your opinions on my dd. keep 01 grand cherokee or get 06-08 f150?

so my dd right now is my 01 grand cherokee, 4.0, slow as hell. its been my driver and my college car, and its showing, my back liftgate has a huge dent in it from when i backed into a pole, and my front is kinda messed up from where i hit someone and kinda fixed it with cheap replacement parts. everything else is fine. when i got it it kept mixing oil and coolant so long of the short is it needed a new motor so its got a chrysler reman 4.0 in it with a warranty, and ive replaced the cooling fan, the relay for it, its got a new motor, waterpump, thermostat and its running great now. its a pretty reliable driver.

however the 4.0 is terribly slow, and they are known for their ****ty 42re transmissions. i cant help but think my trans is going to grenade at any time.

ive already got a new liftgate for it, 100 bucks i foudn one for, and its gonna cost me between 200-300 to get it painted.

the kicker is is im not a very school oriented person, my dad told me if i graduated with good grades and we could sell the jeep, hed pretty much put me in a 2006-2007 ish f150 fx4 in shadow grey like i want. ive been dabbling around with the idea of a truck for a while and i really like them, and being able to tow the mustang would be a large plus, and also id like go acquire an atv here at sompoint, thus making a truck more useful.

i used to beinto the jeep thing, and worked on it allot, but now im moreso doign the mustang, hunting, firearms thing, and dont do anything to the jeep anymore. i feel like a truck would be more versatile.

this is what it looked like after new tires, a good cleaning, and when it was in great shape:




and now, its got the front end by the pass. headlight messed up and that huge dent in the liftgate, and its just showing its age more.





so i come to you stangnet, jeepforum is going to say jeep, and my f150 forum will say f150. you guys are about as neutral as i can get.

jeeps got gas mileage better than the f150, and ive got allot of money into it, and the truck would be a nice truck that has new things to it and is more suited for a graduated on his way person than the jeep in my opinion.

so should i just fix up the jeep, maybe replace the shocks, lift the front a half inch so it sits level, put a nice system in it and call it quits or move foward on the truck thing and sell the jeep.

another idea would be to sell my jeep and put up more money and find a nice lower mileage v8 laredo?

lets hear your opinions.. thanks guys.

I have a buddy with a 99 Cherokee, and I feel sorry for the guy cuz he bought it in really good condition, really well taken care of with I think 120k on it. He is out in the parking lot almost every weekend, fixing some stupid thing like his tail light that keeps shorting out, or replacing a sensor, or his rear end slamming every time he puts it in reverse, or his valve cover gasket leaking everywhere...it's always somethin with Jeeps. Personally I would just get an F150 and save yourself the trouble.

so are you going to be paying the truck payment yourself? if so, it comes down to if and can you afford a new truck payment. and if you do decide to get the truck, are you going to keep it for a long time? if you think you'll get more benefit from the truck then go for it, otherwise you'll be wasting your money. just gotta weigh the pro's and con's. me personally, i like the new ford trucks and trucks are more useful. then again, i may just be bias since i'm from Oklahoma, lol.

I had an 04 F-150 Lariat Supercrew (same style as the 06-08 cept I had square fog lights) that I absolutely loved. However, I had to learn some hard money lessons with a failed business and decided the payment really just wasn't worth it.

However, if you can afford it, it's a fantastic truck and I would give just about anything to have another one (assuming it was paid for).

+1 for the F-150

I have an 08 F-150 and love it. Its the most basic truck they make with an 8 ft bed. If you're going to be paying for the truck I would stick with the jeep. That way you can pocket the money you would be making on the payment. Now if your parents are paying for it I would take it. Who wouldn't want a free truck. Only thing I would do if you could is if they do buy the truck I would sell the jeep, and suprise your parents with all or most of the money.

theyd buy most of the truck, probably all of it, as a graduation gift. education is important in my family and im not good at being a student, if i graduated with good grades my dad would see buying me a truck as a pleasure. but if he does buy me a truck the deal is the jeep has to go and he gets the money for it, which is fine by me.

but on the other end if i dont get the truck and stick with the jeep im sure id get money or an atv or something. truck seems like a no brainer because its more to me for free, but if im gonna stick with the jeep im stuck with it for a year or 2 anyways till i graduate so i might as well fix it up now.

If your parents would buy the thing for you why not?

i always vote Ford

yeah im leaning towards fomoco, its just if i end up staying with the jeep then i might as well put money into it now. but if i do the truck then im not spending anymore on it.

truck. ditch the jeep while the going is good

+1 of the 150 if money isnt a factor, i'm happy with mine, its comfy, has good capabilities, and other than the mileage (~15-17 depending on season and mood, which is about what my old truck got), its a great dd/work truck/hauler.

I take it that you parents are already paying for your schooling, in otherwords, you will be graduating debt free?

If your pop is going to throw you a 15G bone just for graduating on top of paying off school, throw it into a CD or use it towards a grad degree.

If and when gas shoots up to 4 dollars a gallon, you'll be writing in on what you should trade it for because you hardly ever really use the truck portion of the truck and the 15 mpg highway really sucks.

Or if you simply must spend this wonderful gift on a depreciating asset, keep the Jeep for winter and buy a new edge for 9G and throw mods on it.

how can you not tow the mustang or an ATV with the jeep? it seems like you want a truck just because its a truck and that is going to cost you lots of money in unnecessary gas. invest in a car dolly or trailer for the atv. the 4.0 is a great motor and while the tranny isnt the greatest it will do what you need it to do.
I bought my truck b/c I thought I really "needed" one and it spends more time in the driveway than my other two cars. if you really want a truck get a s10 or ranger. they still get decent mileage, have a truck bed which is handy for all sorts of things, you can still tow with them(atv will fit right in the back of it), and they arent as akward to park. most of the parking spaces out there were never meant for a full size truck and I hate having to park in the back of the parking lot because my ram wont fit in any of the goddam parking spaces here except for at walmart :end rant:

i just bought a 00 jeep grand cherokee laredo. keep the jeep. i love mine. they ride better then the newer f150's do. hell of a lot better milliage to. i looked at MANY different trucks suv's before i decided on a jeep. best part. its paid for. your jeep is paid for. keep it and drive it for now. do what they said. invest some. not like your driving a 1990 jeep. its a 01. and it looks to be in really good shape. if they dent bothers you that much go have it fixed. proably cost around 600. shocks are not that much. headlights are a common and problem on these and yours looks much better then mine. i orderd a brand new set for 120 shipped.

2nd Gen. Lightning.

DO IT! I regret selling myne all the time.

f250 turbo diesel is where its at.

towing the mustang with the jeep wouldnt be something i would want to do more more than 30 minutes at a time, and when im wanting to pull it 4 hours, that spells disaster in my book. jeeps rated to pull 5k, it would probably do that, but the rear suspensions not going to cooporate at all.

I'd love to have an L but i need somethign 4wd. that much is for sure.

congrats on the wj ryan, i like mine for what it is. my jeeps had probably 6 or 7 headlights in it over its life. and my dads 05 f150 rides wayyy better than my jeep. i mean like cadillac vs stock mustang difference. i just feel like a truck will be useful for me in the end. the 4.0 is a great motor and all but in anything bigger than a wrangler/cherokee its just plain annoying. downshifting all the time, lack of get up and go gets real old. especially going to school on a 4 hour drive over mountains.

if i do keep the jeep im goign to drive it until it blows up and i got a feeling that trans is going to go out on me way before im ready for it too. its got 143k on it, it got a new motor at 115k, and i dont really want the trans to go before 200k. not to mention the annoying hvac problem im getting, i have no idea how to go about fixing, when its on vent when it downshifts it puts it to defrost until it shifts back up. vaccuum problem somewhere, and man thats not gonna be fun to trace.

id like to have the option of lifting whatever i get a couple inches moderatly, and the jeep with 31's wouldnt be much fun to drive, especially if i add a bumper/roof rack, ect..

good thing is i guess i have a couple years to think about it. and yes i did think about goign straight for a 250, but i wouldnt really need that much pulling power.

this man knows jeeps. ive been over 15k without a cooling problem and im getting worried.


and yes they are paying for school, my parents have worked their share and dont mind it at all. getting out of school is something im proud of if i ever make it there. ive got other assets that dont depreciate, so acquiring something that will isnt too much of aproblem right now.

The jeep is diesel hands down. I had a 1992 cherokee with 230k miles on it before i just recently gave it to my neighbor who did a 6 inch lift and made it a trail rig.

Can't beat a jeep. My dad has a WJ and he tows a 5k lb camper 1000+ miles every summer with my mom and 2 brothers in the truck.. It has 262k on it now all original drivetrain... I almost wish i bought a WJ instead of my Escape....

if you can afford it and need 4wd, look for a diesel. Better fuel econemy, more power, more fun to drive. Only thing is ford diesel's seem to have alot of problems, well the 6.0's do anyways. I'm in the market for either a powerstroke or a duramax right now. I'd like to stay ford, but the duramax's are just about bulletproff