Printed Carfax for the '99 and some sketchy stuff popped up, this guy is the fourth owner and it looks like the odometer was reset. Also had underside pics of the car sent to me and it looks like the frame may have been stretched from a previous collision.


Should I be picky and keep looking for a '99 with under 120k or should I look into grabbing the '01 with 150k miles?
I really want to grab a Cherokee I can rely in and add some goodies to, and the kid in me wants it now but realistically I can wait as long as I need to

 

Honestly, unless you are intending to go rock crawling with the cherokee the D35 is sufficient, having said that you will also not really want to exceed a 31" tire on it either. Unless the previous owner beat on the '01 and ran the engine hard, or with a busted cooling system, the 0331 head is not likely to give you any problems either. Most people on here seem to give advice based on the perspective of an off road only rig. From your description this sounds like a 10% or less off road driven vehicle, for that I would look for the youngest, best mechanical condition Cherokee I could find.

 

Thanks for the advice, your pretty spot on. Maybe semi frequent beach trips and the occasional hunting trip upstate but nothing more.

That said, what's your opinion on miles? I want to keep spending to $3,500 or less. Is 150k too many miles?

 

My '00 just crossed 198K, and I still trust it completely. I guess you need to figure out how many years you plan on having it and a rough estimate of the number of miles per year and see if you are ok with the final number, bear in mind this is already a 14 year old vehicle (or 16 if you decide to wait for a '99 to come along). As it stands I believe my engine will last to at least 300K, but even then I don't plan on getting rid of it. I would pass on a 60th edition just because of the ABS. In my opinion the ABS system used on the Cherokee is not good.

 

Opinion on the 2000 model? I found 2 I was going to look into

 

Just like any other year, don't be afraid to get dirty when you go to look at it, make sure you see the underside. The ABS was also an option for the '00 model year. 2000 and 2001 use a distributorless ignition system on the 4.0L. Test drive before you buy.