Oohhh boy... Do I do it?

[lost1]

So this month my 83 Wagoneer (in the Portland area) is going into the shop to get some electrical gremlins sorted, a replacement suspension swapped in, and other stuff to make it safe to drive over the pass to Bend.

My neighbor two doors over has a black wagoneer with a boobie grill, and is extremely hard to catch. Been living ehre since October and haven't yet been able to approach him about his (very) parked FSJ.

Six doors up and across the street though, this weekend the neighbor set a white '85 Grand Wagoneer on sale for $500. Sign says rebuilt t/c, has good clean body all around and about 106k on the odometer. Turns out my aunt knows the folks, its been the neighbor's wife's grocery getter for years now. No idea why its for sale all of a sudden. I figure worst case scenario, I can coast it down the hill to the house (yes its that close) and part the sucker out, get a new radiator (which I need) new bumpers, new wheels and centercaps, maybe a few other odds and ends. Maybe I'll get lucky and score a working power seat so I can toss out my phone books.:rolleyes:

Thing is, I'm now a full-time college student and that $500 could be useful in the future. I've got it to spend, but I might want it later. The diseased part of me says YES ANOTHER JEEP and the sane part says 'don't do it man.'

Convince me folks; what would you do?

[imiceman44]

So this month my 83 Wagoneer (in the Portland area) is going into the shop to get some electrical gremlins sorted, a replacement suspension swapped in, and other stuff to make it safe to drive over the pass to Bend.

My neighbor two doors over has a black wagoneer with a boobie grill, and is extremely hard to catch. Been living ehre since October and haven't yet been able to approach him about his (very) parked FSJ.

Six doors up and across the street though, this weekend the neighbor set a white '85 Grand Wagoneer on sale for $500. Sign says rebuilt t/c, has good clean body all around and about 106k on the odometer. Turns out my aunt knows the folks, its been the neighbor's wife's grocery getter for years now. No idea why its for sale all of a sudden. I figure worst case scenario, I can coast it down the hill to the house (yes its that close) and part the sucker out, get a new radiator (which I need) new bumpers, new wheels and centercaps, maybe a few other odds and ends. Maybe I'll get lucky and score a working power seat so I can toss out my phone books.:rolleyes:

Thing is, I'm now a full-time college student and that $500 could be useful in the future. I've got it to spend, but I might want it later. The diseased part of me says YES ANOTHER JEEP and the sane part says 'don't do it man.'

Convince me folks; what would you do?

If it's runner, get it to drive till yours is out of the shop, then you would have had enough time in the driver seat to know if you want to keep it, sell it or part it.
As you said you already have your eye on a few parts of it if you part it, you might end up making your $500 back if you part it and still get your money back.
On the other hand, I could buy it and sell you only the parts you need.:thumbsup:

[Eric Flewelling]

Keep the '85 and use yours as the parts jeep :)

[brubakes]

save the money for school

[rockin wagoneer]

dude im in school to so i know wat u mean get the jeep by the time u need the money for school u could make it back by parting it out or selling it for scrap when ur done with it... thats what im doing with 2 of mine.

[bg2pres]

Dude, if you are asking the question, you know the answer. There will be Jeeps all over the place once you get out of school.

Now, if it is worth 3000 and you can get it for 500, use it as a business lesson and try to make some money on it.

Otherwise, you need to bank your money! REMEMBER, thats why our economy is in the dump. People are spending money that they need to have in the bank!!!

[lost1]

hurray for developing news...

It has a transmission problem and that's why its parked. After the guy got a 'new' t/c put in the tranny fluid leaked out over time and he never took it back to the shop. They never ahd a problem before that though... suddenly this sounds like it could be a steal.

[rockin wagoneer]

i would take it

[vintagetrks]

I say for $500 you really can't go wrong. Like you said if nothing else you can part it out and get your money back and then some.

[CJ the noisemaker]

I would get it, but that is me. I go to college as well, I have a scholarship, FAFSA, and a school loan taking care of my tuition, books, and supplies. But, I have a lot of funds left over after that, so that also takes care of my 'Wants' too. :thumbsup::drivin::fsj:

Your situation may be different depending on how much is left over after paying for college, it may be enough to buy another GW, it may not. Also, consider another DD, if in worst case scenario your GW decides to drop a load on you.

I would like to cruise my Mutt on my soon-to-be 26 mile commute (yay for living in a rural area:rolleyes:). But I know realistically, I need another car.

(just showing off, possibly going to be mine)
http://qualitymotorsreno.com/images/1502_1.jpg

*If tl:dr, Consider other options.

[dajeeps]

well i think you know my veiw. for 500 sounds like a good deal.besides that you can always have at least one running so in therory.it's worked for me anyways.oh hey does that motor still run that we swaped.:D

[Voodoochiled445]

I still would like to stress that there will be more in the future. Many times I have bought a project vehicle I "couldn't pass up" and later down the road found something else I really needed the money for.

$500 is a lot of money, choose wisely :thumbsup:

[Bill Moore]

Offer 300 and pay 350. use it for parts and sell off what you dont need and make a few bucks. or keep the best and use the other for parts! At that price you can always scrap it and get your money back!

[Brizio]

Make an offer, and buy it!!!

[DerekTJeep]

Come on, be a risk taker!! Go for it!! For only $500....look at what they are going for. You will be surprised at what you can get for it if you want to sell it.

[Gambler68]

Buy the 500 dollar white wag. just saying 'sending mine to the shop'=way over a grand anyways in mechanic fees alone. Put that in a runner and if its anything but dropping a TC or the tranny or deep engine work, you can do it yourself with basic tools and a little research.

[madmikeX3]

Why is it when you not looking for something, something always come up that's a good deal. When you are looking you cant find one anywhere.

[1cdccop]

Why is it when you not looking for something, something always come up that's a good deal. When you are looking you cant find one anywhere.
Or better yet, after you bought what you thought you wanted, you find what you really wanted a year later but dont have the coin anymore:banghead:

[Danbert]

I say go for it, put the part from each together to make a good runner and seel whats left. You might be able to get the 500 back out, you might not. Either way, be prepared as though you wont see those 5 bills again. Oh and offer them less. You might find changing the tranny filter and filling it up does wonders.

[x6xdemonx6x]

in my expriance if its got problems and they are asking 500 they will probably take 300 and may take 200 especially if its been sitting there for a bit not doing anything. Hell i have gotten great vehicles with little issues in trades for stuff like a good 4 barrel carb or various other crap i had laying around.

[rusty crusty]

hurray for developing news...

It has a transmission problem and that's why its parked. After the guy got a 'new' t/c put in the tranny fluid leaked out over time and he never took it back to the shop. They never ahd a problem before that though... suddenly this sounds like it could be a steal.

Sounds kinda expensive to me. I got my 89GW for $400 w/a bad t//c.
4 new BF Goodriches and motor rebuilt 6 months ago. Had the t/c so it was a no brainer.;)

[jeepskater433]

you can make a nice one out of the two, but either way you can always get your money back for the wag if you need it,

[Carleysjeep]

I am with the consensus that says it sounds easier to fix the white wagon. At the worst you can swap trannies and still be cheaper than putting yours in the shop.

[lost1]

So, I passed on the busted rig... but met a pretty good neighbor. He's been leaning towards fixing it up again anyways, and I have no desire to part out an almost-working vehicle. That's only a step away from scrap. As for doing major swaps, I really can't do any more of that, learned my lesson with the engine swap at Dajeeps' place. Health stuff limits me to minor wrenching for now, so instead I'll be looking at a gas-sipper for those trips into town.

On the other hand, if he decides its not worth the trouble in a few months, he says he may part it out himself and I can get some of those goodies anyways.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in; ultimately in threads like this its the OP's call but some of you brought up angles I hadn't yet considered.


I should mention, I pretty much have to put mine in the shop at this point if I want to get the poor thing running anytime soon. I'm several hours away form it, in college, have a bad back and two kids... you get the picture. Too busy to arrange wrenching weekends right now.