zmuehl22

Which of these is a better purchase? A 4.7 HO WJ 02-04 or a Hemi powered WK 05-06? Found a clean 04 WJ with a 4in IRO lift with 140k for 9k which seemed to much to me. What kind of price should I be looking at for either of these vehicles?? Looking to buy in a month or so for the winter months.

muffinman

That's a tough call. The hemi is way better than the 4.7 H.O. Yes I own a 02 Overland with the 4.7. The WJ has solid axles front and rear compared to the WK with IFS. I actually wheel my WJ so I prefer the solid axles. That 04 for 9 grand is over priced in my opinion. I know this does not help much.

zmuehl22

The hemi is more reliable or more powerful or both? Idk much about it's reliability. Yeah I read about the weaker axles on the wk and I do plan on doing some mild wheeling. Nothing crazy. Yeah this jeep had a skid plate, roof rack, and sliders. I was thinking to offer him 7.5 at most for it but even that seemed a tad high

dmill89

The Hemi is a better engine when it comes to both power and reliability but the WJ is probably better when it comes to everything else.


Neither has spectacular reliability but WKs (not WK2s) are pretty much junk, especially the early ones that suffered from the worst of Daimler's "cost-cutting" era.


For a 4.7L V8 full-maintenance records are highly recommended, the 4.7L V8 has a laundry-list of common issues but most are either caused or aggravated by poor maintenance. A well maintained 4.7L V8 can be reasonably reliable (but does not have spectacular reliability) but a poorly maintained 4.7L V8 is a ticking time bomb (no that poor maintenance is ever good, but the 4.7L V8 is especially "sensitive").


$9k is way too high for a WJ though. I couldn't see spending more than $5-$6k for it. Note: mods do not increase the value of a vehicle, if anything they tend to decrease the value since it is more likely to have been abused.

zmuehl22

So it definitely sounds like both on the reply there and what I have read to stay away from early wk's. I thought the wj was much more reliable than what is being claimed here

dmill89

While most will now suffer from age/mileage related issues ZJs are generally better from a reliability standpoint than WJs, WJs better than WKs (especially early WKs), reliability kept going down-hill with each generation until the WK2 came out. (Though comfort/handling did improve with each generation)


With the exception of recent models (late WKs and WK2s) any Grand Cherokee will tend to have electrical issues (mainly do to the fact that they tend to have allot of electrical options/accessories and Chrysler has never been good with electrical/electronic stuff) and with the exception of early 1993 ZJs with the AW4 and later Grand Cherokees with Daimler/ZF transmissions Grand Cherokees tend to have relatively weak transmissions (V8 models generally have better transmissions than 6-cyls. but none are exceptionally strong). "Full-Time" 4WD models (all V8 models are Full-Time 4WD) also tend to have weak transfer-cases (the viscous-coupling or gerotor being the weak point and is highly failure-prone).


Early independent front suspension jeeps (KJs and early WKs) also tended to have issues with the front suspension/driveline (CV joints, suspension bushings, ball-joints, etc.), it seems it took them a while to work the "bugs" out.

zmuehl22

[QUOTE=dmill89;2911582]
With the exception of recent models (late WKs and WK2s) any Grand Cherokee will tend to have electrical issues (mainly do to the fact that they tend to have allot of electrical options/accessories and Chrysler has never been good with electrical/electronic stuff)

So what kind of electrical issues are we talking? Things that even a automotive simpleton like myself could fix easily or pretty big issues?

dmill89

[QUOTE=zmuehl22;2911609]They run the gamut as far as complexity of diagnosis/repair (some easy, some not), most will be an annoyance (power features that don't work, some can be a major annoyance i.e. power seat stuck in a bad position, automatic climate control unresponsive, etc.) but not stop the vehicle from running, the ones that do cause the vehicle to stop running (bad sensors, etc.) will affect just about any Jeep regardless of what power options it does/doesn't have (with the possible exception of alarm systems).

Fred/N0AZZ

My 04 2.7HO Overland I know for a fact will out run the Hemi no problems even with 203,000 mi on it did so as recently as 3 weeks ago. On my 04 every option works never any electrical issues period and it is loaded even NAV. I have been well pleased with it and bought it from original owner who had every service record from delivery to when I purchased from a Jeep dealership.

When I bought it 2 years ago it was hard to tell it from a new one inside and out almost perfect. I paid $5100 and it had new tires on it but I still spent money for all new brakes (everything) all around and new synthetic fluids front to back top to bottom another $900.

I would not trade it for a later model one after having driven both and engine wise I prefer the 4.7HO over the Hemi.

$9k seems to be a bit high but the mileage is reasonable for the year. I would think you should be able to deal some on the price if an individual has it, if its a dealer who knows? Boils down to condition is it an Overland edition or another, I know the sticker on "Overland" in 2004 was $59,789 plus a few dealer adds the reason I say this is I bought a new Town Car in 04 and it was just about the same price.

zmuehl22

Good to hear from another wj owner. I'm looking to get most options, but probably trying to avoid navigation. Overland is not necessary for me which may have been my probably. My idea is to get an 04 with 110k miles or so for around 6 which I think I can manage. But they are pretty expensive around here in Indiana.

andrewmp6

If you want to take it off road i would go for the wj,If its more a daily driver that might not see much off road the wk because its newer.

zmuehl22

My situation is that for at least 6 months I'll be making a 3 hour trip basically every week. I'm either buying a 1) wj/wk plus a civic or option 2) 02-04 wrx. If i choose option one I'll drive the civic as much as possible and the jeep will be more of a fun truck once a month for weekend trips plus once the snow comes around I'll be driving it instead of the civic (snow is supposed to be worse than last year). It will be used much more often on road than off-road So I'm trying to make a smart decision haha

andrewmp6

Have you thought about a pickup?