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'93 ZJ on Ebay w/ 31k miles

663 views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Kolak 
#1 ·
#2 ·
It's a dealer so it was probably traded for something newer. But you are right, it was probably an older couple who used it to get the mail. I had a great aunt that bought a new olds in 97 and put only 3,000 miles on it by the beginning of 04 when she finally was convinced to quit driving at the age of 93. My uncle bought it for a steal and it ran like new.

Probably a similar situation.
 
#4 ·
brandoncrone said:
It is authentic, I verified it through a source I cannot reveal. In 1998 it only had 14000 miles on it.
CarFax says it's had one owner, from new in '93, in the St. Pete/Seminole area of Florida. CarFax can't verify the mileage though, it says "30" and that's when it was registered in '93.

So chances are, it's a granny car that was used for groceries, and the grocery store must have been at the end of their driveway.

So yes its got low miles - but you start to wonder about certain components that would wear down just from age or from lack of use. I'd almost be afraid to try to shift it into 4WD...the sounds that might come from the transfer case would haunt your dreams!

Also interesting how the car was used in FL, Ebay says it is in DC, and there is no new title issued according to CarFax (if it were bought at an auction). Just curious. Maybe the Floridians relocated to DC.

BTW how cold is it up in Saranac? I'm a former Adirondack resident (Lake Pleasant) and I went to college in Potsdam (Clarkson). My career moved me down to Southern VA, and it was 32 here this morning, so I can only imagine what it must be like up there. I miss it sometimes!
 
#5 ·
Its not too bad here today, only went down to 13 degrees last night, the coldest it has been yet this season so far. They are expecting it to get down to zero by this weekend. No negative numbers yet!

Thats one of the biggest problems with grocery getter vehicles, no so much as what isn't going to work, its all of the seals that usually dry out and start leaking.
 
#6 ·
Are those daytime running lamps in the photo? Looks like the headlights are on, but not the running lights. Could be one of the JGCs originally built for the Canadian market. Mighthave the block heater built in. Build sheet could tell ya. You have the VIN there on the auction.

I'd rather buy something that's at the low end of the normal expected mileage range when I'm used car shopping. While high miles on a vehicle means things are wearing out, exceptionally low mileage means things aren't getting used, Corrosion, dry-rot, fluid breakdown, all kinds of bad things happen to vehicles that sit around a lot. Also if a vehicle is only used for repetitive very short trips, that's horrible for an engine and driveline. Never reaches operating temperature. Much worse than highway miles!

For a 93, that means it's 12, almost 13 years old. Low average of 12K miles/year would mean you should expect it to have 144K on it. For it to have 32K means it only averaged 2,600 miles/yr. Sounds like short trips to me.

Not knocking it, just saying first thing I would do is replace every piece of rubber (tires,hoses,belts, brake lines, etc) and flush every fluid before I thought I had a reliable transport.
 
#7 ·
I just bought a 97 GC 2 months ago with 48k. One Owner. Clean inside and out and rust free. It checked out for mileage and all at Carfax. So anythings possible.

Mine has the electronic mileage, I see that GC has the old style the numbers look a little weird. I remember reading somewhere that ifnumbers on a speedo are messed with sometimes they dont line up right. So you never know. Then agin I also read that some speedos if tampered with leave a blue ink on them if rolled back. Maybe someine hear knows something. Just giving you the worst possible cas scenario. :laugh:

Like 1 month after buying mine I see on the news that you can buy something sold on the net to roll back mileage on the electronic speedos, that is why if the carfax didnt check out for mine I probably would not have believed it. It also looked like new. Even the headlights are the cleanest I have ever seen on a GC they sparkle and I dont think that there is a scratch on them.
 
#8 ·
Rolling back an electronic odometer sounds like something that would sell well.

And blue ink? Never heard of that. Interesting way to do it though.

What's to stop someone from swapping an odometer out of a wreck? or whichever computer the digits are stored in?

I heard of a guy renting a van, telling the rental place that he needed it to move around town, then unplugged the entire dash and drove it 4 hours to Toronto. Of course he had no speedo, fuel gauge, etc. but I'm sure he saved a ton of money (however being very dishonest).
 
#9 ·
Androoos said:
BTW how cold is it up in Saranac? I'm a former Adirondack resident (Lake Pleasant) and I went to college in Potsdam (Clarkson). My career moved me down to Southern VA, and it was 32 here this morning, so I can only imagine what it must be like up there. I miss it sometimes!
HAHA!! I am in potsdam right now!! i am attending SUNY! This is my Fifth year and it was dam cold today! cool! just thought you would be interested\1 :wave:
 
#11 ·
brandoncrone said:
Actually the electronic speedos you can replace them all day long, the mileage is stored in the body control module. You could replace the BCM with one from a lower mileage vehicle.
The ZJ did not use a body control module until 1996.

If you reverse the polarity of the odometer wiring on the 1993-1995 ZJ, the odometer will run backwards!
 
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