For E36 M3s and giggles, I looked up cheap YJ Wranglers (you know, the ones no one wants with the square headlights) for sale and was dumbfounded at how much people were asking for them. Even the rustiest examples are around $2k.
Then there was this gem for $1800:
https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/cto/6092645419.html
More like a "Jeep tax". Have you priced box Cherokees lately?
Supply and demand. People love those loud, poorly-built rattletraps for some reason. You know that saying "It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand"? Yeah, that's me. I don't understand.
In reply to Ian F:
Everyone keeps saying they're on the rise, but I still see them sub Challenge price all day every day around here. I need to know where these things are worth so much so I know where to advertise mine if/when I ever decide to sell it 
I had a couple of the 4 door ones and was glad the merry-go-round did not stop while I was on it. one of the lowest cost of ownership vehicles I have ever had.
Last weekend, I went to a swap meet. A guy was selling a ton of Jeep parts, and caught my buddy glancing at his Grand Cherokee stuff. The seller went into full carnival barker mode, talking about how my friend should buy his stuff because "Jeep owners know that they need at least 2 full parts Jeeps around to keep one Jeep on the road!".
He's not wrong.
Having beat the living E36 M3 out of an '01 XJ Cherokee from brand new to 90,000 miles, I developed a tremendous respect for them. Very rugged, very useful and sort of fun to drive. I would never pay a kings ransom for one, but I like them.
Having beat the living E36 M3 out of an '04 Liberty from brand new to 50,000 miles, I developed a tremendous hatred for them. Very slow, very useless and abysmal to drive. I would never pay a Mexican peso for one, and I hate them.
Our TJ was one of the most reliable - and fun vehicles we've ever had
If you want a small street legal rock crawler, there aren't too many other options. There are a few options if you're not looking for anything particularly recent - an Isuzu Trooper or a Suzuki Samurai or Sidekick / Tracker - but those aren't particularly cheap, either.
Have you seen the price on the new ones?! Irritating, because, as I pointed out to a co-worker, you are literally paying more for less.
Around here $8k to $10k is about the floor for any nice older Wrangler, pretty much regardless of era. Of course, projects are less. I think this has been discussed before, but there aren't really any good alternatives for someone looking for that basic off-road configuration. The old Toyota FJs have become collector's items, as have Land Rovers. And they are all long in the tooth. Nothing currently made really comes close, although there are plenty of vehicles that are off-road capable, they just don't have that raw, open, simple configuration.
That rust almost made me puke. OMG I HATE rust with such a passion. I wish I never saw that!
In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:
"Just a little body and frame rust."
Frame is beyond repair and the body has enough holes to be a Flintstones car. Also "OMGRARE" 4cyl + auto. Literally the worst combination for the drivetrain.
Yuck. Push it back into the ocean from where it came 
When I was shopping for a Wrangler in 2012, the price people wanted for their 2007-2008 JKs were $3-$4k less than a brand new, unmolested JK. Plus they were still using the mediocre 3.8L oil dispersion device and old 4 speed auto until 2012.
So I bought a 2012 Sport for $22k. 6 speed manual, manual windows, manual door locks manual HVAC with the base radio (no sub). The only options it has was uConnect, cruise and A/C. It now has just 36k on it (damn deployments) and does everything I ask of it. Except pull in the ladies
stanger_missle wrote: In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid: "Just a little body and frame rust." Frame is beyond repair and the body has enough holes to be a Flintstones car. Also "OMGRARE" 4cyl + auto. Literally the worst combination for the drivetrain. Yuck. Push it back into the ocean from where it came
You're obviously not from Chicago.
I've seen worse.
From what I've seen, wranglers, especially 4 door ones, are the new douche de rigeur.
Jeeps have always been choice used vehicles way back to the CJ2A and before.
My '02 Liberty served me well for 8 years and close to 80k miles, it towed my 3900 lb. trailer thousands of those miles with out a whimper. Gas mileage was not great. It was still in great shape when I traded it for something that got double the mpg.
Wranglers appear to be one of the few American cars to be popularly acceptable in the nations capital. That and de riguer black on black Suburbans and Tahoes. Tahoe for the junior Senator. 
The jeep tax is crazy. A wrangler/cj has been on my wish list as long as I can remember. I would go for a new base 2 door with maybe an auto and hard top.
mndsm wrote: From what I've seen, wranglers, especially 4 door ones, are the new douche de rigeur.
This.
I'm pretty sure all the pricks sold their 3 series BMWs and bought Wranglers. They are the new mall crawlers.
The flip side of the high Jeep tax is that you can buy one, drive it for a year, decide you hate it, and get your money back out.
This holds true for almost any Jeep, at any price point. Even brand new ones.
Ian F wrote: More like a "Jeep tax". Have you priced box Cherokees lately?
The XJ Cherokees in my area are regularly $900-$1500. Then again, this is the rust belt.
So how are Wranglers(probably the Unlimited) to live with for someone who will likely never take it off-road?
SWMBO has been wanting an Escape, but also likes the looks of the Wrangler, and now that you guys prompted me to check it looks like I can lease a slightly more expensive Wrangler with more miles for almost $100-less per month.
oldtin wrote: Our TJ was one of the most reliable - and fun vehicles we've ever had
Thanks.
Pete Gossett wrote: So how are Wranglers(probably the Unlimited) to live with for someone who will likely never take it off-road? SWMBO has been wanting an Escape, but also likes the looks of the Wrangler, and now that you guys prompted me to check it looks like I can lease a slightly more expensive Wrangler with more miles for almost $100-less per month.
An escape is a rolls Royce compared to a wrangler. They're still pretty damned Spartan inside.
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