Jeep Grand Cherokee

**Ross** · #1 07/24/06, 07:41 AM

Anybody have any experience with the 4 litre Jeep Grand Cherokee? I guess they've become super cheap with gas prices cause I've found one with almost no rust for 2k, (one spot the size of a dime) runs great looks great, and would suit us perfectly. Milage isn't a huge issue, we don't comute, but with aging parents in the country I want a reliable 4x4 to get them through unplowed roads to Dr appointments. Current 4.3 litre Blazer is pretty rusty and is starting to need things, and already had some fundamental faults.

Unregistered · #2 07/24/06, 05:16 PM

You might check into the upkeep and maintenance on the jeep. Most of the people I know have high maintenance costs. Lots of things go wrong. They like them just not to reliable.

ericjeeper · #3 07/24/06, 05:27 PM

absolutely without a doubt best vehicle I have ever owned.. 254,000 miles and I have changed a fuel pump.that is the most major repair.. Mine has an auto tranny never misses a beat. if you can buy it for that price be on it quick.
I do not think you will regret it.

fixer1958 · #4 07/24/06, 07:01 PM

They are a pretty good vehicle. A few quirky things. AC always leaks in the evaporator. The older ones overheat because the radiator is to small. Some driveline issues with bearings and noise. The crank sensor may leave you sitting but usually it will give you some warning. Other than that it's just peachy.

**Ross** · #5 07/24/06, 09:02 PM

I am very familiar with the Jeep brand just not this much luxury. I'm told they have some electrical gremlins (how fitting) but are solid enough. My FIL had the drive train in a Cherokee sport and beat it so much it should have died. It didn't. He should have kept it. I think we'll give it a go, I do luv my quirky Jeeps! Wife will freak and ---- near kill me (her Blazer ain't dead so we don't need it but with metal shards on the dip stick.........) so there's fun all round with this one!

**Ross** · #6 07/24/06, 09:22 PM

thought I'd toss in a pic not that it helps or contributes a bit!

**Cabin Fever** · #7 07/25/06, 07:23 AM

Heck, you can't buy a decent lawn tractor for 2K! I say buy it. We have a 2001 Jeep Cherokee with a 4L. SO far, it's been a great vehicle. Jeeps are built a lot tougher than other small SUVs. You won't be sorry.

Pony · #8 07/25/06, 08:08 AM

I drive an 89 and DH has a 95 Cherokee. There may be year-specific quirks, but they're really decent transportation. They are SO easy to service, parts are incredibly well-supported, and I'd say $2K is a fair price. You can maybe try to talk 'em down to cover title transfer and such.

Don't know what the Blue Book is, but you can find that online:

http://www.kbb.com/

We have always been pleased with our AMC and pre-Daimler Chrysler Jeeps. In fact, that's all we have in the driveway: 2 CJ's (one 7, one Scrambler) and the two Cherokees.

Just avoid Daimler. When it's a Jeep thing, they don't understand!

Pony!

PutteringAround · #9 07/25/06, 09:01 AM

I have an 87 Cherokee I got for 800. 4L 4x4. I absolutly love it. AC dosent work i dont care to much about that. Had an over heating problem, but was a bad temp sensor for the electric fan, I wired in a switch and manually turn on the electric fan now and now doesn't even get close to over heating. I only thing I don't like it the person I bought it from put on the large tires 31's without a lift kit so tires rubb on hard turns or too much weight loading it down. Otherwise I love it.

65284 · #10 07/25/06, 12:01 PM

I spent over 25 years as a rural mail carrier and drove over 1/2 million miles. Most of that mileage was put on Jeeps. If they are maintained properly and not abused they are no more problem prone than anything else. We also have had 2 Grand Cherokees as personal vehicles, put over 125,000 on the first one with no trouble, and no problems with the second. A 1991 Cherokee I drove on the route was sold to another carrier when I retired and now has over 200,000 on and is still used on a route daily. It has received only ordinary maintenance and 1 tranny overhaul. Good autos if you take care of them.

**Ross** · #11 07/25/06, 08:04 PM

This would be my........ 7th Jeep? Only one real dog and that was the Chev V6 2.8 in a early 80's Cherokee trying as hard as it could to push power through a Chryco auto tranny (903 if I remember right 907? ) Not a happy combonation. Still have it but I should sell it off for parts. Still have the 87 Comanche, which if I had any time I'd fix. Nice little truck. And of course I have a YJ for runnign around the farm. although it could be licensed easily. Hopefully I'll get a closer look at the Grand Cherokee tomorrow, it's a bit too fancy but a whole lot widerer than the old Cherokee's we've had. Typically they run 3500-$5000 CND here.

wraithe · #12 07/30/06, 01:46 PM

I'm new here, but wanted to say that my 17 yo son is still driving my '88 Cherokee 2 wheel drive 4.0 litre. It's got 267K miles on it, still uses less than a quart between 5K mile oil changes, and the engine has never been opened farther than to replace a valve cover gasket. It's been through 2 water pumps, an alternator, 2 clutches, and I had to have the old Peugot 5 speed tranny replaced due to worn front bearings (mine was one of the last AMC/Jeeps, bought just after Chrysler purchased AMC). Other than that, converted it to R134a and the AC still blows reasonably cold. The only time it ever stranded me was because of an electrical system problem, corroded connection. Consumer Reports has never liked the Grand Cherokee to my knowledge, but then CR has never met an American made vehicle they liked, that I know of. Don't know if that will help any, but I hope so.

Currently through extended family, ex has a Commanche, and Wrangler, ex step son has a Cherokee, my son's Cherokee, and I have a diesel Liberty that I dearly love.

**Ross** · #13 07/30/06, 05:14 PM

Well we lost this one by a day. My wife procrastinating. Not a biggie I can get one from several dealer licensed friends for the same price.

tiogacounty · #14 07/30/06, 06:43 PM

I think this might be one of the ultimate "hit or miss" vehicles that the big three ever produced. I know many owners, and they range from five people who forced the manufacturer to buy them back, to others who have driven them for years without any significant problem. About five years ago I reccomended that my own mother avoid buying one. At the time my wife and I had three different co-workers that were involved with lemon law claims against Jeep. Mom bought one and after eighty thousand miles it's been flawless. Who knows? Personally, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one. But to each his own. The Consumer Reports slam makes me laugh. They take hundreds of thousands of reports from vehicle owners and crunch the numbers. It never fails that they end up getting slammed by somebody. The claim that they never met an American vehicle they liked is silly. There are many new and used domestic vehicles they recommend. It is what it is. Don't believe me? Check their information on the Ford Focus line. Even Ford will admit that the car was garbage when it first hit the market. Now it is rated as a best buy. Ford did a drastic turn around on the car and the statistics prove that they succeeded. If a Honda owners reports no significant issues after five years of ownership, and Volkswagon and Chevy owners report significant repair costs and reliablity issues in the same period, should this information be dismissed as biased? I have owned great, (and not so great) foreign and domestic vehicles. In all cases my experience has roughly paralleled the data. A significant percentage of the "foreign" cars that they report as being quality products are produced in the USA, often with very high domestic content.

wraithe · #15 08/01/06, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiogacounty

The Consumer Reports slam makes me laugh.

Well, glad I could make you laugh with my first post.
Herb

**Ross** · #16 08/01/06, 07:35 AM

Appreciate the info guys I hear you on CR, they've dissed about every vehicle I've ever owned, and except for the K car sedan they've been off the mark. Or did they like that one? LOL!

tiogacounty · #17 08/01/06, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross

Appreciate the info guys I hear you on CR, they've dissed about every vehicle I've ever owned, and except for the K car sedan they've been off the mark. Or did they like that one? LOL!

you right, I'm wrong about CR. A non biased scientific organization that compiles yearly data from hundreds of thousands of vehicle owners is clearly valueless compared to the opinion of one person with an axe to grind, because reality doesn't match their limited personal experience....silly me. Next time I drop 20K. on a new set of wheels, I'll call. I'm sure the other couple of hundred thousand folks who answer surveys are also clueless idiots like me.

wraithe · #18 08/02/06, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiogacounty

you right, I'm wrong about CR. A non biased scientific organization that compiles yearly data from hundreds of thousands of vehicle owners is clearly valueless compared to the opinion of one person with an axe to grind, because reality doesn't match their limited personal experience....silly me. Next time I drop 20K. on a new set of wheels, I'll call. I'm sure the other couple of hundred thousand folks who answer surveys are also clueless idiots like me.

Ease up man, no one said you're an idiot, no one said you're wrong. I'm assuming that you reference me as having an ax to grind, and if so, then you would be wrong about that. Many people reference CR before they buy anything, and if that makes them feel better about their purchase, good. I don't personally get any value from CR because I have found that they seem to have numerous bias which cloud their samples, that's only my opinion, and I even stated that in my first post by saying

Quote:

Originally Posted by wraithe

CR has never met an American made vehicle they liked, that I know of

. One thing I learned while taking statistics, you can manipulate data any way you want if you have a large enough database. I was trying to toss you an olive branch with the laugh comment, since you did come off sort of heavy handed by slamming my opinion. It's okay if you don't agree with me, I've had my opinions proven wrong many times before, and one of the reasons that I participate in these forums is to learn new things. Okay? Can we agree to disagree about CR and call it done? Hope so. Offering a handshake, and hoping for no hard feelings.

**Ross** · #19 08/02/06, 06:50 AM

I didn't call anyone a clueless idiot, so don't try putting words in my mouth. I simply find CR useless. If you find it helpful then by all means use it.

mightybooboo · #20 08/02/06, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross

I didn't call anyone a clueless idiot, so don't try putting words in my mouth. I simply find CR useless. If you find it helpful then by all means use it.

I heard the Japanese BOUGHT consumer reports years ago.It may have an American publishing company,but if Im not mistaken,and I could be,they are Japanese owned.

Ive never found them useful either,for what its worth.

I do like epinions
http://www.epinions.com/

on the net,real reports by real owners,I find that very useful.
One was for a toaster oven my SIL wanted to buy,turned out to be the biggest dud on the planet from every source.
She passed on it.