89 XJ 4.0 auto 4x4 114,000 miles.

First time posting in this section after all these years. I was curious does anybody else get anxiety over their Jeep. Maybe, I do because I am not the highest on the financial latter. My Jeep has been my home before (not currently). But I am always worried that something is going to break. I always try to fix anything that needs addressing but sometimes it comes out of no where, or something is not quite right but you don't know what. And we all know not to just throw parts at it.

Just curious if I am the only one on here like this?

 

That just goes hand in hand with owning an older or outright old vehicle.

 

not anymore, but I remember when anything I did on it over the weekend needed to be done to drive to work come Monday.

 

I think the only way to own older vehicles - especially as a hobbyist - is to own multiple. All of my fleet currently needs something and it bothers me, of course, but none are truly inoperable at the moment. if one really does fail, I at least have a backup. A few months ago, the CPS failed on my daily driver XJ in the driveway out of the blue. The GF and I just got into my Subaru and went along our way.

I will say though, I waste so much money on these things I could probably just have a new(er) vehicle... or land with multiple properties... But... at least I don't have a car payment, my insurance is cheap, I can fix most things on my own, and I literally own them, which is awesome. Plus, owning an older Cherokee is cool. People complement mine all the time and always say the same thing - "they don't build them like that anymore." It's so true.

My advice - buy another old car so you can stop worrying about your old car breaking down haha.

 

I have two older vehicles, a 98 Mazda B4000, and my 89 Wagoneer.... I am thinking of picking up another vehicle just in case the other two are in the shop/down for repair. when you have a 20-30 year old vehicle, you're going to have issues. You just are, unless you've torn it down to individual pieces, and rebuilt it like new. Towing insurance is $7/6mo with my insurance plan.

the real trick is figure out what it would cost you a month if you were making a car payment. Put that amount of money into a savings account. I use that money to pay for repairs, and eventually you'll save up for a new car. A LOT faster than you would think too.

 

My 2000 XJ has 214,500 miles on it. I always wonder about it bringing me home but I don’t let it ruin my fun. About 95% of the things I have worried about never happened.

 

If you're on a low financial "latter", and are flirting with homelessness, then you're smart by saving your money.
Do not waste a penny on anything non-essential like accessories.

 

Anxiety no, concern yes. Concern that some idiot distracted driver will total it. Nothing newer comes anywhere near to matching the short term or long term owning and operating costs of my XJ.

 

In traffic, I like to trigger people's blind spot monitoring systems just so I know their driver assistance will at least help me from potentially losing an out-of-production classic.

 

X2 @Battle

I miss living in a country where you would get a 300 dollar fine and points off your license for being in the drivers seat and even having your mobile phone in your hand. And they ENFORCED it. Hands free setups were the only legal way to be on your phone while driving.

I swear they had police hiding in bushes and trees to catch people... It never bothered me because driving and being on my mobile at the same time is something I just don't do.... but it's kinda fun seeing others get nailed... hopefully they learn the lesson.

 

Distracted driving has an other meaning.

When someone really enjoys the art and process of driving...why the heck would they want some other thing on board that only distracts from the full experience?

 

My worries derive only ever from my lack of understanding, so I just keep trying to learn how to do everything. I damn near took my entire XJ apart though so I know what is prone to failure and I'm completely mentally prepared for it to go wrong lol. I doubt it will be anything but perfectly fine though. So for me I am just excited and enjoy the time I have before something just needs a small fix. These things are easy though and when and if something breaks I will fix it.

Don't let your anxiety consume you, if you're just driving around waiting for the next thing to fail take failure-prone things apart and test them to make sure they are within spec and put them back together at their proper spec when you’re done. Use whatever locktite or anti-seize where it is supposed to be, never be afraid to go with good and tight where it is all that is necessary. Don't leave loose ends or things unfinished. If something is stripped don't leave it unfixed rethread it. Check torque specs on everything, you’d be surprised most everything is actually supposed to live within a certain torque spec. I think so many of us worry simply because we haven't touched our entire Jeep and many times the things we haven't touched have never been checked by anyone before us.

I call it the once over lol. If fluids are low figure out why, if you're leaking something change the seal. There are so many things we could remove as worries or variables when something breaks if we simply devote the time to making our vehicle as reliable as it was when it came off the showroom floor.

Also this is an old *** vehicle, expect it to live an old *** persons life if you haven't tested, replaced, or changed every single old part on it... I know that sounds ridiculous but it's the truth. The motor on this vehicle is extremely reliable, the electric sucks, the suspension is meh stock, the drivetrain is temperamental and prone to failure at locations that were not designed to take the large amount of torque that this motor has especially when we stroke it, the cooling system is to tight in the engine bay, aerodynamics are not a thing its a brick lol.

We love XJ and Jeeps in general though because they take a beating that no other vehicle is capable of taking over and over and over. You can't feed a prize-winning boxer cereal every morning and expect him to perform at his best though.

I think if Cruiser jumped in on this post he would agree with me that even though these vehicles are categorized as extremely reliable, that routine maintenance and a special amount of care is needed to get these vehicles to go forever.

This is my opinion, I'm OCD as **** though and even making this post kind of stressed me out cause it made me remember all the **** I need to check... Back to the indefinitely doing a once over on my XJ with a smile lol...

 

At over 20 years old, these XJ's become money pits, so at some point, your XJ will cost you more than a newer used car.
If someone crashes into you, just take the $2500 insurance check and find another used XJ for $2500. Problem solved. No concerns needed.

 

With all the snow storms of the last 4 weeks, the only anxiety right now is all the salt covering my Jeep right now. I could wash it off, but the roads a covered with salt anyways, so what's the use. Just gotta wait to spring.

 

I have that with my old 93 Xj. The "will she make it home " when im far away. Love that jeep and always spending and tinkering with it.
Anyways i got autoclub / roadside service because of that feeling and it sure is peace of mind knowing i can have her towed home if she ever gave me the middle finger one day lol.