Hi Scotty, Is buying a 1999 Jeep wrangler 2.5L, 4Cylinder as a first car and daily driver around town and through woods when hunting and fishing a good idea? It has 170,000 miles on the body but new Motor, Transmission, Clutch, Exhaust, and minimal rust from a private seller at 8500. The new accessories all have 40k miles.
Have it inspected, because "new motor" could mean they dragged some sorry looking specimen out of wrecking yard and MacGyver'd it in there with paperclips and electrical tape.
I would ask for documentation-proof. It could be a good car but also have a mechanic look it over and take it for a test drive especially with a new motor, trans. and clutch.
Do yourself and your son a favor and look for one with the 4.0 inline 6 cylinder engine. It has more horsepower and way more torque. The manual trans and that engine will last a long long time.
The old 258 cu in 6 cylinder was a good engine.
Yes, over the years I've had cars with that engine as well as the earlier 232. (The AMC inline six that the 4.0 is based on dates to 1964 and was sold in 199, 232, and 258 cid versions.) The main issue with the 258 is in stock 1970s-1980s form it is festooned with a complex emission control system, the later models using an electronic feedback carb, ignition that varies timing on individual cylinders on the fly under computer control, and seemingly miles of vacuum lines hooked up to solenoids and temperature controlled valves. Actually sophisticated for the time but a challenge to keep operating properly 40 years later if you're in an area that checks emissions. (Been there with AMC Eagles.)