Bonnette Auction

I want a Jeep soooooooooo bad

What is the orange one worth?

Orange Jeep Pic

How does Bonnette compare to Henderson Auctions? Especially in terms of online description of the item and if it is in working condition. Bith are 2 hrs from where I live so I can’t just go and inspect w/I being 70+% sure it fits my needs.

I have never bought a motorized item from them.

Their item descriptions are usually accurate.

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What do you think this Jeep is worth? 1995 wrangler with 114k miles

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I'm actually looking for a YJ to go with my TJs

YJ prices are all over the place. You can get them anywhere from $4000 for the 2.5 to $14,000 for a very good/low mileage 4.0.

The mileage is pretty low, so just make sure it's accurate. Just a note, you will see YJs some with high mileage say that it was towed behind an RV which may or may not be true for YJs since they had a mechanical ODO. The ones with TJs or JKs that say that are straight lying because they have electronic ODO

That one pictured is a Sahara which was top of the line at the time (The big circle should say Sahara, but you can tell because of the color matched fenders - it should also have green seats unless its been changed out).

It looks like he has taken care of most of the known problems with the 4.0 (Valve cover gasket, rear main, and bushings). These also had a problem with exhaust manifolds cracking - not a deal breaker if its cracked because its really really common and not hard to fix.

The 1995 frame should be galvanized so you shouldn't have to worry about it rusting.

Make sure you check and make sure the lift is done correctly. The YJs had leaf springs instead of the 1996 - now coil overs. Probably not as much of a concern with a 4 inch lift, but some of the old 2 inch lifts people would do with shims which isnt't the best way to do it. 4" is really too big for shims.

He has 35" tires which is a little big unless he has had the gears changed. If the gears aren't changed then it's going to be slow on the road (not that 4.0 jeeps are fast, but it will be even slower).

If you are trying to make an offer, I would probably start at $7000 and see where he is at. That's a really solid and fair offer if everything checks out. He may want around $10 or $11 for it though (and can maybe eventually get it), just depends on how long he wants to hold on to it.

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I was trying to stay around 10k and they want 13k.

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Yeah, people are all over the place with what they want for YJs (1987-1995), but for that price I would get a TJ (1996-2006). The early TJs and later YJs had the same issues, but the TJs have coil over springs which is an infinitely better ride than the leaf springs. Each year of the TJ has their own little quirks. But nothing that can't be fixed. You also get a much better balance of old vs new technology with TJs.

For $10k you should be able to find something decent in the 150,000 mile range. For the 4.0 high mileage isn't a big concern. The engines are very hard to kill, and even when something major happens they aren't hard to work on. Plus just about everyone that owns a TJ thinks they need to film themselves when they fix it so there are 10s of thousands of YouTube
videos that show you how to do your own work if that is something you are interested in.

Also, when you are looking ideally you want to find something bone stock. There necessarily anything wrong with getting something already lifted, but you never know how they treated it and how hard they off-roaded it. You also don't know what all they have done correctly with regards to lifts or after market parts and/or wiring. If you get a stock you don't have as much to worry about and then can lift/build it like you want.

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Also, when you are looking ideally you want to find something bone stock. There necessarily anything wrong with getting something already lifted, but you never know how they treated it and how hard they off-roaded it. You also don't know what all they have done correctly with regards to lifts or after market parts and/or wiring. If you get a stock you don't have as much to worry about and then can lift/build it like you want.

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This advice is spot on for any vehicle, but particularly for older Jeeps. It's really easy to buy someone else's basket case of a project.