Need help buying first Jeep

[Rex]

I'm looking for a jeep. My first one. I don't have a lot of money to spend on it. I live in California, smog rules hell. What I'm trying to decide is whether to buy an old jeep that isn't subject to Calif. smog laws and I can do anything I want to it, or to just buy the newest one I can afford. If I get an old one it has to be 1975 or older (smog required after that). The max I have to spend is around 7,000. From what I have seen for sale around here I can probably get something in the mid to late nineties for that money but every jeep of that era has between 100 and 180 thousand miles. If I get an old one I can probably get one for three thousand or less but it'll mean thousands to fix it up. So what is the better way to go. Get an old jeep with no smog restrictions that most likely needs work and money spent on it, or get a newer one that has to pass smog tests, has high mileage and may cost me plenty in repairs anyway?

I guess I'm asking if it's worth it buying a late 90s jeep even though it has a lot of miles on it. Would a '98 be that much better than a '74? Are the newer jeeps improved so much that I would be better off with the newer one. Or is one jeep just as good as another regardless of how old, and all that matters is the condition? I'm not sure which direction to take in this so I'd like to hear some opinions. I've also got a rebuilt 3.8L Buick motor in my garage that I could put in anything before 1975 but not after. What to do?

 

[SteelHeadz]

If your planning on using that 3.8 l buick engine, i would suggest to that you go with the pre 75 Jeep. Now which one's are better, newer or older?, depends on what you want the jeep to do for you. IMO, fuel injected engines are better than the carburated ones simply because that they are more efficient and dependable. However, performance wise, the carburated engine has more performance upgrade available in the market to tweak it to it's optimum performance level you desire. The cost of fixing UP a jeep is contingent on what you want to do with it other than the repairs that you think is nesesary after you've made the purchase. I've seen a 4.0 I6 engine in a 2000 TJ wrangler that's still going strong, other than the waterpump replacement, the engine is still sound. So with this in mind, see if the owner has a record of the Jeeps maintainace service record. This will give you an idea of how diligent they were taking care of this vehicle.

 

[Sine Deviance]

Yeah, just because a Jeep has 100,000 miles or more doesn't necessarily mean the engine is bad. My YJ has the 4-banger and it's approaching 160,000 miles. I've had a few small hiccups but nothing I've had to apply a wrench to (yet - knock on wood.) All Jeeps of that era with those engines (2.5L/4.0L) have small hiccups that you'll have to deal with (for example, the oil/airbox blow-by problem) but none of them are dealbreakers. In fact, I quite like mine and I don't think I'd have it any other way

The best thing I could tell you to do is, get a proper test drive or two under your belt before you even consider buying it. Don't jump on the first Jeep you find, either; good things come to those who wait. The YJ I ended up buying was actually the fifth Wrangler I looked at.

That brings me to another point, everything happens for a reason I was actually gonna buy the fourth Wrangler I looked at ('94, 4-cyl/5-spd, 190,000 miles) but it was at a dealership and the dealer went against my deposit and sold it out from under me. The very next day I was driving down the road and I saw my YJ sitting on the side of the road with a 'FOR SALE' sign. '95 Rio Grande Edition, 4-cyl/5-spd, 150,000 miles. I called the guy, did a good test drive and the very next day she was mine. And I am glad I had to wait; I paid LESS than I would have paid for the other YJ but the one I got has about $1,500 worth of extra stuff that other one didn't have AND it has 40,000 less miles. So yeah, you've just got to look.

 

[Rubicon Rich]

I run a Jeep club in the Pacific NW. To me, it doesn't matter what jeep you buy. I prefer Wrangler type jeeps. Listen, all jeeps can do the job. All jeeps will most likely be modified or worked on. Jeeps owners pour money into their jeeps. I started with a bare jeep and added $40K in to it!
Age and mileage have nothing to do with a purchase as it will get fixed. Every jeeper that I know, follows this path.