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1999 XJ sport value

B

BNA_Roadie

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Nashville, TN
I purchased my son his first car, yes a 4.0 Cherokee Sport. Long story short he overheated it & it blew. Spent $4,500 to rebuild it and it caught fire 100 yards from shop. The shops insurance co is going to pay but how much should I settle for and should I rebuild or take it as an omen and let her go?
 
Damn.

Sadly I doubt it's worth even what you paid for the engine. So if they offer to cover the bill that's probably fair. I think mine is assessed at $1500 or thereabouts for personal property tax reasons. I couldn't find one as rust free for that, but still.
 
Here is what I would do:

Go to kbb.com

Enter all the options and stuff to see what the value of the vehicle is if you were buying it from a private party, not what the trade in would be.

Take that or the amount you just plunked down for the engine rebuild, whichever is greater.
-Ron
 
i'd demand a reasonable replacement value, in addition to 100% reimbursement of the cost of the new engine, unless you didnt pay the bill.
save yourself the aggravation and just let the burned rig go, the new engine is worth something but the hassle of pulling it and selling it might not be worth it to you.
 
Curious, what was your purchase price for this rig and was the suspension/tires/wheels etc. stock or modified?
 
I've never paid over $2500 for anything, but I buy abominable shitbaskets and nurse them along. Amusingly, the less I pay for a vehicle, the better it treats me, overall. Bodes well for the new-to-me MJ I just picked up... it is the cheapest yet.

Word to the wise... next time, don't rebuild it, drop a junkyard engine in it. Even if you buy all the tools you'll need, it will take a weekend and cost you well under $1500. Up here where rust rules supreme and engines are cheap because of it, I did an engine swap for under $300, in a day. And that was my first time ever.

Why did it catch on fire? Assuming a trans or fuel line... I would accept nothing less than fair replacement value and refund on the work done, since apparently they did such shoddy work that flammable fluids were leaking near a source of heat and they didn't even test drive it 100 yards before giving it back to you.
 
Wow, I didn't realize you could spend $4,500 on a stock 4.0.

Like these guy's said, you can demand reasonable replacement value but I'd imagine that by the time you made the effort to do that you could have just settled with your insurance company and take a bit of a loss. Assuming it's a later model Cherokee with lower miles it could be valued closer to $6,000. The key thing is to not settle with the first offer. You need to be able to replace it with a similar vehicle. That's what you pay the insurance company for.

If you have plenty free time, by all means, pursue a replacement from the shop. The trick is going to be proving that what they did caused the fire and will more than likely require a law suit.
 
You need to be made whole for this. Whatever that takes is what they owe. For example, time spent finding a replacement vehicle. Some insurance companies will lie, cheat, and steal and don't move until you threaten them. This means whatever they tell you, you can ignore Unless it makes you whole for the loss caused by their insured.
 
Lowrange2 said:
you could have just settled with your insurance company
Click to expand...
He shouldn't be doing anything with his insurance company. The shop screwed up and they need to make it right. Refund what ever they charged him + the cost of the vehicle. Nothing less.
 
Talyn said:
He shouldn't be doing anything with his insurance company. The shop screwed up and they need to make it right. Refund what ever they charged him + the cost of the vehicle. Nothing less.
Click to expand...

Common sense would say that the shop screwed up but we both know that they're more than likely going to fight it to the death. At that point it's going to be necessary for the OP to prove that the shops negligence caused the fire. If that's even possible.

I'm not suggesting to just go straight to his insurance company, definitely try to get the shop to pay for it.
 
Lowrange2 said:
Common sense would say that the shop screwed up but we both know that they're more than likely going to fight it to the death. At that point it's going to be necessary for the OP to prove that the shops negligence caused the fire. If that's even possible.

I'm not suggesting to just go straight to his insurance company, definitely try to get the shop to pay for it.
Click to expand...
original posts says the shop's ins co is going to cover it...
i would personally involve my own ins company to act as my agent in the deal. i've done it before and if you have a good agent they will not hesitate to help you.
a big on-line company like Geiko or progresive, maybe not so much.

they arent going to buy you a new vehicle, they simply arent going to do that, and if they did, it would be suspect immediately.

get actual price quotes from several dealer websites and even rip some pages out of the "wheeler dealer" advertiser magazines in your area.
produce nothing less than 5 legit ads in your region for a comparable vehicle and push them for a payout on the highest one, and maybe compromise on an average of the 3 or 4 most expensive ones.

take the check, say goodbye to the burned-up rig (you will never reach the end of the electrical gremlins that will be running around in the rig after a fire) , and start shopping with cash in your pocket.
good luck, let us know how it works out.
 
Still waiting on a check...but in the mean time found a '98 TJ Sahara with 134k miles for $2,500 whooooowheeee! Haven't driven it yet but owners claims runs fine but needs suspension work. Either way its a no brainer.
 
Thisd is the scoop...$2,284 from ins co & I keep XJ, Shop agreed to pay me additional $2,500 and HE keeps XJ. Now the 64K question....will I get more than $2500 parting it out with rebuilt motor.....or take the money and run?
 
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