Southern XJ's

[fizassist]

My '95 XJ had lived most of its life in AZ/NM and is very clean. They're not "cheap" down here, though; I was stunned to find one even close to Blue Book.

 

[2001XJeep]

In my experience there are a lot of rust free older vehicles in the South.

I currently own an '01 XJ, '98 ZJ and '98 TJ and none of them have any rust, and I mean NONE.

Road salt is a non-issue down here (Alabama) so unless you find one that was submerged in ocean water(yikes!) or left for dead out in a swamp then rust is usually a non-issue around here. That doesn't mean they're aren't a few rusted out clunkers driving around, but 9 times out of 10 they're northern transplants.

 

[dizzymac]

I have seen quite a few on ebay from the southwest. Next spring My son and I will try to find a few not to far from each other in the southwest, hook up the car hauler and take a ride.
We already decided to visit the junk yards and pick up as many rust free parts as we can haul and our budget will take.
I had come across in the past two XJ shells, rust free and in great shape...free to a good home..ya just gotta keep an eye out for deals like that.

 

[BusterXJ95]

I'm on my second XJ, a southern-raised 95 XJ after my first 91 XJ rusted away before my eyes in my driveway. I was fortunate enough to find a North Carolina XJ in Chicago and bought it just on the body alone. The old dealer sticker listed Mocksville, NC. I'd rather do mechanical work than body work and my experience is that once rust takes hold, you can't really stop it.

Michigan winters and the salt that comes with it are rough on cars, especially older designed vehicles like the XJ. Here's a thread with pics of my XJ - TOTALLY rust free, even the underbody. It's great working under it and not having rust fall on your face. I have to wash it once a week in the winter to keep it rust free. Even so, the salt messed up my aluminum wheels so bad that I had to paint them. I also pulled off the rubber side moulding which traps salt, plus it looks better.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278360

Personally, if a sound body is important to you, I'd never buy an older XJ that spent much of its life up north, especially in the midwest.