car people your thoughts on cherokees
 

I'm thinking of getting this jeep cherokee I found on autotrader. It's a 96, has 100k miles on it, going for $4500. I like the look of the old cherokees and have heard they are good. I know nothing about cars tough, does this sound like a good deal?

Oh yeah the ad says it just had a 100k mile overhaul (new exhaust and stuff).

Cherokees are nice, tough, dependable vehicles as long as they have been somewhat taken care of. I would never buy one new because they depreciate fast, but you are in a good position with this one.

I might suggest checking out edmunds.com and kbb.com and see what the private party sale estimates on those sights would be, to make sure that you are getting a fair deal.

Chrysler Jeep Cherokees had a big problem with the rear axle (carrier specifically). Many needed to be replaced at just around 100k miles. This is easily a $1000 job. I personally know of five 96-98 cherokees that needed this very repair. If it's already been done...then no worries. Otherwise take caution

They are useless for true off-roading as they use unibody contruction which is anything but tough...but good enough as an urban assault vehicle.

-bear

I was actually thinking about "Grand Cherokees" with the rear issue. Might be similar.

Well, depends where your off-roading and what you are considering "true". With the ecxeption of rock crawling, they will, stock for stock, kick the ass of almost anything in its price range... Well, depending on where your live.

Around here i jeep is the heaviest-duty vehicle you would need, unless your into hardcore crawling, and mudding nevver happens around here :)

The quality did seem to deminish in those mid/late 90's model jeeps though. Well, teh Grands anyway. The 96 is almost the same as the ones from 10 years before... I own and '87 Cherokee with 250k miles on the clock with NO engine or tranny work besides oil changes. It still handles everything we got out here with the best of em when ya go off the road.

The price is about right though. They are a pretty comfy ride, gas mileage is ...ehh, ok. I suggest a little more money and getting a '98 Grand 5.9L Limited. Uber torque and gearing :D

Which engine does it have? the I6 is a great machine, and will last another 100k plus some. Has awesome gearing for getting around town, 4 wheel drive will take you almost anywhere. You cna spank v6 mustangs all day long in it, or you could pull your house. Great versitile machine.

At least mine is...

"Rattle and hum", it's not just an album by U2...

Seriously though, the Grands stink comparatively. The real question is what you plan to do with it. If you just want an SUV to look cool in, it'll do as much of that as the next one. If you care about ride quality and NVH, I'd look elsewhere. If you plan to offroad, there are plenty better choices in similar price range.

As long as you're under 6 feet tall, they're fine. Go over it with a fine-tooth comb, though. The 4.0L six is known for manifold problems.

Cherokees and other SUV type jeeps are not Wranglers (which still use a frame I believe). The 4x4 system might be similar and of excellent quality but taking those things off-road is sure to cause problems. Any jolts or drops or bumps or obstacles WILL damage the body. Look inside your doors near the hinges, you just might notice some cracks or hairline fractures developing. Very common from the flexing and stretching of the unibody...without a frame to absorb and disperse the traumas endured off the beaten path.

Just food for thought.

-bear

Never liked them. :(

Definitely. My dad had to replace it on his '94 Grand Cherokee. It had at 5 major, easily noticeable cracks and probably a lot more than that. It was a pain to replace too since it is under the intake manifold and fuel rail. They're good engines otherwise, though.

j8ear -- $1000 for a rear axle carrier?! That seems a bit steep!

thanks for the advice guys, I think test drove it today and it seemed like what i wanted though. I'm not much a car person, I basically needed something roomy and gets decent gas mileage (I'm 6'4 280lb) and this was plenty roomy for me. the guy did a 100k mile overhaul on it, so it has new tires, new exhuast, and new other stuff that I didn't know what he was talking about. He said it gets about 25 miles to the gallon on the highway which was great. Plus it came with a cd player which was a nice bonus. Only problem was the air condition broke :eek: but hey its almost fall now and I've gotten by without ac this far.

Yeah, they had a ton of exhaust manifold probs, most were covered in recalls. Mine sounded crazy powerful with that cracked exhaust though :) turned a lot of heads...

Engine and driveline are great though. and $1k for a axle carrier sounds like a ripoff to me ....

As for jolts or bumps damaging the body...jeezus, i dont think anything will damage mine. As far as jolts and bumps go, mines been through hell and back and is doing great.

My mom's had this problem....you would drive it down the road and all you heard was this whoosh whoosh sound. We repaired it ourselves for under $100 I believe. It was a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. The $1000 comes from the labor they charge.....taking apart a differential isn't cheap at any dealer.

The First-generation Grand Cherokees had a problem with the transmission too. I think it was that if you came to a stoplight, and you floored the accelerator instead of the brake that it would over-accelerate and become a runaway.

you must be talking about the autamatic ... worst thing they ever did was offer an automatic jeep imo. Anyway, the 80's and early 90's jeeps had a , reasonably rare, problem with the accelerator cable getting stuck caught up. A quick tap of the throttle would release it usually, but it is covered free in a recall anyway. It doesn't get stuck too far down though, i had the same, but it just led to a 1500 rpm idle. Sounds not too bad, but for that car thats almost ready to shift into another gear.... Occasionally would idle at 2500 max, but a few stoplights later and you would be back to normal. This is probably what your talking about on the grands. Not a big deal, and be fixed, and doesn't happen all that often. On the manual its really not too big of a deal.