With winter rapidly approaching, checkout some grand Cherokees as well if u are not having any luck finding an XJ and have your heart set on a jeep

My bro got a 98 limited with v8 120k miles for $3,900 last winter

 

Seems simple. The 4.0 np231 aw4 is almost a bullet proof combo. You can pick up a clean one for 2500-3000 and add a 3" lift with the Money left over. With proper maintenance and careful driving the mileage can be great. My 90 with stock gears on 33s gets 18 on the highway. Good luck.

 

Any way you go just remember, You can tell things from the person you are buying from. If they can give u the low down on what they have done to keep up on maintance. It's the one's that say it has been sitting and they don't know much about it. Walk away. Look for someone who uses it everyday and they can tell you what has been done and what they think will be coming up for repair.
I bought my jeep and went a few miles to there mech and talked to him about what they did to it and what might be coming up that needs to be replaced.
Worked out good.

 

x2 but you never know what gems can be uncovered by knowledgeless americans ( the potential seller) and you the gem hunter. lol

 

MPG 1. It has few problems 2. 3 You can turbo it for cheap and create good HP and torque cheap. 4. Because if you want MPG you shouldnt be getting a 4.0L Jeep period. The best I ever got was 19 mpg average.

Im just going of the info you gave us.

 

out of curiosity, what do the 4cyl owners get on average in MPG???

with my 4.0 i am averaging about 17/18 combined hwy/city driving...

 

I had a budget of $3500 to get a Jeep for my wife.

We spent $1800 to acquire a 1998 Grand Cherokee with 4.0 I6 motor.

V8's were cheaper in some cases but they had that awful Transfer Case that I did not want.

Total Cost to put on the road .... $2,200 ( put the $1300 left over in a separate Bank Account for future repairs )

In the mean time we have acquired to 4.0 motors and are in the process of rebuilding them from the crank out and have them as 'spares'.

Why 2 spares?

We own 3 XJ's and the Grand Cherokee, all fall into the 1995 - 1998 age range.


.

 

ohh i gotcha, haha missed that

 

in reality, the 2.5 will net about 1 mpg better.. until you need the torque.

not a bad motor, but really no comparison to the 4.0.

 

XJ's are extremely reliable... really, just think about how many are still driving around on the street, even the older models. The drivetrains are bulletproof and can run beyond 250k with basic maintenance. Plus they are cheap to maintain and to fix if they do go wrong, parts are cheap and they are easy to work on.

I have yet to use my XJ in the snow but have been told they do really well. If you get one with the NP242 transfer case you can put it in full time mode and go right from dry pavement to wet to snow without having to wonder when you need to stop and put it in 4wd.

 

Id get a subie but one in good working order may be hard with $3500. If you were to get a cherokee id get an 00' or 01'

 

bought my 1990 renix XJ in 2004 with 246,000 on it now I am at 422,009 all stock if you want reliable leave it stock in my opinion. I put about 1 to 3,000 4x4 time on it in the winter in missouri, avoid rust and to clean of an engine. 1st and 2nd owners are a plus and in most cases the older the better on the owners. XJ all the way