Questions on buying a 96 cherokee ?

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Does or did anyone ever have a 96 cherokee ? i have always liked the looks and have the chance to get one at a good price .I have to take a good look at it tomorrow .What problems do they have , rust mechanical ? Thanks

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), May 03, 2002

Answers

My dad had 2 of them from the 80's the last one just got pulled of the road. It's not total junk either. They were both great vehicles, but the Comanche truck we have snaps the aluminum shifting fork. I'm taking it to a jeep fanatic to get him to fix it this time, I luv that old truck! We've had 2 4cyl a V6 (Chev 2.8 litre, useless engine but only used 2 years) and my father in law had a 90 with the 4 litre. By far my FIL's was the best, they just seem to get better. No real flaws that I noticed, some early ones did rust quickly but by 96 they should be Ok for that too.

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), May 03, 2002.

I repair vehicles for a living and see a lot of Jeeps. They are pretty durable vehicles especially with the inline 6cyl 4.0L. The biggest knock I have on them is there is very little interior room. The back seat is extremely hard to get in and out of. When you do have to work on them they are difficult to work on. They kept that feature in the great Jeep tradition of the past.

-- Emil in TN (eprisco@usit.net), May 03, 2002.

Are you buying privately or from a dealer? Can you 'document' the oil changes? I had 2 Jeeps in the '90's and found with both the Sport and the Cherokee that changing the oil regularly was ALL! Great little engines with lots and lots of pep, but when they get dirty they burn up! As to an earlier post, the back seats might as well be in a pick up.

-- Kathy (catfish201@hotmail.com), May 03, 2002.

Grand or regular? I have seen the grand cherokees do some pretty amazing things. They came equipped with your choice of powerful and durable engines: 4.0 6 cyl, Dodge 318 (5.2 liter), and Dodge 360 (5.9 liter), all of which are quite good. Personally, after driving both the grand cherokee and the regular (smaller) cherokee: these are my observations: The little cherokee isnt as strongly built, and really didnt meet my aproval for 4 wheel drive driving in snow. The engine (4.0) was too powerful for such a light vehicle, and I wound up spinning out several times. The gear shift (4 low, 4 high, 2 high) got stuck and wouldnt disengage from 4 low, either. The grand cherokee has my seal of aproval. Great truck, will haul anything (towing). Very comfortable, no bad comments whatso ever. It is, from the 4 by 4 mag reviews, a great truck to 4 by if need be, and made the number one 4 by 4 vehicle many times over many years in these mags. Did you ever consider a full size Dodge van, though!? Cheaper, gets the same fuel economy, has TONS of room for stuff, can tow anything, seats up to 16.... the list goes on. My old dodge fullsize hit the 600,000 mile mark recently. And if you need 4 wheel drive that bad, you probabally shouldnt be out driving, anyways. But, the question was on a jeep, right=)

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), May 03, 2002.

I live in upstate NY and it snowed yesterday does that answer your 'if I need 4 wheel drive question".Thanks all so much for the comments.It is from a dealer who is a friend of mine .Says it a good truck and will give it to me for 3900.00 .It will be a second vechile as I will never give up my Ford f150 unless someone wants to get me a 250 or 350 {don't see that happening}Best 4 wheel drives I have found in the snow or deep mud are toyotas.Anything bigger is to big and they sink.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), May 04, 2002.


FWIW, I have a 1993 Cherokee Sport thats just about to turn over 200,000. The engine still purrs like a kitty-cat, minimal rust and no mechanical problems as of yet. Its been the longest lasting vehicle I've owned. Also, my friend has an 86 or an 87 with over 350,000....same story.

-- Lisa in Central WI (llehman16nospam@hotmail.com), May 04, 2002.

Patty, they're pretty good vehicles. The 4.0L V-6 is the more desireable engine in them. The "Grand Cherokee" is far more popular than the regular Cherokee.

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), May 04, 2002.

I've never owned one but I get to the dealer auctions fairly often and see them with 200,000 miles plus on them and still run and look good. The 4.0 six is a die hard engine if you take care of it.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), May 07, 2002.

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