advice on '04 TJ

phiner913 · 10-01-2010, 12:19 PM

Alright guys and gals, I need some help. I am looking at selling my truck for a jeep 2004 TJ. I've looked at it and it seems like a VERY VERY clean rig. 74k Miles I6 Manual. I know it is bone stock and other than a pretty new looking top I honestly don't think a single thing has been touched on this thing EVER. The problem comes with me being pretty jeep dumb... I come from a family of mechanics and car guys (stepdad and both brothers are mechanics and uncle is a national sales mgr for a major parts retailer) but they are better if you ask them about aerodynamically "correct" vehicles and making sick amounts of horsepower (brother used to build dodge sprint cup motors... that sort of horsepower)

Enough of the aside... so like I said it is super clean with 74k miles and a
$15K price tag. I don't know if this is good, bad or whatever, and we all know how most used car salesmen are. My intention for the Jeep is to do it up right, lift tires, eventually lockers, etc. I want it to scale a brick wall when I want to go play but still ride down the street well as it will be my only vehicle (unless you count my 21 speed Schwinn

) I just want the straight poop from some of you folks that drive these things daily and know both the good and the bad, but mainly those that don't have anything to gain except a new fellow jeeper.

Thanks in advance to all of you, and I have loved all of the stuff on JF, got some good ideas and really look forward to joining the community.

RiverAnt · 10-01-2010, 12:48 PM

Two months ago I bought a 2004 TJ Rubicon auto trans with 62,000 miles in excellent condition for $14,500. I think the $15,000 is a little high.

CONNOR_99TJ · 10-01-2010, 02:26 PM

Idk what you are actually looking for..'advice on what to do to the jeep? Or advice or thoughts on the purchase of this particular jeep..

phiner913 · 10-01-2010, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drizzy

Idk what you are actually looking for..'advice on what to do to the jeep? Or advice or thoughts on the purchase of this particular jeep..

I would like both... but primarily strengths weaknesses of this particular model vs. others. Does the price seem to high for what i've described, should i keep walking and find something else. I admitedly don't know much about jeeps so i dont want to get royally screwed by some used car salesman....

I guess its a "is it worth the money for what it is? will it be dependable?" sort of thing at this point...

CONNOR_99TJ · 10-01-2010, 03:04 PM

Check under the rear axle to see if it has a d44 or d35.. You really want the d44, check for rust.. 4.0? I know almost all of us want or have the 4.0 just because the more power you can get the better. Check for all of these anD then come back because the price will depend on all of those factors

1990YJnewbie · 10-01-2010, 04:15 PM

I bought an 04 about two months ago. It had 83k on the clock. It was NOT super clean--in need of some TLC. I paid a little under 10k for it, and really haven't had any problem other than a new power steering pump. Of course, it is not my daily driver, so I can't attest to the reliability.

RogueSpear2023 · 10-03-2010, 04:25 AM

Considering what you want I would go find a Rubicon it has most of the stuff you want, 4:1low t-case, lockers, D44s front/rear. And you will save a ton of money that way. But that's my advice do what you want. I would also say what they want for that 04 is high, it should be more around 13K unless it is a special edition or a Rubicon.

phiner913 · 10-05-2010, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RogueSpear2023

Considering what you want I would go find a Rubicon it has most of the stuff you want, 4:1low t-case, lockers, D44s front/rear. And you will save a ton of money that way. But that's my advice do what you want. I would also say what they want for that 04 is high, it should be more around 13K unless it is a special edition or a Rubicon.

That was my initial thought, but there are literally none for sale in this area, or atleast none that are worth asking.

As far as the TJ I took it for a test drive yesterday and it was not up to par... pretty paint and and interior but it had a nasty tick in the engine, and it felt like 3rd gear was on it's last leg, definitely not worth the money and it just made me very uncomfortable since the dealership offers literally no warranty on used vehicles (around here the standard is 60 days or 3000 miles what ever comes first). However I did pull in to a little mom n' pops car lot and found an '03 TJ that needs a little interior work (nothing ripped, just stained) and there was some not so quality "engineering" done to mount some mirrors to the A-Post for when the doors are off all, all can be fixed, some easier than others. It has 113k on the clock but I drove it and it runs better than the '04 with fewer miles. The '03 is $8k, it runs great and they will give a 6 mo. 7500 mi warranty on the power train. That being said, is an '03 with 113,000 mi. ok, I know to get the t-case and trans checked, but if they will fix it when it is checked if there is anything wrong I don't know that I see a problem. I have heard that the 4.0L inline 6 is bulletproof and 113k is not that many miles. Has that been your collective experience or should I pass it by and keep on with the search, because it seems like 100-120k miles is about the standard for affordable 4.0L's in SW VA?