At $10,000, Is This Broken 1990 Jeep Grand Wagoneer A Grand Bargain?
According to the seller, today's Nice Price or No Dice Jeep suffers from only a sagging headliner and... a blown engine. Let's see if this woodgrain-clad classic is priced to make us overlook those minor foibles.
I think we can all agree that when deciding to join a cult, you should, at the very least, pick one that's fun. That means seeking out those espousing healthy eating habits and comfortable footwear over Kool Aid drinking and orgies involving non-bathing people. It could be conjectured, accurately, I might add, that the owner base of BMW's somewhat experimental electric car, the i3, represents a bit of a cult. Not only do they share an affinity for the funky little car, but they have banded together to support and maintain those cars after BMW not-so-metaphorically kicked them to the curb. At $7,300, the price tag of the 2014 BMW i3 REX we considered yesterday was less of an issue for most of you than that current lack of manufacturer support. Being left behind is no fun, and in the case of the i3, the result was that all it could manage was a narrow 53 percent Nice Price squeaker of a win at even that modest a price.
Read more: 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV: A Value That Comes At A Price
Let me ask you this: do you consider Jeep to be in the vanguard of automotive innovation and societal marketing manipulation? Or has it always been more of a scrappy company looking to expand its appeal beyond a core audience to make an extra buck?
Handed off, hot potato-like from manufacturer to manufacturer, Jeep has mostly been a niche player, offering solid but basic 4X4 trucks to people whose asses are immune to being chapped by such plebeian fare. That hasn't stopped the brand from occasionally stepping out of its comfort zone into adjacent markets with models like the boutique Jeepster or carving out entire new niches in the automotive world by going upmarket with the likes of the Wagoneer.
Introduced in 1963 and proving enduring enough to carry on through four corporate parents (Kaiser, AMC, Renault, and Chrysler) and a nearly three-decade-long production run, the Wagoneer is considered the first true luxury SUV, combining solid off-road ability with car-like comfort. Long before the likes of Range Rover and Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon arrived to command rich people's easily-earned cash, there was the Wagoneer, followed by the even fancier of pants Grand Wagoneer. Still crude by today's standards, these commodious 4X4s were pretty posh in comparison to their contemporaries, offering such category-leading luxuries as electric seats, leather upholstery, and alloy wheels.
The top-of-the-line Grand Wagoneer first appeared in the 1984 model year to replace Wagoneer Limited. The model would serve as the last of the line, with nothing but a few subtle improvements introduced in each ensuing model year following Chrysler's acquisition of the Jeep brand until its final model year in 1991. The new parent even left the old AMC 360 V8 with a two-barrel as the Grand Wagoneer's sole powerplant option, not seeing the value in engineering the truck to take Chrysler's own fuel-injected engine.
Chrysler's influence did make those last few years the gold standard for used Grand Wagoneers today. That run is represented by this 1990 edition in blue with a sand interior and the finest vinyl wood money can buy. Not only is this SJ one of the production run's most sought-after, but the seller claims it's been maintained to stay in the game and has seen a number of updates—new exhaust, radiator, alternator, and power steering pump, among them—to keep it on the road.
But it's not on the road. Instead, it's in the seller's garage and any new owner will need either a trailer or a AAA membership to get this Grand Wagoneer home. That's owed to a non-functional engine, which the seller says went belly up due to a skipped timing chain. They claim that the damage could be fixed. However, these are interference engines, so rebuilding the engine will likely require more than just a new gear and chain set. The seller's suggestion of an LS swap seems extreme, considering that there are still companies on the market offering remanufactured long blocks for the 360, and that option would be pretty much plug-and-play.
The question, of course, is whether the rest of the SJ is even worth the effort. I'd wager that it is. The bodywork does exhibit some dings and dents but is otherwise pretty solid and rust-free. Inside, there's decent upholstery, albeit unmatched front to rear, due to the replacement of the front buckets. According to the ad, the original seats will come with the truck. A big screen stereo with Apple CarPlay has been ensconced in the dash, and as nice of a feature as that is, it looks totally out of place in the old-school space. Lastly, the headliner is doing a droopy-drawers thing, but the seller says if it doesn't bug them, it shouldn't bother us.
It's safe to say that the Grand Wagoneer as a model enjoys a significant following, so much so that there has been an entire industry devoted to their restoration and prices that reflect such desirability. This one is nice, has a modest 106,000 miles on the clock, a clean title, and, with its blown engine, is an order of magnitude cheaper than any of those turnkey editions. It's also not broken beyond the capabilities of a driveway wrencher or competent local garage. If the truck were rusted out or needed more than just a heart transplant, it would be an arguably better decision to just walk away. As it stands, we now need to consider the truck's $10,000 asking price to determine if it's actually worth digging in and getting it back on the road.
What do you say? Is this Grand Wagoneer worth that $10K asking in light of the additional investment required to experience its luxury to the fullest? Or do the cons outweigh the pros, demanding that the broken Jeep be a better-priced bargain?
You decide!
Nice Price or No Dice:
San Francisco Bay Area, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at robemslie@gmail.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your commenter handle.
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