Opinions requested on '05 Liberty* buy or not to buy?

[68NOVASS]

I have the opportunity to buy a 2005 4x4 Limited-leather. Going to look at it Monday/tomorrow-have not see it in person.

Motor was ran with out oil-assumed seized.-not sure of the details yet. But was his daughters KJ and he "needs it gone".
Body is "perfect" per seller-probably not but looks good in pic.
Interior is clean with fair wear.
All other major components are to be in working order i.e. drive train, AC etc.
Not sure about tires.
I will check fluid condition in trans and transfer. Check level in front and rear diff for indication on overall maintenance/up keep.

I have the ability to source a salvage or rebuilt engine and swap myself-but those that have done it let me now if anything I am naive about as far as this application.
Seller wants $1000.00.
If all is as presented-is this a good buy?

 

[LibertyTC]

Thousand dollars is great. How many miles are on the rig?
How much rust on it? Take a good look around & under, rockers, inside doors, 3rd brake light rear hatch etc.

 

[Dave]

Sounds good at face value. Maybe offer $800-900 if he really wants it gone and the difference will cover the cost of flatbedding it to your place.


Dave

 

[tommudd]

1000 is a bit steep I think
How many miles on it, if under 75,000 then maybe 1000 but if 150-175,000 no way

 

[68NOVASS]

180K on it. I will see how it looks. I have a 2004 I bought last fall for my daughter so I know a bit about the weak spots and where to look for rust. I think if he will go to $800 and it is as good as he describes it may be worth the risk. The original add was for $1300 and he dropped to $1K with no problem. If the trans or transfer happen to be bad that could put it upside down, just no good way to judge them since I can't drive it.

 

[tommudd]

Plus its a Limited with those flat terrible seats :gr_grin:

 

[68NOVASS]

Heading out to go see it and will let you know what happens. Talked with him again this morning. He bought it for his daughter a little over a year ago. In that year he has put a radiator and AC compressor in it. Said when his daughter pulled up and said it was making funny noises he said the oil looked like "peanut butter". Well, that does not sound like it ran out of oil to me. Sounds like possible antifreeze and no maintenance. These type of comments are painting a picture of possible junk.

 

[JasonJ]

Heading out to go see it and will let you know what happens. Talked with him again this morning. He bought it for his daughter a little over a year ago. In that year he has put a radiator and AC compressor in it. Said when his daughter pulled up and said it was making funny noises he said the oil looked like "peanut butter". Well, that does not sound like it ran out of oil to me. Sounds like possible antifreeze and no maintenance. These type of comments are painting a picture of possible junk.

Possibly.. you'll know more when you see it. But even if it was immaculate, but with a suspect engine, that likely won't run, can't be driven to identify other issues, and 180k miles on the rest of it... $1k is high to me. That's almost a fifth of a million miles on the transmission, transfer case and axles...

Look at it this way, assume it needs an engine AND transmission... would it be a good deal at $1k then? Perhaps not.

 

[68NOVASS]

Look at it this way, assume it needs an engine AND transmission... would it be a good deal at $1k then? Perhaps not.[/QUOTE]


Just as I was leaving school call and have a daughter with the flu. Rescheduling -looking at it for tomorrow.

Your point is right on. If the trans or t-case are bad then I will have about what I can buy a running and driving Liberty might cost. Around here that's $3500 to $4500 depending on condition. I can do all this myself buy my time is worth something also.

 

[tommudd]

Have to think what a new motor will cost you
then start adding from there
You'll have the cost of another that actually runs good and you can drive before hand then.
I bought the 03 with 78,000 miles, one owner , garage kept, all service records with it, even got to talk to the original owners when they were there, and through a dealership for good bit under 4000 out the door. All taxes, title, temp tags etc. IMO well worth it to know what I was getting and not have a ton of work to do .

 

[68NOVASS]

Have to think what a new motor will cost you
then start adding from there
You'll have the cost of another that actually runs good and you can drive before hand then.
I bought the 03 with 78,000 miles, one owner , garage kept, all service records with it, even got to talk to the original owners when they were there, and through a dealership for good bit under 4000 out the door. All taxes, title, temp tags etc. IMO well worth it to know what I was getting and not have a ton of work to do .

Tommudd, that sounds like an exceptional, and rare deal!
I've done some pricing of salvage motors vs. online sources for rebuilds. It really has to be in excellent condition for the risk of something else being wrong. It costs me nothing to look at it. The seller says he is no mechanic. What are the odds the motor's not bad it it runs. That's why I will go look at it.

 

[tommudd]

Tommudd, that sounds like an exceptional, and rare deal!
I've done some pricing of salvage motors vs. online sources for rebuilds. It really has to be in excellent condition for the risk of something else being wrong. It costs me nothing to look at it. The seller says he is no mechanic. What are the odds the motor's not bad it it runs. That's why I will go look at it.

Yes its worth checking out
few pointers besides possible engine
Check rear boot on front driveshaft, if bad 50 dollar fix but new shaft VERY expensive)
Check ball joints esp. ones on the UCAs for boots dry rotted
Check all windows open and close
Measure suspension sag ( should be 19 inches middle of the wheel to bottom of the flare )
and a few things like that
I got the original owner of the 05 that my step father is driving right now down 2000 dollars just by mentioning those things and what it cost to replace with OEM parts. Of course one after noon and pulling parts I had in stock and good as new !!!!!:happy175:

 

[J33Pfan]

Having a bad motor already! thats too many miles! & too much $$!

Once you fix the motor you'll see that you might need a lot more $$$ to fix the rest of it!

Better to buy with less miles & less thats broken!

 

[HoosierJeeper]

180k miles on a 42RLE is a time bomb waiting to go off I think. Mine shit the bed (with regular maintenance) at 155k. Doesn't sound like this one had anything done to it and since you can't drive it, sounds risky. Although you could have it towed to a trans shop and have them read the CVIs and that will tell you how much life is left in it.

 

[68NOVASS]

It was not a deal. Body was far from "perfect". No real rust on the body but they just didn't take care of it. Wheels were nasty, interior was dirty, smoker. Front axle was wet at seal areas etc. etc. etc. Worth the 20 minute drive I guess. Dipstick oil looked dirty but not bad. But the oil fill cap and visible tube was creamy. Motor would not turn over. I didn't bother to check transfer case or axle fluids. I appreciate the feed back from you on what to look for. I will use it for future shopping. I have a 2004 KJ one owner I bought for my daughter and i really like it over all. It is high mileage but simple to work on and running good.

 

[J33Pfan]

It was not a deal. Body was far from "perfect". No real rust on the body but they just didn't take care of it. Wheels were nasty, interior was dirty, smoker. Front axle was wet at seal areas etc. etc. etc. Worth the 20 minute drive I guess. Dipstick oil looked dirty but not bad. But the oil fill cap and visible tube was creamy. Motor would not turn over. I didn't bother to check transfer case or axle fluids. I appreciate the feed back from you on what to look for. I will use it for future shopping. I have a 2004 KJ one owner I bought for my daughter and i really like it over all. It is high mileage but simple to work on and running good.

lol offer him $250 for a laugh

 

[68NOVASS]

I told him what I thought was wrong with it and why it was not worth $1000 or even $500. It was clear he is having a hard time dealing with what a loss it is going to be. I told him if he can't get an offer better than $350 I would pay him that and come get it. He said " I have $300 in the new AC compressor". I said good luck...

 

[JasonJ]

I told him what I thought was wrong with it and why it was not worth $1000 or even $500. It was clear he is having a hard time dealing with what a loss it is going to be. I told him if he can't get an offer better than $350 I would pay him that and come get it. He said " I have $300 in the new AC compressor". I said good luck...

Sad..

But putting X dollars into repairs does not add X dollars onto the value... it restores it from N-X where N is what the value would be if the repair was never needed. In this case, it brings him out of a negative cash value situation... but does not add $300 to the value of the Jeep.

 

[Dave]

I told him what I thought was wrong with it and why it was not worth $1000 or even $500. It was clear he is having a hard time dealing with what a loss it is going to be. I told him if he can't get an offer better than $350 I would pay him that and come get it. He said " I have $300 in the new AC compressor". I said good luck...

Yeah, $350. in the abused condition it is in. Worse comes to worse, you could part it out then sell it to the junkyard.


Might be better/easier to look for a lower mileage one owner jeep that was taken care of and spend more money up front and it will be worth it. No changing engines and other unforeseen problems and $$


Hope you can find a good deal. (keep us posted)


Dave

 

[john43028]

Way to risky IMO! JB