So I've been poking around the forum for a few months now and was hoping to get some tips. I'll be moving up to Maine from NYC in fall and am looking for an inexpensive daily driver that can handle snow and bad roads.

I have a number of friends with cherokees who know nothing about cars and definitely don't do regular maintenance on them but have managed to get them above 200k with no major issues. I don't know very much about cars and my job won't give me the time to learn (plan to try and learn on weekends etc.).

I'm also looking at 4runners, pathfinders and subarus but they seem to be pricier at the same mileage. I'm not sure about grand cherokees but there seem to be a ton of them selling for pretty cheap around here lately (for less than $2,000).

It seems like the standard for a fairly decent cherokee with around 100k is about $3,000 in NYC. They don't pop up that often so I'd like to be able to jump on it. For a cherokee around that price and mileage would you guys have any ideas on how much I could expect to pay when I take it into the shop to get it in solid driving shape? Any tips for a total newbie would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

A 93-98 Grand Cherokee with the I6 and an NP231 transfercase will work perfectly for what you want to do. Rust is going to be your biggest concern with any Jeep no matter what model.

thanks busted back. any thoughts on 99's. this is the craigslist one I was eyeing.

He was speaking of a series in those years it changed in 99-04 for the Grand Cherokee's and in the Cherokee's 99 is the last year before they came out with a new head that cracked "a lot it seems" and more emissions controls 4 o2 sensors instead of 2 on the XJ's.

You said it was a 99 on CL you saw anyway IMHO you should have a look see at it. I have a 99 Cherokee (4.0 I6) and a 04 Grand Cherokee (4.7 HO V8) "Overland". The 04 GC rides as good as my Lincoln Town Car and handles snow/ice/mud/limited off road use due to clearance "stock tires". Both of them are 200,000+ miles and going strong

My 99 XJ can be driven on the highway or off road but was built mainly for off road. For that it has a great advantage over the 04 GC as its more a DD I would hate to part with either of them. But if only could stay it would be the GC with every option made on it.

I would consider a 99 WJ if it had the I6. The first few years of the 4.7 V8 were a little sketchy.

First gen libertys are cool for light trail/dd use

false.

"Cool Jeep Liberty!" Said no one ever.

At 100K an XJ should be fine so long as it's been taken care of, and parts are (mostly) cheap and easy to find. But yea, a Grand would also work, has all those nice luxury features.

Even without the luxury features of the Grand Cherokee, the Grands have more room inside, are easier for people of larger carriage to get into, are quieter inside, and have a lot less wind noise. They do pretty damn good off road too.

The inline 6 if taken care of can run for 300k no problem.Before you buy anything have a good mechanic give the jeep a once over to see if it has any problems.Its gonna run you like 100 bucks but thats nothing if it stops you from buying something with a ton of problems.When you test drive it test everything if it has a power switch use it.Drive it on the interstate see if it shifts funny or drives funny.And crawl under it with a good flash light look for rust holes and anything leaking.

I think that is the very first positive post I have saw on 3 different Jeep boards in the last couple of years that said the "Liberty" was anything but bad

Personally I have thought they were butt ugly,,but each to his own

Hey thanks for all of the replies guys! I didn't realize that some of the GCs had the inline 6s in them. Most of the ones for sale are early 2000's with the V8. They're selling them for peanuts but my guess is that I should try to avoid them. I'll keep my eye's peeled for mid 90s GC's and cherokees with the I6. Any thoughts on a fair price for one in the low 100k range?

Thanks

Look on kbb.com and nadaguides.com because prices every state to state.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/cto/4502663756.html
any thoughts on the limited? I know with the power everything theres more that can go wrong but this jeep seems pretty solid.