What the story how you got your xj/mj?

[afd516]

I sold my brother my 1989 mustang I had built for 3-4 years for $5500. Since it is my brother I figured what the hell. Mistake. :hang:

Here was the deal.

$1500 down
$200 a month.

Until he decided to lose his job and put himself in financial trouble. I had $2000 in my pocket when this happened. Figures, right? It was like pulling teeth trying to get him to pay. hasta

A few months goes by with no payment and he calls me and tell me that he is going to sell his jeep and pay me the money from that. Yeah, sure. :bs:

I figure at the most he would get $2000 for it and I would still play hell trying to get most of that from him and he would still owe me money anyways.

So I hang up the phone with him and talk to my wife and tell her my thought and we came to an agreement.

I was looking for another project anyways so why not his xj. I call him back and he comes over, we sign over the titles and I no longer have a headache from trying to get my money from him.

So I got a $2000 xj for $3500. I decided to clear my hands of the deal and call it even for the jeep.

Now, there is one catch that was to my advantage, somewhat. He found work at a local jeep junkyard that is pretty popular here in Texas. Did I make up the $1500 that I lost. Probably not but, I sure as hell tried. I now have $12000-$14000 in in the xj. Unfortunately, most of the parts I purchased, his yard did not carry. They were new parts.

About 5-6 months after the trade my brother decides to put my mustang into a center median wall and total it. :laugh3: He is now parting it out and the 325 hp 5.0, that I built, is going into a 1966 Bronco that he purchased.

What is your story?

 

[cshontz]

I inherited my parents' 90 Laredo.

I drove by the dealer, and saw a nice used 95 SE, so I bought it.

I was on Auto Trader and saw a nice 96 Sport, so I bought it.

I was driving around and saw a pristine 01 Limited, so I bought it.

I'm in debt up to my eyeballs. Somebody please help me.

 

[ECKSJAY]

Bought a 93 Dodge Ram 250 from a Dodge dealership's used car lot. Had it a total of 4 months (3 of which were back in their shop, it had a stalling problem that started the day after I bought it). They didn't seem to want to work with me on taking care of the problem so I threatened going to the base newspaper (I was Army at the time) and writing an article. They decided to help me after I said that and another soldier who happened to be in the dealership heard me. His new Ram purchase was on hold until something happened. I told them to find me a Cherokee at one of their lots. Had to be 91+, 4 door, 4.0L, 4WD, auto. They found some old ass S10 Blazer, 2WD, manual, 2DR with some vato wheels and tires on it. I asked if they were joking and started to get upset. "Well we did have a 95 come in yesterday on trade but we figured it was out of your price range." WHAT? I never gave a price range... At any rate, I told them not to touch the poor thing and just leave it alone because they wanted to do a full fluid change, etc. They let me take it overnight and inspect everything. It checked out PERFECTLY and had less than 40k miles on it. I brought it back and their guys detailed it inside and out, including underhood. It looked gorgeous. Paperwork got squared away so the first place I went was the Jeep dealership down the road (a rival). I told them what happened, heard the Service Manager's curse words for them, and he took my keys and did a full fluid swap and inspection for FREE. They got my business for everything after that until I moved back up to the Seattle area.

That was 100k miles and 6" ago.

 

[Rambo]

bought mine on ebay without looking at it and it had 140,000 miles, flew into atlanta and drove it to south florida with no problems except for the nuetral safety switch... i have big balls


:gag:

 

[Jes]

I was a beer snob and drank about a six pack or really expensive($8+ a sixer) beer every day. I was worried that I was becoming an alcoholic so I quit drinking for six months.
In that time I saved enough money to buy my '93 two door.
Now I drink cheap beer.

 

[Bent]

XJ....I bought it new in July of 2001.


MJ....I stole it, 'cause I'm not a snob.

 

[TRNDRVR]

I was a beer snob and drank about a six pack or really expensive($8+ a sixer) beer every day. I was worried that I was becoming an alcoholic so I quit drinking for six months.
In that time I saved enough money to buy my '93 two door.
Now I drink cheap beer.

That's awesome Jes!!! :thumbup:

I love a good beer story. Makes me want to cry. :tear:

 

[nateo101]

my 95 camaro got hit.....a year earlier my 95 firebird was hit as well I was getting tired of the fast car scene and a dealer next to my uncle's shop had a perfect 97 red xj........After 2 really bad car accidents I wanted a tank....the xj was the nearest thing in my price range.

 

[Lawn Cher']

Bought '97 XJ Sport new in Jan '97. Kept it stock for a couple of years, then mildly built it up. Joined . Bought the wife's '01 XJ Limited when we graduated college in June '01. Rolled mine in Tellico in July '01. Bought '87 MJ in September '01 to replace it. Repaired the XJ over the winter, made it's debut in spring '02. Next I bought a wrecked '88 MJ that was identical to mine and made a trailer out of it. Then I bought a basket case '89 MJ to restore when my wife was temporarily working in St Louis, which I never really did anything with. When we decided to permamently relocate from NJ to STL in late summer '03, I bought my Suburban and attempted a hurried buildup on my XJ again to fit 35's for the October Moab 20th anniversary event, which I never finished and I didn't make the event. The vehicle sits in my garage untouched. Since the move I've been doing alot of repair work to both the '01 XJ and my '97 Suburban. Now that they are reliable, I recently decided to buildup my '87 MJ to fit 33's, and it will be ready for Winterfest. The '89 MJ is being transferred to the care of 0313 and Geepfreak in February for transformation into a Baja 1000 contender. The '88 MJ trailer is going to Prepmech since I don't need it anymore. My new goal is to simplify my vehicle collection.

 

[bjoehandley]

Blew the motor in my SHadow, late fall '02 them my Lebaron wouldn't start in June '03 so I went looking for another vehicle that wasn't almost 20 years old. Just so happened to find my '98 on a CarMax lot and bought it with in a few days of finding it.

 

[XJ_ranger]

drove to Palo Alto, the guy was offering a MINT 92 2 door, stick, 4x4, up counrty, base model for 2100

i paid 2100 and left with the XJ

 

[Dirt]

I had a ford ranger and my buddy bought a cherokee. After watching him continuously out wheel any thing and everything that challenged him I was sold. I sold the ranger while I was in college and went vehicleless for 4 months while I sought out the perfect deal. i paid 1700.00 for my first XJ an '88 with 190k on it. I drove that until early last year (256k) with when I found Naxja and my '99 which, I completley toatled. I gave my trusty baby '88 to my brother's When I got my 2k. They toatled it while hauling it home. I was heartbroken. My 2k is my new baby for now. I've got the girlfriend convinced she needs a '99 though.

 

[Jeff in VA]

I got my MJ from the proverbial "little old lady who only drove to church on Sundays" back in '99 when we lived in PA. It was her husband's truck and he passed away.....she got too upset looking at it sitting in the driveway (kept reminding her of her husband) and I found out about it. I offered her $1500 for it in monthly $100 payments (I was out of work at the time :laugh3: ), ended up moving to VA after $500 into the deal. I mailed checks every month to her once we got here, and after another $500 she started returning my checks to me, and said she didn't want any more. She was a sweetheart!
Found shortly thereafter, and the rest is history. Bought it as a 2WD base model with 60K on it, now it's 4WD and has 160K+, and soon going into surgery for a D35 and 4.10-ectomy.
Jeff

 

[Grzz701]

Decided to get a four door 4x4 to go camping and some light wheeling in. I liked the XJ and its capabilities so I bought a 93 sport. 6 years later between the exo cage and my love of the sawsall it doesn't look to much like an XJ, but it is a whole lot of fun to break.
Mark

 

[Geepfreak]

First XJ was an 85 2 door, bought it from a guy that was down on his luck,9 years ago, payed 450 for it,, second XJ another 85 Chief, bought it for 300, kept it stock, rqallied the hell outta'f it, then pulled the motor and put it in the other 85(still have it), 3rd Xj 89 for 500, DD for about 1 year, then sold it to my uncle. 4th XJ another 89, 4.0, auto, 140K for 800. it's now on 6.75" lift 35's locked and loaded. 5th XJ an 87, for 500. had a 44 and lots of other goodies, drive it home, stripped the hell out of it. 5th XJ 91 120K for 2800, it's my DD with 167K on it now. 6th XJ a 96. 90K on it, bought for 2300, sold it to my Bro-in-law for 2500. 7th XJ rolled 94, for parts.

 

[Trailbst]

Got my 87 for free from a friend. It was towed to his shop by the Town. He didn't have a use for it, and gave it to me.

It ran, has a D44, tow hooks F/R, factory skids, and swing away tire carrier. The engine is toast now.

While talking with another friend, he conviced me that it'd be better to find a mid-90s with low mileage. Better engine, some better creature comforts. Another friend who was present at the time, said hey isn't so-and-sos XJ for sale? So I bought a 95 with 4.5" of lift and 285/75/16 Truxus MTs, and about 150K for $2500.

 

[DaJudge]

Like DIRT714 I too was once a Ranger owner. It worked great for the occasional wheeling and trips to Home Depot I was doing in Florida. When I moved to New Mexico and was close to some real wheeling (and a trip to Moab with the Ranger) I realized more was needed. As anyone who owns a late model Ranger knows there are NO good ways to lift it and NO good parts for them. After talking to a friend who used to run CJs and switched to XJs I started hunting an XJ. Found a nice '01 this past Sept. at a local lot and convinced the guy to trade me even for the Ranger. It eventually cost me about 300.00 because I insisted on keeping my rims with the BFG 31s I had bought six months ago. So here I am 4 months into my first Jeep experience. I have already put about 1000.00 into it for the lift, sliders and other things. But, I have already taken places my ranger would not go so it has been worth it!

 

[Cottontail]

I owned a 1983 K5 Blazer and a Grand Prix GTP when I moved to Tennessee. My brother had a 1996 ZJ. He asked me to drive it with a U-Haul from Mississippi to Georgia. After that trip I fell in love with the Jeeps.

The next weekend (9/1/99) I bought a 1996 ZJ 2wd. Got it with 44,xxx. My wife drives it now every day and we have about 156,xxx.

I sold the Blazer and the Grand Prix to buy the ZJ. I really wanted another 4x4 becuase I liked having a "beater truck." I wanted a manual and really liked the Cherokee. I did test drive a few old Scouts before I found, in June 2000, a base model (vinyl seats and plastic floor) 5 speed 1985 2 door XJ with 99,xxx on the clock.

I used that truck as an experiment for a lot of the mechanical things that I had never attempted before. I did a lift on it as well. That truck still sits in my driveway and gets driven on occasion. I am preparing to scavange it for parts. If I had room I would just keep it and look at it! It has 133,xxx on it now.

In August 2005, I found a base model automatic 1990 2 door XJ on E-bay. It was about 30 miles north of me. Buy it now was $1800, I was ready to give $1600. He lowered his buy it now to $1400, so I bid and won at $1400. When I got there it wouldn't start so he gave it to me at $1100. It has 169,xxx on it, but it had NO rust in the floorboards, the clear coat is still shiny as a new penny, and there is no stains or scuffs in the interior. Suprising since it was a Massachusetts truck from 1990 to 2004!

It took 3 months of repairs and trouble shooting to find the problem. I have about $2800 in it altogher. I have put about 400 miles on it in about a month now as my DD.

My commision check comes in the early fall and we will be getting either a WK, a WJ, or an X5. After that happens, the ZJ is mine again, and the XJ becomes a dedicated trail truck. Until then...stocker.

 

[Chero-King]

I was selling my sand rail and some guy reallllllly wanted it and I was looking for something fun and he said he had an 88 4 door (with new exhaust,tires,and starter) he was trying to get rid of. So I went to look at it and I really liked it. I traded him the buggy and $500, pretty good deal since I got the buggy for free and only put about $200 into it, although I still kinda miss the buggy, really fun toy.

 

[Rob Mayercik]

Back in '97 I was just out of college, and working my first job. I was commuting 60miles each way in an old but reliable 84 Omni (which I still have).

About a week before Christmas, the carb in the old Dodge went south on a snowy ride home. I had a significant power loss (which is saying a bit in a car like that), but managed to get it home.

Given that the previous couple of winters had been snowy (and central NJ is hilly in places), I decided to look for a 4x4. I opened the paper that night to the used cars section, and spotted a '92 Laredo at a local dealer for a good price. It was late, so I called him and arranged to look at it the next evening.

Got there, and he couldn't find it! We hunted across all the lots, front and back (4-brand complex), and even all the service bays. Finally, we went back to his showroom and he spoke to the manager. Turned out it was in a small bay in the back (well hidden), since they were doing the park-shift interlock recall on it. Looked it over (it was cherry!), slept on it, and bought it the next day. Took it home on the 23rd, kinda like an early christmas present.

A couple months later, I found "xj.jeep.org" (the 1st descendant of the original XJ-List), and started reading. Got into wheeling in '01 (BMJA 101 event on 9/9/01), and finally joined in 04 (after a long but undistinguished lurking career) for the purposes of getting into NACFest.

Rob