Input on Possible Purchase of a 2002

[blobbie]

I am looking into possibly getting a 2002 Limited Edition that I found for sale from a dealership.


Details of the vehicle:
It has 115,000 miles and the exterior and interior look very well kept. The carfax shows 4 owners but each owner obviously continued on the standard of keeping this vehicle looking very good. There is service history throughout it's ownership. There was only a single time that it didn't pass emissions but the next week it passed for that year. The history shows no major part replacements, just routine sorts of servicing. No title issues or accidents, etc.


I guess my biggest question is, since this Jeep seems to have been well kept, what sorts of upcoming issues may arise considering it is in the early 100,000 miles range now with no prior major part replacements? Can reliability be expected?

 

[LibertyTC]

Is it from the rust belt? Where is the KJ from? Is the under body clean, free from rust or is it all covered up with a thick undercoating?
The rockers, bottom of rear door frames inside & out etc are the first to show signs of potential rot.
It's always best to also completely inspect it while up on a lift for piece of mind.

 

[LibertyTC]

Next: Does the dealer provide a full 100 point inspection report?
Longer test drive I would ask for as well. Ensure no engine light is on & that it runs great & stops well etc.
Go thu everything to make sure all the electrical features work. Is this a 4x4? Automatic Trans?

 

[blobbie]

Next: Does the dealer provide a full 100 point inspection report?
Longer test drive I would ask for as well. Ensure no engine light is on & that it runs great & stops well etc.
Go thu everything to make sure all the electrical features work. Is this a 4x4? Automatic Trans?

I have yet to see it in person. It is a 4x4 automatic. I didn't see the dealer list the possiblity of providing a full inspection report. I have only been aware of this vehicle since this weekend during the dealer's closed hours/days so I have yet to get detailed info and to see the vehicle myself.

If it's not intrusive for me to share, here's a link to the listing for it with plenty of pictures: 2002 Jeep Liberty 4x4 Limited.

I don't see signs of rust from the many pictures given but there also isn't underside photos provided.

 

[tommudd]

I see lug nut missing, small dent on pass. door
suspension sagged, rear CV on front driveshaft bad
can find more things if have shots of engine
these are all things to help get the price down
On my 03 from their advertised price to what I paid was over 2000 bucks, so go in prepared and don't back down

 

[LibertyTC]

There is an under hood pic last one #42 & the engine bay is not detailed, top rad hose looks original.
IDK with dings, dents, it's always best to find a cleaner one if at all possible.
It is nicely optioned yet, it is always nice to have 3 kJ's lined up for close inspections.
Have you checked craigslist in your local area?
It is a command Trac-Part time, get your build sheet listing here for the VIN # 1J4GL58K72W260186 Link: https://fcacommunity.force.com/RAM/s/equipment-listing

 

[Johnny O]

Passenger front missing three lugs

 

[David13]

Lug nuts can easily be replaced. That's not a big deal. But what kind of maintenance does it indicate? I have never seen anyone offering a car for sale with 4 lug nuts missing, or is that just the chrome cap missing from the nut?

Watch the exhaust at cold start. Is it burning oil? The mileage is not bad, if it doesn't burn oil.

Can you do a compression test on it. That will tell more about the engine condition.

The price is way too high. I guess they know you will make an offer. They will come down on that price. I'd say they need to come way down on the price.
dc

 

[Johnny O]

Could be. Could be broken studs too. I’d wanna get up close and personal with it.
I’d take a tape measure and check the suspension sag, check the rear door wells for the problem rust areas, etc.
I’d also run the VIN to make sure the recalls were taken care of. The wise sages here were able to diagnose all sorts of issues for me from photos of the undercarriage before I finalized the deal on mine. They were scary prescient as to what I was getting myself into.

 

[Johnny O]

For what sort of maintenance you could expect, check out the service manuals on line. I needed brakes, plugs, COPs, radiator flush, and since I’m in the salt belt, lots of rust busting and wear parts.
however thanks to gang here, I was able to spend more on the tires, wheels, and lift kit plus cosmetics, than I did on required to be roadworthy/reliability parts.

 

[Johnny O]

I see lug nut missing, small dent on pass. door
suspension sagged, rear CV on front driveshaft bad
can find more things if have shots of engine
these are all things to help get the price down
On my 03 from their advertised price to what I paid was over 2000 bucks, so go in prepared and don't back down

Yeah! Remember car dealers aren’t technically human and should be treated as such. I like to take a well padded barrel along any time I have to put up with them…

 

[blobbie]

Front the pictures, it looked to me like 3 of the lug nuts didn't have the chrome caps and are just dark colored and the one other lug in question actually is missing. I could be wrong though.

But either way, thank you everyone for the pretty detailed input. I will have to decide on what I will do next including if I setup a test drive for this vehicle.

 

[tommudd]

Even a small thing like missing/broken/ whatever lugnuts I have to wonder what the former owner skipped on elsewhere, such as oil changes/ changing fluids

 

[Johnny O]

Even a small thing like missing/broken/ whatever lugnuts I have to wonder what the former owner skipped on elsewhere, such as oil changes/ changing fluids

Agreed. I learned the hard way that service records and Carfax is bushwa.

Drive it. Take lots of pictures. Post them here. Then decide. Doing that saved me 1500 off the bat, and likely 2 or 3 grand later.

 

[Lomita]

What engine is in it?

 

[VicW]

Lug nuts are cheap but why would the dealer not replace them? That makes me wonder about a lot of things that may be over looked.
About Carfax; the car I have now had a great carfax, serviced many times by a local dealer. But the dealer has no record of the car ever being there. So what good is the carfax?
I did buy a Libby with 104K and it ran great to 180K when it was stolen for the second time, it would appear that jeeps are easy to steal compared to most other cars. Insurance rates may reflect that in your area or not. Someone above mentioned rust belt cars, mine is. I had the rust taken care of and it did not come back to year five, I am good with that.

 

[JeepinJarhead03]

The missing lug may have been a removed lock that had no key, I'd just talk them out of a new mcgard set of nuts that don't have the dinky stamped shrouds

 

[Billwill]

Dealers have been known to remove Warning LEDs from the Cluster Motherboard so any troublesome "Warning Lights" do not display!
You can quickly run the Cluster Test as follows:

With ignition "Off" press and hold in the "Odometer Reset Plunger" while turning ignition "On".
All the gauges swing back and forth a few times and all the cluster Lamps light up.

This is not a diagnostic...no errors are shown if something does not work. At the end of this Test the Cluster displays some digits...this is merely the current firmware level of the Cluster.

Someone here could post the diagram of the 2002 Gasser Cluster that indicates all the gauges and lamps and what they represent...I do not have Wi Fi and have limited Data!

 

[blobbie]

Thank you everyone for all the multiple angled input. I have more shopping to do before really settling on a single vehicle including the vehicle I was asking about in this post. So I don't want to lead people to have to continue replying in this post.

Thanks again for sharing knowledge to someone who did not know as much as you all.

 

[Sevenmilesout]

Whatever Jeep KJ you settle on, if it is a dealer, ask to see it on a ramp in order to have a good look at the underside structure. It can tell you so much.

The one you mentioned is after all, nearly twenty years old.