UPDATE
It turned out to be an epic road trip with good food, an ice cream cone, excellent conversation. But no jeep returned with us....
Loaded up the rental 2013 Corolla with two of my best friends (one was the buyer in the above plan) and left Layton at 6:10am. Traffic was minimal, apart from semi's, and we made good time. Wyoming is pretty bleak (I'd never been past Evanston), so we made good time zipping along. Only rental car demerit was having a 4-speed auto in a 2013, any little hill it would downshift. We did hit some snow over the pass into Cheyenne but nothing that slowed us down, thankfully. Straight shot down to Denver was dry.
We went straight to the shop (guy works for a fabrication place) to look at the jeep. The lists that follow determined the decision to not get it:
Pros
hardly zero rust on body or frame
hardtop
2.5" lift
custom rear tire carrier
engine and trans have 40k miles on them
ring/pinion and install kit
CONS
windshield and side mirrors badly cracked (mirrors not disclosed)
no front blinkers (not disclosed)
front ABR diff cover flexed and needs fixing (not disclosed)
rear flare trim and front flat flare (his work, good to him but subpar to friend)
totally bald tires (he'd said he would change those out before we came - he didn't)
winch without cables in it and needing brushes (he said he'd swap that out before we came - he didn't)
rear Dana 44 is WELDED (not fully disclosed)
So after a brief drive (engine/tranny strong) we realized that the welded rear was no go. Horrible chirp/hop at even modest turns at low and fast speeds. While friend is looking for a toy, where we live there is a need to travel on roads TO the wheeling spots... We headed to a local burger place -- Larkburger, amazing food -- and talked it over. It wasn't too hard of a decision for him. When you throw in all that he'd have to do initially to pass Utah safety inspection, he didn't want to insult the guy by lowering the already agreed upon low price to where he felt it should be with all that new info/issues. Called the guy to say no, and he was gracious and understanding. It will make someone in Denver happy, i'm sure.
So we hit the road again. Back to Laramie for gas (30 cents cheaper than Denver) via the Fort Collins cutoff, and made good time once again. We did stop at Little America for a 50cent ice cream cone, but other than that no stops. Only car hickup was the "maintenance required" light on the Corolla flashed as we started out of Little America. No issues, but unnerving just the same. We pulled back into Layton at 10:40pm, 16.5 hours and 1036 miles later. We used 31.2 gallons and averaged 33.2mpg going about 82 the whole way. $95 in gas and $35 in lunch/drinks brings the total to $130. My friend considers it money well spent, since he can now know for sure that it wasn't 'the one,' and not have lingering doubts about it. Besides, we had a great time.
