I may be buying a 99 Jeep Cherokee with 96000 miles on it. I am wondering what are some of the things that i should look at before pulling the trigger on it.
Thank You in advance

 

Rust! Get on your back and crawl under that thing. It helps to bring a screw driver or something to poke around with to look for soft spots. Look for wet spots that would indicate anything leaking.

If it has abs than it had a dana 35 axle opposed to the c8.25. The latter is much more preferred for wheelin.

There is a slim chance it could have a 0331 head. If it has a distributor cap and wires then it won't, which is a good thing.

Check out the body panel gaps to see that everything lines up good.

Look at the coolant in the radiator to make sure it looks clean, as well as the oil and trans fluid.

 

Sweet! When you get it, replace all of the fluids and filters. Avoid Fram.

Have fun!

 

All are valid points.

Also, is it lifted? If so then ask lots of questions and pick the current owners brain to see how much he knows. If you get a lot of "I don't know" or "not sure" then I'd probably walk away unless you know what to look for to make sure everything was done correctly.

 

It is not lifted yet. lol. if i get it my friend has a 3 inch lift that he is going to sell me along with a bunch of other things for it. The only thing that it has for aftermarket is a sub (which i am probs going to take out) and bigger tires on it without a lift.

 

Definitely give the owner 20 questions about what he has done to it himself, what he has had shops do, and what he knows about any other previous owners.