Is this a good buy? 1991 Explorer

[sirhk100]

I'm going to look at a 1991 Explorer tonght after work. Here's the descrition:
4dr, 2wd, 15,000 miles on rebuilt 4.0 motor, auto trans rebuilt 1 year ago, 33" tires, custom fab front end (autofab) widened 4" with heavy duty coil buckets and F150 coils, 18" travel, 4.56 gears, auburn locker, complete rebuilt rearend, 4000$ stereo, imaculate interior and exterior, full size spare tire, odometer reads 130,000. 10,000$ (this is a SoCal vehicle)

I talked with him on the phone and he said he would negotiate witht the price and he would lower it if I didn't want the stereo.

What do you guys think? What should I look for tonight? Anything in particular? I've been keeping my eyes open for something similar to this for awhile now but haven't found one this appealing before. Any info would be great!!
Thanks,
Khris

 

[wabbit]

IMHO keep looking...

Of course this is just my opinion, but sumptin' smells fishy...
First, what's up with the 4 wheelin type mods on a 2 wheel drive? It might look good but will it serve the purpose you want it for?
Foremost, the big fishy is- you gotta wonder why someone would shell out for a tranny rebuild, rebuilt rearend, AND a newly rebuilt motor with only 15k on it, THEN decide to sell it?????
Here's my advice:
Go find yourself a stock 91 XLT 4 wheel drive. Look to spend $4500 to $6500 depending on mileage, condition, etc. Then, spend your time and leftover money doing the mods you want and repairs and rebuilds you find necessary. You will have a much better grasp on the true condition of your Explorer and if you have to rebuild the motor a year from now, you'll have 100% confidence in what has been done.
Happy shopping...

 

[sirhk100]

I was planning on buying a stock one and doing all the mods that this one has. I understand what you're saying about building it, that's how I did my Jeep but, there is no way I could build one like this for 10G. The only thing this doesn't have is the Perry McNiel glass front and rear. I'll do that in the future. As for the 2wd I plan on more desert running then rock crawling. Don't booo me for this but I already have a CJ7 on 33's, locker in the rear, MPI kit for the I6 4.2L engine, full passenger cage, 4:1 kit in the Xfer case, and the front bumper is home to a warn winch and hi lift. I honestly can say the jeep is getting me along fine for my rock crawling needs. Now I want something to go blasting out in the open desert and through baja with (hence 2wd, less to break, easy travel). The guy that's selling it said he used to work for 4 wheel parts and got the rearend built for free. The motor and trany were maintenance issues, and now he's selling it cause of a baby that's due soon. He initially built it to be a chase vehicle for baja racing but he stopped when he got an opportunity to purchase one already built a couple of months ago.

 

[Anime]

eh

welllllllllllllllll..if its what you want go for it.

I'd ditch the $4000 stereo if you plan on using it for desert prerunning..less weight and use the $$ towards that front end.

You'll wanna check for cracked or loose suspension, steering, and the frame. Motor mounts too.

You'll have to judge for yourself if this loks like a capable vehicle for what you want to do with it..alot of "kids" build jacked up prerunners and 4x4s for looks..they just are high and look cool but arent reinforced or really made to handle the rigors of desert blasting or wheeling.

Buyer beware...

 

[MikeP]

My 2 cents opinion is that the price is way too high. I own a 91 Explorer XLT 4x4 and am familiar with its pecularities (bought it new). But beauty is in the eye of the beholder! Howevr,t I would not touch it unless I had good info.(i.e. written work orders and receipts) on what was done for motor rebuild, trans. rebuild, etc. By the way, I have about 130,000 miles on my 91 and these are real miles (and I have two vehicles). I would be somewhat suspicious of that 130,000 miles but of course it could be real. Good luck. Mike in Seattle

 

[Turner55]

how do you know that it's not 230,000?? i mean it is a '91 and i think most explorers (which are not dogged) would be able to make it to 130,000 EASILY....just something to think about

 

[sirhk100]

I went and looked at it last night and mechanically it is awsome. It has a lot of custom Fab suspension work that looks real high quility. Way better then the prerunner that ever kid on the block is driving. The interior was in good shape. The paint was good except for where someone has keyed the passenger door. I planned on putting McNiels fiberglass on and would get painted anyway. The only real problem I noticed was when the auto shifted from 3rd-4th it surged back and forth between the gears. It seemed like a belt in the tranny was loose or something. He said that the tranny shop that built it stood behind their work and he was taking it in on Monday to have that fixed. In general if he can get that fixed it's a nice vehicle. I don't think it's worth $10G though. I'm going to wait a couple of weeks and give him a call to see if he still has it then and then approach him with cash and see how far down I can get him. I'm thinking more like $8000 because it did have a ton of custom fab work. He did say that he had all the reciepts from all the work done to it. I didn't look them over but definately will before I go back in a couple of weeks if he still has it.