New Car - JEEP - AR15.COM

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:36:12 AM EDT

Hi all,
I currently have a lifted 1997 F-150 with 180K on it and its time for a new truck... I also leased an 06 Hemi Ram and it will be up in march - so the F-150 is hardly driven. I think that I want to buy something used rather cheaply... I have been considering a used 2002-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 4X4. I think I can get about $5k for my truck (I never drive it, with the Ram....)and I have the rest in the bank to buy the Jeep. I just wanted to see if anyone has any experience with these Jeeps and could tell me what they thought....
Thanks!

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:41:11 AM EDT

[#1]

Cold, ride rough, poor gas mileage but the top comes down.....

If you live near the beach in the south go for it. YMMV

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:43:56 AM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
Cold, ride rough, poor gas mileage but the top comes down.....

If you live near the beach in the south go for it. YMMV

Didn't know the top came down on a grand cherokee

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:45:32 AM EDT

[#3]

Quoted:
Cold, ride rough, poor gas mileage but the top comes down.....

If you live near the beach in the south go for it. YMMV

A 02-04 Grand Cherokee was a convertible?

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:46:06 AM EDT

[#4]

Do you really have a need for another truck? If you don't drive the Ford, why would you sell it to buy something else you're not going to drive?

Sell the truck and put the cash aside for problems that may arise further on down the line ('cause the alway rear their ugly head when you are least prepared for them).

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:47:31 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Cold, ride rough, poor gas mileage but the top comes down.....

If you live near the beach in the south go for it. YMMV

Didn't know the top came down on a grand cherokee

He probably just saw the word JEEP in the header and thought like I did ... a Wrangler or CJ. It's only natural.

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:51:53 AM EDT

[#6]

I have an 04 Grand Gherokee and I love it. It is my daily driver as well as my get out and play vehicle. Go for it, you will not be disapointed.

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:53:26 AM EDT

[#7]

used 2002-2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 4X4

Very nice looking but a real dog. I was at the Jeep Dealer for my Wrangler and asked my favorite Service Advisor about them and SHE said she could always find a problem with a Grand Cherokee under warranty to fix. My neighbor had their JGC in 4-5 times for transmission issues. Lucky for them it was a three year lease and was gone when that ran out. Get a Wrangler if you need a Jeep but think hard before you spend your money.

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:56:02 AM EDT

[#8]

Just bought the wife an '04 w/ the 4.0 I-6. Nice ride

Posted: 1/21/2008 4:03:19 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
Do you really have a need for another truck? If you don't drive the Ford, why would you sell it to buy something else you're not going to drive?

Sell the truck and put the cash aside for problems that may arise further on down the line ('cause the alway rear their ugly head when you are least prepared for them).

I don't drive the ford because I have the Ram... The Ram is going to be gone in march...

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:23:14 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Cold, ride rough, poor gas mileage but the top comes down.....

If you live near the beach in the south go for it. YMMV

Didn't know the top came down on a grand cherokee

Um, yeah. Kinda scanned it. Ever look into consumer reports? Its what I use.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:37:37 AM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
I have an 04 Grand Gherokee and I love it. It is my daily driver as well as my get out and play vehicle. Go for it, you will not be disapointed.

+1

Mine has the I6 engine, and I kinda wish I had gotten a V8 for the extra power at the expense of a MPG or two. The Jeep doesn't drive as soft as most other SUVs do, it's a truck. It's a bit unrefined, and I like it that way.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:43:23 AM EDT

[#12]

Dont waste your money on a Jeep. Toyota FTW.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:45:05 AM EDT

[#13]

I have an '03 Grand Cherokee Laredo and love it.

ETA: I bought the 6 cyl. it's a little underpowered but I don't tow anything so it works fine for me.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:47:07 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I have an 04 Grand Gherokee and I love it. It is my daily driver as well as my get out and play vehicle. Go for it, you will not be disapointed.

+1

Mine has the I6 engine, and I kinda wish I had gotten a V8 for the extra power at the expense of a MPG or two. The Jeep doesn't drive as soft as most other SUVs do, it's a truck. It's a bit unrefined, and I like it that way.

My Cherokee has the I6, and when I floor it, the front end feels really light.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:48:43 AM EDT

[#15]

Avoid the Jeep. The 4.0 is a POS engine that Chrysler's had 20+ years to perfect, yet it's still a rough, unreliable POS. We've had 6 vehicles (1999-2004) with this engine in our extended family and they've all had problems. My next vehicle won't be a Chrysler product.

Reading comprehension fails me. I see you're looking at the V8. I have no experience with the newer ones.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:50:55 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:
Avoid the Jeep. The 4.0 is a POS engine that Chrysler's had 20+ years to perfect, yet it's still a rough, unreliable POS. We've had 6 vehicles (1999-2004) with this engine in our extended family and they've all had problems. My next vehicle won't be a Chrysler product.

Reading comprehension fails me. I see you're looking at the V8. I have no experience with the newer ones.

A jeep with a 4.0 is the only Chrysler product I would ever buy. It would most likely be older than those you mentioned though.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:51:12 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
Avoid the Jeep. The 4.0 is a POS engine that Chrysler's had 20+ years to perfect, yet it's still a rough, unreliable POS.

Wow. Mine has almost 180,000 miles on it.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:54:38 AM EDT

[#18]

JEEPS are great, I wouldn't buy a grand Cherokee though. I have a Cherokee Laredo and love it. I am pretty sure they quit making this body style in 2001

Mine is old and needs to be replaced.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:55:26 AM EDT

[#19]

I just bought a new Rubicon. Do I have the POS engine??

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:00:16 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
I just bought a new Rubicon. Do I have the POS engine??

You don't know what engine you have in your own vehicle?

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:04:44 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
Avoid the Jeep. The 4.0 is a POS engine that Chrysler's had 20+ years to perfect, yet it's still a rough, unreliable POS. We've had 6 vehicles (1999-2004) with this engine in our extended family and they've all had problems. My next vehicle won't be a Chrysler product.

Reading comprehension fails me. I see you're looking at the V8. I have no experience with the newer ones.

96 Grand Cherokee 4.0 with 139,000 miles and no engine trouble

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:09:29 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I just bought a new Rubicon. Do I have the POS engine??

You don't know what engine you have in your own vehicle?

Not everyone is into cars.

I have a Liberty and a Stratus - no idea what engine is in either of them.

Av.

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:09:29 AM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
The 4.0 is a POS engine that Chrysler's had 20+ years to perfect, yet it's still a rough, unreliable POS.

You Sir I believe do not have the slightest clue as to what you are talking about.

I own 2 1991 Jeep Cherokees with the I6 4.0. One engine has 185K and is running strong. The other is somewhere over (speedo cable was broken when I got it 2 years ago and I haven't fixed it yet) 214K and also runs like a top.

I off road with someone that has one with over 300K on the clock.

The Chrysler 4.0 I6 is one of the most reliable automotive engines out there.

I think Jeep has done themselves and their customers a huge disservice in NOT using that engine in there current lineup

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:10:24 AM EDT

[#24]

My wife drives an '04 Grand Cherokee I6. It used to be mine. We pretty much love that vehicle. It rides great and is superb in the Michigan winters. It has full-time and part-time four wheel drive. It just hit 75,000 miles and still runs like a champ. The only unscheduled maintenance call we had to make was at about 35,000 miles the passenger power window fell into the door.

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:18:59 AM EDT

[#25]

Anyone with a 4.0 ever have to replace their rear main seal? Multiple times? New lifters yet? Maybe I just have a worthless service department.

Any idea why Chrysler puts tin foil on the top of the 4.0?

I just got off the phone with the service department. My wife's '04 threw a code this morning. It ran rough.

She turned it off, let it sit for a few minutes and then re-started. Ran fine, but had the CEL on. Dealer wants $480 to rotate the exhaust valves???, re-flash the PCM and clean the carbon out of the engine. Bear in mind, all the lifters were replaced last year, along with the rear main seal, engine de-gunked, tune-up, etc. I call bullshit.

The only thing that could have caused the CEL (in my mind) is that I moved it out of the garage yesterday for a while. It was very cold out. I then moved it back into the garage a few hours later, without lettingh it warm up. I may have flooded the engine.

Hell with 'em. I'm disconnecting the battery to clear the CEL and going on with my life. OBDII is such a scam.

Sorry, I'm a little pissed about this and my incongruent rant shows it.

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:34:08 AM EDT

[#26]

I had a '93 Grand Cherokee Limited with the 318 V8, It was a great vehicle. Great ride and power. The only repairs were a fuel pump and a cv joint, both after 120,000 miles. It had 136,000 miles on it when I sold it. I would buy another one in a second. I've owned two of the regular style Cherokees with the 4.0 engine and auto trans. It's a great engine and trans combo, very reliable and good power in the lighter regular Cherokee. The one I drive now has around 116,000 miles on it (1999), the only problems have been with both front windows and an inner tie rod end that got sloppy and needed replaced. I also had two Wranglers with the 4.0 and had no problems with the engine. One of the Wranglers had a few trans issues at around 110,000 miles (manual trans, popping out of second and hard into gear). All were driven both on and off road.

The sheriff's office I work for still has four of the regular Cherokees (all '97 to '99), none have less than 100,000 miles and have been used for towing boats with the marine division. They have been the most reliable of our cruisers.

The Jeeps I've owned have been the most reliable of all cars I've owned, and at last count I've owned over 27 different domestic and foreign vehicles.

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:39:16 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:

You Sir I believe do not have the slightest clue as to what you are talking about.

OK, so having 6 of them in the family, with each one leaving a family member stranded due to drivetrain issues leaves me clueless? I guess we got the only 6 lemons they ever put out.

If anyone thinks that buying a new Chrysler product during a transition (Cerberus) is a good idea, more power to you.

Posted: 1/21/2008 11:54:51 AM EDT

[#28]

I have an 04 Grand Cherokee. I love it. I can get up to 20 mpg on the highway and the 4.7 V-8 has more than enough power. It's been completely reliable as well.

Posted: 1/21/2008 1:12:50 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:
The 4.0 is a POS engine that Chrysler's had 20+ years to perfect, yet it's still a rough, unreliable POS.

You Sir I believe do not have the slightest clue as to what you are talking about.

I own 2 1991 Jeep Cherokees with the I6 4.0. One engine has 185K and is running strong. The other is somewhere over (speedo cable was broken when I got it 2 years ago and I haven't fixed it yet) 214K and also runs like a top.

I off road with someone that has one with over 300K on the clock.

The Chrysler 4.0 I6 is one of the most reliable automotive engines out there.

I think Jeep has done themselves and their customers a huge disservice in NOT using that engine in there current lineup

I agree on the disservice, my 2008 Wrangler Unlimited Sahara has a 3.8L....

Posted: 1/21/2008 2:14:30 PM EDT

[#30]

height=8

Quoted:
Anyone with a 4.0 ever have to replace their rear main seal? Multiple times? New lifters yet? Maybe I just have a worthless service department.

Any idea why Chrysler puts tin foil on the top of the 4.0?

I just got off the phone with the service department. My wife's '04 threw a code this morning. It ran rough.

She turned it off, let it sit for a few minutes and then re-started. Ran fine, but had the CEL on. Dealer wants $480 to rotate the exhaust valves???, re-flash the PCM and clean the carbon out of the engine. Bear in mind, all the lifters were replaced last year, along with the rear main seal, engine de-gunked, tune-up, etc. I call bullshit.

The only thing that could have caused the CEL (in my mind) is that I moved it out of the garage yesterday for a while. It was very cold out. I then moved it back into the garage a few hours later, without lettingh it warm up. I may have flooded the engine.

Hell with 'em. I'm disconnecting the battery to clear the CEL and going on with my life. OBDII is such a scam.

Sorry, I'm a little pissed about this and my incongruent rant shows it.

I have personally owned 4 Jeep Cherokees with the 4.0L I6. I currently own a '96 XJ witht the 4.0L, as of date has 130K on the clock. Not a single problem. Never had a problem related to the engine on any of them. The bodys will rust away long before a properly cared for motor goes out.
The PowerTech Inline Six is one of the best engines ever made. 4.0L's, when properly cared for, and even alot that are not, commonly live well into the 200 or 300K range before needing a rebuild. Naturally with any vehicle that is produced in the millions like Jeeps are a few will be defective.

If you truely had six different Jeeps that all had engine failures I blame operator error or lack of maintainance/care.

With that said. A Grand Cherokee uses a Dodge truck transmission. Different from the Aisin transmissions used in the Wranglers and Cherokees. And Dodges are not known for the best transmissions.

Brian

Posted: 1/21/2008 3:34:04 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:
Avoid the Jeep. The 4.0 is a POS engine that Chrysler's had 20+ years to perfect, yet it's still a rough, unreliable POS. We've had 6 vehicles (1999-2004) with this engine in our extended family and they've all had problems. My next vehicle won't be a Chrysler product.

Reading comprehension fails me. I see you're looking at the V8. I have no experience with the newer ones.

Uh,no! The 4.0 is the last of the push rod,iron headed I-6s out there,come from the factory with 190hp,folks have gotten 400hp with the stroker/supercharger kits.

My 4.0? Smooth as a good bourbon going down,doesn't get any better than that!

Posted: 1/21/2008 4:10:40 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
Anyone with a 4.0 ever have to replace their rear main seal? Multiple times? New lifters yet? Maybe I just have a worthless service department.

Any idea why Chrysler puts tin foil on the top of the 4.0?

I just got off the phone with the service department. My wife's '04 threw a code this morning. It ran rough.

She turned it off, let it sit for a few minutes and then re-started. Ran fine, but had the CEL on. Dealer wants $480 to rotate the exhaust valves???, re-flash the PCM and clean the carbon out of the engine. Bear in mind, all the lifters were replaced last year, along with the rear main seal, engine de-gunked, tune-up, etc. I call bullshit.

The only thing that could have caused the CEL (in my mind) is that I moved it out of the garage yesterday for a while. It was very cold out. I then moved it back into the garage a few hours later, without lettingh it warm up. I may have flooded the engine.

Hell with 'em. I'm disconnecting the battery to clear the CEL and going on with my life. OBDII is such a scam.

Sorry, I'm a little pissed about this and my incongruent rant shows it.

Rotate exhaust valves? LMFAO. Take it to a nice independent shop. The stealership is last on my list of places to take my own vehicle given I am too lazy to work on it myself.

Posted: 1/21/2008 10:51:32 PM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Avoid the Jeep. The 4.0 is a POS engine that Chrysler's had 20+ years to perfect, yet it's still a rough, unreliable POS.

Wow. Mine has almost 180,000 miles on it.

My '93 Grand has 208K and is still chugging along....

There's a guy over on Jeepforums who says to have 350K on his...

Oh, and Chrysler has had over 40 years to perfect the 4 point slow.....it started as a Rambler engine....

Posted: 1/22/2008 5:59:48 AM EDT

[#34]

My girls dad had one and was only reliable half of the time. I can't attribute this to the quality of the b/c he drove like crap and didn't really take care of it. I loved driving it though because of the 4.7s peppy driving abilities.

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