Is it really that important to have a little bit of rust?
“Maybe they should take a look under it before bidding again!”
This was me today. It was not surprising that this Jeep Wrangler Safari with four-wheel drive, a manual transmission and 49,000 miles on it would fetch decent money at a Carmax dealer sale this morning.
Surprisingly, it was! What was surprising? While I was not able to watch the dogfight, it is all that’s required in auctions to drive a high price. After the dust settled, I saw this late-90s Jeep Wrangler go on sale at wholesale for $9,400. Imagine the price a poor customer would pay after taxes and auction fees.Carmax Auctions will liquidate more than 13,000 trade-ins in the coming week. They get many unique and valuable cars when they don’t sell out less desirable used cars to independent dealers like the Chrysler minivan from 30 years ago that smelled like mildew but only one bid of $500.
From a modified Toyota Tundra that has only 1,578 miles, to the six-cylinder 1997 Jeep Wrangler equipped with all the right options, everything crosses the block. This Wrangler, in four-wheel drive form, was Jeep’s most popular model. It was also the first year of a model series that continued all the way through 2006.
Rare is a loaded Jeep mid-90s with 49,000 miles. In the past 20 years, I have only seen one or two cars with similar mileage in the east. These Jeeps with short wheelbases have been mostly replaced by the more luxurious long-wheelbase Unlimited. This adds 16 inches to the length of these vehicles and makes them far more family-friendly.
This, combined with a younger demographic in the 1990s means that this Wrangler is a future classic and has little competition in the low mileage sweepstakes.
The fact that the Wrangler was located in Massachusetts, where rust isn’t always considered a problem, likely gave it a $2,000 boost to its final sale price of $9,000. The few Wranglers older than this one that make it to dealer auctions almost always reside in rust-free climates. These range from the western Carolinas to the inland areas of California.
Three things are more important in the wholesale car business than any other: condition, condition and condition. I’ve seen worse than this Wrangler despite all its rust. It is likely that it will sell in the USA for $12,000 when it goes up for sale.