Opinions Please

[MillIronQH]

My wife and I are talking about getting rid of one of the 3/4 ton trucks and getting a used suv for a town car.

I found a 94 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2wd that seems to be in pretty good shape but I'm a little concerned about repair cost. Does anyone have any experiance with them or jeeps in general and has an idea how expensive they are to work on. The truck belongs to the dealers Dad and only has 130k on it and is worth the money but not if it's going to cost like a Rolls Royce to get it worked on.

Also I'm looking at a 96 Izuzu Rodeo and a 94 Explorer. How does the Jeep compare?

I'd appreciate the feedback.Z

 

[badaxemoo]

My wife and I are talking about getting rid of one of the 3/4 ton trucks and getting a used suv for a town car.

I found a 94 Jeep Grand Cherokee 2wd that seems to be in pretty good shape but I'm a little concerned about repair cost. Does anyone have any experiance with them or jeeps in general and has an idea how expensive they are to work on. The truck belongs to the dealers Dad and only has 130k on it and is worth the money but not if it's going to cost like a Rolls Royce to get it worked on.

Also I'm looking at a 96 Izuzu Rodeo and a 94 Explorer. How does the Jeep compare?

I'd appreciate the feedback.Z

Manual or automatic? I had a Jeep Comanche. The 4.0 motor was bombproof, but I had trouble with the transmission. I know Jeep put in both Peugot and Toyota transmissions.

I don't know about '94s, but given my experience, I'd lean toward the Toyota transmission if you have a choice.

 

[okbob]

my experince is parts replacement, jeep/chrysler are higher end on cost for repalcement parts, good vehicles, but there is nothing cheap as far as repairs, is this the full size wagon or the mid size, the full size gets lousy gas mileage, I use to have a full size jeep truck, strong and would go anywhere, best 4w drive there is but maintnaince is high dollar, just my experince

 

[MillIronQH]

Truck is a 4.0 auto w/130,000 on the odometer. Nearly all highway miles. I guess you'd call it mid sized. The dealer said his mom could get 18-19 mpg out of it but him or his dad never got that good. It's got a class III receiver hitch on it but no brakes so I'd have to install that before I'd pull anything with it. It looks like I could haul 20 sacks of feed in it if I needed to.Z

 

[HAY MAKER]

Truck is a 4.0 auto w/130,000 on the odometer. Nearly all highway miles. I guess you'd call it mid sized. The dealer said his mom could get 18-19 mpg out of it but him or his dad never got that good. It's got a class III receiver hitch on it but no brakes so I'd have to install that before I'd pull anything with it. It looks like I could haul 20 sacks of feed in it if I needed to.Z

If you are interested in a Jeep Rubicon,I have one that is in exellent shape Im selling, 83000 road miles ............good luck

 

[MillIronQH]

Thanks but I'm afraid that critter is a little to young for us old folks.Z

 

[HAY MAKER]

Thanks but I'm afraid that critter is a little to young for us old folks.Z

Believe you are right,nice little vehicle but not much elbow room,Jeep is coming out with a 4 door model that should have more room,hate to trade this one but you know how it is when you get the fever .............good luck
PS Do yall still have that watermelon Jubilee,always wanted to attend,just too much to do,maybe this year.

 

[MillIronQH]

Thanks but I'm afraid that critter is a little to young for us old folks.Z

Believe you are right,nice little vehicle but not much elbow room,Jeep is coming out with a 4 door model that should have more room,hate to trade this one but you know how it is when you get the fever .............good luck
PS Do yall still have that watermelon Jubilee,always wanted to attend,just too much to do,maybe this year.

The Luling Watermelon Thump is is going strong. It's one of those times along with July 4th and New Years I have circled in red on my calender. Those are the times you couldn't drag me into town with a D8. :shock: Z

 

[fitz]

The old Hen drives a 1995 Jeep Grand cherokee. It has well over 100,00 miles on it. She likes it. Problems have been a leak on A.C. unit and automatic transmission rebuild. I didn't notice these costs running any higher than our other vehicles.
fitz.

 

[cmjust0]

I had a '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 4.0L, 4x4, auto for about six months.. The 4.0L is bulletproof, but the transmission worried me.. A lot.. It would shift funny every now and then, and sometimes had a little too much 'lag' when you'd go from P to D.. Power controls were spotty at best, and the A/C was leaky.. All very, very common problems to the Grand Cherokee.. Paid $3700 ($4000, including tax, tags, etc,) sold it for $3500.. I got lucky it didn't break down bad, IMO..

After it was sold, we bought a '97 Cherokee for $3300 including tax, tags, etc... Not a 'Grand' -- just the regular boxy Cherokee. It's a 4.0L, 4x4, auto, 132K, and we've had it for about a year.. The automatic transmissions they put in the Cherokees is Aisin's AW4. It's the exact same transmission used in the Toyota Supra, and Aisin made Toyota's lock-in hubs for years and several other parts for their 4WD vehicles.. Basically, the engine and tranny in the Cherokee are pretty much bulletproof.

The transfer case I got has three options -- 4-high full-time, 4-high part-time, and 4-low.. I would have preferred to have the simpler one with only 4-high and bulldog, as they're basically the same thing minus a sometimes-troublesome clutch pack. Also, the only interior power option mine has is power mirrors, so there's not much foofoo stuff to break.. A/C is still good and cold, which usually isn't the case with older Grand Cherokees...

All in all, I've put about 20K on the Cherokee with no real problems.. Having owned both, I wouldn't touch another Grand Cherokee with a 10' pole, but I'd drive the Cherokee anywhere and not think twice about it. They say the AW4 transmission is usually good for at least 200K to 250K miles, so I fully intend to put another 100K on it.. I figure that'll happen in about 2010 or so..

Then I'll find a 2001 model for a few thousand bucks and drive it till 2015.

Bottom line, I say save a few bucks up front and a lot of bucks in the long run by getting a Cherokee instead of a Grand Cherokee.

 

[flaboy-]

I currently have two Jeeps but no wagons. JD Power rates the Jeep much higher than many brands built today.

MHO is that with that much mileage something is getting ready to happen that might cost some money. If you want a wagon try to get 4 wheel drive. It is amazing how times it will come in handy for you. I would look for something a little newer and with less mileage if it were me.

 

[dun]

I currently have two Jeeps but no wagons. JD Power rates the Jeep much higher than many brands built today.

MHO is that with that much mileage something is getting ready to happen that might cost some money. If you want a wagon try to get 4 wheel drive. It is amazing how times it will come in handy for you. I would look for something a little newer and with less mileage if it were me.

They must have come a long ways since the CJ series. Wherever you went you had to have someone follow behind to pick up the pieces as the fell off.
I Had a Cammando years ago, that thing was tough as nails but I had to have bungy cords on all of the shift levers to keep it in whatever posistion they were put in.

dun

 

[Subsoil]

We have a 2002 Grand Cherokee and it has been the most trouble free vehicle I've owned. It has been back to the dealer only two times and both were smog/emission issues fixed by the warranty. It now has 103,000 miles and still going strong everyday.

 

[flaboy-]

I currently have two Jeeps but no wagons. JD Power rates the Jeep much higher than many brands built today.

MHO is that with that much mileage something is getting ready to happen that might cost some money. If you want a wagon try to get 4 wheel drive. It is amazing how times it will come in handy for you. I would look for something a little newer and with less mileage if it were me.

They must have come a long ways since the CJ series. Wherever you went you had to have someone follow behind to pick up the pieces as the fell off.
I Had a Cammando years ago, that thing was tough as nails but I had to have bungy cords on all of the shift levers to keep it in whatever posistion they were put in.

dun

They have come a long ways Dun. My first was an old Willis Jeep. I actually had 3. Two were for parts for the one that worked. :lol:

I now have two generations. The farm Jeep is a 4 cyl YJ and my everyday driver is a 6 cyl TJ. They still have some common failure parts but they are easy to work on.

 

[sidney411]

I had a Cherokee. Be careful, they are real easy to flip - don't ask me how I know this

 

[MillIronQH]

I had a Cherokee. Be careful, they are real easy to flip - don't ask me how I know this

Okay you opened this can of worms. How to they compare to say the Explorer? If you were going to buy a vehicle that would primarily be a town car but would still need to double to haul feed or pull like a 12' stock trailer what would you be hunting?

The main reason I've been looking at the Jeep is that it's local and I kind of know the history.Z

 

[cmjust0]

Cherokees and Grand Cherokees are both unibody constructed.. I hooked an empty (but heavy) 16' b/p steel stock trailer to my Cherokee and they didn't get along too well.. The 4.0L was plenty strong enough to pull it, but the weight of the trailer pushed the Jeep around pretty bad.. The Grand Cherokees aren't all that much bigger or heavier, and they ride waaaay softer than the Cherokees, so I would imagine that a Grand Cherokee would get pushed around just as bad or even worse..

Plus, the transmissions are well known to be iffy - at best - in the Grand Cherokees. Towing with a high mileage, original transmission Grand Cherokee might lead you down the road to a transmission rebuild in short order..