Hopefully my last buying advice thread!

jpm15

Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Location
Charlotte
Hi all. I am down to a couple LJs and wanted to get advice before pulling the trigger. I am looking at an LJ and a Rubicon LJ. Details are below. Please let me know what you guys/gals would do. Would hope to get the LJ for 11k and the Rubi for 12k.

LJ
2004 Khaki
110k miles
11.5k
Very Good condition. No significant rust from the pics I have seen of the frame and undercarriage
New 31" tires
Hardtop

LJ Rubicon
2006 Black
159k miles
12.5K
Very Good condition. No rust from pics i have seen of frame and undercarriage
3.5" lift. He does not know the brand
Winch. Not sure of brand
reupholstered vinyl seats
Nerf bars
 
I'd go Rubicon the miles aren't really that far off and you'll get alot more off-road bang for the buck with the Rubicon I would check them both over before buy either.
 
Rubicon
 
If you can go 2 years newer and Rubi vs non for $1,000 that is a no brainer.

Now whether those price points are the "good" is a whole other topic of consideration...
 
Buy the lj rubi , post it for sale for 18k and drive it till some dumb kid buys it.

I've seen a few sale for 15k + with over 200k.... people are crazy on west coast for lj rubi
 
I appreciate the replies, guys!


Ron said:
If you can go 2 years newer and Rubi vs non for $1,000 that is a no brainer.

Now whether those price points are the "good" is a whole other topic of consideration...
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Not sure if those are good deals or not. What do you think?

If the LJ is an clean as the seller says it is definitely below excellent blue book ($12,700). I took the avg of excellent and very good for nada, kbb and edmunds and it comes out to $11,419. The same math on the Rubi comes out to $12,386. So I would say they are both probably fair deals.

Strangely enough, the edmunds and nada prices are higher than KBB for the Rubi (13k and 13.6k vs 12.3k). Every time I have compared the sites KBB is by far the highest estimate.
 
I won't buy a black car, so for that reason alone I'd say the non-Rubi :).

The Rubi is probably the better deal. I'm assuming no hardtop since you didn't list that. If that's important to you, factor $1000+ unless you find a good deal on one. What kind of seats are in the rubi? Picture?
 
LBarr2002 said:
I won't buy a black car, so for that reason alone I'd say the non-Rubi :).

The Rubi is probably the better deal. I'm assuming no hardtop since you didn't list that. If that's important to you, factor $1000+ unless you find a good deal on one. What kind of seats are in the rubi? Picture?
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Sorry. The Rubi has a hardtop and bikini top. He replaced the cloth seats with grey vinyl.

See pics of both below
 

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I'd go Rubicon every time. If I ever buy a Jeep to replace my wrangler it will definitely be a Rubicon.
 
jpm15 said:
Sorry. The Rubi has a hardtop and bikini top. He replaced the cloth seats with grey vinyl.

See pics of both below
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Looks like the rear end of the Rubi was gone into recently? Clean cover but cruddy axle. Like I said before, if everything important works, I'd go with the Rubi. Lift is just springs, nothing special, but looks shorter than 3.5"
 
LBarr2002 said:
Looks like the rear end of the Rubi was gone into recently? Clean cover but cruddy axle. Like I said before, if everything important works, I'd go with the Rubi. Lift is just springs, nothing special, but looks shorter than 3.5"
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So it looks like it was in a rear end accident? What do you mean by cruddy axle? Here is a pic of the rear. Not sure it will show you anything more.

thanks for that info though. I would hate to buy something that has been in an accident. I am pulling a car fax as well and will have it taken to a mechanic prior to purchase.
 

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jpm15 said:
So it looks like it was in a rear end accident? What do you mean by cruddy axle? Here is a pic of the rear. Not sure it will show you anything more.

thanks for that info though. I would hate to buy something that has been in an accident. I am pulling a car fax as well and will have it taken to a mechanic prior to purchase.
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No accident, he just means the rear diff cover looks clean compared to the axle itself. Almost looks to me like it had a bad pinion leak with all of the residual oil around the tubes. Ask about that and make sure the rear doesn't whine while driving.
 
justjeepin86 said:
No accident, he just means the rear diff cover looks clean compared to the axle itself. Almost looks to me like it had a bad pinion leak with all of the residual oil around the tubes. Ask about that and make sure the rear doesn't whine while driving.
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What he said.

And about the ball joints, unit bearings, control arm bushings,etc, at that mileage if the haven't been done they probably will need to be changed. You just have to factor all that in when buying something high mileage.
 
justjeepin86 said:
No accident, he just means the rear diff cover looks clean compared to the axle itself. Almost looks to me like it had a bad pinion leak with all of the residual oil around the tubes. Ask about that and make sure the rear doesn't whine while driving.
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Loganwayne said:
Rubicon also looked like it has a newer radiator and steering stabilizer, make sure to check all the ball joints and unit bearings for play.
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LBarr2002 said:
What he said.
And about the ball joints, unit bearings, control arm bushings,etc, at that mileage if the haven't been done they probably will need to be changed. You just have to factor all that in when buying something high mileage.
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What would you estimate the cost of this stuff to be.

Thanks for the inisght, guys.

This is all a bit overwhelming although I do want to learn all this stuff and be able to do repairs myself. I need to get a list of things that has been done but we did speak on the phone and he was rattling off some stuff which I believe inlcuded some of the things you guys pointed out. I am pretty sure he at least said something about replacing the steering stabilizer. If a shop did this work would it be on a carfax?

Im gonna request some info so if you guys have other questions I should ask or can point me in the direction of a list that already exists I would appreciate it.

Thanks again!

Josh
 
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Carfax will only show you if it was wrecked, where it's been registered, and may have some information about dealer recalls or repairs.
 
Unit bearings, ball joints, and bushings is probably $500 in parts but a lot more labor if you don't do it yourself.

If control arm bushings are shot you're better off to replace the arms with aftermarket tubular pieces.
 
Looks like the Rubi sold. If I can get this LJ for 11k or under I think I'll buy it. I figure with the savings I can add some stuff initially then add other stuff over the next couple years.
 
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