OT: Jeep Cherokee

[scrooge]

I'm looking for a 4wd vehicle that I can use to play in the mountains (get some extra ground clearance and perhaps pull a trailer). Anyone have experience with a Jeep? I'm looking at a used "Sport" model--a '98 with about 84k. Any comparisons to 4runners? I have a lot of Toyota brand loyalty, but am not sure I really want to pay the premium.

[William]

You don't want a heap. ;) If you're looking for a rig to use for off-road, there are many Landcruiser options available. An FJ60 (standard), FJ62 (auto), and FJ80 are available for reasonable prices right now. You get the Toy reliability, plenty of room with serious off-road ruggedness.

This is coming from a previous Heep owner. You could start here to get an idea...this is where I found my FJ60.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/vehicles-trailers-sale-wanted/




William

[csm]

I've had both a cherokee and a grand cherokee. if the cherokee you are looking at has the 4.0 liter 6 in it you could do worse. I beat the crap out of both of them and enjoyed it. if you are decent at wrenching and keep up with the routine maintenance or know a good mechanic I say go for it. the mpg aren't too bad for the 6 iirc and it is fun to drive. do some research into the different 4x4 systems; I think there was 3 of them available. 1 is more of an off-road system, one in the middle, and one more for soccer moms.

[scrooge]

Thanks William.
You're probably a good person to ask--will my 6'7" frame fit in a "heap". I take it you don't think they're all that reliable?
I'm not going to do anything crazy in the offroad department, just want enough to get down some washed out fireroads etc.
I've thought about the landcruiser (as there are a lot of them to be had out here for about the same price as a 4runner), but my impression was that i'd take it on the chin in the repairs department. Good head room, however.


You don't want a heap. ;) If you're looking for a rig to use for off-road, there are many Landcruiser options available. An FJ60 (standard), FJ62 (auto), and FJ80 are available for reasonable prices right now. You get the Toy reliability, plenty of room with serious off-road ruggedness.

This is coming from a previous Heep owner. You could start here to get an idea...this is where I found my FJ60.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/vehicles-trailers-sale-wanted/




William

[scrooge]

I've had both a cherokee and a grand cherokee. if the cherokee you are looking at has the 4.0 liter 6 in it you could do worse. I beat the crap out of both of them and enjoyed it. if you are decent at wrenching and keep up with the routine maintenance or know a good mechanic I say go for it. the mpg aren't too bad for the 6 iirc and it is fun to drive. do some research into the different 4x4 systems; I think there was 3 of them available. 1 is more of an off-road system, one in the middle, and one more for soccer moms.

I'm a lousy wrench, but I might be able to learn.
This one has the "Select-trac" system--my impression is that's more in the middle (which sounds good to me).

[csm]

fluid changes, tire rotations, things like that. I finally got rid of the cherokee after I managed to crack the filler neck on the fuel tank, even with the skid plate. there were a couple of other things too that made me decide to get a grand cherokee. I had the 318 v8 in that. it was a lot of fun. the toyotas are very nice too but I think they cost a bit more and are certainly more expensive when it comes to parts and maintenance. there are about a million jeeps in junk yards and lots of the parts are interchangable between the zj, xj and yj. having said all that, I now drive a subaru, though that 4 dr wrangler catches my eye everytime I see one.

[William]

Thanks William.
You're probably a good person to ask--will my 6'7" frame fit in a "heap". I take it you don't think they're all that reliable?
I'm not going to do anything crazy in the offroad department, just want enough to get down some washed out fireroads etc.
I've thought about the landcruiser (as there are a lot of them to be had out here for about the same price as a 4runner), but my impression was that i'd take it on the chin in the repairs department. Good head room, however.

I had a Cherokee Sport and also a CJ in the past. The Sport was ok for leg room, I'm sure my knees were close to the dash but head room was alright. The CJ was constant maintenance. The Sport I bought new and sold after a few years. I was reliable but started having issues about the time I sold. I know at least three people who have Jeeps and they have all been having constant crazy problems.

I have ample room in my 60, leg and head room. When buying any used vehicle, you run the risk of buying a basket case regardless of make). You just really need to do your homework when searching. My Landcruiser has been crazy reliable. I replaced an alternator in Nov, and the clutch in July...but they were both original and this rig has over 225,000 miles. I know of no Jeep that can make that claim. I used OEM parts and don't expect to have to address those again for another 200,000 miles. I don't do any serious trail riding/rock crawling. Mainly mild off-road, fire road, expedition type wheeling. I don't want to bang it up on rocks or trees. It's not a dedicated trail rig.

If you decide to go LC, I can certainly help you out. I've keeping up on what's for sale. In my case, the cool thing about buying a rig from someone on the mud forum, is that I can go through the archives and track what they did to the vehicle = fixes, upgrades, whether they rode them hard or not.


William

[djg21]

I've had both a cherokee and a grand cherokee. if the cherokee you are looking at has the 4.0 liter 6 in it you could do worse. I beat the crap out of both of them and enjoyed it. if you are decent at wrenching and keep up with the routine maintenance or know a good mechanic I say go for it. the mpg aren't too bad for the 6 iirc and it is fun to drive. do some research into the different 4x4 systems; I think there was 3 of them available. 1 is more of an off-road system, one in the middle, and one more for soccer moms.


I've previously owned a 97 4.0 v6 grand, and a 2000 v8 grand. Both were very reliable vehicles, and I had 140,000 miles on the 97 and was still going strong when it was totalled in an accident.

The downsides were: the gas mileage, which sucked, even for the V6;the very sparce back seat space, and the storage space, which was limited for an SUV. It really was not comfortable for two full-sized adults in the back.

[inGobwetrust]

My '97 Grand Cherokee (4.0 inline six) has 252, 142 miles on it as of this am. I use my Jeep in Boston where I work and in NH where I live half the time. My house is on a dirt road on a mountain in a rural area. I have to be at work regardless of the weather. The Jeep has never let me down. The only major parts I've had to treplace (besides exhaust, tires, etc.) are the fuel pump, water pump, and the control for the power windows. I really don't know how much longer it'll last but it's served me well in all driving conditions as well as off-road on hunting and fishing trips.

I took this pic shortly after hitting the quarter million mark.
http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn164/ingobwetrust/odometer.jpg

[William]

Btw,

Jeeps have more or less been road focused for since the late 80's early 90's. Sure you can get all kinds of aftermarket parts to make them seriously off-road worthy. The LC's and FJ-cruisers much more off-road ready out of the box. Sure you can add goodies to those too, but they're already very capable.

Have fun whatever you choose!!! :banana:



William

[chuckred]

First one got totalled on the freeway when my daughter got crushed by an illegal alien in a beater Ford F350. She walked away from it despite hitting 3 other cars and the guard rail.

I love mine. I haven't done much 4wd off road in it, but it's certainly capable for anything other than jeeping for the sake of jeeping if you know what I mean.

Mine's the Limited, has every conceivable option - kind of a cowboy cadillac. Great ski mobile, etc.

They do get a bit pricy to maintain when they get old, but I've never been stranded (mine's a 2001, approaching 100k).

I like the towing package - then you can easily mount a rack and can always rent a u-haul if you need to move stuff...

[stuckey]

Toyota

[Kevan]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/13/news/economy/ike_effect/index.htm?postversion=2008091317

[scrooge]

Bah. That's where they should be.
And it doesn't bother me so much with this vehicle (within limits-no 12mpg for me). It's a toy car, not a daily driver--will get max of a few thousand miles a year.
Of course, the young me would want to wack the old me for being a part of the problem, not the solution.


The young me
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/13/news/economy/ike_effect/index.htm?postversion=2008091317

[gdw]

I know a few folks with Jeeps who swear by them but more who swear at them. Toyota's are more reliable and worth the extra cash.

I'm selling my 87 FJ60 if you're interested. :D

[scrooge]

Hmmm. Does it get double digits for MPG? That's a requirement.


I know a few folks with Jeeps who swear by them but more who swear at them. Toyota's are more reliable and worth the extra cash.

I'm selling my 87 FJ60 if you're interested. :D

[gdw]

Sure, if there's a tailwind and it's going downhill. 13 highway 8 city.

[Lincoln]

For your use I would say avoid the Grand Cherokee (it's at the bottom of Consumer Reports reliability ratings) but consider the Cherokee (but only the 6 cyl, the 4 won't get you up into the mountains). I'm sure the Toyota is better and more reliable but for your use the money you save at purchase could cover quite a bit of repairs.

My wife bought a '97 Cherokee new (before we met), we sold it two years ago with over 200,000 miles and no regrets. It had a few minor electrical gremlins (power doors and windows didn't work from all panels) but was pretty solid. As far as repairs, we replaced the shocks twice (a wear item in my book), the oil pressure sensor twice, the exhaust manifold, the muffler and I think that was it. It had a lot of hwy miles but we took it off road a fair amount and she didn't baby the thing. I wouldn't say it was abused, but it was not maintained by the book (other than oil changes). Excellent off road and amazing in the snow (with Blizzaks it was unstoppable), handled light towing without issue.

I would guess it got 18-20 mpg?

[William]

Sure, if there's a tailwind and it's going downhill. 13 highway 8 city.


Hmmm, mine gets 16 -17 hwy. Not sure about city....since I don't cruise the "city" too much with it. Yours de-smoged?




William

[shoe]

my experience-never again...i am now sold on foreign cars after owning a ford after the jeep...there is a reason why cherokees have such a low resale value...dave

[gdw]

Mine's stock. I'm in Colorado and my trips on the highways are to Leadville or Moab so there's an awful lot of climbing involved plus it usually has 2 people, 2 dogs, two bikes, and a weeks worth of gear inside. I rarely drive it around town since the mileage is so poor.

[William]

Mine's stock. I'm in Colorado and my trips on the highways are to Leadville or Moab so there's an awful lot of climbing involved plus it usually has 2 people, 2 dogs, two bikes, and a weeks worth of gear inside. I rarely drive it around town since the mileage is so poor.


I actually discovered this road when exploring off-road on my cross bike. It is a town road that crosses through a very rural part of the area (for those of you at the Triple R, this road is near the quicksand area ;) ). It’s not super technical, but it’s very rough and you aren’t going to make it through unless you have a decent 4-wheel drive vehicle. We only got a couple of shots…it’s hard to tell from the photo but we were coming down hill with lots of big holes, ruts and rocks. The water crossings ended up being no big deal. Some of the big puddles in the trail were so murky that I couldn’t get a handle on the depth. So my son would get out and walk around the edge with a big stick testing the depth. Years ago, after going through a trail puddle that looked like nothing while wheeling with my Dad, we suddenly had water streaming into and flooding his jeep. Turned out to be a big hole, so with that in mind I figured we better check. All were manageable and we powered through with no issues. There were a lot of trails shooting off the main trail that I’ll have to go back and explore sometime. Kind of cool to have a place to wheel five minutes from my house....on a legal town road no less.


William

[gdw]

I used mine to explore the old mining roads and to pass hunt. It wasn't technical but you needed clearance and 4 low to get up some of the rocky grades.

[jimcav]

it is the 6 clyinder and on highway got 24 mph average, 18-19 in mixed use driving. we just sold it (still in my family) prior to moving this summer. had about 90k miles and never had any issues other than normal wear items. only fire roads to get me to places to mtb, and a few trips across the country with navy moves. last 3 years or so we hardly used it--i'd take my bike to work on monday and then drive it home friday afternoon. but, it was absolutley reliable. i think our ford minivan has been to the shop for unplanned stuff more in 2 years than the jeep in 10.

[William]

I used mine to explore the old mining roads and to pass hunt. It wasn't technical but you needed clearance and 4 low to get up some of the rocky grades.


That more like what I did with my 40 back in Oregon. One of these days I'll get to Moab.




William

[ejh]

being in the auto bizz we call Just-Empty-Every-Pocket

[scrooge]

That bad? I keep hearing of folks who run them to 175-200k without problems...


being in the auto bizz we call Just-Empty-Every-Pocket

[chuckroast]

Hey Scrooge, I think you are gonna find it is like any car. People have good experiences and people have bad ones. We had a 1996 Grand Cherokee that we drove to 188K with zero problems. I currently drive a 2002 Grand and my wife drives a Liberty. Both are strong runners and no worries so far (mine with 95K).

Grand Cherokees are reported to be sensitive to electrical grounding and have some odd gremlins when there are faults (alarm system arming, hard starting, etc) but the inline six engine is a strong runner that seems to be understressed.

There's a good Jeep forum that you might want to lurk awhile.


http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=115