Yeah, I got my 95 Sidekick 2-door on E-bay for 2,950, in January, 2002.
Since then, I've conservatively spent $10,000 on mods.  Well, actually, I'm sure it's probably more, but that's what I have on the spreadsheet for my auto-insurance agent.
On the other hand, if you built a Jeep similarly, you would have spent probably twice as much, or more.