as a 17 year old myself i went through the same things. i'd say ur best bet is to find one with low mileage in the newer body style. thats just my personal preference as to body style tho. Also, as for the lift question, i'd say lift it urself kuz that way you've had it from day one and you know what the lift has been through. These things will run forever if u treat em right so try to find one thats been well maintained with low mileage.. the only reason you want low mileage is so u can put more on it urself :P

Good luck!

 

i know around here, with 4 grand, you can easily find a 96 (last year for that body style XJ) in good shape under 100,000k on the odo for 4 grand

that would be the way i went..i like the older XJs more then the 97-01 XJs anyway...just bc the older ones are just a little boxier like with the tail gate and the tail lights and the grill and head light housings/bezels...i also like the interior more in the older ones...and 1995-96 were the only 2 years for the older XJ to have a steering wheel airbag

also, the older ones are a little lights, so a little quicker with the 5spd manual and 4.0

 

i agree with pretty much everyone else on there on the years and the miles and rust obviously. a great place to find one is on craigslist.org i got my 93 for 800 bucks, i ended up gettin the bottom end rebuilt but thats not too big of a deal since i had the money. as far as a lift kit goes, if you have the knowledge i would buy a stock one and do the lift my self. even if you dont have the knowledge everyone on here will be more than willing to help you out with what you need to kno. i wouldnt go more than 4.5 inches on your lift for now cause it can get expensive after that. you will find with a lil bit of searching that when you do a 4.5 inch lift you can get away with a transfer case drop and shimming the rear axle to eliminate and drive line vibes. also you will just need a rear brake line extender and relocate your front lines and you can be pretty good on that but there are several really complete lifts out there that include all that stuff. one thing you want to not do is get a lift kit with add a leafs. they sag after a lil while and your front will be sitting higher than the rear.

 

Looking around I would say you'll have no problem at all getting a late model even lower mileage 4x4 XJ for $4k in this economy. That seems to be about the going amount for a 1998-2000 in decent shape. Dealer offered us $3800 trade for our '00 with 80k miles, we decided to keep it and fix the few small issues with it. Probably best to get one as stock as you can find as it will most likely have been just a grocery getter never taken off the road. Pretty good choice of used vehicle to look for at age 17, as they are reliable, generally easy to fix and get parts for, fun to modify with endless stuff out there, and useful. Most 17 year olds just seem to want to bolt a fart can on to a rusty old rice burner these days

 

oh yea, i didnt say something about the lift question

dont buy one lifted...get a stock one and lift it yourself.....i say that bc when you buy one already lifted, you dont know what you're getting into...you dont know if the guy knew what he was doing when he lifted it, you dont know if he beat it to hell and back after he lifted it, its just not a safe way to buy it...if you get a stock one, you cant just about be 100% sure it hasnt been offroad...atleast nothing serious

 

What's so good about the 8.25?

 

i got my jeep right after i turned 17,i looked for a jeep for probably about 6 or 7 months before i found the right one with a low budget,i would go on craigslist thats were i found mine, 1994 cherokee, 115,000 miles,stock, bought it off the original owner who never went offroad, body was great condition. i bought it for only $2500! so dont be rushed in to getting it, have patients and you will find the perfect one for you.

 

Well in the great northern woods in Maine it is commonly known that the best way to earn Autozone Rewards is to simply purchase any Chrysler product. Do not get me wrong I love my Jeep but being a Chrysler product I feel a little anger every time I work on it.

 

hmmm. Funny all I've ever owned is Chrysler products and the last one lasted 485000km with the water pump being the only major problem, and the one before that lasted 595000km with the water pump being the only major repair. The reason we took them off the road was because they were rotting from all the salt. The only crap one we ever had was the damn neon, but everyone knows they suck. haha

 

For Sale
Year 99Sport
Model
Cherokee
Engine
4.0L
Transmission
AW4
Transfer Case
NP231
Front Axle
HP D30
Rear Axle
C8.25
Tires
30x9.50
Lift Specifications
2"AAL
Misc Accessories
Rough Country shocks, Rusty's tow hooks, TC skid and engine skid, factory tow package, inc HD radiator and trans cooler
166k miles
Black

 

much strong than the 35

 

As far as year goes I would stick with 96 and older. I've read that when they changed in 97 they got a little more complex and the reliability dropped.

Dont get me wrong, I like the 97+ for their cleaner lines and plusher interior, but they seem to have more issues. My brother in law had a 97 with fairly low miles and it was a POS, there was always something wrong with it and he babied that thing. On the other hand I had a 91 and wheeled the hell out of it and never had issues (Thats the reason why he bought his 97, but after he totaled it he swore he would never touch a Jeep again )

I now have a 94 and its okay. I've had issues, but its older and has 150k on it.

I dont know how many times I've said it, but in my opinion the one with the lease amount of electronic options is best. NO pwr windows, locks, ABS, etc. When I went shopping I was specific on that.

Bottom line I would recommend -

94 (last year before airbag, one more thing to worry about)
lowest miles you can find
No power windows / locks
No ABS
Chry 8.25 year
either tranny is fine (both Aisin Warner, basically Toyota trannies)
No rust

For the above you should expect to pay around $2000-$2500 or so. Use the left over money for maint, lift, tires, or whatever floats your boat. Their fairly simple to work on so learn and do the maint yourself and save money.