Did you just stumbled across one because you needed a cheap car? Did you seek out a clean one for a nice daily? Couldn't afford a Wrangler? What was your reason?

I got out from under a car payment and have had XJ'S for a while as play toys, never one for a daily driver, so I already knew I wanted a complete stock one. It checked my boxes. 4wd, 4 door, compact, easy to work on, and cheap replacement parts and bountiful part outs.

 

It was my first vehicle. Counting that one and the one I have now I've had 4 of them. You really can't find an SUV like it anymore, a box on wheels. I've had a lot of other vehicles and I always wind up back in an XJ eventually.

 

I wanted something better suited for winter. It had to be a Jeep. It was either a Wrangler, or an XJ. The XJ won.

 

I had a 79 Chevy K10 on 33s as a year round beater that could get me through any amount of snow for my 30 mile round trip to work. But it was pretty rough and needed alot of work to last me more than another year or so.

I originally wanted a 98-06 Chevy/GMC 2500hd to replace it. Then I decided I wanted a Wrangler because I didnt need a truck like AX15. I did tons of research on them. I looked for quite awhile for a really nice one. I was ready to spend around 12k but I was finding them for 10k with rusted out frames. It was insanely hard to find what I wanted which was 4.0 with a standard transmission that wasnt rusted.

After several months of searching for the perfect wrangler, I decided to branch out a bit and look at Cherokees. Several of my friends have had cherokees as well and wranglers in the past and present. Came to find that cherokees were half the price of wranglers with same miles/condition/ect and I was still able to have the solid drivetrain with a 4.0 and ax15 in a very stout easily modified package. So I found my XJ a few weeks after devoting my search to only XJs.

To this day I am extremely glad I didnt buy a YJ or TJ. I would be happy in alot of ways but I absolutely love the extra room a cherokee has co.pared to a wrangler and that is something I wasnt expecting to appreciate as much as I do. Paying half the price of a comparable wrangler is just a bonus lol

 

Since I was 16 I have pretty much owned some sort of 4X4. My first car being a 65 Pontiac Lemans that was handed down to me when I was about 14 and a CJ2A that was the first vehicle I purchased when I was 16.
Since then I owned more CJ's, some Jeep pickups, couple Chevy pickups, couple Chevy Blazers (full size), and a couple ZJ's. Now this is not including all the other cars that I have owned
By the time I got to the ZJ's my thrashing around out there was pretty much over. It was just a way to get to the ski areas up north no matter what the weather.
Then around 2000 I had to stop skiing. My knees couldn't take it anymore. Little later is when I gave up my last ZJ and went quite sometime without owning a 4X4.
Then around '07 a coworker was selling a '96 XJ. So I grabbed it.
Kind of a what the hell why not purchase.
Well I had forgotten how much I missed owning a 4X4 let alone a Jeep.
Being older it was nice to. Field of vision is good.
Easy to get in and out of.
You young guys can laugh now but just wait. LOL.
Then the'96 led to the '00 that I own now.
So I guess I just kind of fell into owning one.

 

I sought out a clean one (low mileage), perfect paint, to use as a daily driver. 80 miles a day, brutal snow and ice during the winter. Into it about 4 years now, got it at 49k miles and now have about 117k miles. It doubles as my camping, fishing, occasional wheeling rig.

I just pinstriped it BAD for the first time today (top to bottom, entire passenger side) this morning coming back from a camping trip (had to claw our way out of a bad area). Hopefully its mostly in the clear coat and I get most of it out. doh.

 

I bought my '99 Cherokee a few years ago. For about 20 years previous I had used 4WD AMC Eagles for winter driving. By the time my last Eagle gave up the ghost those vehicles had made the transition from old/cheap beater to rare classic. On the other hand XJs are still plentiful, about the same size as an Eagle wagon, and feature a descendant of the AMC/Rambler straight six engine. So it seemed like a logical replacement. I lucked out and the first one I found locally on Craigslist was reasonably straight, had little rust, and ran well despite high mileage - and for $2K came with recent radiator, water pump, hoses, serpentine belt, and tires; and the AC even worked. It's even more capable than the Eagle in deep snow, though for slippery roads the 242 transfer case with full-time 4WD would be nice. A possible future upgrade.

 

for a dd. wanted a cheap 4wd beater i could drive and not be afraid of getting damaged. i bought it in 2012 and have averaged 23k/yr with it since.

once she turned 18, i fell for her.

 

Wanted something 4WD that was relatively cheap, easy to work on and had a good aftermarket parts availability. It checked all those marks! Loving the XJ so far.

 

Kind of by accident. Had a Toyota hatchback that was giving me trouble and I just couldn’t stand putting money and time into a car that was A: not cool/fun at all and B: did I say not cool? My mother in law was selling an XJ and I decided to sell the Toyota and get the Jeep without knowing anything about it. Well instantly I realized that I loved it and have put time and money into maintenance and am really happy to do so. It’s a classic rugged body style with tons of upgrades / mods available... cheap and easy to maintain. I love the look of old range rovers and Toyota land cruisers but they are just too expensive and unreliable. XJ’s have a similar yet unique look and are so much cheaper and more reliable. Can’t imagine not owning one now.