My wife wants another grand cherokee, and i dont want to get a ZJ because the one we had was nothing but problems. what should i look for as far as WJ's go? any better years than others? im gna get the 4.0L so that kinda narrows it down. any input is appreciated. thanks

 

I think they were all about the same year wise, not many changes. But to be honest I know a few people with WJ's and they aren't really any more reliable than a ZJ, just newer. If you stick with 4.0l you should be ok for a while though.

 

i have heard the Wj's and Zj are nothing but headaches thats why i stick with the Xj. since your getting the 4.0 then it shouldnt have as many problems as the V8

 

Yeah the transmission and electrical is no where near the quality of an XJ. The V8's in them are ok but they burn alot more gas than a 4.0 would so sticking with that is a good idea.

 

yeah thats what i heard some major headaches when one thing go the rest will shortly go after. that v8 for sure will be sucking alot of gas. if you want better fuel economy than stick with the 4.0 liter.

 

Yeah the ZJ we had was a piece man, it buzzed when the cd player was on and the voltage would go up to 19 while you were driving and then it would be a zero after you shut it off, then if you tapped the negative terminal on the battery it would be back to normal. hahahahaha i think i might get a 97+ XJ

 

for sure lol the xj to me is so much better less headaches

 

untrue, the difference in the mpg is not that much, 2-3 at most for a well maintained vehicle.

 

I agree, but it also depends on the driving style...
things like towing stuff thru the city will get the mpg down to 12, but mostly freeway (w/o load) driving we get 18 or 19 on our 4.7L ....

But the 4.7 feels nicer any day

Transmissions, yeah...there are problems. I feel lucky that ours in only limited to easily slipping from drive into neutral....you just have to accidentally touch it, and that happens. From neutral into drive is scarier though!!!

P.S. When we drove down I-5 across three states, almost non-stop, overloaded with everything we needed for the trip, we got a mpg of 29 to 35, depending on the wind....we were trailing a truck though, so there's that as well

 

when i was buying, select track was at the top of my list. 4wd is required to be a jeep, awd is nice for the wife, and 2wd is all you need for mall crawling in the summer. if mpg is a concern 2wd is a must.

 

That and handles better when doing high speed turns.

Some freeway on-ramps are pretty awful in that sense....even when it's empty and you get to ignore the lane markers, going as straight as you can, it still feels like you're gonna roll....

 

The 2003 seems to be the one with the less recalls. I would try to find one with the selec trac t case as well.

http://www.wjjeeps.com/recall.htm

 

We love our 97 GC! Runs great and gives us NO trouble!!!

 

We have both an 2001 XJ and a 2004 WJ. The WJ has the 4.7 with quadradrive or whatever (AWD). We havent had any problems with it.The engine is great, its the same engine as the one in our dodge ram 1500, and we have barely had any problems with them. The XJ has had more problems and headaces then the WJ, which the only headace was putting the lift in and the alloy rear diff. Thats it. yes the tranny has some problems but ours is nice and tight. If you do go for a WJ get the 4.7. the mileage is 1mpg less then the 4.0l but then again it depends on your way of driving You'll appreciate the extra power. One thing that we dont like about it is its a awd. we wished we got a select-trac t-case. not the awd one. but not a biggie. Over all its a great vehicle.

 

I own a '99 Grand Cherokee with a 4.0 & I also have a '04 Grand Cherokee Ltd with the 4.7 for the wife. They both get about the same fuel mileage on the hwy but around town it's too tempting to use the added torque on the V-8 and gas mileage suffers accordingly. Both vehicles have Quadratrac / AWD and the 4.0 is by far the most reliable, problem-free of the two cars. The 4.0 simply needs regular scheduled fluid / filter changes and belts; it just seems to want to run forever. The 4.7 gets the same TLC but does have the occasional hiccup. IMO the 4.0 is definitely the wisest choice if you simply want years of trouble-free operation. I purchased this car almost new (12,000 miles) and have used Royal Purple synthetic religiously, every 5,000 miles, and the car still runs like a top at 241,000 miles with the original motor. Starts first crank at minus 10 deg F and has never failed me. Used the same brand of oil in the transmission also with no issues to date. Peace of mind with the 4.0.