Another New Guy Looking for Help Buying...

[Rico80]

New to the forums, great site! I know this question gets asked a lot, but I would appreciate any responses.

I'm looking to buy a 1980 CJ7 . I thought it would be pretty neat to find one this particular year since it's my birth year. (I've read the 1980-81 was a "bad" year for CJ's) I've kept my search a few hours radius and found a 1980 CJ-7, 4 cylinder with 79k miles on Craigslist. He's asking $5,900. I'm hoping to meet, inspect and drive it in a few days. I'll know more then. In the meantime, this is all I have:

- 1980 Jeep CJ-7
- 4 cylinder, he doesn't know if it's the Iron Duke. (I thought that's the only 4 banger option in 1980)
- Manual Transmission , he's doesn't know what transmission. I'm assuming it's the SR4 .
- 79,000 miles
- Comes with bikini top and half doors only. NO other tops or doors.
- Only owned for two months, bought from California. He's looking for a four door Jeep now.
- Drives on the weekend
- Claims no rust
- Claims four wheel drive works

A few questions for y'all:

1. Is this a fair price? I feel like it's a bit high considering other CJ-7 in my area and the no other tops doors and the "Iron Duke" SR-4 combo! I don't want to let this one get away over a couple hundred dollars though. I haven't spoken to him about price since I haven't looked at it yet, but something tells me he wants to sell high to recoupe what he recently paid for it.

2. Do y'all recommend getting a CARFAX or are they pretty useless on older CJs?

3. Does it look lifted?

I guess this would help. I'm really only looking to drive this Jeep around town with the family and to work once a week or when the weather is nice. I know, that's pretty lame for a CJ's existence.

Please let me know what you all think! Thanks for reading!

 

[CJAKE7]

Welcome to the world of Jeeps! I don't have a lot of back round with the 4 cylinder. Think about how you will be using it. The reason for saying that is the tire size in relation to the 4 cylinder engine. I have an '85 with 33 inch tires, 6 cylinder and stock gearing(3:31). My 5th gear is pretty well useless and many steep hills I need to back down to 2nd gear. It runs ok at highway speeds, but it takes a while to get there(I am currently saving for regearing). All this to say, when you test drive it, go over a mountain and on the highway if your mainly going to be road driving.
FYI - I got my CJ 3 yrs ago w/ 92,000 miles for $4500. Has minimal rust and newer paint. Good Luck!

 

[jzak]

I would walk away from a 4 cyl CJ. Especially one that looks lifted with larger tires. I've got a 6 cylinder engine with a 4 speed Transmission , and i'm barely able to get up to highway miles.

Also, do you know if the 79,000 miles on the engine is original, or has it been rebuilt? If it's original, then that probably means it's been sitting un-driven in someones garage for over a decade, which is not good.

Concerning market price for a good CJ, it really ranges by where you are. I used to live in Chapel Hill NC (College Town), where all CJ's and wranglers are in really high demand. I recently dropped $3,000 for a CJ5 in Norfolk, but I got a good deal because it was in winter. Considering that your buying in the summer, you should be able to find a CJ in good condition for 5-6K. That is, unless you live in a college town.

Good Luck!

 

[Saddle Tramp]

On balance there is nothing wrong with a 1980 CJ in my opinion. The stock I-4 in 1980 was the Iron Duke. Not much power but OK for just driving around town. The jeep looks lifted to me and the tires oversized. Larger tires are going to put a lot more strain on the little 4 banger but again if only used around town, doable.

I would be concerned about the owner claiming he only owned the jeep 2 months and the 79K odometer. It most likely means 179K at the least. A California jeep can have less rust due to the lack of rain and snow but anything near the coast would be subject to salt in the air from the ocean so check for rust under the jeep. The paperwork from California needs to be in proper order but hopefully the title has been changed over to your home State already. The VIN sticker in 1980 that is normally on the dash may be on the tub inside the driver side door. Stand at the door facing the jeep, bend over with your head inside the tub and look at the sidewall just under the door threshold. The VIN sticker should be there placed upside down so when your head is upside down looking at the side of the tub the sticker will read properly. There also should be a tag on the firewall inside the engine bay near the brake master cylinder. This tag needs to properly attached to the firewall not using screws or any other easily removable fasteners and match the VIN sticker. The VIN number should also be stamped into the frame most likely on the top of the frame at the rear passenger side wheel well.

Not having a top needs to be taken into consideration to determine a fair price as the get an aftermarket soft top such as a Bestop Supertop is going to cost around $750 and used hard tops and doors can go for upwards of $800-$1,000. The price of CJs seem to be all over the map in my area but on balance any 4 cylinder CJ or Wrangler (sorry for the profanity, I said the W word) is worth about $1,500 less than its brethren equipped with a I-6.

 

[mtnwhlr]

If you like how it drives I'd offer him 5000

 

[jdcaples]

About your questions:

Price: If it's priced within 10-20% of other CJ7s for sale, it's probably "fair (for your) market." Determining fair price is more of an opinion, than a standard.


CARFAX: I find CARFAX useless on all vehicles, but that's because my van, which I bought new, has never been in an accident, never had an insurance claim, but CARFAX disagrees.

Lifted: to my untrained eye, it looks like it might have 31 inch tires.


My only ownership experience is with my 1980 CJ7 .

I do have the AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l I6. It's not too hard to get up to 60 mph, but I do down shift to climb significant grades.

That being said, I enjoy my CJ more than I've enjoyed any other vehicle. I bought it a couple of years ago and have enjoyed getting back to my wrenching roots.

Here's what I did: I bought it, lived with it for a year before I did anything significant.

During that year, I got to "know" it, what worked, what didn't work and I confirmed for myself that catching Jeep fever wasn't a passing thing.

I'd recommend you do that.

Jeeps don't have to be money pits; our ambitions make them so.

You don't seem too ambitious, so it should be fine. It's easy to find a mentor to teach you skills you might not have if you do grow ambitious beyond your means.

If you like it, buy it and enjoy it and keep it in good working order.

-Jon

 

[jdulmer]

Fair price depends on the area..
4 cylinder is underpowered = price drop. Absence of full top, hard or soft = price drop.

Carfax IS useless.

Lifted, most likely, judging by the space between the, what looks like at least 31", tires and the fenders, yes at least 2-2.5" lift.

If you are just driving around town, it'll be fine. I definitely try to get the price down.

Good luck!




"Libertatem Aut Mortem"

 

[jdcaples]

<snip>
Lifted, most likely, judging by the space between the, what looks like at least 31", tires and the fenders, yes at least 2-2.5" lift.
<snip>

The absence of wheel well flares gave me an exaggerated space between the wheel well and the tire.

I based my guess on the lack of suspension lift based on the rear shackle.



The rear shackle looks like mine - proportionately speaking - and mine's not lifted beyond 31 inch tires.

-Jon

 

[jdulmer]

2" lift.. on 33s





"Libertatem Aut Mortem"

 

[Lumpy Grits]

4 cly is gut-less and those tires make it even more so.
No top is anther issue. Price tops, you can burn $1K easy.
Not worth his price, IMO.
Also-How good of a mechanic are you? These old Jeeps need lots of up keep.
LG

 

[Petescj]

Id walk. Wouldnt even make an offer. Like others said a 4 cyl topless Cj isnt worth much to me. Odds are you'll be asking what it takes to do a 6 cyl or 8 cyl conversion 2 months from now.

 

[Rico80]

Wow, y'all are great! Thanks for the insight. I almost pulled the trigger on it the other day! I'm just getting impatient...

Back to the search!

 

[Deerejeep]

Id walk. Wouldnt even make an offer. Like others said a 4 cyl topless Cj isnt worth much to me. Odds are you'll be asking what it takes to do a 6 cyl or 8 cyl conversion 2 months from now.

I would be a good example of that... but it was 12 months.


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