Looking into purchasing a jeep soon. Down here in Texas I've seen jeeps ranging from a 1976 Cherokee Chief through a 2015 grand cherokee for sale all within 50 miles of my front door.
The jeep I wind up buying will be a low mileage daily / beach buggy to get me to and from work Monday - Friday (maybe 20 miles a day) and to the beach once or twice a weekend (40 miles total for 2 beach trips there and back).
I drove an 89 Cherokee in high school that I absolutely loved. Totaled it one evening and switched to a wrangler that gave me headaches. Anyways long story short I'm getting a jeep soon and was wondering what some of you would go for if you had your choice....

 

1989-1995 xj cherokee

 

Newer ain't better. I dumped a PIA '05 Wrangler as well, and kept the wife's 2001 Cherokee. We must have put $15k and hundreds of hours of work into the darned thing, basically restoring it back to near-new stock condition.

And we love it. Compliments everywhere we go, one guy at a Cheveron station offered me $10,000 cash on the barrelhead last week while I was fueling up. We just laughed, and told him that we MIGHT consider 30. Even at 173k miles, it runs great, and gets 24 mpg highway, 19 around town.

Love the old AMC Straight-6 and bulletproof AW15. You can't get that kind of quality off a new car lot anymore. You can hammer it all you like, fix it up to do just about anything, and parts are cheap and plentiful. Consider another older Cherokee to fix up and fall in love with again. There is nothing special about new Jeeps anymore.

 

It all depends on your budget as to what you buy as it seem your wanting a DD for the most part.

My DD is an 04 GC "Overland" edition loaded with every option available for it and my toy is a 99 XJ sport setup for off road use but still streetable. Both do what they were intended to do very well. In fact they both are the very last year 04 for the GC and 99 for the XJ that I considered able to the job I wanted them to do, newer ones had issues with things that I did not want.

I would trade neither of these for anything newer and for the most part anything older IMHO they were the "Best of the Best" of these models.

 

Could you post some pictures??? I'd love to see it!

 

AS far as XJ, I believe there was an early V6, that's a crap motor I gather. Then personally I'm not a fan of the 4 cyl. 2 liter. 96 was a year of change...presents problems sometimes. Then 2000 and 01 have the 0331 head that cracks often. So 87 to 99, (possibly sans the 96) are all choices.

87 to 90 had the Renix Computer (ECU), has no memory, stores no codes, has no engine light. You more or less forget about a scanner and figure it out yourself. (it's puter' may be "aviation" grade). Some of us prefer those, but they are all an option till 99. The PCM on the later has the nag light, and stores codes that sometimes are helpful. Also the 91 on, HO engines have something like 8 or 10 more HP. If an 00, or 01 has a "tupy" foundry mark, found under the oil filler, that means it has the upgraded 0331 head casting.

 

While I am unsure of year (because the owner is a long haul truck driver and we haven't had much time to talk) I am almost certain I have found my jeep! Thanks to all that voiced opinions, but this one snuck up on me. I think it is a 1990 model cherokee and know for sure it isn't newer than a 95. Since September 1st of this year I have noticed this jeep on my way to work and on my way home every day just sitting at the edge of a parking lot, never moving. I called the company for some info. "Not ours" was the response. I heard another voice on the other end tell the person I was talking to "it's Bob's". They politely passed my number to Bob who called the next day.
Bob told me the truth about this jeep: May not run
May need a new oil pan gasket
Interior is horrible
Tires are weather rotted
Hasn't had valid plates or inspection since 2012
Then he told me a number and said if I'm interested he would be in town around thanksgiving. $300 was his asking price!
Will post pictures as soon as I can

 

If you've got tools, a place to use them, and the skills to use them, you might have fun with it. If not, you might walk away from that one... If it ain't running, you won't have any way of knowing what is wrong with it...and it could be simple to something real bad... Life is like a box of chocolates..

 

Have that backup plan in place crazy8. If it turns out to be more trouble than its worth...junkyard will buy it for $250

 

You can't go wrong for $300.....

IF you have the time to nurse it back to health.

The time will be the killer on this deal. If you need a daily driver NOW, keep looking.

 

That's the great thing. Switched jobs recently..5 minutes from my house and then I pick up a company owned vehicle. DD is not a high of priority as it was when I originally started this thread.
Will get some pics soon.