Would you ever buy a wrangler with 250k miles?

jpm15

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Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Location
Charlotte
gonna look at an '05 Rubihara LJ tomorrow with 258k. Apparently owned by a master guild mechanic and meticulously maintained. 75% of miles are long trip highway. No rust that I can tell from undercarriage pics. Wants 9.8k.

Is it crazy to consider this?
 
Mine has 228k on it. Well, I mean, parts of it do. Not the motor or transmission or axles or drive shafts or radiator or fuel tank or.... Well, pretty much anything except for some of the sheet metal and the dash.

And the frame. The frame is original. And the back half of the transfer case. Not the stuff in the transfer case, I'm talking about the rear case half. I'm pretty sure that is original.
 
Oh, and the rear track bar. That is original. It needs bushings, though, so not sure if it counts.
 
Buy it! It's a rare museum piece. I thought wrangler speedometers only went to about 150k.
 
On a serious note, in my opinion, condition is way more impotant than miles on a ten year old vehicle that may have seen significant off-road use. By the time my TJ got to 70k miles, every major stock part on it had failed due to abuse and been replaced or upgraded. The interior, body, and frame are still all original and in excellent condition though because they were not pushed beyond their designed limitations.
 
Not for that price.
 
No, it's not crazy. Miles mean nothing to me. It's all about condition. Drive it, look for leaks and signs of leaks, see how it feels at highways speeds, etc, etc. Everything can be replaced and they are easy to work on. Can last forever.

I put a ton of miles on mine and it runs/drives/wheels great. I'm sure mine will see 300k in a few years.

I do think the prices should be negotiated, but will depend on condition, aftermarket parts, etc. And, is it THE ONE for you (color, options, etc)
 
All, thank you for the responses.

Checked out the rubi yesterday...drove it and looked under for rust. Drove really good as far as I can tell and no rust. Apparently it is well taken care of, but who knows. I think 9800 is pretty high for 259k. I am sure I would need to factor in pretty significant part replacement costs no matter how well it was cared for. I think I could find one with 150k or so for the same price. Guy says he has a for sure buyer tomorrow so we will see so he is not negotiable on the 9800.
 
jpm15 said:
Guy says he has a for sure buyer tomorrow so we will see so he is not negotiable on the 9800.
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That is a load of BS. If he had a for sure buyer, then he would not be wasting time showing it to you.
 
Rogue said:
No, it's not crazy. Miles mean nothing to me. It's all about condition. Drive it, look for leaks and signs of leaks, see how it feels at highways speeds, etc, etc. Everything can be replaced and they are easy to work on. Can last forever.

I put a ton of miles on mine and it runs/drives/wheels great. I'm sure mine will see 300k in a few years.

I do think the prices should be negotiated, but will depend on condition, aftermarket parts, etc. And, is it THE ONE for you (color, options, etc)
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I've never figured out how people can say that miles don't matter. Miles are the usable life of a vehicle. Stuff wears out. Yes, everything CAN be replaced, but at the point where you are replacing seats due to cushion wear (unless it's been flat-towed, if the vehicle has 250,000 miles, someone's a$$ has occupied at least the driver's seat for all of them). Motors have a usable life. I'm not just talking the engine, I'm talking wiper motors, blower motors, window motors, starter motors, you name it.

While I agree that miles are not AS important as they once were, they still play a vital role in determining a vehicle's worth. I've had some anomalies - I've had a 1999 Concorde Lxi that had almost 200,000 miles on it when we bought it and is still running with 280,000 on the odometer. We paid $1500 for it and it's still a viable vehicle. On the other hand, we bought a 2005 Dodge Caravan brand new from the dealer and even with meticulous maintenance, it was on it's 3rd transmission when we sold it with 110,000 and we felt lucky to get $2500 for it. That same $2500 bought a 1999 Caravan with 60,000 miles on it and now with 90,000 miles on it I'd say it's still worth every penny we paid for it.

We just bought a new (to us) 2013 Toyota Sienna. The first one we looked at was a 2012 with 40,000 miles on it. the 2013 we bought had 30,000 on it. We chose it because the prices were very similar, but yet the '13 had 10,000 less miles. All other things being equal, we figured it was like getting the first 9 month's miles for free over the 2012. We chose the Sienna over the current Dodge Grand Caravan even though it was 8000 +/- more expensive for a comparably equipped Sienna. We are looking at this van as a long term vehicle that will need to be reliable for 10 years or more. My brother and a friend of mine both have Siennas from the early 2000's and they are both still running strong with well over 200,000 miles. I have yet to find someone with a high mileage Dodge minivan that isn't falling apart or had several transmissions in them.
 
I plainly stated "miles mean nothing to me". Your mileage may vary (pun intended).

Wiper motors, blower motors, window motors, starters, etc, etc are all wear parts and will need to be replaced eventually on anything.

And, I have had better "luck" with my vehicles....
 
jpm15 said:
gonna look at an '05 Rubihara LJ tomorrow with 258k. Apparently owned by a master guild mechanic and meticulously maintained. 75% of miles are long trip highway. No rust that I can tell from undercarriage pics. Wants 9.8k.

Is it crazy to consider this?
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Was this the limited edition Sahara model they only built 1K of in 05? If so then I think it is worth that amount but hey that's my opinion.
 
ghost said:
Was this the limited edition Sahara model they only built 1K of in 05? If so then I think it is worth that amount but hey that's my opinion.
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Still has a quarter of a million miles worth of a$$ cheek on the driver's seat - limited edition or not.
 
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Saw this on Facebook thought you might be interested
 
Holy shit, how does somebody have an $18k note on a nine year old jeep?
 
shawn said:
Holy shit, how does somebody have an $18k note on a nine year old jeep?
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'Cuz dey tuk his jeb... And he subsequently had to take out a title loan at 300% interest so he could buy 2 gorditas and $5 in gas....
 
shawn said:
Holy shit, how does somebody have an $18k note on a nine year old jeep?
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It says the loan value is $17,900, meaning thats how much whatever financial institution he took it to will lend. It doesn't say that's what he owes...

My credit union will loan NADA clean trade value on a vehicle. Interest rate and length of loan depends on age.
 
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