Jeep Enthusiast Forums banner

haven't had too much luck finding a TJ - compromise?

3K views 58 replies 13 participants last post by  tebriel 
#1 · (Edited)
haven't had too much luck finding a TJ - *Update found a car maybe!

Hey guys,
will I hate myself later if I compromise and pick up either a 4 cyl 5spd, or a 6cyl auto? Basically I'm looking for a yellow TJ 6cyl 5spd. But what I can find close by is either 4cyl 5spds or 6cyl autos. Which is the better compromise. I also like black jeeps, but the lady wants a yellow more. I also would like yellow because it's a good tie in to my turbo saturn: www.thegoldentoilet.net which is also yellow.
advice?
-teb
 
#4 ·
i dont know, some of the places that i have been wheeling i would not have wanted a 5spd as it would have ultimatly hindered my performance. A torque converter is stronger then a clutch.

but a lot of people like manual trannys so if your willing to sacrifice color then go for it:thumbsup:

however i would not go for the 4cyl at any cost.

-Kyle
 
#6 ·
yeah, that's what i've heard about the autos and the 4cyls. :) I'd rather get an auto than a 4 lol. Just another plus about the 5spd is the small mpg increase that i'd get.

There's a 99 sport 6cyl 5spd for 10.5 here with 66k miles. seems like a good price. Has a hardtop. I'm going to go check it out this afternoon. It's black. They also have a 2003 Yellow sport, so I'll take a look at that, but it's probably out of my price range.
-teb
 
#7 ·
Two Words..... ROAD TRIP.

You think YOU are picky?
I was hunting for a 05 or 06 White Rucbicon, 4.0L I6, 6 Speed Manual, Hard top, low miles, in great condition.
And after months of looking for it,,,,, I found it, 525 Miles away.
It took a rental car, and a 9 hour trip each way to get it, but it was alllll worth it, cuz I got what I WANTED.

Dont get a 4 banger, just dont.
Its going to be underpowered if you ever want to do larger tires,
and they arent near as reliable as the I6 motors.
The 4.0L I6 has Excellent low end torque, and it nicknamed "Bullet proof"

Take your time, travel if need be, even spend a bit more than you should,
but get what you want, its worth it in the end.

~John
 
#8 ·
I'd be willing to travel for sure, i have for several other cars. But not knowing what condition it's in first makes the travel risky :) Also, I haven't really seen anything far away that I liked either. I'll try to put up some pictures of the trucks i'm going to look at today and tomorrow.
-teb
 
#10 ·
So I looked at two this evening, 1 was a 99 black sport, 6cyl 5spd. It was lifted 2 inches and had mud tires. Not too bad, the lift isn't really helpful for me, and the tires were terrible in the snow. So basically, for that one I'd have to get new tires and buy a softtop for it. It has 66k miles on it and was going for $10.5k. Not a bad price at all.

Next one was one they just got in, a yellow 03 sport, exactly what i'm looking for! :( It had 80k, but it is $13k. too much for me, I just can't swing it without picking up a larger loan, which I don't want to do. How depressing. We're going to go look at a 00 yellow sport with 80k on it, but with an auto for 10k tomorrow.
-teb
 
#16 ·
Thanks man! Some of those I've already looked at, and some I sent emails to and never heard a response, but I sent email to the ones I haven't yet.

well we were going to drive down south about 30 miles to check out an auto 00 yellow, but it sold on our way down there. So on our way while turning around i saw a maroon/red jeep at the saturn dealership, so I'm like hey lets stop there. we stopped and took it out for a test drive. It's a 01 sport with tow package, auto, 90k. It looks to be in fantastic condition, there isn't even surface rust on the bottom of the jeep. It's going for abotu 11k, but the manager offered it us for 10.5k. here's a link:
http://www.zimbricksaturnofmadison.com/VehicleDetails/904551814

Is there any reason you guys see to not get this one, it drove like new, has new tires and everything appears to work great. Is there anything I should look for drivetrain wise when i shift through the gears and lo - hi?
Thanks!!
-teb
 
#19 ·
Yes, and then you can send it to me, for I will trade you my D35:rofl:
 
#20 ·
haha, i'll check out the underside on monday if i can get there before anyone else buys it. I still need to make it "alright" in my head to spend a bunch of cash, but i'm feeling pretty positive about it. let me know if you guys think of anything else to look at :) You guys rock!
-teb
 
#21 ·
looks good. has some options, tow hooks (front and rear), fog lights, upgraded tire/canyon wheel group. but, no cruise control.

i will play devil's advocate here; 1. not your favorite color and 2. it is a auto. (minus 2 on the 10 scale, read below).

how long and far have you been looking ??

i am not trying to give you a hard time and i know how it feels when you get bitten by the "jeep bug". make yourself a list (price, color, 4 or 6, auto or man, lift or stock, condition, year, mileage, etc) of what your "10" jeep would be, and what value (against that 10) each option has. and what is your lowest value (1-10) jeep you will accept. then you can score every jeep you see.

try starting a new thread asking how long and far people looked before getting there tj and how many are happy with their choice. maybe subscribers to this thread can input !!

i looked for 5 months and went 1100 miles. i ended up with a "9" on my scale.

i don't mean to get to deep here, this was just a way for me to get a handle on what i wanted in a tj and what worked for me.
 
#23 ·
Funny you say that. It's pretty much what I did. I was looking for about a year and a half. I was originally looking for automatic for the longest time, since I didn't know how to drive stick, but they seemed so hard to come by. I ended up with stick, which at the time it was an 8 outta 10 for me. It became a 9 after getting used to driving stick lol. -1 for not having a D44.
 
#25 ·
Honestly the reason it took so long is because I was so afraid to learn how to drive stick. I thought I couldn't do it. I wish I had given in and learned sooner, because A. it took me an hour to learn and about a week to feel comfortable, which I guess wasn't that bad and B. I could have had my TJ sooner ....:brickwall
 
#26 ·
Yeah the color thing is irritating, but the maroon/cranberry/red is quite catching. I probably like black or yellow the best, but I could do the cranberry without any problems. The auto is a small detriment, but this one shifts like butter, and truly this is my wife's car technically, and she wouldn't mind the auto. I just love driving manual trans, more fun. So even if we count those two -2 = 8, this is by far the nicest condition i've seen a jeep in around here so far. The last link that was provided last page was nice as well, but I don't really like the green/tan combo. Another negative is no hardtop so we're at 7.
now for the good parts: fantastic condition, super quiet engine, and trans: +1. No rust anywhere! Not even under the body from what i can tell. Next is new tires! The manager of the dealership just put 4 new tires on the wheels, the spare is fullsize and has full tread: +1. Also the truck is being offered at like 1200 below blue book. That leaves us at 9.

How can you tell from pictures if it has AC or cruise control? I was trying to figure that out, as I didn't check when I was in the car. Honestly I wasn't expecting to like it at all.
-teb
 
#27 · (Edited)
How can you tell from pictures if it has AC or cruise control? I was trying to figure that out, as I didn't check when I was in the car. Honestly I wasn't expecting to like it at all.
-teb
no cruise control, but does have ac.

looking at the link pictures: picture 9 of 11, steering wheel, no cruise control buttons on sides of horn pads. (i will try to find a picture for you to see); picture 4 of 11, engine compartment, those 2 hi pressure lines (1 has black cap on service port) are the ac lines.

you got the idea of "doing the math". that is how i would do each jeep i looked at. things like adding (or subtracting) for tire condition was what i was refering to. example, if you plan on installing 35" tires the week after you get it, new tires don't add anything, but if you plan on keeping it stock for a daily driver, worn out tires are definitely a subtraction.
 
#29 ·
ah right! cool. Cruise control matters to me about as much as AC does, which is not at all :p I plan on keeping it mostly stock, I'll pick up some snow/ice tires next winter because it's CRAZY here. It's raining right now and in about an hour we're supposed to get up to a foot of snow! Mostly what i want to get is a new front bumper and a winch to pull me out of the ditches or embankments I seem to end up upon. then i'll also buy a hardtop for next winter as well, how much are hardtops used/new anyway? didn't see any links with prices in them yet.

Now I just need to figure out how to get the loan, and how to get out of going to work tomorrow morning.
-teb
 
#30 ·
hardtops are costly, you need to plan on $1000. sometimes more, sometimes less. tires next year, figure out the door price of $600. (this makes the new tires not worth as much.) a new front bumper/winch, at least another $1000.

it is starting.........j.e.e.p....................in less than a year you will be putting in almost $3000 more into this jeep.
 
#31 ·
i drove 10 wranglers before finally finding the one i like it took over 3 months but i finally found the perfect wrangler a 4 cylinder 5 speed... I hate the 4 cylinder now just 2 months later is has ZERO power and can barley make it up a hill, i was thinking of swaping in a 6 cyl not sure how had that would be though

just hold out like i did and u will find one!
 
#33 · (Edited)
yeah, I won't get a 4 banger :)
As for the tires, I'll just have 2 sets of wheels, 1 for summer/nice weather, and one for hell frozen over, as it is now. my saturn barely made it back home after dropping my wife off at work at 5am. Saw cars sliding down hills sideways just twirling around. My antilock brakes kept on failing, because the belt was slipping on the alternator - because the water was so high it was getting the belt wet! haha.
-teb
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top