dacution

I've been looking for a cheap used car to get me to and from work and school. Since my budget is only $3,000 the car I buy will probably have high miles. Most of the cars I've considered are Toyotas and Hondas because they are known to go past 200,000 miles if they are well maintained.

However, I found a 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport auto with 137,000 miles and one previous owner at a used car lot. I'm looking at this car tomorrow because it gets great consumer reviews, it has one previous owner, and MSN auto gave it a 5/5 in reliability. Would you say this is a good car for the asking price and how do they compare to Corollas and Civics in reliability? What are some things to look for in this particular vehicle?

http://www.fairfieldmotors.net/2001_..._184000553.veh

He also has a 1996 Grand Cherokee with 133,000 miles for sale if you have any input on that car.

http://www.fairfieldmotors.net/1996_...132765253.veh#

ta2tony

You can make the straight 6 outlast just about anything. My 1st one had 224,000 when I bought it (wrecked) and my 2nd had 182,000. I bought both with no concerns for reliability.

137k on a cherokee is just getting broke in. There's a guy on here who just hit 400,000 on his and still going.

ta2tony

Forgot to mention, 2001's had some issues with the 0331 head and overheating. As long as the cooling system is properly maintained its nothing to worry about, just wanted you to know ahead of time.

Oh yeah, buy 'murican!

storm101

I'd go with the 01' for two reasons, its newer, and is 4x4.

It looks like a good vehicle if all the mechanical aspects check out, and for the price you really can't beat it, as stated, the 00-01 years are more sensitive to overheating, so I would dig into it and see what shape the cooling system is in, if the head has been replaced, or if there's currently a cracked head, if all of the above are good, I'd jump on it, it's still a baby if its been well maintained.

Bustedback

The Jeep will not be as good on gas, but it will be way cheaper to fix if something breaks. Honda and Toyota make great vehicles, but the parts must be gold plated by what they charge for them. Get the Jeep and don't worry too much about the cylinder head issue, the Honda and Toyota have head gasket issues too and cost more to replace.