looking for opinions on value of a prospective 79 renegade

Hey guys it's been awhile but I seek some knowledge; attempting to do the unthinkable and take out a loan on a 31 year old jeep.

What I know: it has 117k, he's about the third owner (since 80k), it's from Indiana (currently in Uniontown, pa), in the 7-8yrs he's has been the owner it was a "summertime" vehicle. Completely stock and untampered with. 304, 3 speed. Sounds reliable enough, he said he wouldn't hesitate to take it for a drive across the state. My intuition says he's trustworthy. I'll be driving down to check it out tomorrow morning where I’ll snap a lot of pictures and check for bondo/rust and bad noises.

So he's asking 5500, which I’m already not on board with. I’d probably talk him down a grand or something. I feel like it's worth 4700 max.

This isn't my first old jeep acquisition as my last one was in "rough" shape:

http://willystrip.wordpress.com/1948-cj-3a/

I figure if it's a reliable DD and I don't plan on using it very often (I ride a bicycle everywhere in the city) it could be a solid buy. The gas prices are a bit scary, but I’ve got giant eagle fuel perks and again it won't see that much driving...maybe.

Also after reviving my 48 all the maintenance and repairs should be old hat, I’m not afraid to turn a wrench. I plan to keep it stock original. So here’s the link, tell me what you guys think.

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/2331901128.html

 

I like the jeep. But for anything over 4K I'd have to really find a clean jeep. And I'd never take a loan out to buy one..........not even a new one.

If it's in great shape, with good tires, with a great top, and everyhting is in good shape......maybe. Really depends on how much I wanted it........

 

That looks like a very clean unit. That would probably go for that amount around here.

As far as going into debt for it though, not a big fan. Im finally payment free for the first time in a decade and have resolved to be done with debt until its time to buy a house. That aside, Im not sure a part time leisure rig like a Jeep would be worth going to debt for. Although on the flip side, the loans interest will likely be cheaper than restoration parts.

 

Looks clean...surprisingly so for a Northern state Jeep. I agree with the point of not going into debt for a Jeep of that vintage though, but hey, that's just me...and bigjohn.

 

I like it! That baby is completely original. Keep in mind a few things.....

The '79, for some reason, does not hold its value like some other years. Although the equipment is identical to pretty much any 1976-1983 CJ5, people just aren't as big of fans....

Take a look at this...try plugging in different years to see what I am talking about....

http://www.nadaguides.com/Classic-Cars/1979/Jeep-Corporation-AMC/CJ5/Jeep-4X4/Values

This '79 also apears to be in decent shape, but 117K is a tired 304, or getting tired so depending on what you want to do with the Jeep, you are going to take on at least an additional 10K over time, conservatively to make it 4x4 reliable. Driving to the Quicky Mart and Offroading are two VERY differnt standards of reliable, IMO.

By the looks of your '48, it appears you are no stranger to what I am talking about. I would either take the guy down to about $3,500 or find an earlier model.

 

'79 was the last year for the T-150 three-speed. The SR-4 and T-176 4-speeds, and Dana 300, were introduced in 1980. D300 good, and the T-176 is ok ... nothing wrong with the T-150/D20 combo. I would ignore the NADA values if I weren't selling.

117K is enough miles so that the engine could be thrashed if it weren't maintained well. Hot idle oil pressure should be your main concern. With frequent oil changes, the AMC V8s can go over 200K easily, but it all depends on maintenance and a little luck.

JMO - purchase price is small component of the overall cost over the lifetime of a vehicle. Paying for better initial condition will save you money in the long run. If you like it and the price is ok, why not?

Also, if you are just going to drive this on the street and for light trail duty, used YJs seem to be the best value currently.

 

yeah trust me I'm not gung ho on going into debt for another leaky squeaky rattle trap with bad mpg's. went out and took a look today and a test drive, working with pictures now..

 

Alright so spent 30 bucks to go visit a possible cj5. and overall it went well.

Condition is a pretty solid 7.7/10.

Good:

Top is great and original, Tires are new, Cats are new, Dual exhaust, New seats, Levi back seat still intact, dash looks good (minor dash damage), started up without hesitation and ran very strong on the test drive.

Body is very straight with only 2 areas that seem to have some sort of bodywork, does not appear to have been in a crash and the rust is isolated to parts of the fenders and a corner of the tailgate.

Frame is very clean for it's age, i didn't see any questionable areas for rust, needs body mounts.

bottom line, it could easily survive a drive home without any mechanical attention. it is a good body/windshield and frame.

Bad:

it needs: shocks, head light, filters/fluids, freeze plug, pinion seals, belt, TRE's, there is blowby from worn rings (however there wasn't a power issue therefor it likely is a small case of blowby that hasn't been mopped up). Brakes need some attention/use (it dives).


Other good news to be noted:
He picked the 5500 dollar price pretty much out of thin air. took a couple opinions of friends and had an old kelly blue book laying around. after i spent about 40 minutes poking around and scribbling down everything i could find wrong with it i told him that if everything was in better shape i'd say it could be worth 4700. then i said in a couple days i'd get back to him with my offer for the vehicle. so with this ugly but manageable list of stuff to fix i'll probably offer 3500 and i would be willing to pay an extra 200 if he wants to compromise. so that's a possible 2k off his asking price (money to buy some gasket kits and fluids.).

I gave it to him straight and let him know what i was looking for and the situation. He was real understanding and i could tell he'd like to sell it to me. I'm not a rash buyer, this has been a scheme for the last year. but i know for the most part what i'm looking at to get a cj5. alot of rust. this one is relatively unscathed, we'll just have to see how the financial end works out.

So hopefully i'll get the pic's hooked up and you all can take a look too



















































so there you have it, a mostly good jeep for a possibly good price. what i find most attractive is that it's factory save the lift shackles out back and the new cats which are both welcome. again i'm capable of all the maintenance and possible repairs so it will not cost "10k" to fix. and to whomever suggested a YJ for affordability... no me gusta YJ's.

 

Looks pretty nice for the area.
I'm spoiled from the rust free AZ jeeps so it looks a little crusty to me.
$3500 seems like a good place to be,though.

 

Kinda rusty and one of the body mounts looks kinda bad. They all need work. In Florida, for what I want in a Jeep, I'd start out at 3K. But then again, I'm cheap.

 

yeah and then again, it's a body mount. you can get a whole kit and install it in a day. as a prospective owner i'm just looking for steel munching rust. the frame is really good and the body isn't bad anywhere near the mounts.

anyway talked to the guy today, talked down the price. looks like it will be a sure thing if no other obstacle pops up.

 

Brake m/cyl has leaked down inside around the column, peeling the paint. Rust painted over inside on both sides of the lower cowl support by the floorboards. Wiring melted by the relay installed on LF fender. Tub is rotting over the rear fenders, corrosion is in-between the spotwelds, making those little brown pimples show up. Rear panel has patches where the tub mounts rotted off. With that many miles, leaks and rust, I''d start @15-1800 and not pay a dime in interest on a note for it. But only If the frame wasn't punky on the inside of the rear, up by the fuel tank.

 

wow that's quite the review. I'll be sure to check everything you've listed before I make any final decisions, however I don't think it's as bad as you have made it seem.

 

Sidscj has a good eye for this ...I agree

 

yep, that's the only suspect area, and fortunately it's flat and i've done body work there before on my other jeep. i went over the rest of it with a magnet and could only find that area and another up by the antenna mount near the front

 

theres a guy on eastern shore , Va
has a 1980 CJ5 V8 3 spd not bad looking - in fact looks better than that one in pittsburgh
he want 2200 for it - no tailgate body
http://norfolk.craigslist.org/cto/2338178449.html

 

So it's been a week, and I’ve mulled over it for awhile. Then I couldn't get in touch with the owner until today when he finally called me back (had family issue, some sort of car accident and it sounded serious). So he said he'd give me a call tomorrow. When we were talking price I told him what most of you all were thinking; around 3500 and I figured 3800 would be fair. he wanted to get at least 4100 and I figure I would be overpaying a couple hundred bucks, it just depended on whether or not it was really worth getting.

I’ve definitely thought about what SIDSCJ pointed out. I took a closer look at the pictures and some of the issues made my stomach upset with the thoughts of repairing them. Leaks ehh.. Hopefully minor bodywork yeah, wiring issues argh. If I were to purchase the first thing I plan to do is the usual change of fluids and address the most pressing repairs, but perhaps I’m just talking myself into a not so great jeep? I’ve changed my mind a couple times on it already. But heck I also have a “pull the pin” sort of approach to these things. I think I’m going to find most similar year cj5’s in about this shape anyway, unless that one great deal comes along. So the question is should I just wait for that deal?