Jersey Mike

Hey gentlemen & ladies, my name is Mike and I'm new to the site. I've never personally owned a Jeep, but my father had a 2000 Grand Cherokee & a silver 2004 Grand Cherokee SE that he loved. He taught me how to drive in his '00 back when I was 16 years old.
My daily driver right now is my '00 Trans Am, but now I'm looking for a Jeep that I can use when the conditions are just too dicey for the T/A.


I'm going to start looking at mid-to-late-'90s Cherokees, here in New Jersey. What advice do you guys have for me? Anything, specifically, that I should watch out for? Certain years to stay away from?


Thanks in advance. I look forward to posting regularly and getting to know the forum better.


-Mike

ol"blue

prerunner1982

Welcome from Oklahoma.

Generally the 99 XJ is regarded as being one of the best. However, that doesn't mean the other years are bad. Getting an XJ with the 4.0 liter inline 6 will be your best bet. Either the Auto (AW4) or Manual (AX-15) are good transmissions and either transfer case is strong. However for a daily driver in bad conditions I would suggest the NP242 transfer case as it allows you to drive in 4 wheel drive on the pavement. The shift pattern will show 2 hi, 4 hi part time, 4 hi full time, N, and 4 low.

Beware of rust in the floor boards. That is really one of the big problems with the XJ.

Jersey Mike

Thanks, PreRunner & Ol' Blue.
What separates the different models (XJ, WJ, ZJ, etc). I'm mainly looking for a V6 Cherokee.

Jersey Mike

Also, can you get a good Cherokee for under $1500 nowadays?

2000xj

Hey Mike, where in Jersey are you?

You can find XJ's for under $1500, but you'll be getting what you paid for. Typically these XJs will be quite rusty, high mileage, and pretty beat. May not be the best platform for a daily driver/weekend warrior type of rig.

I always recommend buying the newest, lowest mileage XJ that you can afford. Take your time, there are a ton out there. Check Craiglist, there are always XJs for sale in Jersey - more than I can count.

prerunner1982

The XJ is the regular Cherokee.
MJ is Comanche (pickup)
ZJ, WJ, and WK are the Grand Cherokees (each 2 letter configuration denotes a year range, example ZJ=93-98 WJ=99-04 and WK=05-current).
KJ and KK is the Liberty.
XK=Commander
YJ, TJ, JK are Wranglers..

The list is quite long of the different models/designations... but you get the general ideal of the new(er) models.

You will want the Inline 6.... the V6 isn't known for being all that good.

humboldt2door

Welcome to CF!

You would have to look pretty hard to find a V6, they were only used through '86 I believe. You don't want one anyways, I have an '85 with the GM 2.8l V6; it sucks. Mines a replacement engine with less than 10k on it and I still can't make it over a real hill on the highway above 55mph, unless I downshift to 3rd and then I'm just cringing. (I don't have a tachometer but I really don't want to know)

Most XJ's have some version of the 4.0l straight 6, which is a great engine, I wish I had one. Mileage isn't amazing, but it's got a ton of torque. If your looking mid to late 90's the only other engine you might encounter is the 2.5l I4, which is pretty weak and only offers slightly better gas mileage.

Just find one with the lowest miles you can, and no rust or body damage with some form of the 4.0. Shouldn't be to hard. Soccer moms usually aren't to hard on their cars. Then you know you have a solid platform to build from.

humboldt2door

Oh and get a 2 door.
JK they're not nearly as easy to find, I just think they look cooler IMHO.

tech8796

I have a 97 ZJ (grand cherokee) I picked up from an old lady for $2300.00, got about $1500.00 into it, (brakes, tune-up, etc), the stuff old ladies forget about! It has the Select-Trac 4x4, (the one with the 2wd option) it has 170,000 miles on it and runs like brand new! I wonder every day why it took me this long to finally own a jeep. I looked for months and finally found this one, it had never been taken off road, and wasn't wet underneath anywhere. that is what to look for when buying a ZJ, or anything with the 4.0 I6. This I6 is strong, even at 170K and I have a hard time getting it stuck with my BFG 30" M/T's on it. Good luck looking and welcome to CF!

prerunner1982

As far as mileage I can usually get 18-20 mpg on my XJ if I drive it easy.

Skreed

Do lots of research before you buy....Ask your self what you want to do with your truck. If you want to mod and wheel it, then I would suggest looking at post 97 xj's with a 8.25 rear. They are stronger and can handle larger tires. If you are looking for a daily driver just about any xj in decent shape will do, after that its all personal preference. If you go older 87-90 the engine is a lil different most will say they don't care for there cooling system, I don't mind it hasn't given me a trouble. I can say this much after I have been shopping for an DD XJ for a while now also. When shopping for my first XJ that I use mostly on the trails due to my lack of knowledge and being impatient, I bought a xj already lifted. What I noticed after I bought it was that it was beat to heck and I would have rather bought a stock XJ and built my self.

mobilecherokee4

welcome from alabama!

Jersey Mike

Thanks for the posts guys. I'll focus the scope onto the Inline-6.

A few of you asked what my plans are for the truck. Honestly, I need a car for the winters that can get me from A-to-B without worries of getting stuck on a large hill or spinning out, that's really it. Rear-Wheel-Drive LS1s don't like snow... not even with Blizzaks I love the look of the mid-90s Cherokees, and if I have to drive a car all throughout winter, I'd want it to be a Jeep

Also, I'm in Bergen County but currently attending school down at Rutgers.

humboldt2door

A jeep will definitely get you through the snow.
Get a newer one that says "Selec-Trac" A newer XJ with selec-trac should have the NP242 transfer case. It has a full time setting that you could use on the pavement, so if conditions get shizzy then you know you'll have full traction, but you don't have to worry about it binding up too much, unlike 4 part time, which is only for off pavement.