CMACE23

OK so for the last 2 months I've been looking high and low for a good solid Jeep Cherokee. Everyone I've looked at seems to have more rust than I'm comfortable with.

I've been informed from a guy at work that his dad has a 89 model he'd be willing to sale. The Jeep is lifted on a 4.5" RC lift. The lift has been installed for a year but has roughly 500 miles on it. A ton of new parts belts, hoses, tie rods etc etc. It is a former Border patrol vehicle and spent the majority of its life out west nice and dry.

The Cherokee has 150k org miles and sounds like one of the nicest one's I've came across. I'm just not sure about the age part of it, I was looking at newer ones 96-01. Hes asking $3,500 is that to much in you guys sight unseen opinion?

I'm in the Middle Tennessee area if anyone has any potential Cherokees for sale in my area.

muffinman

Some guy is going to post,"They sell for 1500.00 here." Someone else will post " They go for 4500.00 here". And that's the problem, prices vary a huge amount by area. Best advice I have is go look at it. Drive it and if it has everything you want make an offer. Start low and pay what you are comfortable with. 150,000 miles would not concern me.

CMACE23

The milage is not a problem I'm more conserded with the oldness of it. The old motor etc

hankthetank

is it auto or stick? find out what rear end it has, could be a d44. if its a stick, it could be the junky peugeot ba10, which i would walk away from. (although other fellas on this forum have made successful swaps to the more venerable ax15)

check under the carpets for rust, if the owner wont let you do that, i would walk away.
and at 150k that 4.0 is just broken in, it's got lots of life left. just treat it right.

CMACE23

No rust from the top side of the floor (the carpet was out when I saw it a few months back) haven't seen it since. I should be able to see it again in the next few day and I'll look at the floor pans from underneath.

The Jeep is a auto with a Dana 35 but I'm to worried about that yet. That can be swapped later.

rmoore1031

That seems to be a bit high. Lifting doesn't add value. For reference I paid $2500 for my 1990 XJ Laredo with 116xxx miles. I'm in NY and its from PA.

Also since you are looking at 89, it's renix era. Which is before OBD and they can have there own pros or cons. If you become serious about buying it, look up "cruiser54's mostly renix tips".

CMACE23

The xj's around here are all across the board price wise. People around here ask 3k for one with 200k+. I'm not in a hurry to buy so I'm still looking.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Kris smith

89 was hte first year for the ax 15 my 88 has the ba10/5 i love it no issue yet at almost 200k if it has the tow package you will have dana 44 if not it will be the 30 and 35 i got my 88 with 187k on it for 1750 delivered to me here in ca got some rust and a 4.5 lift on it its a renix just follow crusier54s tips and youl will be good

CMACE23

I was told by the owner that is has a Dana 35. He's going to bring the Jeep over tomorrow so I'll know for sure tomorrow.

studmuffin

Its a Renix bud for $3500 you can get a really nice jeep and newer. I have a 88 Renix myself with $178k but it cost me $1000.

bdunlap77

New to jeeps, just bought an 89 laredo for $600, fuel pump problems with 178k on the odm.new to the whole thing so what are you callin "renix"?

PNWjeeper

Wow $178k that seems like an awful lot?? Lol.

Outlaw Star

Welcome to the forum. The Renix were the non H.O. model Xjs. Yours being an 89 is a Renix model. (Pre 91) Nothing wrong with this design at all, just gives you a lot more choices for part swaps than the H.O.s seeing as most parts were either Ford or Chevy based design.

bdunlap77

Good to know, thanks

studmuffin

Just a heads up you might want to look into a cooling system conversion for your Renix. We have whats called a closed cooling system which means your radiator has a hose that leads to a fill bottle on the left corner as opposed to a rad cap. I live in Arizona and im constantly having problems with it due to the hot weather.