[gurrenm3]

Hello,

I just checked out a jeep at a local dealership. They had really bad reviews so I went into it thinking the jeep was a piece of junk. I noticed on the bottom there was a lot of black spots even though this is a green jeep. I don't plan on buying this but I'm wondering for the future, did they paint over the rust or is this something else?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gluckmysock]

The black stuff is factory undercoating. And from someone who lives in the rust belt. What rust?

 

[gurrenm3]

Oh okay, gotcha. This is basically my first car so I don't know much about this stuff. It's a little unrelated to the topic of my post but I was wondering if I could get your opinion on whether or not I should buy it, since it seems like it doesn't have much rust at all.

There were a few small things like a missing spare tire, broken windshield wiper, 1 broken turn signal, and 1 missing headlight in the bottom right front of the car. Also, when I closed the passenger door it caused all the doors to lock. The dealer said he'd fix all of that for free.

The yelp reviews on this place weren't great. According to the dealer it only has 147k miles, but some of the reviews accused him of rolling back the miles so idk. The 3 things that stood out the most were during the test drive it felt like it pulled to the right a good amount, like I didn't feel comfortable without 2 hands on the wheel. The dealer said it was just the street but idk. The second thing was the brakes felt SUPER weird. They felt extremely tense and had very little room to press down. They didn't do a good job slowing the car even when fully pressed and when I let go of them the car shook a bit and it made a weird creaking noise. The dealer said that "the brakes were cold" and that it would warm up. The last thing was he said the car never starts on the first try and you almost always have to start it twice to get it going. When it was idling it had the slightest knocking noise but idk.

Sorry if that's information overload. I'm really eager to get one of these jeeps and don't want to get sold on a piece of garbage. It's a 2000 with Selec Trac and I've had trouble finding one with these specs so if you think it's good even knowing the issues above I might consider buying it.

 

[gurrenm3]

If it helps, here's the yelp page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/rocket-car-company-covina

 

[XJSuperman]

That sounds like a project to me. A lot of little things that won't be all that little once you get into it. It does look really clean on the bottom though, and if you have some change in your pockets and a little knowhow, I think it sounds like a decent vehicle.

The dealer is lying to you IMO. I doubt he's rolling back miles on this one though. Brakes should feel good from the start, it probably needs a full brake job and bleeding. I would expect that buying an old used vehicle like an XJ. The newest ones are 22 years old now! Pulling to the right could be the tires, the alignment, or the brakes. Or all 3. If its not starting correctly, it needs a tuneup or maybe a fuel pump. I would again, expect to do a tuneup on a vehicle of this age.

Headlights, turn signals, wipers, and spare wheels/tires are all cheap for these. Rangers, explorers, and many other jeeps use the same bolt patterns and will fit. Headlights are basic outdated 5x7s that you'll probably want to replace with led or better halogens anyways. I went with Rampage housings on mine, but many others run those terrible ebay LEDs. If you go LED, do everyone else on the road a favor and spend the money on good ones with a cutoff so they (we) aren't blinded.

I don't care about the dealer. If you don't trust him, don't buy from him. If you understand the vehicle and like the price, get it. The economics of being caught in payments to a dealer on a 22-30yr old vehicle is a topic for another time.

 

[gurrenm3]

I see, that's really helpful. I'm hesitant because of all the work that would need to be done but since it's a 99 with decent miles, selec trac, and almost no rust, it is kind of motivating lol. The price is pretty nice too, only about $6k. Thanks for all the info

 

[Gluckmysock]

6k is a bit high for a project. it checks all your boxes but as Warrior said. it gonna need a lot of TLC to begin with. maybe upwards of 500-1000. figure that in your original cost

 

[gurrenm3]

Got it, I appreciate the info. I'll keep shopping around for now