Too many miles for a Jeep????

N

new1998

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Los Angeles, California
So, I have my jeep up for sale and it is almost like new...in/out, motor, trans. etc. A guy saw it today and called me and asked the mileage. I said 215k and he said "Oh, thats too many miles for a Jeep". And he hung up. WHAT?
So, educate me please. If you always change oil, tranny fluid and filters, keep injectors clean, etc. Whats the problem? It has no sludge, no leaking passed the rings....no smoke. Smog numbers are excellent. Personally I think a great running high mileage vehicle has proven itself. Its a California Jeep so no rust on her. I have seen a lot of dying vehicles with 90k on them due to improper care.
So, maybe Im so insulted because I am a female???
 
new1998 said:
So, I have my jeep up for sale and it is almost like new...in/out, motor, trans. etc. A guy saw it today and called me and asked the mileage. I said 215k and he said "Oh, thats too many miles for a Jeep". And he hung up. WHAT?
So, educate me please. If you always change oil, tranny fluid and filters, keep injectors clean, etc. Whats the problem? It has no sludge, no leaking passed the rings....no smoke. Smog numbers are excellent. Personally I think a great running high mileage vehicle has proven itself. Its a California Jeep so no rust on her. I have seen a lot of dying vehicles with 90k on them due to improper care.
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OK, so the guy wasn't interested - that's one less tyre-kicker to have to deal with in person. If the Jeep's as nice as you say it is, it's his loss; move on to the next caller and be one call closer to the actual sale. I'm not seeing the problem here.

So, maybe Im so insulted because I am a female???
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I don't know why anyone would be insulted by this regardless of gender. It's not as though he's obliged to like your vehicle any more than you can reasonably have an expectation that he would.
 
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Agreed, I would trust any 4.0 (with an 0331 exception) to be able to run way past the 200k mark with proper care.
 
It isnt the fact that he thought the mileage was too high, it was the fact that he said too many miles for a JEEP. I have never known jeeps to be a vehicle that falls apart with high mileage if taken care of. In my opinion, Jeep has a good name. Take care of your Jeep and it will take care of you,
 
new1998 said:
It isnt the fact that he thought the mileage was too high, it was the fact that he said too many miles for a JEEP.
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Let me put this another way: why care about what he thinks? You know otherwise and it's obvious he's not going to buy your XJ, so his opinion is irrelevant. There are bigger fish to fry here.

I have never known jeeps to be a vehicle that falls apart with high mileage if taken care of. In my opinion, Jeep has a good name. Take care of your Jeep and it will take care of you,
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Yes, but the same applies to pretty much any vehicle made in the last 25 years or so. Across-the-board quality in the auto industry has improved to the point where nobody sells a truly poorly-engineered or -assembled car anymore; at worst, you just end up with something on the low end of mediocre.
 
It may have to do with the price asked VS: mileage on the Jeep.
My 1989 XJ has 330,000 and feels like it has another 200,000 in it - It has had its moments but all in all it does not leak, starts strong.

While I don't think I'll be selling it any time soon, even in the great running shape I KNOW its in, I would not expect more than $1,000 or so for it because of the mileage. So if your looking for $9,000 fr a 215,000 Jeep I'd make excuses for not buying it also.

And besides - stop caring what other people think it'll only get you messed up in the head. If they don;t buy it don;t think its something you did or are doing..... :bawl:
 
new1998 said:
It isnt the fact that he thought the mileage was too high, it was the fact that he said too many miles for a JEEP. I have never known jeeps to be a vehicle that falls apart with high mileage if taken care of. In my opinion, Jeep has a good name. Take care of your Jeep and it will take care of you,
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The guy is an idiot and doesn't know much about vehicles apparently. To hell with him, his loss! :D
 
It could be cherry, but it's a psychological barrier in people's heads when they hear certain amounts of mileage on vehicles. It all depends on what they want to use it for I guess,etc. Nothing personal at all, but for me personally, I wouldn't get a I6 over 150k if I was shopping. It's just me :)
 
new1998 said:
Just asking $3400....I dont think thats too high.
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Unfortunately, the vehicle price guides disagree with you. Further to that:

I have photos up in picasa web albums here: http://picasaweb.google.com/casset7/JEEP?authkey=Gv1sRgCJTj8ZupoNDgsAE#
I think its worth it.
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With every option I could see on your Jeep thrown into the mix and using ZIP code 91355 (I looked up your Craigslist ad), its Kelley Blue Book value is somewhere between $1785 and $2135 in good-to-excellent condition. I haven't checked this against the NADA guide or edmunds.com, but it seems reasonable to me. And given that buyers are using those guides to help determine pricing, you're facing an uphill battle to find someone willing to pay what you're asking.

It would be gone over nite if it was 4WD.
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Doubtful, though that would certainly make it a more attractive vehicle.

Here're the facts: you're selling a 13-year-old vehicle with high mileage, and it's a model that's been out of production for a decade. It gets lousy fuel economy, which very few people are willing to put up with given gas prices at present. And it's 2WD, so is pretty much a Volvo 240 on stilts.

What all this is adding up to (for me, and probably other buyers as well) is this: buy a Subaru wagon for the same or less money, have the same cargo capacity, and get AWD and decent fuel economy into the bargain.

Unless someone very specifically requires a 2WD Cherokee, this is what you're up against with the sale. And there are few people willing to put up with all of the above for 2WD.

Maybe I should have it inspected by a shop and give that to buyers? Perhaps a compression test?
What do you guys think?
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Lower the price unless you enjoy having it as driveway decoration. Don't bother with the inspection; you'd be asking a buyer to trust a third-party opinion that you as the seller are telling them it's perfectly OK to trust. Can't see that going over well.

Sorry if any of this sounds harsh, but you have to be realistic in what you're asking for it. Yes, it's clean and in (presumably) great shape, but with some careful shopping around I can find something with more features (e.g., 4WD) and in the same condition for comparable money - and I can likely find it in the same Craigslist results as yours appeared in.
 
it's a bit overpriced, but keep it that way on CL and just add OBO... you might get an offer closer to what it's worth instead of having a bunch of chuckleheads give you offers way under what it's worth.

I bought my comanche with 207k on it, I fully expect the motor to make 300 and possibly even 400. Bought the 96 XJ with 107k on it and expecting about the same, and the 98 with 208...
 
I agree, the milage thing is a big psychological turnoff, but anyone in the know about them will know differently. Im not sure our Jeeps are to the point yet where milage doesnt matter. I used to be into air cooled VW's, and if someone were to ask me about milage I would think it strange. The question with those is about milage on that particular motor/trans, or more likely just age of that combo. Most of them have been rebuilt who knows how many times, and it just isnt an issue. I think we are getting close, especially with some of the old Renix models to be able to do that, but we're just not there yet. Another 10-20 years and milage wont be a question.... just condition.
 
4wd I'd pay $2K for it 2wd.... I'd pass all together so I won't comment on that price.

Good luck though - it does look well kept.
 
If I was buying for a build I'd buy a 2wd no problem, since the front axle wouldn't be a dana 30 anyways.

For a DD? nope, not worth it unless it was really, really cheap or an MJ... 4wd MJs in good shape are a lot rarer out here, which makes decent or cheap 2wd ones worth looking at IMO.
 
If it had a manual and was a calif jeep, no rust, I might be interested but the price is a bit high. I'm at around 400K on my 98.
 
Everyone has standards and clearly 200k + miles was beyond his buying criteria. My first XJ had 75k miles and I initially thought that was too many. Ha, boy was I wrong. My current XJ has 140k and it runs better than the first. If I knew the Heep was taken care of, I'd not hesitate to buy an XJ with 200k miles.

2wd and previously owned by a chick is out of the question though.
 
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