New owner, thanks all tax payers

I mention in the post about oil grade that I just had gotten an experienced Cherokee, but did not provide details as I needed a quick response about the oil.
So here goes. The wife went to a GSA auction and got a 1997 SE with 27,000 miles for $6,000. (Hence, the thanks to tax payers, it is common to find cars at GSA auctions that have been used less than 4000 mi/year.) It has cruise control and power mirrors, but as far as I can tell it does not have any other upgrades. The auction was about 250 miles from home, so she took it to a shop to get the oil changed and fluids checked before the trip home. Unfortunately one of the tires blew on the interstate, no damage just an inconvience, waiting for AAA to come for an assist.
We primarily selected the Cherokee to help with winter travel, not for off road potential.
I have STUDIED several impressive web pages about the Cherokee, e.g. go-jeep and Dino. I'm looking forward to adding some of the "refinements" to the Cherokee over the years. These will focus on improving road manners.
Thanks to all for the responses to my previous two posts.

There are alot of cheap or no cost upgrades that can be done. I have a 98SE but it came with air and am/fm/cass, rear def/wiper and a roof rack, oh and carpeting I've seen govt issue missing some or all of those items.
Good tires, good set of fogs, Hella E code headlights, new shocks will all make a nice improvement for a DD and quite a bit of off roading. Need that full factory service manual though if you really get into it... chiltons and haynes don't cut the mustard..

I just put some "bright star" head lights on mine. On sale at Meijers for $14.99 each

JoBo

What are the advantages of the bright star headlights? Replacement for stock with better light?
I will be looking to add fog lights as this is an issue with early morning driving in the beautiful "mountain state".

highhilleer said:

What are the advantages of the bright star headlights? Replacement for stock with better light?
I will be looking to add fog lights as this is an issue with early morning driving in the beautiful "mountain state".

Click to expand...

The sylvania silver stars are a better designed sealed beam with a better lens. They are still a 'throw away' sealed beam though. Their gas gives a white light like xeon does in the H type lamps. The Hella line more or less works together, by adding a set of say 550's or 450 fogs under the bumper, a set of E code headlights in the stock position and a set of driving lights on top of the bumper you have some pretty good coverage. The E codes use replacment bulbs that you can get in varying wattages and gasses, you replace the bulb not the housing. Consider getting the fog light wiring kit that ties the fogs into the jeeps system, they can be gotten from www.jeepsareus.com.

Thanks - adding that to the Christmas list. So far the list includes:
Factory service manual (may not wait until Christmas)
GTech meter (just because I want one and will use it to monitor performance upgrades)
Improved headlights
Fog lights
Rusty's performance package (air tube, filter, cat back)
Seat covers
Tape on pin stripes

Evaluating/Considering
free flow cat
manderl bent down tube
throttle body spacer
bored throttle body.

Long term:
Wheels
Tires (decent dullers currently)
Sound proofing
Sound system

highhilleer said:

Thanks - adding that to the Christmas list. So far the list includes:
Factory service manual (may not wait until Christmas)
GTech meter (just because I want one and will use it to monitor performance upgrades)
Improved headlights
Fog lights
Rusty's performance package (air tube, filter, cat back)
Seat covers
Tape on pin stripes

Evaluating/Considering
free flow cat
manderl bent down tube
throttle body spacer
bored throttle body.

Long term:
Wheels
Tires (decent dullers currently)
Sound proofing
Sound system

Click to expand...

For seat covers look at wet-okole, we have them on the TJ's and they are nice covers.... though for that price you might want to look at mastercraft seats

I just ordered the Rustys XJ package. Can't wait to get it on there.
I also have the Silver Star headlamps. Very good improvement.

RichP said:

For seat covers look at wet-okole, we have them on the TJ's and they are nice covers.... though for that price you might want to look at mastercraft seats

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. Those do look nice, but beyond the budget.

highhilleer said:

Thanks for the suggestion. Those do look nice, but beyond the budget.

Click to expand...

Hi highhilleer! Congrats on the purchase of your Jeep! About the GSA auctions... is there a URL to them? I have been looking for local govt auctions lately on the web but I encountered a lot of BS, is there any legit ones that you like out there? Especially for Jeeps. Thanks buddy! :wave:

:viking:

we use those gsa vehicles here at work.
im not sure about the agency your vehicle came from, but we beat the hell outta ours.
while the maint schedule is done regular, its often about 3 times the normal maint. cycle.(gsa wont change oil till 8500 miles after the last one)
And the do NOT belive in servicing a manual tranny(hope yours isnt a manual)
tires are often the cheapest possible on the market and so is any other part that fails while owned by gsa.
i am the gsa rep. here at work and i also considered buying one super cheap, but i didnt think it would be a wise decision in the end.
Good luck.
If anyone wants more info on the gsa auctions, call Mr raynes at 1 504 678 4905.He is in new orleans, but has info about gsa crap all over the country.

dogtired said:

Hi highhilleer! Congrats on the purchase of your Jeep! About the GSA auctions... is there a URL to them? I have been looking for local govt auctions lately on the web but I encountered a lot of BS, is there any legit ones that you like out there? Especially for Jeeps. Thanks buddy! :wave:

:viking:

Click to expand...

Look at http://www.autoauctions.gsa.gov/auctionsearch.cfm find an auction in your area and see what vehicles they have. This is public information - do not pay a service to inform you about GSA cars. There have been several Cherokee SEs in recent acuctions. Mine has 4x4, auto, AC, AM/FM 2 speaker, rear defroster and wiper, power mirrors, ABS, PB/PS, and cruise control. Pretty reasonable level of options for a gov car.
Do not be afraid to bid against dealers, idenitfied because they buy multiple cars. I figure if I out bid a dealer by $100 then I got a good deal. Do research, set your maximum price and do not get excited by auction fever. Good luck. This is the second GSA car I purchased. Last year I got a 2000 Stratus for $5800. The car only had 13000 miles!

frsno jeeper said:

we use those gsa vehicles here at work.
im not sure about the agency your vehicle came from, but we beat the hell outta ours.
while the maint schedule is done regular, its often about 3 times the normal maint. cycle.(gsa wont change oil till 8500 miles after the last one)
And the do NOT belive in servicing a manual tranny(hope yours isnt a manual)
tires are often the cheapest possible on the market and so is any other part that fails while owned by gsa.
i am the gsa rep. here at work and i also considered buying one super cheap, but i didnt think it would be a wise decision in the end.
Good luck.
If anyone wants more info on the gsa auctions, call Mr raynes at 1 504 678 4905.He is in new orleans, but has info about gsa crap all over the country.

Click to expand...

I agree that there is a "pride in ownership" component that is missing from public use vehicles. But I believe the vehicles are maintained to manufacture's requirements, which in the case of oil changes is much more extended than the 3000mi/3mo recommendation of the oil companies. As far as other maintenance issues, the two vehicles I have bought had less than 30,000 mi. which is the first scheduled maintenance requirement other than oil changes.
I set my maximum bid price with the assumption that I'll have to change the tires immediately after purchase. Case in point is the wife had a blow out driving the vehicle home from the auction. We need to replace a tire but still believe we got a good deal.

The auction process is a goldmine for good deals, I have not looked at
GSA vehicles for many years. They sell these for 3 reasons, no longer needed, it has become too expensive to maintain, or it is just plain broken.
Certain government agencies a bigger budget than others and they will buy a new vehicle before it becomes troublesome. (no longer needed catagory).
Say if you buy a used police cruiser, remember it is a disposable asset- They beat the hell out of them. Many non wrecked police interceptors will have transmission problems and will not last like a private car. Basicly, buyer beware. I did buy a beefed up Air force suburban that was "demilled" (partially taken apart so it could not be driven off the base) 87k miles, straigt body, $750. That was about 10 years ago, I put about $2000 in basics, some Edelbrock upgrades, a few missing parts, Nice tires etc. A no options, green monster that worked nearly flawless for 3 years, untill it got whacked in a wreck. The Forrest service/BLM uses alot of lime green XJ's now. probably a good choice.

I forgot to mention this, I read back and someone taked about the auto dealers. They are buying to make a reasonable precentage on resale. Many of the dealers are salvage brokers and these go straight to the wrecking yard because they are worth more in parts. It is hard to market a no options vehicle unless it is a later model GMC 1 ton truck or somthing that will go to a construction company etc. I am rambling, but I have been going to auctions for years. Know the NADA wholesale value, and set a limit based on what it is worth to you and Inspect it carefully. I see people run items up far beyond their reasonable value because the get into a "auction frenzy" and don't think. Dealers will also run each other up just for spite. If you dont get it this time, there is always another auction soon.