Early VIN LJ?

[YellowLJ25]

Hey, All. So I've had this question for a while now rolling around in my head. I thought this might be good place to start?

To preface this it's the first Wrangler I've owned, so I'm kind of attached to it either way. It's a 2004 LJ in Solar Yellow (the one in my profile pic) I bought it almost a decade ago now and drove it as my daily for a few of those years in Wisconsin. It got the frame rust and I decided to stop driving it, parked it, and it just sat, falling into worse disrepair the longer it sat. As I was thinking about it I went to take a picture of the vin one day as I considered selling it, and looked up what it was optioned with and only found some vague info but what I found was the build series number denoting what "number it was off the line" was "00006". Now I'm not 100% sure, but I didn't think they started building them until into 2004 so the build date was '04 sometime? If they did only build them in '04 and my VIN ends in 00006, could I have the 6th LJ ever made sitting in my storage unit?

I'm asking because I'm considering having it restored. If it's not that rare and not a big deal I might mod it a bit more

Thanks in advance!

Also I'm currently in the Air Force and no where near my jeep to be able to look at any info on it.

 

[Chris]

Sounds like you've got number six.

However, I don't think the collector value is there yet by any means. If you're planning on keeping it though in hopes that someday it might fetch big bucks, it had better be kept stock

 

[NDSpeed]

there’s no way to determine what vehicles will be of any value in the future. Rarity only means something to the collector,

I’ve got a super rare factory color. only painted them for 6 months.

doesn’t mean squat unless someone wants that specific color. and even then they will want the Rubicon. also collectors want serial number 1 or the vary last one.

 

[NDSpeed]

The final Dodge Challenger, an SRT Demon 170, was sold at auction for $700,000, according to Motor1.com. This specific car was painted Pitch Black and was part of a charity auction

granted that was for a charity. but it was the latest example i could remember.

Thank you for your service and take from an old vet like me. unless you plan on keeping it for ever, why have it in storage paying that fee. i bought my Jeep new and have paid to keep it in storage while I was on my worldly tours. I’ve got vehicles in three different states and i’m trying to figure where i belong now that I’m retired so i can put them all in one location

 

[Stinkbug]

It’s a Jeep Wrangler in the middle of the TJ series. I could see it being more valuable if it were number 1 in 1997 or the last one in 2006, but otherwise I don’t see it commanding a big premium in the collector car market. I understand the LJ was much more limited in production and while we love them, they just don’t have mass appeal.

If I owned it, I would modify away!

 

[Camdenst]

If I owned it, I would modify away!

I second that... make it yours.

 

[bucky]

The cost of a new 04 unlimited was $25K. That’s equivalent to $42.5 in todays money. No way could you get that today for a stock unlimited unless it was pristine and had Very low miles. Inflation will eat up any price increase. I paid $22.5K for my 05 TJUR thats $37K in 05 money. The only investment value in a TJ is in the Fun Factor.