyone wants to run a carfax, I've got the unlimited 30 day account until 7/24, i've run 64 reports so far :confused1

Those are awful high prices.Here in central virginia and northern virginia 70k-100k mileage XJ's are anywhere between 5k-7k. Don't forget to look on craigslist.com.