Only problem is they are going to be 4 door and that takes away from the nostalgia of the 80's Scramblers. All I was looking for around here was a good cheap reliable runner I could use as a winter beater until the JT comes out.
There's going to be nothing nostalgic about the JT other than recycling the "Scrambler" name. You should expect that will be literally the only thing in common between a CJ-8 and the JT.
Again, I agree with bigwalton: neither "a good cheap reliable runner" nor "a winter beater" sound like a CJ-8 to me. Definitely go XJ.
The CJ market is driven by the condition of the body and frame, as well as local market forces. There's another new member who just showed up with a super-clean, low-mileage base-model, that is nearly "survivor" status, that I could easily see fetching $15-$20K if he flipped it just because the frame and body are so ridiculously perfect. In Alaska, since the JKs came out, there's been a bit of "Jeep fever" that has drive up the cost of anything that has the "Wrangler" name on it; even a crappy '87 YJ can now fetch what a '97 TJ price was just a few years ago. That being said, the "fever" has only had a moderate impact on CJs . . . because CJs still tend to be rusty old CJs, and even uneducated buyers recognize large rust holes in floor pans and fenders. Even Dean's AMAZING pseudo-postal '84 CJ-8 (TDK frame, LS engine, Atlas, locked 60s f/r, 40"s, MD Juan tub with postal firewall, Aerotank, MD Juan clip, armor, etc.) didn't sell until he came down to like $12K or $14K--he had probably in excess of $70K into it with much of the build done professionally. But then some idiot will spend $4000 for a rusted '84 7 covered in diamond plate just because the seller polished the hood and it still has the "Renegade" decal = "nostalgia." (This Jeep has now been for sale between $3500-$4500 three or four times in the last two years here, and even with the rust, I'm 90% sure it's been repainted at some point.) But a nice rust-free base-model 7, with original paint, the MOPAR MPI kit, and an '86 Dana 44 still has a hard time selling here at $5000 because black paint and no decals = less nostalgia. I think a lot of this has to do with well-heeled JK owners wanting some of that nostalgia, but really having no idea what they are looking at, and thinking that a CJ will run/drive/behave similarly to their JK. Then it doesn't, and shops don't know how to work on a carb, and then the T-5 breaks, and it needs $2500 of maintenance since it hadn't been done when it was parked 10 years ago, and now there's even more rust, and once it runs now the seals start going out = that CJ is right back up for sale, or is parked until the JK owner "gets around to it." Then you have the Jeep-fever that bleeds to the slightly less well-heeled, who can't afford a JK, and so that's further driven the price for YJs and TJs, which many people here don't seem to understand the difference between when they go looking for "an older Wrangler." When a built JK with MOPAR 60s and 40" tires can fetch $50K+, buyers think they're getting a great deal on a 4-cylinder '90 YJ with SOA and lift springs on 37"s and regeared stock axles for $9K. But they think a CJ should be cheaper because it's older, even when that CJ-7 is an '85 Laredo repaint that has almost no rust and a full set of WARN hubs/shafts f/r . . . and can't sell at $7000.
Again, I'm not sure you really want a Scrambler. But if you do, welcome to the madness. Until then, pick up a '90s XJ with a 4.0L. (Or a ZJ with the 4.0L. The ZJs are good too, but the transmissions paired with the V8s tend to have issues, as do the V8s themselves.) Use that as your winter beater, drive it into the ground, etc. It'll be more reliable and definitely less expensive than a CJ-8. Nice running XJs sell all day every day around here for $1500-$3000 that require nothing to put on the highway.