Hello all,

i've driven a honda prelude for a few years now and am really getting tired of every kid in a honda revving at me, i don't race.  i rode in a jeep cherokee over the weekend and loved it.  the thing i'm thinking of is mainly reliability.  the prelude has something wrong with it every once in a while. really i'm just new to domestic cars- as pathetic as i admit that is.

with the jeep what's gonna break and how often, how much are the parts (compared to japanese parts), and are they picky about who works on them (hondas must go to honda tech or they just don't run right.)

the thing will mainly see highway miles with occasional light offroading and occasional boat towing (~3000 Lbs.)  thoughts/ideas/answers?

thanks.
-Grant

Last time I looked at the consumer reports figures, Honda had the absolutely highest reliability reating, and the Jeep division of Chrysler had one of the worst.

I don't know what specifically will be more likely to break, but I don't think you will enjoy going from one of the most reliable brands on the market to one of the least reliable.



But - these are all averages.  I had a Dodge Stratus for several years, and even though they had a bad reputaiton for reliability, I never had a problem with it.

I love my Cherokee, an XJ in Jeep lingo.

Here are some links to get your feet wet. Enjoy...

www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=48

www.jeepforum.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=ec79eeaac597c2d719419beab550c548&f=11

www.edmunds.com/reviews/generations/articles/46011/article.html

Be careful - once you start customizing, you just can't stop. XJs are the AR-15s of vehicles - very easy to get aftermarket stuff for them.

Hondas are just about the most reliable cars ever made. In general.

I'm not sure where to look for current reliability ratings other than consumer reports. For what it's worth, the 2002 Jeep Liberty got very high marks for quality and reliability. I have put over 27,000 miles on mine and it has been trouble free. Mine is bone stock. If you add a lift kit, all bets are off. For what you describe, though, the Liberty sounds about right. If you want a total hardcore rock crawler, the Liberty is not what you want.

For a daily driver, I would (and did) go with the Honda ('01 Civic EX).  I drove 4wd's for a while, had a 91 Cherokee. It was a piece of shit.  The 4wd was GREAT in the snow though, and when push came to shove, that 4.0 six put out and then some.  In 2wd it was pretty squirrely in the rain, and the thing was built to tip over. Heavy little bugger too, stopping distance wasn't real nice, even on new brakes.  Funniest thing was the interior.. Less interior room than your Prelude. Really cramped, and I'm a little guy. I'm real happy with my Civic though, the money I'm saving on gas and repairs keeps me in a lot more ammo!

I used to work for a Dodge dealership. I can't tell you how many times jeeps were brought back for major repairs.

Get a Jeep Cherokee, one of the later models if possible.

Get the 4.0L with the automatic.

They used this engine for a long long time, and they used the Cherokee platform for a long long time, so by the late 90's they had nearly all the bugs worked out of it.

I had a '96 & a '99 and they were awesome.  I currently have an '84 XJ I am restoring as a trail rig.

With that said... no Jeep will be anywhere near the reliability of a Honda.  They are simply top notch and Jeep... is not.  But as far as Jeeps go, the late model Cherokees were some of the best.  As to the '98 imploding above, I'd say that was just a freak Cherokee. LOL

The 4.0L straight six found in the Jeeps is known for its reliability - it's not unheard of for these things to go 250,000 - 300,000 miles.  The AW4 automatic transmission in them is bulletproof as well.  

[img]http://fototime.com/E823B3DB7933A28/standard.jpg[/img]

OME 3" lift, 31" Geolanders in photo. Have my Swampers on it right now.

Well I have 130k on my 93 now. Only have had 1 major repair which cost $500.  A wire shorted out in the dash which shorted the ECU cause a no start.

Original starter and alternator still going fine.  

A forum to look at [url=www.jeepsunlmited.com/forums]Jeeps Unlimited[/url]


As for the above complaint on brakes.  In 94 they soved the weak breaking with a better dual diaphram booster.  
As for being tippy. It's not a sports car don't drive them like one.  As with all trucks has a higher center of gravily and it should be respected.
The XJ (Cherokee) is not heavy for it's size. They weigh in at about 3200 lbs being a unibody.

The 4.0 is a grunt machine.  The XJ with a AW4 auto has a towing capasity of 5000 lbs.  Which is more then the trucks weight.  300,000 miles isn't uncommon, I know of a few in the 500,000 range.

You will notice a ticking sound when the engine runs sometimes.  Ignore it.  The 4.0 tick is piston slap.  The piston maker made them slightly smaller then the cylinders.  THey do no effect the milage or wear.  DC tried to fix it by installing trflon skirts which worked for about 50,000 miles.

I'd recommend an XJ.  But make sure you go over the history of the one you are looking at.

buy a jeep...nothing else is comparable.

-Jeepaholic


www.jeepforum.com  is a good site to meet other jeep owners and get good info about jeeps.

 Agreed, the Cherokee was as stable as anything else in it's class I suppose.  Drove a fullsize Bronco for awhile though, and it head and shoulders handled better than the Jeep, and with a 302 V8 it would roast an auto 4.0, extra weight or no.  Of course at 8mpg and major repairs every other week, maybe I shouldn't recommend a Ford product ;) Stuff definitely fell off the Jeep at every opportunity, but it was stupid stuff.. power window motors, power antenna motors, the stereo.. Engine ran fine, and probibly still does.

The Honda is a great ride.  My suggestion would be to buy a Toyota Tacoma extended cab p/u, and put a camper shell on the back......did I mention it MUST be 4x4.  You have the best of both worlds and the Toyota off road is as good a 4x4 as you can buy.........period.  Then you can pull and haul just about anything you like, within reason.

Of course, you could just lateral over to a Honda Pilot!

[peep]

Have you given any thought to keeping the Honda and getting a 10 year old or so Cherokee as a secong vehicle? They can be picked up very reasonably these days and still have tons of life left in them. That way you'll always have a backup ride, too. Redundancy is a good thing. [;)]

My next door neighbor-one of my hunting buddies-bought a used '01 Grand Cherokee for his wife. Though it (the Jeep) DOES perform well in 4WD situations, it's RARE to see it parked in the driveway WITHOUT the hood open and Tony in it up to his elbows. They've had tranny trouble, radiator trouble, it leaks oil like a sieve and I think he's replaced all the radiator hoses. The interior is falling apart (OK, they DO have two small kids). Personally, I'm not impressed.

Well, the Grand and the XJ are totally different platforms.  XJ's are rock solid, and parts are dirt cheap.

I have a Prelude now too and I am buying a new Jeep liberty Renegade next week for my daily driver.  I am keeping the Prelude however as we just finished a 552 HP closed deck h22 Prelude VTEC motor with a serious turbo setup.  Not exactly a daily driver, but will be a lot more fun in the summer than the 300 HP all motor setup I have in it now.

 522hp in a Prelude?? Damn! You sir, have a serious aversion to speed limits.

I'd go Jeep, I own a Grand Cherokee, '94, with 174,000 miles on it, and it hasn't given me too much shit. MPG does suck, but HWY it gets up to 22 Mpg. Honda however isn't known for being crap, and consumer reports are the bee's knee's for info. I'm Jeep biased, but buying a honda prolly wouldn't be a bad idea.