Found this guy near me on craigslist. Pretty much exactly what I'm looking for at half the price of everything else. The obvious problem is the condition of the exterior. I know many of you wouldn't care, but this will be a DD, and I don't want something that looks like crap. Pretend you're me. Would you pick this up and get a fresh coat of paint professionally done? How much would that run? Should I just keep looking? This is the first black 97-99 with under 100k miles I have found within 150 miles of my house in the last month.

If I could end up with a nicer looking and more durable paint job than stock and spend less money than it would cost to buy one with an exterior in good condition, I would do it. Low mileage XJ's in my area that are in good condition seem to run $6k-$8k. I wouldn't mind spending that, but it seems that black low mileage XJ's are very rare around me. If I was looking for a white one, I would have no problem.

Also, I just want to make sure. 98s without ABS came with an 8.25 right?

 

Make sure the mileage is legit. I'd offer $2k if it was me. It's got the 8.25

 

Just bought my 98 for 2300 with 117000. It was posted at 3000. I'm I Hawaii though and buying jeeps over here sucks.

What he's asking in under the blue book I think too. I would offer him 2000 and settle for 2400 and you'd still be getting a decent price

 

If I got an offer almost $1k lower than my asking price I'd tell you to **** up a rope. That thing is already cheap.

 

That's Craigslist for you though. Your supposed to list high and negotiate to your desired price.

 

Its not bad, I would offer on it if I was in the market (as long as the paint doesn't bother you) I would probably offer 2300 lol, 2/3 the asking price might not make for a negotiating situation lol. but its worth a shot I guess!

 

buy it

 

Haha, yes it would bother me, that's why I started this thread. I figured there would be someone on here who had dealt with paint issues on their XJ, and how much it cost to fix. Do they have to sand the whole thing down to bare metal? I despise painting in all its forms, and know nothing more than not to take a car to maaco.

I want a nice looking low mileage XJ. Is this one worth the effort to fix, considering how cheap it is?

 

If it makes you feel any better....I just got this same truck, with a crappy macco paint job, and WAY more miles....for 2500. My interior is immaculate though.
I personally would get it.
Even if you put another 1k into some carpet and paint the truck will be worth it with the low miles.
Think about it....you said yourself that you don't mind paying up to 6k or 8k for a good looking one.....so why not make this everything you're looking for for 2/3 the price?

 

That guy isn't very negotiable on his price. Did you read the ad?

 

You could try to use rubbing compound and then polishing cream with a buffer. Not like a new paint job, but you can get surprisingly good results.

 

Looks like the paint issue is mainly if nor completely on the hood. Check out CL under parts and I can almost always find a black hood for $50-75. Saves you a TON of money in paint if you are willing to deal with getting it to line up correctly.

 

It's really quite hard to give you a price without being there, not beinging able to see the xj you can only give a ball park figure which could go either way,common sense would let you see that.But anyways body prep from maybe 1000-3500,paint maybe ( for a real paint job)1500 up depends on what you want,depends on the area.See what I mean?Might have bondo under paint,may have been in an accident and fixed up but fixed wrong hard to tellif you don't know what to look for.
I'd drop a price on it though.2200-2400.

 

It's just ruined clear coat. A shop can spray the hood for pretty cheap. Prep work can be done at home. Or just go buy a new hood.

I would jump on it. Check it out carefully, but it sounds like a good deal. I got my 2000 with 128k on it for $4,500, in great condition, but I'd have offered this guy his asking price immediately if I had the chance (and the Jeep is in the shape he says it is).

 

Ask for a carfax, I looked at a similar XJ, low mileage, 97 model, for $2800 come to find out it was a salvage title. Just a heads up.