03Marauderman

My objective was...I had an opportunity to reunite with a vehicle I bought new in 1988...I sold it to an acquaintance who became a good friend over the years...unfortunately over the years I was saddened by its decline...I've been twisting wrenches all my life & 'Restoration' is misconception. What it boils down to is cleaning, fixing, refreshing with paint, seat covers, carpets. but they will never be new again...They will never have the 'new car' smell, they will never drive down the road as when new, I don't care how many bushing, springs, tie rods, steering boxes you change, they will always be old worn out vehicles....Proven by my restored 88 Comanche....The interior in this 88 is totally shot I have two XJ parts vehicles a 90 Laredo & Limited... I will replace the interior with the 90 Laredo & cherry pick the rest...at the end I might even take it to Maaco for a paint job, but doing the prep myself...At the end she will have some dignity again, & I'll call it a day.....Its fun being on forums to share what we all have an interest in...besides who else really cares..right?

PCO6

I agree with you. I have an '88 Comanche too and an '89 XJ Limited, both in great original shape. I restored cars for years, mostly MGA's ('56 to '62) and the goal was always to make them look like they've been well taken care of throughout their life. Never like they just rolled off the assembly line, or much worse, better then they ever were in the first place. I take the same approach with my Jeeps which also include an '03 TJ and an '04 LJ. They'll never be new again but they'll never look like they've been neglected.

Saudade

Awesome! I have an '88 Laredo too. Didn't buy it new but have had it for just over 20 years.

XJ_XJ

This makes me appreciate my jeep more. I bought my first jeep a couple of years ago a 2001 and I never worried about the depreciation of the Jeep as I was just learning how to work on it. So I was happy when it was not overheating lol.

03Marauderman

Quite the contrary on deprecation...My first new one was the 88 which I ordered 'loaded' then sold it in 90....In 1994 I ordered another new one...this time I went for more of off road, rather than luxury & got a Sport with no power windows, seats, ect...Got the off road package....I believe this was the first year for the 'High Output' 4.0 & it had terrible piston slap from the beginning...sounded like a diesel...just knocking inside the engine...Chrysler refused to take it back, their solution was to trade it in on an V8 Grand Cherokee, or rebuild my 4.0. At the time of my complaint I had less than 500 miles on it....The complaint got way passed the dealer. It sat at the dealer well over a month while they gave me a clunker loaner.... I told Chrysler Zone that if I wanted a V8 Grand Cherokee I would have bought one rather than my Sport...& If I wanted a rebuilt engine I would have bought a used worn out Cherokee...No way I was going to have them rebuild my brand new Jeep...No matter what they refused to take it back...I ended up wholesaling it a year later & lost my shirt on it....Do some research on the RAM's & Chargers with the 5.7 Hemi...Catacrotic failures & they fail to do anything about it...they keep building them & the people keep buying them....Then Chrysler went from the Ansa Warner A/T to their Chrysler one on the Cherokee....1/2 the tranny if that...they just can't keep their hands off a good thing.....(end rant)