Looking for my old XJ

[Skorpyo]

As I near completion of my MJ I keep wondering about my old XJ and what the odds are that it's still around. In 1999 I traded it in for my current XJ because a mechanic told me it needed about $1500 in brake work. I was young, and didn't know anything about doing my own work, so I took it to a dealership and they offered me 1500 in trade in so I traded it in. It was really a great XJ, ran like a top, had about 130K on it and aside from the brakes was a great vehicle.

 

So these many years later I decided to try and look it up and since I'm a pack-rat I found the original trade-in receipt and I have the VIN. I ran it through CarFax and a few other free vehicle history checks and it's not been listed as salvage or totaled and the last entry was in 2007 when it was registered in Pelham, NC with about 180K on it. I've searched every avenue I can think of and haven't turned up anything. Short of driving to NC and driving around town looking for it I'm not sure if I'd be able to find it.

 

Anyways, it was a 1988 2WD auto Cherokee Pioneer with white flares and no body trim except a red stripe. Chrome front and rear bumpers with a class II hitch. Grey interior. I kept it immaculate and to this day regret trading it in...

 

Has anyone else had any luck finding an old vehicle and if so what means did you use? I don't know anyone in law enforcement or who works at the NC DMV who could tell me if it's even still around or currently registered.

[Jeep Driver]

It's in somebody's backyard rusting away like every other 30 year old vehicle here in the southeast

Besides like an old girlfriend you can never go back

[Skorpyo]

Well, I choose to be optimistic since my MJ is just as old and if the original owner was looking for it they'd be pleasantly surprised that its rust free and running and has been a WV, VA truck its whole life. I'd like to think it's still running and maybe even in decent shape.

[ride172]

2007........ Wasn't that right before cash for clunkers?  Seems like I remember it being an Obama thing.  I'm guessing your old XJ was traded in under that program.

[HOrnbrod]

OP, if you really want to know what happened to your former beloved XJ, pay for a real VIN search. The free search crap usually tells you nothing. Cheaper than "driving to NC and driving around town looking for it". 

[DirtyComanche]

A 2wd OBS XJ...  The best you can hope is it's parked in the 'back forty' somewhere.  That's not exactly a desirable vehicle for 99% of people.

 

 

I do wonder whatever happened to the 89? 4dr XJ I had.  Last seen on the side of the road with a massive puddle of ATF under it...

[Skorpyo]

3 hours ago, HOrnbrod said:

OP, if you really want to know what happened to your former beloved XJ, pay for a real VIN search. The free search crap usually tells you nothing. Cheaper than "driving to NC and driving around town looking for it". 

So I'll clarify that I PAID for a Carfax, and ran a NMVTIS search along with other free searches. The paid for CarFax search gave me barely more information than the free searches, essentially just the fact that it was Pelham, NC vs just NC. I don't put too much stock in these cause my MJ did return a title records for when I bought it, but nothing since, despite multiple state inspections. Oh and I was kidding about driving to NC, but based on the map of Pelham, it'd probably take me a day or two to visit every resident since it looks like they're maybe 1 stop sign in the town.

 

4 hours ago, ride172 said:

2007........ Wasn't that right before cash for clunkers?  Seems like I remember it being an Obama thing.  I'm guessing your old XJ was traded in under that program.

It was, Cash for Clunkers was in '09 as an effort to fix the economy. I figured it probably would have happened too, but all salvage yards are supposed to report / record whenever a vehicle is salvage or junk titled and that doesn't come up for my old XJ... The last title record was in '07 so it was prior to the program and if it changed hands it should have been retitled. Of course I'm sure there are salvage yards that weren't good about this, and its entirely possible that it was junked or salvaged and just never recorded.

 

2 hours ago, DirtyComanche said:

A 2wd OBS XJ...  The best you can hope is it's parked in the 'back forty' somewhere.  That's not exactly a desirable vehicle for 99% of people.

I do wonder whatever happened to the 89? 4dr XJ I had.  Last seen on the side of the road with a massive puddle of ATF under it...

Yeah, i hear you. It being 2wd was the one thing I held against it, but she always got me where I needed to go, even in snow and ice. It was a very "Pretty" jeep though, it was about as clean as it could have been when I traded it in. I may not have known how to fix brakes back then, but I knew how to have routine maintenance performed and I was really retentive about cleaning it inside and out. That being said, it's been almost 20 years since it was mine so chances are it's probably rotting away somewhere, and I accept that, but hey, a guy can dream...

 

If you still have the VIN you could always check to see if it went anywhere after that...at least at a high level.

[PCO6]

18 hours ago, Skorpyo said:

... In 1999 I traded it in for my current XJ because a mechanic told me it needed about $1500 in brake work. ... aside from the brakes was a great vehicle.

A similar thing happened to me.   I bought a new Cherokee Laredo in 1990.   After 5 years and about 250,000 km the ABS packed it in.   The repair cost just under $3,000 (CDN).   That was almost 10% of what the Jeep cost!   I didn't keep it for much longer but I've always wondered where it is.

[Skorpyo]

I found some photos of the old girl. First one's from Christmas of 1994 when my parents kicked in the extra 1500 and bought it for me as my christmas gift. I had saved up 1500 working at Blockbuster and I really wanted a wrangler or amigo (glad I didn't get one) and they "borrowed" that and bought the XJ from our neighbors for $3K.

 

The second is from 1998 when I was on break from college and had just finished washing and waxing it. I was always the DD and we'd all pile in and head into DC to hit a pool hall in Georgetown then walk M Street. Man I thought I was too effin cool... Oh, and yes, that license plate is where my nickname came from... Dad was Navy so we were FL residents as long as he could swing it. No state income tax so he kept that residency as long as possible.

 

[jeeppapa]

I found some photos of the old girl. First one's from Christmas of 1994 when my parents kicked in the extra 1500 and bought it for me as my christmas gift. I had saved up 1500 working at Blockbuster and I really wanted a wrangler or amigo (glad I didn't get one) and they "borrowed" that and bought the XJ from our neighbors for $3K.

 
The second is from 1998 when I was on break from college and had just finished washing and waxing it. I was always the DD and we'd all pile in and head into DC to hit a pool hall in Georgetown then walk M Street. Man I thought I was too effin cool... Oh, and yes, that license plate is where my nickname came from... Dad was Navy so we were FL residents as long as he could swing it. No state income tax so he kept that residency as long as possible.
 

Don’t lose hart. Years ago my uncle who was in his 60s tracked down the first car he ever owned and it was pre ww2. Keep checking and it might pop up. Strange things happen all the time in my world. Ya never know.


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