My buddy moved to Florida to his new job, and to celebrate that he bought a new car (a Suzuki SX4...really REALLY wish he would've consulted me first!). That means his mid-'90s XJ Jeep is just sitting at his parent's house. He said there's no point in selling it, because he wouldn't get anything for it.
For one thing, it has 201K miles. It's an auto, still shifts fine, though it doesn't go into 4WD. It has some slight rust of the rear fenders. The driver's door creaks terribly when opened, as it was tweaked by a cab while it was open. The stereo works, but none of the speakers do. The interior looks like it was attacked by cocaine-fueled ferrets.
But other than that, the thing runs like a freaking tank. He just gets it oil changed, and occasional wear items like shocks and belts, and it keeps starting. The only thing I noticed is some slightly brown coolant. When asked if it's ever overheated, he said, "Yea, like a few years ago, and if it sits in traffic for too long the temperature gauge goes way up."
So to sum up, we have a mostly mechanically-sound, beat up Jeep that refuses to die, despite having a blown head gasket for the last 50,000ish miles, that I could probably have for next to free. How hard is that head gasket to change? A snowy parking lot donut machine that could also lug all my audio gear around is awfully enticing when it costs less than my TV.
