After being unable to sell my 1985 Jeep J10 in California — a place that requires emissions tests and that does not tolerate even minor rust — I decided to ship my truck to Michigan to find a buyer. “This truck is clean,” I told myself. “It will sell in the rustbelt in no time!” I was wrong. Very wrong. Months later, my truck still languishes in The Mitten, with buyer after buyer just kicking tires, my friend growing tired of storing the vehicle, and just when I thought it couldn’t get worse: A tree fell on the Jeep.
The idea was actually not a bad one. My Jeep J10, by California standards, is so rusty and so unlikely to pass emissions that people wanted to buy it as a parts car. The J10 isn’t quite a Bring a Trailer/Cars & Bids quality machine, but it certainly isn’t a parts car — it’s a mostly rust-free (in the eyes of a Midwesterner), low-mileage machine with a perfect powertrain and drivetrain that drove all the way from Michigan to California with no problems. It could be someone’s daily driver. A truck like this is rare in Michigan and tends to command a premium, which is why I paid $1,450 to ship the machine from LA to The Motor Suburb.
And at first, my idea seemed genius! I had loads of interest, with plenty of folks even looking at the Jeep in-person at my friend Jamie’s place in Ann Arbor. One gentleman named Todd seemed very interested; he showed up, took a look at the truck, and then sent me an offer via text. He and I negotiated a little from the $8800 I had the truck listed at, but ultimately I came more towards him than towards my list-price, and he agreed. “I will go the 7250,” he replied.
Hot damn. I had the truck sold! $7250 was a bit lower than I’d hoped for a rare, low-mileage truck. Hop on Auto Trader, and you’ll find a bunch of trucks in worse shape asking way more. But that’s OK; it’s one thing to ask and it’s another thing to sell. Plus, this basically pays for the Jeep Comanche I replaced my J10 with, so I’m happy.
Fast forward a few days, and Todd comes to purchase the Jeep.
“Your guy Todd just bailed,” my friend Jamie messaged me.
“And by bailed, you mean left or literally bailed?” I replied.
“Literal bail. Passed on the sale,” he said.
Apparently Todd had brought his son, who talked him out of buying the truck.
Months later, Todd continues to message me about the truck, but he wants to pay less than $5,000 for it. To a friend, maybe I’d give such a deal, but to someone who agreed to buy a vehicle only to bail? I’m just not feeling it.
Then things got worse. Jamie had sent me this photo with the caption “Bless my neighbor”:
Luckily, Jamie’s neighbor is able to store my Jeep without issue. This seemed great, as it allows me some time to find the right buyer for this niche vehicle without stressing out Jamie or his family. But then, a few days later:
“Carb fine. Slight squish of filter. Running perfectly,” Jamie messaged me. “Thankfully the roof and glass were spared. I’ll pop the hood damage up as best I can. I’m so sorry man.”
I assured Jamie that he isn’t accountable for an act of nature, and that I owe him big-time for storing my Jeep all this time.
Jamie, amazing man that he is, built a jig out of wood, set it onto my frame rails, and gently lowered the hood onto it to pop out the dent:
The results are actually quite impressive, all things considered!:
Anyway, shipping my Jeep from California to Michigan to find a buyer has proven to be been a disaster so far. It’s crazy to think that, had the prospective buyer, Todd, not brought his son to see the truck, I would have thought it was genius.
Alas, I took the risk, and it seems this one may go down in the L-column. You win some, you lose some.
Time to ship it back to LA, order some floor pans, pick up a Harbor Freight welder and make some content. You might get your $8,800k out of it in the end.
Of course you’ll be into it another ~$1500 + shipping.
Perfect project post WW II Jeep built from scratch with parts sourced (mostly) from Ebay.
I think you have a few more options you may have not considered. First, it’s probably far more likely to sell in a more rural area than in the city. Take it to Trump country where there are plenty of suckers, stick it in a Dollar store or Walmart parking lot with a for sale sign on it and some redneck that hasn’t seen one for a while and doesn’t use the internet will think it’s rare and grab it up. I’m from Kentucky, I know these people, they will be interested.
Second, maybe you could leave it at a popular Jeep trailhead and rent it out instead of selling it. Your name being attached to it might help it along there. Maybe even keep it for sale while you’re renting it out and one of the renters might want it.
P.S: I haven’t commented on here for a while so I had to create a new account but I’m a regular reader for years not just some new guy who popped up out of nowhere.
As someone who regularly sells vehicles at a loss to make them not be my problem any more, stop being hung up on the price and the mental bandwidth it occupies. Just move the metal and enjoy life.
In this shape, rarity works against you. Where are they gonna find replacements if they want to restore it? If they’re just gonna use it as a truck, there are better options for the money.
the Venn Diagram of people interested in your truck and people who will pay what you’re asking is a pair of eyeglasses for Anya Taylor-Joy.
100%. I decided to take a huge low-ball offer on my last sale because it was an older modified car. I could literally have parted it out for more than what I took for the entire car, but I didn’t want to sit around waiting for months for the right buyer nor do I have time for all that wrenching.
He needs to take the 5k offer and run because there may not be another offer at all for a few months.
the Venn Diagram of people interested in your truck and people who will pay what you’re asking is a pair of eyeglasses for Anya Taylor-Joy.
I wish I could like your comment more than once for this part alone.
I do my best work when avoiding actual work.
She is exotically attractive in a future variation of homo-sapiens kind of way. But now she will always be a Venn diagram when on the big screen.
I have no input on her looks. I just know her eyes are in separate Zip codes.
To me it doesn’t seem dumb so much as extractive. This neighborhood in Ann Arbor is not particularly aspirational. Instead of you paying to store it, two people are now involved in storing it on their property, and a neighborhood has to look at it. And the timeline is indefinite as long as they enable you on your “right buyer” approach.
The part that doesn’t sit well is that you’re clearly doing much better than your friend – I would assume that your home is worth 10x the value of his home – but still asked him to “help out” so that you can make, what, an extra $1-3k at best? Cheapness affects everyone around you
Good points all. There are significant equity and privilege issues being raised in this entire affair.
Reading the comments, the Autopians have spoken. Unfortunately, it’s time to drop the price and move on with life.
I dunno I think the $3500 you paid for it is pretty close to what you’ll get. It hasn’t gotten less rusty or less shabby since then.
Easy to argue it’s now much shabbier, and much rustier – or at least static.
How’s about something like an Autopian Raffle?
I’d gladly pay $50-$100 for a couple raffle tickets that may or may not score me this Jeep.
Take a poll on the site and gauge interest. Just a thought….
This is a GREAT idea!
If I win, I’m selling it to that guy for $5k.
Why wouldn’t you sell it back to David, he thinks it’s worth $8k.
You know what, now I’m selling it to that guy for $4k.
This comment absolutely made my morning, thank you lol.
definitely the way a lot of Youtubers are going with give aways these days.
Too true! But the “scammy-ness” of those is pretty easy to spot with the “TODAY ONLY +100000 ENTRIES FOR EVERY *insert dollar amount here* SPENT!”
I figure an honest raffle, whether it be by limited entries for a specific amount of time would be fairly easy to setup.
The longer you sit on this the farther you get from tax season and people with “free” tax return money burning a hole in their pocket.
Is this the Jamie with the +300k miles Mazda MPV? If so, I could use his help. My poor 2004 has big problems.
If I lived in Hobart, Michigan I’d be all over this J Truck. Unfortunately I’m in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia – the antipodean extreme from the US.
Love me some DT car-selling schadenfreude.
It’s the price. It’s always the price.
Hey, he know what he got. (Kidding, DT!)
As a local new car dealer’s ads used to loudly proclaim “PRICE SELLS CARS”, yes this was a long time ago when people bought cars, but it still rings true today. As I said way back when you tried to sell it in CA that is the I don’t want to sell it price. I’d take the $5k and get on with it, though now with the damage on the hood he may try and beat you up for another $500.
Hmm, I’ll just be that guy.
1. Calif law requires all new residents to register their vehicles within 20 days of establishing residency.
Um. I think that was, uh, checks posts, yeah, several years ago in this case.
While we all hate the man, playing by the rules keeps civilization from falling.
No, you’re not a special case who should get to scoff-law. We all have to do the right thing.
2. The friend doing all the heavy lifting to store and sell this heap should be getting a serious cut of the proceeds and money up front.
Anything less is using him and selfish.
3. David is deep into, “I know what I got” land with his vehicles.
Sometimes this works for those kind of guys as someone with stars in their eyes, rose colored glasses, and no one to talk sense into them comes by.
A fool and his money et. al.
That’s why those guys price like this.
A nearby “know what I got” guy has sat on a CJ5 for decades with an absurd price in the window.
Decades.
One day his widow will finally sell it for what it’s worth.
You cannot talk sense into these guys, and should never buy from them.
Anyway, GLWTS as the kids say.
I think I live very close to Jamie! The general appearance of his neighborhood looks like one nearby, and I know that gas station. I am not asking you to divulge his address or even street name, I simply find it to be an interesting coincidence.
There are enough house numbers in the photos to easily deduce where it is
When I lived in WNY I had a 91 BMW 325i as a project car for a few years. Bought it for $2000, put about $5000 into it over those few years, standard stuff, wheels, tyres, full suspension rebuild, exhaust, maintenance. It had some rust but a lot less rust in it than this has. After months of trying to sell it, do you know what I sold it for?
I sold it for $1700 to a 20yo kid who was going to start his path modifying cars. This was in 2018 so E30s were starting to pick up steam in the secondhand market but they weren’t as overpriced as they are now.
Yeah, this is where I’m at with my 03 Civic Lx, got it cheap, paid easily 3x what I bought the car for in parts and some service I wasn’t willing to do myself, so all told I’m at least 6K into it, no way ANYONE is buying an 03 Civic LX with one rusty rear quarter and 200,000 miles for 6K. Int eh absolute best case I might be able to get $3500 for it.
On the other hand, I’ve owned it for 5 years now, and had nothing go terribly wrong, so my TCO works out to be just over 1K a year, which is significantly less than anything new, or even my used 2013 Si, so maybe I should just not worry about what it cost?
I bought my w126 for $4k, dropped probably another $4k into it, and sold it for $5k 4 years later.
I PROBABLY could have gotten more by waiting for spring, but I had the ick something fierce and just wanted it gone.
It’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. It doesn’t matter what other trucks are listed for whether they are worse or not, it’s priced too high since it hasn’t sold.
that looks amazing for having a tree fall on it and being able to pop out that dent like that. you probably didn’t have insurance on it, as I’d probably have just made the claim and gotten it totaled out. I don’t know what people in michigan are smoking asking for that much money for old j10 jeeps in rough shape. the market for fun/project/secondary cars is tough right now what with the possible looming energy crisis and deteriorating economy, unless you have something that is “not rusty” and sips fuel instead of gobbling it down. And probably more of a 90s and up model.
Selling a niche and project vehicle is tough. You see the potential and thus fail to see the shortcomings.
I went through this when I sold my ‘92 Roadmaster wagon. It was a pretty solid runner but wasn’t perfect (I mean it was 33 years old and had almost 200k miles!). All the critical components worked including AC and cruise.
I thought it would sell in a jiffy at $2500 but I got exactly 0 bubbles and eventually found a home for it for $1500.
I even reach out to you to help me find a home for it in desperation!
There’s holes in the floor, my guy.
I don’t know how big the target audience is for this, once you remove you from it.
Best of luck all the same, but I think the price is going to have to come down quite a bit.
The price is actually fairly low for a J10 in this condition. (Check out pricing on J10s in Michigan!).
But hey, if it were low enough it’d have sold! It’s kinda nuts listing a car for well below other vehicles on the market and it still takes a while! But alas.
You’re comparing your asking price to the asking prices of other J10’s that also haven’t sold.
All of those people are looking at the other listings, thinking, “hey, mine’s priced just right!”
Man, I can’t believe he passed on that $5k offer. I’ve had taken that and run just to not have to deal with it any more. The longer it’s held, the more likely shit’s going to break…or a tree will fall onto it.
Many years ago I tried to sell my Holden station wagon for a lower price than any comparable cars at the time, this was pre-internet, so newspaper ads. Didn’t get any takers, so after a while I thought I would try putting the price up. I got a buyer fairly quickly, he made what he thought was a cheeky offer and I accepted it, it was the amount I had originally listed the car for, so I was happy.
I think part of the reason I got my MX-5 so cheap, was because the seller started the bidding at £500, and most buyers assumed that meant there was something seriously wrong with it. If he’d listed it for £3-4k, (about average), I think he’d have got more interest (and I would have missed out on a bargin)
The prices are all over the map, and some of them have been up for a while, too. Hard to tell how many get posted and then pulled and put back up, too. Yes, there are some that are likely rustier and priced higher, but we all know the “I know what I’ve got!” crowd.
Honestly, the floorboard rust holes are hurting the price way out of proportion to the general patina. The problem is that there are far more people who like to wrench than like to do body work. And floor rust has to be stopped and properly repaired, or it will just continue to eat otherwise good surrounding bodywork. And unless you’re one of those few who like doing wrenching and bodywork, then it’s going to cost. If you don’t eat some of that cost in the pricing, it’s pretty likely it’s going to sit longer.
Get it sold soon, because the rust will spread, and inevitably devalue it more.
I just junked my manual-transmission second-gen Cummins Dodge pickup due to rust. Well, more like rot. It was literally returning to Nature in my driveway. With the rear brake lines having rusted through and one of the front fender liners falling down because there was nowhere left to attach it due to rust, the rocker panels gone, the cab corners gone, and 2-3 inches of metal missing from the lower edges of the bedside panels due to rust, there was just no structurally sound body left on the whole truck. Frame rust was coming for it next. It just wasn’t worth putting any money into a truck that would literally lose more metal if you leaned against it or slammed the hood too hard. Rust will simply eat an otherwise good car.
To be fair, the truck was already past the point of no return when I bought it over a decade ago and I knew it. Every year after the first two or three was a bonus. As much as I might have liked to have sold it for more than scrap, I still made money over the purchase price, because I paid what was the going scrap price for it in 2014. Twelve years of getting hard work out of it plus rising scrap values and inflation paid off, in a way. And the wrecking yard it went off to will definitely pull the Cummins out to keep somebody else’s truck running, so all’s well, really.
In the end, we should be content that we get the enjoyment and/or work we want out of our cars, and let go with no regrets when it’s necessary. Don’t let money and perceived value get in the way of it. Be happy you have a Jeep pickup that someone will want for the right price — many of us love oddball cars that have absolutely zero market value to anyone other than automotive weirdos like ourselves.
There’s not a lot of J-series on that list when it opens for me, and the two that I find are priced at $5000 and $3500.
It’s always a trap to make assumptions based on other listings. They help, but they are other unsold listings. This is a huge issue when selling anything uncommon.
Collectibles of all sorts suffer from a lot of inflated values and low actual selling prices because anything rare has so few data points to work with and different collectors value different things. I think you need to look at this as a collectible more than a vehicle if you want to get the money you are asking.
You’re one of the folks that’s going to be excited about this vehicle. The other listings probably are, too. Your listing needs to be seen by another person who is excited, has the means to buy it, and isn’t already sitting on one in similar condition (or is sitting on one with different issues than yours). You’re trying to hit a pretty small target. You can increase the size of the target by lowering the price or you can keep the listing up to maximize your chances of hitting that small target.
I can’t tell if you’re happy or unhappy that the tree didn’t manage to total the truck.
Ok I’m in Michigan, and planning to sell my rusty Ranger and buy another truck more interesting. Is there a member discount to apply? Memorial Day sale? Let me know
Man, I don’t wanna offend ya, but… This is a $3000 project truck. Unfortunately, the truck is an unloved niche. I agree with others. The J10 will never garner the attention it deserved. You have two options. Open a rusty Jeep museum, or play “Let’s make a Deal”. Please don’t throw me off! ????
Check out Jeep J10 pricing in Michigan. This is priced, if anything, on the lower side.
Couldn’t get the link to open, but my question is, is this asking price or is this truly what they’re closing at?
If it isn’t selling and it’s priced competitively something is wrong with the presentation. Maybe ditch the grandpa cap and change up the photos?
I don’t think the camper shell has any bearing, and doesn’t affect the value at all. Anyone who hates it knows it can be easily removed and throw away. Some people might actually like it.
To the right buyer, the camper shell adds value for sure. It is likely a hard to find size, especially one of that vintage.
The problem is, finding the right buyer means finding someone who looks at that and goes “I’m buying it because I love it”. It’s not cheap enough to be a beater, it’s not nice enough to be a show car. Nobody is buying that truck to actually work the truck, buying a far more modern GMT800 or something for similar money would be the much better bet. So they need to look at the photos and listing and fall in love.
I stand by my reasoning that something about the ad is turning people away from going to look at it. The camper shell hiding the beauty they are looking for is one of many potentials.
I think it’s the high price.
I mean, you are probably right, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure he’s been tracking listing prices for a while and assumed his price was fair. Comps are hard with a rare car, as you accurately noted none of the current ones are actually comparable.
Viewing Facebook/CL listing prices by private parties is about the worst way to determine comps of all, as we have no idea what they actually sold for, if at all.
If I were shopping for an ugly rusty old truck, the camper shell would be a pro.
I see a couple of outrageously priced trucks that look a lot nicer than yours. I see some outrageously priced piles of scrap metal that are priced lower than yours. I see some slightly higher prices for ones that have (IMHO) significant advantages over yours – either a V8 (a 401 no less) or 3/4 ton. I see one about like yours with 30k less miles for $500 less.
Also, given that it’s only a 5 digit odometer, many people might think it actually has 195k or 295k, and there really isn’t any way to prove it doesn’t. Most will judge based on condition, and sadly yours looks far more like a 195k than a 95k.
Only proof I have is pictures of the original clutch having lots of meat on it still (dated 1984) and 150 psi compression across 6 cylinders. It’s definitely not 195K/295K miles, but if you need definitive proof, this ain’t the truck for you.
Selling cars just sucks. I was having so much anxiety about selling the B, but it needed to happen. I let it go for what I think was a bargain, because I just needed the weight lifted. It wasn’t costing me anything because it was sitting unregistered and uninsured in the garage, but I wanted the space back and wanted it to go to someone who would get it running right again and enjoy it.
Good luck. It’s a small buyer pool, but hopefully you’ll find the right buyer soon.
The worst mistake you can make when selling a car is to confuse responses to the ad with the value of the vehicle. The slimy salesman writes a dishonest ad and tries to get many people in so he can hardsale him. The honest seller advertised an honest description, it is a lot of rust, and doesn’t worry over the lack of response from people who were never going to buy it. Have your friends rewrite the ad then read it and post it.
I live deep in the rust belt here in MN. It’s the norm. And even I cringed at the holes in the floor. I’ve dealt with far too many rusty vehicles to tolerate it any more. And it’s not just the body. It’s also the endless permanently fused bolts and nuts that will break or round off as you try to perform the most basic repair.
Sorry, DT. Rust is rust. No matter the geography.
Yeah, I was able to accept some rust on the beater truck I just bought, in exchange for low mileage, given the price. But I would never, ever buy a project car with rust again.
Rust is a no-go for a project car.
I want my project to be a ratchet and wrench affair when I have the luxury of garage time with it.
I don’t have the time to deal with rust-related body work.
Kudos for writing this as you had to know the reactions you’d get in the comments.
Only you can know the trade off between a few more bucks vs peace of mind. I’m going through it myself trying to sell my old house at the moment.
We’re all dumbasses sometimes, it’s just that most people don’t write about their dumbass-itude, and I get why.
I think, at this point, if I go too long without writing something like this y’all might get suspicious.
Fun fact: if you’re unfamiliar with a double oven, you should ensure you turn on the part of the oven that actually contains the food.
Ask me about my recipe for Nashville Room-Temperature Chicken!
🙁
Ha! That’s gold.
No actually it turns out grey.
I’ll swap you for my recipe for baking powder-free muffins! They’re (not) great!
It’s a deal!
I once made Helper. Forgot to put tuna in the Tuna Helper.
I may regret asking this, but how was it?
Cousin Eddy told Clark that Hamburger Helper did just fine by itself, so…
It was unsatisfying, but funny. One of my friends was over and mentioned that it seemed like it was missing something. We had a good laugh and ate it. Oh to be in my 20s again.
Probably better than your room temp chicken. 🙂
Touché 😀
Once made a pumpkin pie from the recipe on the back of the pumpkin pie can. Put in the oven, then realized I had not opened the can. Did seem a bit on the liquid side.
Did you use an oil pan or a transmission pan to “not” cook it in the oven?
Yeah people don’t write about their dumbassery now they post it on UTube. Really DT just have someone show you how to access the Internet and you will see thousands of people gleefully showing the world how stupid they are.
Most people critical of your decisions here have made similar ones.
We have a pretty good idea what’s going on even if you’re not posting.
True you don’t have a real Internet presence you could be easily copied.
How rusty is it?
[Johnny Carson voice] It’s so rusty that he used the floorboards to strain spaghetti for his next shower.
This will not get the recognition it deserves.