I recently bought a 1997 Jeep grand cherokee, also my very first vehicle. Any tips on maintene or anything else would be helpful. Also my vehicle information center isn't working.

 

Go through it and do the basic maintenance yourself to learn about the vehicle. Change plugs, oil, air filter, transmission fluid, diff fluid, flush the brakes, sea foam the motor. Check the brakes and tires for wear. You might want to run it by a parts store to just have it scanned to see if any codes show up. None of this costs much and will go a long way toward vehicle reliability.

Not sure about the vehicle information center (I have a Cherokee), but I did run across this link
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f5/veh...r-dead-132776/
The units were fairly cheap on ebay
http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_kw...RMATION+CENTER

You might be able to get one at a junkyard cheaper

I'd check the electrical connections, before buying anything.

Does your GC have the regular gauges in addition to the vehicle information center?

 

Welcome to CF

BTW, that Vehicle Info Center is nothing but trouble, I unplugged it on my 95....I have a 93,95 + 96 and each one of them has an issue with it. I repaired a few broken wires on the 95 and the silly thing worked for about 6 months then started blinking again..unplug it and live a happy life.

Again , Welcome to CF