We saw a Jeep today! The first we’ve seen as part of Jeep Quest. It was a 2000 Wrangler with 167,000 miles, owned by an older Russian man who was asking $6,500.

The guy said it had a five inch lift of unknown origin, and that his son was going to take the hard top off and put a soft top on. He’d just replaced the cooling system and catalytic converter. There was some wacky bumper on the front. The body was in great condition, and there was very little rust on the frame. The interior was okay – the son had fitted some ridiculous CD player with DVD nonsense, and there were a few stray wires poking out from under the dash. We took it on a test drive around the block. Sabrina commented that she had forgotten how bouncy Jeeps were, but she liked it overall.

Major issues:

  • Price was way high
  • Mileage was high
  • Transmission kept popping out of second when the clutch was pressed in
  • Lots of rough edges. It was a little bubba’d. E.g. the battery was held down by a bungee cord.
  • 5 inch lift of unknown origin
  • Check engine light
  • Skid plate was welded in place because someone stripped a bolt at some point
  • Rear tires were on their way out

Finally, tell me if you can see what’s wrong in this picture.

If you look at the valve cover, to the left of the big intake hose, that’s where the oil fill cap should go.

Scary stuff. I might have been motivated to buy for $3,500 if I was single, but I’m looking for a quality vehicle instead of a project car. The search continues.