can't decide if a jimmy is worth buying.
 

well it's a 93-94 Gmc Jimmy 4x4 2 door

I know it runs but it needs a front windsheild and an exauhst (not sure yet if he meant just a muffler or the complete thing.. probably the complete thing)

I know it's in the higher 1xx,xxx miles.. and has not really been on the road in awhile since he has a ranger and has no use for the jimmy and is now finally wanting to sell it.

I should note that it's someone family who can be trusted. but I was wondering what the value would be on it.. I'm not too sure on any other issues it has.. so far i was just told these are the only problems.. it does look decent though... feel free to ask any other info you need and I'll add it on here.

to look up the value of the jimmy just go to kbb.com and see what its worth then compare that to the asking price andif it just needs a muffler that wont cost much at all, a complete system on the other hand may become pricey and as far as the winshield goes you may be able to pick one up from a junyard for a decent price or you might get lucky and be able to get by with just a repair on it.

Well I should have waited to post this.. but anyways here is the deal

he is wanting $800 for it (havn't tried talking him down any)

it's about a 93 4x4 2 door.

the front window is just cracked up a lot and would basically need to be replaced to pass inspection. (I've estimated up to $400 to get it replaced.. correct me if I'm wrong)

it needs a muffler and a tail pipe.

it does run and drive.. and as for that I have no more info on it.. does anyone think it's worth looking into? it's also all stock

Have you driven it?
How's it run, ride?
I'd get someone to check the engine. Burning oil?

Do you have any pics of it? Has he just had it sitting, or has he drivin it every now and then to keep things from going bad. If he's let it just sit for even a few months, you could have issues such as battery problems, tire dry-rot, nesting rodents, and gunked up fluids.

I can get some pics of it (but nothing up close.. I'll take some from the road to show the outside shape of it) .. he has not drove it on the road ( that I'm aware of) due to it needing a muffler.. but yes it has been moved around his yard.. and at one time for about a week he had it parked by the road as if forsale (he no longer has it parked like that but I was just told he was needing to sell it and so I need to go by there tomorrow) (today.. thursday)

No and idk it needs a muffler and tail pipe so it's not actually on the road but it will run.

Burning oil is a good question I'll keep in mind,.. I'm not expecting the motor to be in perfect shape for $800 and actually somewhat expect it needing a rebuild or a transplant .. (should I be)

knowing him he has probably actually already did that.. he had a red jimmy that he stold parts from then sold.. I'm not sure what all was done.. any questions you guys can think of? I plan to go over there aroun 5pm today (thursday)

You can drive it without a muffler. It will just be excessively loud..

yes I know that but I don't think it's a good idea to start it up and run through town on a test drive with no tags and it loud enough to get the cops attention do you?:p

If he'll let me I'll run it down the road if possible..

edit: and I should be going today.. it's been raining but hey at least I can talk to him about it and check it out some. Guys are there anything specific I need to make sure to check out? I know all vehicles have their common problems .. what should I specifically ask about or look out for?

As long as you go into this knowing you get what you pay for, you should be ok. Just make sure you're not gonna have to put more money into it than you can afford.

Turns out he had to work late and by the time he got home it was too late to get over there but he's off work tomorrow and I'm supposed to go over there when my cousin gets out of school (well.. technically not my cousin but close enough so thats the way we look at it)

I did find out that yes it was drove some and yes I could hop in it and go down the road if I wanted but the battery on it is someone elses so I'd have to pull the one off my taurus to put on it (no big deal the taurus is being parted out/ scrapped soon anyways)

from the sound of what I'm being told so far it just needs window/muffler to pass inspection..

I have asked a few times and no one seems to answer.. what else should I look out for? (i've read over common problems but I'd also like personal opinions) and YES I know these pictures are horrible but I was in a hurry.

I'd crawl underneath and check to see if you see any fresh leak spots around the bottom edge of the differential or the bottom of your engine and transmission. If you have a fresh leak along the bottom of your tranny, but not your engine, and it's brown, then you likely have a rear main seal going out. If you have a huge leak and it goes along the bottom of the engine as well, then you likely have a front main seal going out as well. That's basically what I look for when I inspect vehicles is any leaks. I then trace the leak to it's highest and most frontward point to see where it's coming from. Also, look and see if the heater core hoses are attached. If they aren't, then you likely have a leaking heatercore which will need to be replaced. If you just hook them back up, it could make a mess into your cab(depending on how the heatercore is mounted on that truck).

When you check the dipstick, you want to make sure the oil isn't black or sludgy. If it is sludgy, DO NOT do an engine flush. Those things are notorius for destroying engines. I did on on my volvo 740 Turbo that I used to have. That engine flush is the reason I say I used to have it. It ran fine before the flush, but I did it because I had steam coming from my heads. After I did it, I lost both my front and rear main seals which was the eventual cause of me blowing my engine. Live and learn! The best way to clean the engine if it needs it is just to take it apart and do it manually, and then replace all the seals. Well, I gotta get going for now, but I'll try to get back on later with a few more pointers.

Thanks for the info see.. I needed answers like this I end up going and forget too much! I wouldn't have even checked the oil if you hadn't have reminded me.. Lol.. I know better.. but then I end up getting my mind set on what I KNOW.. not what I need to know.. if you get what I'm saying?

oh and are the seals a huge pain to replace? and I saw an add around here with a guy parting out a blazer and the heater core was supposedly good and he wanted like $10-20 for it (If this is like most cars then the heater core is probably a pain I'm assuming) but I think If I do get it I will FOR SURE.. find me a parts one and stash it in the back yard.. got to love having plenty of space.. at one time we had a Merc cougar and a couple parts cars for it.. you can keep a car running forever just by buying cheap parts cars from people.. lol

Speaking from 1st hand experience, if a dealer does the rear seal, it's about a $1,200 pain. :(
Thank goodness for extended warranties.

..Ouch.. lol if that was the case I'd buy ANOTHER Jimmy/blazer swap out the complete thing and keep the rest for parts..

I forgot to grab the pre-start checklist from work, so I'm gonna try to go down it from memory. If you follow this, you should be pretty good when checking out ANY used vehicle.

Leaks
Power Accessories
Lights
Horn
Windshield
Wipers
Interior condition
Cleanliness
Tires
Belts
Powersteering Fluid
Transmission Fluid
Oil
Air Filter

Now, going off that, I'll touch up on a few points off the top of my head-

Transmission Fluid(Automatic tranny only): Before checking your tranny fluid, you want to start up the vehicle, place your foot on the brake, and run it through all the gears(personally, I like to let it sit in each gear for 5 secs). Then, while it's still running, get out of the vehicle and pull the dipstick with the red handle. If there is no red handle, look for the one going behind the engine. When you pull your dipstick, you want it to be inbetween both lines and red. If it's well above the top line, that could be a sign of someone trying to cover up a transmission problem. If it's any color than red, well you need to get it changed and hope there's no tranny problem.

Drive Belts: This one is pretty simple. Before starting the vehicle, you want to give your drivebelts a good lookover. If they're anything other than smooth and strong looking, they need to be replaced. If you see any cracks or parts coming off, replace it. Belts don't really have a mileage or timeframe for replacement. I've seen some vehicles go 50,000 miles with the same belt, I've seen other vehicles go 10. It just depends on the condition of the engine and the driving conditions put on the engine. You also want to press on the belt. You should only have about 1/4 inch of play. If there's more than that, you need to have the belt tensioner checked out.

Air Filter: Unless there's a K&N air filter in the vehicle, I like to check them with every oil change. I always change them with every other oil change weather it needs it or not since they're pretty cheap. If for whatever reason you can't get your hands on a new one, but yours is clogged up(our trucks had this issue in the sandbox) hit it with compressed air from the inside out. If you don't have compressed air, tap it on the ground while turning it. This will take a while, but it's better than nothing. Some newer vehicles actually have a guage on the outside of the airbox that tells you how much resistance the airfilter has. I believe this started with the HMMWV's and then was adapted by civilian vehicles. I've always found these to be VERY reliable. They're especially great if your airbox cover is in a hard to get to spot. If you have this problem, but you don't have that guage on there, you can buy the gauge, drill the appropriate size hole in your air box, and mount it with JB Weld. When the JB Weld has dried, hit up the entire airbox with some black spraypaint so the JB Weld won't be so noticable. If you just hit the one area with spraypaint, then the airbox will be two tints of black. Very trashy looking.

Tires: For tires, there's three things you want to look at. First off is the overall condition of the rubber. Is it starting to crack? Are there any bubbles forming? Secondly, you want to check the tire depth. I was told use the penny method. Personally, I just kinda know by looking at it. Third though, is the age of the tire. The link I post below this has some info that I posted up at my shop. If I remember right, we don't want our tires getting over 6 years old. So when the vehicle comes in, we check the age of the tire along with everything else.
http://www.ask.com/bar?q=How+can+I+t...%3Ftechid%3D11

Power accessories: This covers everything from power windows and locks to your dash lights. Most of the time, it's a fuse. If you find that the fuse is good, then it's probably a switch. If the switch still doesn't fix the issue, try looking for wires that have come undone. If you have a fuse that keeps blowing, then it's always a power wire touching metal somewhere-always. If you replace your head unit, make sure you tape up any loose wires. If you don't then you run the risk of it touching metal behind the new head unit and blowing the fuse that runs your tail lights and dash lights.

That's all the important ones I can think of for now. If you have any questions, let me know.

Seals can be a pain, but unless you have a cherry picker and a tranny jack, it would be better just to find a small shop and pay them to do it. You have to detach your engine from the tranny, and pull it out just to do the work.
As far as the heater core goes-it depends on your setup. Some heater-cores you have to take the dash apart to get to. My volvo was like that-I just stayed cold rather than take up that 10 hr job. But then others have a little plate in the firewall you can remove and it pops right out. If you have that plate in the firewall, you should be straight.

OK so I'm mad now lol.. I wrote out a huge reply (went and checked it out yesterday) and then when I hit reply.. my wireless internet was out... so I turned it back on and tried to back it up to resend and it was blank... yay..

ANYWAYS.... (I'm going ot cut this short) I went over there he pulled the battery off his truck stuck it on the Jimmy. He turned the key a couple times and it fired right up.. no smoke at all and ran/idled great the 4x4 works on it.

I drove it about 5 miles and it drove great. the reverse and everything seemes fine.. and the throttle response.. amazing lol (first time I've ever personally drove one of these things)

it doesn't leak or drip anything... and here is the thing. the chassis and drivetrain are all a 94 and it has a late 80's body dropped on it.. he is the one that put the body on and at the time he didn't know until he had it about done. but apparently it had been wrecked and he wasn't told (he pointed everything out to me) the door wont shut flush because the piller is like warped and they fixed it all you cant tell unless you really look for it.

BUT the windsheild needs to be replaced and the muffler needs to be replace to make it street legal.

I don't think I could handle the body work it needs.. (not too bad but idk if I'd want ot have it done) .. we talked for awhile.. (i was there for a couple hours) and we were talking about body swaps etc. then I got to talking about motor swaps (he's done a lot on the s10's and previous jimmy/blazers he's owned) and he did tell me if I wanted to use the motor and stuff in another one he'd help me swap everything for free and he'd teach me some stuff (he's a great guy and somewhat like an uncle) and of course i'd be keeping the rest for parts and stuff and he has a set of nice crager wheels I can have to put on one.

SO if I happen to find a blazer/jimmy thats complete enough to do the swap and possibly rob parts from this one to make the other run. then I'm going to.. it'd cost me about $800 to buy a used motor and have someone put it in if not A LOT more.. and plus i get to keep the rest of the jimmy for parts and the set of cragers...

but the important thing is I'm NOT buying it UNLESS I already find a roller that is good enough for the project and then I'll get it and tow it to his house for us to work on.