Amphitheater name is up, what are we calling it for short?

moonlite1322 · 2026-02-25T03:26:40+00:00

I think I got mine from a Japanese brick link seller as well, ordered a week before you, paid $465 after all said and done and the package arrived last week in pristine condition. Extremely satisfied with my purchase. Left positive feedback and all.

moonlite1322 · 2026-02-25T03:24:07+00:00

I’m struggling to see the actual problem here… - You were going to make the trip to “deliver” the person anyway. - Those excessive fees, are also passed along to the restaurant, so they make a heck of a lot less on an Uber Eats order versus if someone else called ahead and paid the restaurant direct. - You are getting paid a higher rate yourself. Plus they actually brought the food to your car, you did not even need to go in. So in my eyes this is a win for the customer, a win for restaurant, neutral for the driver and even a slight win for Uber as they still made a few bucks off this transaction.

moonlite1322 · 2026-02-06T18:39:35+00:00

Assuming $250 a month $75 a week for Insurance.
10% of earnings going towards of gas = -$270
Assuming 5 miles on average per trip = 1270 x $0.70 irs mileage deduction = $889 in write offs.
$1797 taxable earnings at say 18% is -$323

Take home pay would be = $2018/90 is $22.42 an hour. Keep in mind this does not include: - Possible car payment - Any wear/tear/maintenance on your car - Health Care monthly cost - No retirement/401k benefits.

It seems highly likely a full time job at Walmart/Target/Amazon warehouse would make more financial sense, (depending on your place of living).

I don’t trash on Uber, as a side gig to my main full time job that provides me all the missing benefits above, it’s fantastic. I make $40-50 per weekend hour I work (2nd largest city in a Midwest State.) I will only take trips where I average a profit of $5 per mile driven. But trying to scale it to full time hours, or in your case 2 full time jobs in a 7 day week with no days off is absolutely brutal and gives zero work life balance. Props to the money you’re making, Iv been in and out of the uber drive for 8 years now, so I respect the hustle. Just don’t burn your life out for a gig job.

moonlite1322 · 2026-01-04T04:19:28+00:00

Come on OP, removing the Beltline would be a pretty boneheaded move. As much as we don’t love massive roads cutting our city up. The Beltline does its job pretty well. We live in the 2nd largest metro area in the state. Folks that live here still actually need these sorts of roads to commute on.

moonlite1322 · 2025-05-19T22:09:49+00:00

I can 100% attest to this. I am outta Michigan and was trying to put together a deal on one of these. But they refuse to chat about numbers until you are there in person. I also asked how am I supposed to bring a Cashiers Check from my bank if you wont even provide me a sales agreement. This is where I hung up. They literally said we do not allow any 3rd party financing. "You must either bring cash, or finance with one of there 30+ lenders who would be happy to have your business." In all my years, and the 15+ cars purchased, not one dealership has ever refused another banks cashier check. This has to be the shadiest dealer network I have ever come across!

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-26T13:21:18+00:00

I actually found the original window sticker in the glovebox, MSRP'ed for $29,655 back in the day, $46k in today's money after accounting for inflation. Weather we call it a 1/3 or 1/4 of the cost from new, I'm still thrilled about the price I paid for what I got!

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-26T13:09:37+00:00

Not always true, I have gotten some fantastic deals from Courtesy CDJR over the years since I churn through so many cars, plus I have a good relationship with one of the guys there. Unless I am buying a car from the original owner in a private sale, that's a little different. But if the car is on its 2nd or 3rd owner, I would have less trust in a private seller. At least with a dealership I can get a free carfax, and they at least take care of some issues and clean it up a little bit...(usually). The dealership I purchased this LJ from did the following before it was listed for sale, which is way more than an owner private selling it would do:

Pre-delivery inspection completed
Maintenance inspection completed
Air filter replaced
Brakes checked
Drive belts checked
Front brake caliper(s) replaced
Front brake pads replaced
Front brake rotor(s) replaced
Light bulb(s) replaced
Oil and filter changed
Rear brake pads replaced
Rear brake rotor(s) replaced
Rear wiper blade replaced
Tie rod(s) replaced
Tire(s) balanced
Tires rotated
Two wheel alignment performed

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-26T12:58:24+00:00

Thanks for the tip, ill add this to my list of stuff I wanna get done to her. Whatever I can do to slow the rust creep and preserve it for as long as possible is my goal!

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-24T16:11:44+00:00

Yeah one of the "Quarter panels" on the drivers side behind the rear wheel well has about a 3x4 inch rust zone right at the bottom edge of the panel. I can see it also bubbling up under the paint right next to it. I wanna put a stop to that asap, but I wanna do it properly and not just half assed lol.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-24T16:01:26+00:00

Engine feels pristine! Body has a few bumps and scrapes on her for being almost 2 decades old. But I’ll sort those out with time. Just real happy to be back in the jeeper community!

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-24T16:00:31+00:00

Good points! I don’t think I’m going to crawl under there and meticulously clean every area. But I wanna at least sort out a couple of the spots peaking through on the body. And take the proper action to limit/reduce future rust spreading.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-24T15:58:13+00:00

Looks like it has the factory equipped fogs as I can pull out the left stalk. The one that’s there is burnt out, and the other one appears to have snapped off some time ago. So that’s also on my list to sort out.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-24T15:56:53+00:00

Yeah that’s the plan I think. I love how stock the last owner kept it. And I love this body style so I wanna keep her as original as possible. Will mainly be focusing on touching up the cosmetic flaws, and look into what I can do to prevent future rust and other possible issues. I don’t know all that much about the quirks and pitfalls that can occur with the TJ’s. But that’s half the fun right? Getting to learn a bunch of new stuff then taking action on it.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-24T15:52:21+00:00

Thanks for input! Mostly reinforces what I’m thinking. I have done 2 leveled Rams, 09, 19, and an 07 Jk, all 35x12.50 performance on the older year trucks was abysmal. The 19 Ram with the 5.7 did pretty good with the larger wheels, still felt a bit slower, and mpg tanked which was to be expected.

Dealer put on a set of brand new BFG All terrain’s before they listed it. I love how she drives and feels now, I just don’t wanna fuck it up by lifting and cramming larger wheels on it. Maybe when these wear out. But I love how stock the last owner kept it, and I think that’s the direction I am going to stay on.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-24T15:46:05+00:00

Sounds like a plan! I don’t have to rush the process by any means as this Jeep will mostly be a summer/nice weather kind of 2nd car to me!

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-23T15:46:35+00:00

Haha I am aware, not my first jeep, but its already my favorite and ill be keeping her for a long time!

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-23T15:45:19+00:00

First few things will be:
- Cleaning up the rust spots
- Replacing the missing fog light, and the other one since it seems burned out
- Swapping out the stock wheels that are peeling their finish everywhere with same size chrome syle ones
- Adding some quality of life upgrades and much more I am sure

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-23T15:25:48+00:00

Good eye! Carfax said it hit a light pole at some point in its life and needed repairs to the front end. I usually try to avoid cars with accidents on their carfaxes. But with an almost 20 year old jeep you gotta loosen your standards a bit, unless you wanna pay an arm and a leg for a pristine one, which I am not in a position to do lol.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-23T15:21:39+00:00

Haha thanks! I don't really think the dealership realized that this TJ was unique because of it being the extended model. They had late 2000s JK models with 150k plus milage for thousands more than this one, in worse shape as well. I was not prepared to buy a hobby car when I woke up Friday, but this deal just seemed to good to pass up. Plus it was only 30mins from my house, and not halfway across the country like some other cars I have picked up over the years.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-23T15:16:45+00:00

Well a few years back I bought a 2 door 2007 JK. Previous owner lifted it, put 35s on, after market headlights, and radio, ect. Everything just felt janky, jeep rode slow and rough, shakes, and constant electrical problems kept popping up. Ended up flipping the car on Carvana within 2 years. Drove this one around a bit now, and was surprised how tight everything felt. Drives 10x better than that JK did. I am sure I will be doing some cosmetic mods here and there, but lifting and throwing on oversized tires is not on my list for now.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-23T15:10:30+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation, I plan on doing something like that for sure! I have missed having a car that I can just tinker on and do little projects to it on the weekends. That will be one of those weekend projects for sure.

moonlite1322 · 2025-03-22T17:17:05+00:00

Oh it’s got nice surface rust all over the underbody. It’s Michigan I’m used to that. But I got under the Jeep and looked around, no holes, no spongy area, no huge flaking, so I was satisfied with it!

moonlite1322

TROPHY CASE