terrawombat

MKIV Golf's with a manual tranny can net you 50+ MPGs so you don't have to go too far back in time. They can be had for anywhere between 5-8K, depending on condition. Just be ready to shell out the $$$ when they break down. I just spent $90 on an alternator pulley and special tool to remove it. Gotta love pulleys with an internal clutch...

I was offered $50 for my well used Nitto 35" tires from the guy @ the tire shop taking them off the rims....if that gives you any idea of value.

I just picked up an '04 Dodge 3/4 ton with the 5.9L Cummins to be my tow rig. I experienced everything you mentioned in your quote. I was seeing older 12V Cummins (94-97) with 250K+ miles and only in decent shape going for 9-12K. I'm not talking asking price either...they are actually selling for this much. I went to look at one listed for 10K with the hope that the seller would come down off whatever he was smoking. It was a 97 12V extended cab long bed. Had rust, needed tires and the front end probably could have been gone through entirely. It's major upside was a completely rebuilt transmission with paperwork. I tried to lowball and he stayed firm on his price so I walked. I called him later in the week to see if he was willing to reconsider my price and he said it had sold so I asked him for how much and he let it go at 9.5K. Ridiculous. So when my '04 popped up on Craigslist at 9K, I was all over it. Of course it's got giant mud tires on it, which have prematurely worn out the new ball joints so I'll be doing those again...and getting stock size tires. I'm in it for the mileage and am anxious to see what I can pull outta this thing.

The retread didn't cause it to not fit in my garage (it actually does if I air down the tires), the fact they're 35" tires on an already tall truck causes it not to fit through my 7' high garage door. I'm going to put dinky (otherwise known as stock size) tires on it because I want highway fuel efficiency. This truck will be going back and forth between NJ/MD several times a month. My trucks go off road maybe once or twice a year in the summer. The Eastern Shore of Maryland is about as flat as Kansas so everyone around here goes "mudding." Pretty boring, if you ask me. Also, the dry-rotted, unevenly worn retreads that are on the truck now won't pass the mandatory Maryland state inspection. His Dad knew he son was selling it so it wasn't a big deal. The father seemed a bit surprised by the number we agreed on and attempted to do a renegotiation because he claims the trans was just completely rebuilt and that should warrant a higher price.

Yea, I was kind of sketched out about the whole transaction from start to finish. Even when we were doing the title signing, I noticed it was in his Dad's name and he was just going to sign it over. I pumped the brakes and made him take me to where his Dad works so I could watch him sign it. All I needed was this kid to sell his Dad's truck without him knowing about it.

Same here. Everyone over on the Dodge Cummins forums seems to think this truck isn't worth anything, but I guess we're the same way over here when we see an MJ up for sale... Ok, I'll take a little break...been working on the truck for the past 15 hours straight. This truck pops up on a Sunday night. I inquire right away via a text message. Received one back almost immediately. Texts go back and forth for a while and they basically end with me wanting to see the truck and telling the seller I'd contact him the following day about seeing the truck, which I do, but I get no response. I call - no answer. I call again at night - no answer. I send a text before bed - no response. This goes on for three days. I decide to create a new identity. I have several things on Craiglist and I get phone calls for them several times a week. I will generally only pick up if I'm familiar with the area code. I've had scammers from Quebec calling me on a non-stop basis about my motorcycle. I figure that maybe the seller thinks my NJ area code is strange and I'm not really serious about this truck. Using Google Voice, I obtain a number with a local area code. My alter ego sends a Google Voice text (with local area code) - immediate response back. I make a phone call with my new identity (hoping he doesn't recognize my voice from before...he doesn't). We agree to meet up @ 7PM at his house. He sends me the address. I go home after work only to find my house is freezing and the heat is off. I spend a while trying to figure out why and decide to call off the 7PM meeting - having heat in my house is more important than a truck. The phone call (still using my alter ego) to cancel the meeting was awkward....very awkward. The kid sounded timid and impatient and wanted to know if we could meet up tomorrow morning or afternoon because he really needed to get rid of the truck. I told him I was unable to because I had plans with my wife (my alter ego has a wife, but my true identity had plans with my GF). I explain that I would like to come by on the weekend to take a look at the truck in the daylight. He didn't seem too happy with that answer and hung up on me. Later that night, right before I slipped into bed in my very cold house, I receive a text message on my NJ number (my real identity) explaining that the truck is still for sale, but someone is coming to look at it soon and is going to buy it. Gee, I wonder who that someone could possibly be? I decided to take off work in the morning and go look at the truck. We arranged to meet up in a parking lot of a supermarket (this guy was being very sketchy so if he wanted to murder me, I wanted to make sure there were witnesses). He agrees. The next morning comes and I meet the seller and it starts making sense. He's young - maybe only 18 or 19 - and he doesn't look very intelligent. I look at the truck and take it for a test drive. It wasn't quite what I expected so I told him that and low balled him. He declined and didn't counter - said he had another guy coming to look at it tomorrow who would pay his asking price. I did my best not to smile. I told him that I couldn't pay any more than my offer and drove off. Like clockwork, my alter ego received a text message, "Hey, are you still going to come buy the truck?" To which my alter ego responded - "No, sorry, my wife says it's a bad idea since the heat is broken in the house and I need to fix that first." No response, but later that day my true identity receives a text message in the form of a counter offer. I counter back and we agree on a price and I picked the truck up that night. Probably didn't need to make the second identity and probably could have kept pestering him until he responded on my main phone number, but this was way more entertaining.

I'll let mine go for $6,999.99 and 9/10. Not a tenth of a penny less.

I have the title. I did plenty of research on this thing before shelling out a cent. I'll post the long story eventually, but too busy working on my new toy. Short story was I bought it off a young kid, but the truck was in his Dad's name. He was going to sign the title over to me, but I made him take me to his Dad to get it squared away (which he was conveniently located just down the road from my house). Found a nice surprise in the glovebox - the original build sheet...and that also contained a nice surprise. This is the HO version of the 5.9L. So instead of having a measly 235HP/460Ft-Lb, it actually has 305HP/555Ft-Lb :rock on: Truck has a hair under 200K miles on the clock and a rebuilt trans with a shift kit. Called the trans shop that did the work and they confirmed it. Going up there to pick up a copy of the invoice so I'll have it on record. Need to get rid of the tires on this thing. They're retreads and it's too tall to fit into my garage lol

After the most awkward and sketchy Craigslist encounter, I pulled home a 2004 Ram 2500 with a 5.9L Cummins diesel. It popped up on Craigslist Sunday with a very vague description, no pictures and an unusually low price. I needed to create multiple identities to finally get the seller to acknowledge me and then used those identities to my advantage in order to drive the price down. I can go into more detail if anyone would care to listen to the long version. Truck needs work. Will need new tires, some rust repair and a good exterior & interior cleaning. Final price was $8,200. This is about 4X of what I have ever paid for a project vehicle. Hope it doesn't bite me in the arse...

Also, this is a very BOLD statement: (ONLY COMANCHE WITH THE LOWEST ORIGINAL MILES ON THE WESTCOAST OF THE UNITED STATES) Especially considering when this Jeep exists....IN THE SAME CITY: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1991-Jeep-Comanche-Pioneer-Metric-Ton-Dana44-4-0L-4WD-A-T-013-342-Miles-CA-Car-/221176773919?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item337f29bd1f#ht_478wt_1186 What an idiot...

I had a Ford Ranger cap on my MJ that was too narrow and a little short, but it wasn't THAT bad. Dunno what the heck that is off of...

Not enough shirtless pics to be mcconauGHEY

There was a guy on a Niner forums making the repair kits for about half the cost of the Hughes kit. I bought one a while back but never got around to installing it. I believe it was 3/16" laser cut aluminum. I also bought one of these for my supercharged 5.9MJ project: http://www.hughesengines.com/Index/products.php?browse=category&level0=U21hbGwgQmxvY2sgRG9kZ2UgTWFnbnVtICgzLjkvNS4yLzUuOSk=&level1=SW5kdWN0aW9uIChJbnRha2VzICYgQ29sZCBBaXIgS2l0cyk=&searchmode=partnumber&page=1&partid=24773 I need to get that project going again....

The Mopar Magnum-series engines are tough as nails and have the longevity of a 4.0L with regular maintenance. I believe they don't get a lot of love because they were mostly bolted to Chrysler automatic transmissions, which usually didn't last past 125-150K miles, even when properly maintained. They also seem to have a common flaw in the cylinder head design (actually, there are a number of Chrysler cylinder heads that have this problem) where they develop small cracks and you'll mysteriously lose coolant over time.

You may be able to get some service information about the vehicle if the previous owner took it to a dealer for maintenance. Go to www.mycarfax.com and sign up for a free account. You can search the VIN and pull up service records. Sometimes it's very helpful other times it doesn't tell you anything.

I assumed the white Niner was his new GF and the one that broke down was his ex?

Congrats, man. Before I switched positions to where I'm at now, I pursued a similar offer but ultimately turned it down because of the high probability of travel. If the travel doesn't bother you're in a good field with strong benefits and pay. My best advice would be to get in real good with the customers you service and the other contractors you'll ultimately wind up working with. My previous job was with a consulting firm and I was the "on-site field engineer" and had a lot of interaction with our clients and other contractors. When I put in my two weeks notice, I let all of the guys on the various sites I was at know I was leaving. I had two different contractors offer me positions on the spot, both of which I had to turn down because they were located in the opposite direction of where I was headed. If you can display good engineering fundamentals while also being socially apt, you'll find you're a rare commodity.

My '92 only had velcro on the rear.

Poly mounts are good for higher HP/TQ engines that will thrash around in the engine bay when you mash the accelerator or pop the clutch to switch gears. I don't think the 2.5L will put out enough ponies to warrant that and the stock, rubber mounts will hold up just fine.

He's probably referring to the small piece of bent metal that the OEM headliner rests above each door. I got my headliner in last night, finally, and I'm not sure that those metal pieces are necessary for this headliner because it's a much tighter fit than OEM. Once I had the front held up with the sunvisors, the sides had to be pushed into place and the headliner held itself there. The trim piece that goes over top will be enough to hold it in place. I believe those clips were there because the OEM headliner is an exact fit and will keep falling on your head until you put the plastic trim pieces on.

The only issue I see with it that could hurt the value is that it's purpose-built, which drastically limits your market. I think you could list for 20K and might be able to get 16K if you sit on it for a while. If you needed a quick sell, it'd for for 12-14K.

Congrats! I hope it's a salaried position and it isn't entirely commission-based...that would be too much pressure for me to handle. I'm with dasbulliwagen - I've never met a new or used car/truck/motorcycle salesman that I despised. All I want is for them to level with me, talk to me like a normal human being and not be in "salesman" mode 100% of the time. When I was looking for a motorcycle, I stopped by a couple of dealerships and I thought I found a salesman that wasn't a pre-programmed human robot designed to spout off sales pitches whenever he could. I wasn't even really all the interested in buying a brand new bike, but this guy seemed like a pretty cool cat. We talked motorcycles and cars for a bit and right when I expressed interest that I might want to lay down some cash and leave the store with a bike, he did a complete 180 - out came the cliches and blatantly obvious sales tactics. He started trying to sell me on a $1000 warranty package and wouldn't STFU about their low APR financing plans and how I could be riding home in only 40 minutes. I finally interrupted him and told him I had changed my mind and walked out the door. I had given him a business card back when he was cool and he kept calling me at work for the next few weeks - persistent bastard. If he would have realized that I don't fall for cheap, gimmicky sales tactics, he would have had the sale.

That's because they're still in college and are bleeding hearts. Just wait until they start getting a paycheck. Won't take long for them to jump the democrat ship.

Well, it certainly looks like EZ-Hitch is in the truck receiver business. Maybe they're not making receivers anymore...maybe it's not even the same company. But I just reread your original post. No receiver that I have seen for the MJ mounts to the bottom of the frame rails. Sounds like it came from a XJ or ZJ.

I bought a headliner from Steve last month. I haven't had a chance to pull the interior apart to install it, but I can tell you it's top-notch quality. I especially like how he precut the holes for both style sunvisors, but covered them up with the fabric so you can pick which hole to open up and you don't have an "extra" hole. I will say that I was a bit surprised when I saw the box that it showed up in. I was expecting a large, flat box, but instead it came in a very tall, skinny box. Steve rolls the headliner up tight enough to fit into the box for easier shipping, but not tight enough to "kink" the backer board so that it leaves a crease. The backing board is definitely a lot more flexible than the original backing board that came in our trucks. I think if I were to try rolling up my OEM headliner, it would just fold up and be permanently creased. Since the headliner is rolled up, it does tend to keep that shape. I just let mine sit out on the kitchen table for a few days and added a couple of heavy items in certain spots and it flattened right out to the original contour. Thanks again Steve! One of these days I'll get it in the truck...