Hey, I'm new here. I really need advice on what Jeep to get. I'm in high school and looking to get a Jeep to use as a daily for like another year or two then maybe turn it into a project. My budget is about $7-9k. I love wranglers but I would really like to have more room. The Jeep that got me obsessed with Jeeps is the ZJ, but I haven't heard awesome things about them when it comes to reliability. I just need a Jeep that will be reliable as a daily, i don't drive much about 6k miles a year. I would prefer older because it costs less and I like them better but I'd rather spend more on a newer one than have an older one nickel and dime me to death.
I live in Chicago so most of the Jeeps I'm looking at never went off road. My choices (all auto):
-97-98 ZJ I6
-98-99 XJ I6
-'05-'07 WK v6
-any wrangler
-Commander

 

Of those I would pick a 99 xj or a wrangler, non jk, I also like the LJ wranglers but they may be above your budget, they hold their price well around here.

 

Yea only TJ's are in my price range, a '98-'00 with 100k+ miles easily go for 9k around here. YJ's are just too old for me. XJ would be perfect its just hard to find one now. ZJs on the other hand are everywhere and at 1/5 the price of a TJ. I'm looking at XJs a bit more and have better luck finding '00-'01. Do they really have that bad of a problem with the engine head?

 

Welcome to the forum

 

Where in Chicago? I'm on the north side by Gurnee. Look on Craigslist. I saw a really nice Comanche on there for 3000.

 

I like the Comanche but I need a 4 seater. I'm on the northside of the city, in avondale.

 

When I was in high school I had about 7-9 dollars to work with!

 

Yea I know how it sounds, but the money is mine not my parents. I acquired it myself. Thats why I'm looking to get the most bang out of my buck.

 

I would go with a 99 XJ. Mostly because I like XJs but because they do not have the crack-prone 331 head, they have a HP (stronger) dana 30 vs a 2000, and more HP than the years before. I like the JKs a lot but doubt you could get one in that budget. In my opinion, get an XJ, have more room and plenty of cash to make it how you want it. Even old beat up wranglers run for that around here. Welcome to the forum!

 

Yea I really like the XJ but finding a '97-'99 turns out to be kinda hard. I keep looking on craigslist and first of all I can't find many and then when I do its either 200k+ miles or less than 100k with rust and an asking price of like 5k.
Started considering a ZJ because I see many for less than 2k and average mileage but I don't want to get a money pit thats going to cost me more in the long run.
Looks like I'll just put up with my HHR and keep huntin for XJs

 

Welcome to the site.

Tony

 

I bought my 01 XJ about a year ago, and I love it! Plenty of room...

 

Have you considered the WJ?

Personally Id look for an xj, drop about 5k on a super clean one, and use the rest to build it up.

 

I heard bad things about wj's so I wasn't looking at them, I see ton's of them for less than XJs but I just don't like how they look. I like the boxy look.