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Newbie PLease HELP. Value of 1987 Wrangler?

15K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  kheihn 
#1 ·
Hi All,

My wife and I are ready to buy our first Jeep. It's been a long time in the making. We have been test driving a wide array of Wranglers from 1987 to 1998s. We wanted to stay away from the Carbuerated models but my wife's father wants to sell us his mint 1989 Wrangler 6cyl manual. Everything is stock with no mods.

The only problem is we have no idea what it's worth. He paid $3000 5 years ago when the Jeep only had 40,000 original miles. It now has about 50,000 miles and is in very good condition all around. It runs good and has no known rust, damage, or problems. It comes with soft and hard tops.

He has replaced the clutch and bought new soft top, but thats about it for money into it. And sorry I do not have any photos. It was always kept in garage and has such low milage because it was towed behind an rv and not much driving.

What should we offer him? I haven't the slightest clue what its worth. I know Blue Book only gies to 1991 or so, and these things seem to vary quite a bit in price depending on region and time of year.

Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Even a ballpark number would be great, since I have nothing to base it on right now. If the price is right I think this woould be a great first Jeep for us, but if he decides he wants over 4,500$ I think we might try to look at newer fuel injected models. We just wanted to have a number we could offer him up front.

Thanks All. We are stoked to buy our first Jeep

Aaron
 
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#3 ·
I can only answer this from the Dad's perspective as I have sold vehicles to my kids.
If I had paid $3,000 and bought a new top and clutch repaired and was ready to sell, I'd be looking for $4500 on the open market.
I would offer it to my daughter for $2500 with the following explanation:

"Dear, this fun but finicky vehicle is 26 years old. The sales price includes the first repairs, unknown at this time but sure to come and paid in advance by me.

Love,
Dad"
 
#5 ·
Jeeps are a funny thing to price or buy. If you look for them for sale on-line, 99% percent of them are listed way above blue book, and people are paying above blue book for them. I bought a stock 92 5 years ago for, $2500. I have had people offer to buy it when I brought it home for more. Know its lifted and has bumpers and tires, and constantly get people interested in it. I have bought many jeeps over the years, and a mint 89 if It was me, I would shoot for $2,000, and no more than $2500.00. IF you get it, you can always throw a Howell fuel injection on it down the road if you want fuel injection.
 
#8 ·
Thanks all. I'm pretty sure it is the 6cyl 4.2 engine. He is in rural AZ but close enough to Phoenix that it might have high demand.

The only big issue is that he wants to buy a newer autmatic, since he has real bad arthritis in his hands, and he wants to use the sale of this jeep towards a new one. I don't expect a bargain from him and would expect to pay fair market value. The benefit we see is, that we know who the owners have been and what kind of care has been taken of this Wrangler.

I guess I can offer him what he paid plus whatever the new softtop cost. Our budget is around $4500, and could probably stretch it to $5000. But again, since we know the history of this Jeep thought it might be a great buy with its very low milage(50,000).

I'll check out Nada as well. I really wish this was a simple thing to figure out.

Also, what do the te Fuel Injector conversions cost? We plan on keeping this Jeep up at 9200 feet and hiting the trails above treeline at around 12-1300 feet.

THANKS
 
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