Ok, well we went and looked at one tonight and we're buying it. The description was off a little, but that's because the lady selling it just doesn't know much about what she has. For example, she thought it was a V6. I told her the window sticker she posted, which was hard to read, showed a "V8 Discount". I popped the hood and....It's a V8! Not sure if it is the HO version, though.
If you are bored, read my rambling assessment below. I'll have more specific questions later, but we're not going to have to do much to this thing. It appears to have been very well maintained.
Here is a pic:
The story gets really interesting and good. Here it is, along with the vital info:
It sounds cliche, but it was driven by a little old lady, who is now 79 years old. Her husband bought it new for her in 2004 with his Chrysler employee discount. She has to use a walker and just can't climb in and out of it easily, so that's why she's selling. She spoke the whole time as if she really loved this car, and you could tell she's having a hard time letting it go. Her husband retired from Chrysler and spent his career in the Indianapolis foundary. He was on the line where his own engine block was made! He knew all the proper maintenance and fluids this Jeep required, and he did everything by the book! It only has 103k miles, so it averaged just over 7k per year. It sounds like it was driven mostly locally, but with some highway trips. She said they drove it to Wisconsin a few times. He appears to have run whatever brand name bulk conventional 5w30 or 10w30 the dealer or garage was using. I'll know for sure tomorrow, but it looked like PYB 5w30 is in there right now and has just a few hundred miles on it. I'll have to look at the sticker more closely to be sure, when we pick it up. It looks like he changed it every 3 to 6k miles, which is consistent with the owner's manual.
Interior is cloth and in PERFECT condition with not even a stain or slight discoloration. The wheel, controls, dash, and everything, except the floor mats, look new. The floor mats are worn, but aren't horrible. They look like the OEM floor mats. Anyway, it is remarkably new looking. Tires are great. They are Goodyears and look like a street biased SUV tire. They don't look very old and the rims look pretty decent with lots of marks from wheel weights, which tells me he was on it with balancing and probably rotation, too. The engine looked good with some typical oil crud around the fill hole and spilled over the years on the valve cover. The other side was clean, so I didn't detect a valve cover gasket leak, just the minor spillage. It had a brand new alternator and serpentine belt. All the hoses looked and felt good. He didn't say much about that kind of maintenance other than saying he had his mechanic take care of all that kind of stuff when needed. I'm not sure if it ever got new spark plugs. The battery was very clean, so I suspect it isn't very old. It fired the car right up. Ambient temp was 20 degrees and the engine was cold to the touch, so he didn't appear to warm it up or start it before we came over.
I test drove it and everything felt perfect. It started like it would if new. The engine was smooth, and strong and had no ticks or unusual noises. The transmission felt good with nice, smooth shifting. It has Quadratrac II and it was quiet and smooth and didn't feel any different than if it was 2wd. The heat was strong, too and guages seemed to be where they are supposed to be. The ride was smooth and I heard a little jiggle in the suspension occasionally when hitting bumps, but otherwise it felt solid. The shocks felt like they were still pretty good. I think they were original. The alignment was perfect, again showing that he cared about that kind of maintenance. The steering wheel was perfectly straight and it tracked beautifully. I drove it at highway speeds, as well, and it felt perfect. I did not try the low range. I was so excited about the condition and performance of everything that I forgot to do that. I doubt it has any problem. In fact, I doubt it has ever been put in low range.
Finally, the paint was perfect, and it should be, because it is new and the Jeep spent its time at home garaged. There was no UV damage to headlights or taillights. They looked as good as new. The Jeep was originally white, according to the window sticker. Whoever painted it did a very high quality job because the door jams and everything were gray and I saw no white, even under the hood. I was pretty shocked at that. I'm guessing it was painted because either she didn't like white or there was some issue with the original paint. Sun damage wouldn't have been it, though, because nothing else, dash, lights, cloth, trim, or anything, looked like it had any sun fading or issues.
I'll know more and will probably have some questions after we've spent some quality time with it. I'm planning on very soon changing the transmission fluid and filter, the transfer case fluid, differential fluid, and will probably put new spark plugs in it unless he tells me he's done that already. I'm betting the air filter is pretty new, but we'll check it. Other than that, I don't think my son will have to put much money in it.
The price was $4500, which I think is a good deal on such a low mileage WJ in such good condition and so well maintained.
I sure appreciate the help here. You guys helped me dodge a potential money pit, which led me to stumble upon this jewel. Thank you!!!
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