1976gmc20

Howdy - new here from Montana.

An old guy over in the next valley has a 1994 2 door Cherokee with the four cylinder engine and manual transmission for sale for $1800. Mileage is 200K++ but he says that the engine has been rebuilt.

We had been looking for a nice one (4dr/4.0) to replace our worthless FWD car (2006) but thinking about buying this one as a stopgap and then selling the car and using the money to find another nicer Cherokee.

I've owned a bunch of full size 4x4 Chevy/GMC (2 currently, plus another 2wd) but never a Jeep. We live way out in the hills on dirt/gravel roads, and we're looking for compact 4x4 as our current car pretty much has to sit in the garage half the year because of snow and mud, even when the Suburban can get around just fine in 2wd.

This won't be a build/lift project. Usage would mostly be driving 25-60 miles to nearest towns, and lots of running 1/4 mile over to our barn on the other side of our land (have to haul water to horses in the winter). In reality the 4-banger might actually be good for this.

I haven't seen it yet. He says that the main body/windows are all good but it has had a deer hit and one front fender replaced. I found it on CL but we actually sort of know this fellow.

Thoughts ???

GreenXJ98

If you're using it for a daily driver, that might not be bad. The 4 banger will be better on gas. Price isn't bad either. Just check the maintenance history and check for rust holes in the body and floor.

black label

It varies by area and I'm not sure of the Montana market but the price seems a bit steep for a 20 year old, 200k+, 4 cylinder cherokee. If the condition is good it wouldn't be a total ripoff but I'd think the price should be closer to 1000 than 2000.

Fwiw, I paid about 1100 for my 93 2 door 4.0 about a year ago, he was also asking 1800. I'm also in MA, so the market could be quite different.

1976gmc20

Yeah, that's what I was wondering ...

I'm really looking for a really nice Cherokee (4dr/4.0/AT) with relatively low miles for which to trade our 2006 FWD car straight across, but that's hard to find. There's a 2000 XJ listed for $4750 several hundred miles away but it's a private party so no trade, and now it's winter so we can't drive our car over there and would have to take one of the big 4x4's.

1976gmc20

Okay, we went and looked at it this afternoon. The undercarraige and 4wd seem really solid; it handles nice and tight, and I didn't get any wobble up to about 60 mph on gravel road. Mileage is 206,9xx - thought that he had said 269,000 on the phone! It needs a muffler, so hard to hear how the engine actually runs, and the grill needs replaced so that the left headlight and turn signal will stay put right. He had a grill from a junkyard but he said it didn't fit.

It has a twin pipe "aftermarket" front bumper (I don't know if that was because of the deer hit ???) and the back bumper is twisted up like it was either dragged or more likely tow chain damage. The doors all work okay but it needs rear struts and he has welded the driver door hinges to fix it. Heater, lights work; don't know (and don't really care) about the AC.

It has pretty new looking Hancook LT235/75R15 on alloy wheels (but just a skinny spare ) so the 4 tires alone are worth about $500. I've got a bunch of old 15" tires lying around so all I would need to find is a standard jeep wheel for the spare.

I'm thinking that I might offer $1500 as is, or the asking $1800 if he puts on a new muffler and restores the grill to serviceable condition

black label

On the 4.0 miles shouldn't be a huge concern. With basic maintenance they will last a long long time. My 93 has 266k miles and runs strong. Condition is everything.

1976gmc20

This one is just a 4-banger.

Not sure if this rig is a good choice or not, but our 4x4 Suburban is having engine problems, so we almost need to get something right away in order to get around in the snow and mud. There's not a lot of Cherokee options for sale locally, and driving several hundred miles to look at another one is not a good idea in the winter with our current vehicles

We looked at some newer vehicles last week and they are all just junk in my opinion, at least for where we live and how we use it.

black label

Yeah, that post about mileage was in reference to looking for a low mileage 4.0 4 door auto. I don't have enough (read any) experience with the 4 banger to make a judgement about miles and longevity.

black label

I'd offer 1000-1200, if you offer 1500 an he takes it you probably paid too much. You don't want him to accept your first offer, you want him to counter offer. By starting lower than you think you can buy it for you leave room for negotiations.

Advice from someone who sold 120-200 cars a year for 8 years.

1976gmc20

Yeah, I hear you. Thanks

He's more or less a neighbor though I hadn't seen him in years, so I was not wanting to insult him. But the grill/headlight/turn signal is a real issue because I want something that my wife can drive after dark. The muffler is no real problem because I can just take it to the shop in town and throw $150 at it, but the front end stuff is going to take tinkering and running around looking for parts

Our Suburban is dying (put a head gasket in a year ago and now I think it's going out again or else the other side is ) so at this point we need a backup 4x4 in addition to looking for a primary 4x4 to replace the little car.

I'm not sure if this 2dr Cherokee is a gem or if all of them just drive that nice

1976gmc20

Well, it turns out maybe the Suburban isn't really dying after all ... I found several burnt spark plug wires. It was a new set about a year ago but I guess that I routed them incorrectly

So I think we'll pass on this 2 door 4 banger for now and look for a nicer 4 door six cylinder to replace our little Chevy car - though I eventually I think that we might want two Cherokees

1976gmc20

So - if anyone is still reading this thread ... What do y'all think of a 2000 4dr/4.0/AT with 133K ???

He was asking $4700 but I see that he just dropped it to $4300 OBO. I haven't seen it in person yet because it is 200++ miles away, but it looks really nice in the pictures. That year is prone to head cracking but the seller said he never had or heard of that problem. For some reason he hasn't sold it yet.

Should I go look at it...? I was thinking of offering $4000 even.

kcdt58

Even $4k is way too steep IMO. Even if the Jeep is immaculate. My guess is that's why he's having trouble selling it.

1976gmc20

Why is that too much - because of the potential head problem ???


I'm looking for a primary vehicle mostly for my wife to drive and not a project/builder, so I would rather pay a good price for a good one. This Cherokee would be a replacement for our 2006 Chevy HHR (we plan to sell it or trade it in). We could buy something newer but there is absolutely nothing out there made in the last dozen years that I think would suit our needs.

Most of the ones that I see for sale have been lifted which I don't really want because somebody might have screwed it up and then I would have to try to get it back to safe drive-able condition. Also want to keep the gas mileage up as good as possible.