a very clean and beautiful car BurningRubber
Thanks man...
Thats a nice ass jeep. Thats essentially what I want, I just need to find something in my price range.
Thanks, its what got me into modding in the first place...
You won't have trouble finding an affordable Cherokee.
Yeah, everyone is giving good advice
The I6 is a very reliable engine. They are know for cracking their exhaust manifold and leaking oil from the valve cover but thats about it. The auto seems more durable then the stick for some reason too. The 318 V-8 is somewhat problematic. After 120K the engines are usually ready for a tear down as they will eat the main bearings. The brakes on Grands up till 98 suck and will need to be replaced regularly. They love to eat rotors
The 5.9 RT Grands are very nice and quite powerful. They can be had for 6K in great shape but will reward you wil 13 mpg
Even the 5.2 is only gonna give 17ish mpg.
Your best bet would be a Cherokee Country or Sport
The exhaust manifold thing is pretty common, but they offer very cheap high quality
headers for a bit under $200 that have a garuntee with them... can't beat that upgrade.
GC's are hit and miss. 5.2's like to puke the oil pump, aswell as bearing problems like you said. Most Chrysler auto's from that year range are horrid.
The Cherokee's auto transmission IS NOT A CHRYSLER TRANSMISSION, just to clear the air.
It is a variation of the same transmission used behind auto Toyota Supra's. They will hold up very well.
87-00 Cherokee. I used to work for Chrysler/Jeep and these are hands down the most reliable. Of course you have issues with random crap, but the powertrains just don't quit.
Yeah, at times it will nickle and dime you for little stuff, but the important things seem to hold together untill the rest of the Jeep has fallen apart around them...
The good thing is, parts generally are not expensive and almost everything is easy to work on.
Well, that pretty much makes up my mind. How is insurance on jeep cherokee's? I can only hope it would be significantly cheaper than the stang...
BurningRubber- You want to sell that thing?
Insurance isnt bad at all, I don't see how it wouldn't be less than a Mustang.
You'd have to pry it from my cold, dead hands...
It was my first vehicle and it has always served me well. I don't plan on parting with it unless I absoloutly have to.
Well, after doing the math I have about 6k to purchase a jeep with. I am looking for a 97-99 Jeep Cherokee. Hopefully I am able to find one around town in my price range.
Who knows, maybe I will start modding the hell out of it and get rid of the stang?
6k will get you far. For what its worth, I paid 4k for mine (a 97 model) in 2003 with 121k on it. If I were to buy it today with the same mileage, it would be right around $2500-3k +/- a little.
As stated, you want to shoot for an 87-01.
87-90's were good, but used the Renix fuel injection which wasn't as reliable as the Chrysler multi-port injection that they switched to in 1991, and they re-dubbed the 4.0 the "4.0 HO" because it got a decent power increase over the 87-90 model years. All 91+ are High Output motors.
1996-1999 are the best years to look for in my opinion. 1996 was a transition year and the interior picked up a few odds and ends that signify the newer body style.
1997 they got an exterior and interior design.
Starting in 1996 (I beleive, if not 96 it was 97) the engine got some internal tweaking that made it even more bullet proof and some changes that helped combat ring wear.
'00-'01 models had a bad batch of heads that had cracking issues. It's hit or miss, some may have been taken care of, some not. Some may never crack... They also switched to a COP ignition system (like our 'Stangs) in '00 aswell as added a bunch of smog crap. I personally would not look for an '00-'01 because of that, but I'm not saying they are bad, just not my cup of tea.
Happy hunting, lol. And the mod bug hits just as hard as it does with a Mustang...
