should i buy this Jeep?

[collegekid2008]

There is a Jeep for sale locally. It is a 1996 Grand Cherokee with about 190,000 miles (which is kinda scary). The guy selling it said he's doing it for a bank who reposessed the car and is trying to cover a loan. The original price he said was $4900 but he said the bank will let it go for $3500. I am going to see if he can lower the price a little more considering the high miles.

But I am wondering if this Jeep is worth anything, given its high miles. I really dont know much more about it at the time. I am test driving it this evening (4/9). Thanks!

[BeZerK2112]

We are going to need a lot more info than that. What engine does it have would play a major part in it. I have seen the stright 6 go well over 260k. The v8 of that year isn't so promising. Also you dont want to pay more then the vehicle is worth so look it up on NADA. with that many miles I dont expect it to be worth that much.

You have to be careful with repo vehicles. If they didn't make the payments then they may not have done any maintenance. Before I perchased it I would take it to a shop and have it checked. If your serious it is totally worth the money. Make sure they do a compression check! You may need new struts for it and when your driving it listen for a wineing in the back end. If it wines then dont buy it. It could need a pinion replacement.

For the most part jeeps a great vehicles. I loved mine and almost cryed when I had to sell it. Give us some more info on it so we can give you a better answer.

[susan1017]

I just purchased a 98 JGCL w/155K for $500. It needed some tranny work and very little to pass state inspection. Altogether total cost about $3,000 after repairs. Vehicle runs great. But I agree with BeZerk about people that can't manage to pay their debts probably didn't do much maintenance.

Good luck with your decision and let us know!!

Sue

[msdz]

Not only that, if they knew they couldn't pay the debt, then they probably knew they were losing the vehicle... they could have ran the snot out of it and treated it very poorly cause they knew that. I had worked for an auto auction and seen a lot of repo cars, some looked good while others were junk, same goes for the engine of these vehicles. I would really have to look the vehicle over before committing to buy a "repo" vehicle. They scare me. Also I think the price is high myself. I bought a '94 JGC Limited for $1900 off Ebay and it was 240 miles away, I just rented a car and went to check it out. Of course I told the person selling the Jeep that if there was anything he did not tell me or if I found anything I did not like I was not buying it. Fiddlesticks on my reputation on Ebay, I ain't buying something that I am not happy with. Anyway, I have had it for 4 months now and so far everything is ok, no problems at all. Consider other options for buying a vehicle before jumping into buying this one, another vehicle might come a long that is better and cheaper.

EDIT:
I am wrong by saying no problems at all, it does have the ABS light on, which I will get it checked soon at a dealer and it also has problems with the VIC saying "rear lamp failure" which I am STILL trying to track down that problem. BUt nothing major as of yet.

[bringselpup]

My gut feeling is you are getting scammed by this dealer. You can do way better on price check out your local craigslist. You'll find plenty of jeeps for way less.

[g1smith]

No Way, I bought a beautiful 1999 JGC Ltd way before reading this forum, if you deceide to byt it after reading this forum, you are indeed a very brave individual. I have had very good luck with every vehicle I have owned since the 70's (even had a 65 falcon) except my JGC, bad breed the 99's to 04's. My issues started with engine stalls that turned out to be a Bad PCM (the computer) $500+, I'm now having HVAC Blend door issues $1,000 - $1,500, the audio system (back right channel) is acting wired $500+, oh then there's the transmission, and then the speedometer issue, its off by 10% - 15% after the dealer adjusted it as close as they could, it cost my wife and daughter each a couple hundred dollar speeding ticket, the . . . solution . . . $200 or so after market product.

[bringselpup]

99 and later are a very different issue altogether. He's talking looking at a 96. If it's the 4.0 motor he needn't worry about 190K on the clock.

But the price is a rip. Tell Mr Car Dealer to get real.