Jeep Cherokee - Good First Car?

Chocaholic · 05-21-2010, 09:31 AM

Son is 15 and chomping at the bit to get his permit. Need a vehicle with some room to haul his RC gear. Like the looks of the old Cherokees (Classic, Sport, etc) and see plenty of them on the road still (1997 - 2000 vintage), but interestingly, very few for sale, at least around here.

I know the Grand Cherokees had some issues, but haven't really heard of many inherent problems with the basic Cherokees. Anything to watch out for when shopping? Thoughts?

BGCarrera32 · 05-21-2010, 09:40 AM

My Dad has a '96 Cherokee Sport. He still drives it everyday, just rolled 285,000 miles. Only thing major so far has been the fuel pump which went in about 2004. The straight 6 is bulletproof.

kaisen · 05-21-2010, 09:46 AM

Just buy the newest you can find/afford. I bought a low-mile Arizona 'Country' for my in-laws cabin and they have driven it trouble-free for a couple years now. The 4.0L inline six is a pretty good engine, albeit archaic. Transmissions can have troubles. Transfer cases are usually fine. Rear-ends can have issues with the carrier bearings, but they aren't too hard to rebuild.

My issue, honestly, would be with a young driver. They are pretty quick and lightweight, but with high center of gravity, short wheelbase, and live axles. Only a Wrangler or early 911 will swap ends quicker. Except the Jeeps usually follow up with a rubber-side-up excursion into the woods. Just my two cents.

Consider getting him a Subaru wagon, if you need AWD. Or a Focus Wagon, Saturn Wagon, Pontiac Vibe / Toyota Matrix, or any number of other small/mid wagons.

BGCarrera32 · 05-21-2010, 09:52 AM

You'd seriously recommend a Vibe or a Matrix over a Jeep Cherokee? Having spent plenty of time driving the Jeep I'd say you'd have to be doing something really stupid to swap ends in it.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Don't get the 2001. I have one, and the car itself is fine, but they were swapping all sorts of parts around as the factory was closing. My brake rotors are "unique". At some point, they went with a distributorless ignition and the "plug wire" is not cheap or easy to remove.

I know the 2000 had the regular rotors, because the first set I was sold were those...

I know the 1995 has a regular distributor and wires (I owned one). The ones after 1996 and later have a slightly different spring setup, which rides better.

When I bought my 2001, I test drove several and found that the one with the "Off road" suspension actually drove better. I bought mine with the tow package, etc. If you are planning to tow, get an automatic. The manual transmission is only rated for 2000lbs towing. Anyway, the 2001 was not offered with a standard.

All in all, I think it is a great choice for a first car. Try to find a 1997-99 vehicle.

Eric 951 · 05-21-2010, 10:54 AM

It would be a great first car. The 4.0 is reliable a motor as any, they go well in the mud and snow, are easy to wrench on and there a tons of parts available.

I had an 88 Laredo 5-spd, a 91 Sport 5 spd, and when my Rover finally crapped out a few months back, I picked up a 96 Country with 125K miles as the wife's replacement.

They are not great on gas milegae and have a few trouble spots.
If getting a manual, the slave cylinders are crap and you will need to replace it at some point.

Rust can be an issue--especially the floorboards--crawl underneath and inspect it well.

Post 97s have the fuel filter located inside the gas tank, which can be a pain when you swap it out.

They are somewhat rough-riding--but hey it's a Jeep.

He will not be disappointed.

924slover · 05-21-2010, 10:56 AM

I had a 94 and a 97 i loved my 94 because it was a 2door 5 speed. they were bolth awesome cars. look for the one that has a Chrysler 8.25 in the rear that's the better drivetrain and less prone to snapped axles when offroading (because you know your son will)

m21sniper · 05-21-2010, 10:58 AM

Jeep Cherokees are great vehicles. The 4.0 L-6 is one of the greatest engines of all time.

masraum · 05-21-2010, 10:59 AM

We had a '97 with the 4.0L straight six. Great vehicle.

They aren't built on a frame like a lot of the small SUVs, they are unibody, so they are light weight. I think I remember them being around 2800#.

The 4.0L has good torque and is reliable.

They are a great, basic vehicle.

I'd highly recommend it.

The only thing that keeps them from being the perfect kids car is that the torque will probably mean that he'll go through tires, and since it sits higher, if he gets into a bad situation, it could roll (he'd probably have to try pretty hard to get it into that situation). There's lots of room for other kids (plenty of distraction while driving).

Still, I think it's probably a great vehicle for a kid.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Google for the Cherokee death wobble, I think its called. Would hate to be a new driver suddenly confronted with this at 70 mph on a crowded freeway w/ no breakdown lane.

My father has an older Cherokee which does this, it happens infrequently enough that it won't show up on a test drive, but it is also not very economical to diagnose and fix. I believe it is due to a bad design and age-related slop in the front end. I understand that people basically end up replacing bushings, track rod, steering joints, wheel bearings, etc until the problem stops. Which is fine if you DIY, otherwise is hardly worth doing on an older low-value vehicle.

If you do get one, make sure he knows what the death wobble feels like and what to do about it. On ours, basically when you are driving in a straight line above 60 mph (freeway, basically), every now and then something sets off the wobble (not clear what, a bump in the road can do it but won't necessarily), and suddenly the steering wheel and entire vehicle are shaking so violently that your vision is blurry. It still drives straight ahead, you can maintain control if you haven't lost your head, but this violent shaking won't stop until you get below about 25 mph, which is a problem on the freeway. As a result, I drive his Cherokee below 60 mph and in the right lane, which is kind of tiresome.

Other than that, I like the Cherokee a lot and think it would be a decent first vehicle.

Rot 911 · 05-21-2010, 11:07 AM

Jeep Cherokee Forum: Cherokee Forum - JeepsUnlimited.com Forums

kaisen · 05-21-2010, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BGCarrera32

You'd seriously recommend a Vibe or a Matrix over a Jeep Cherokee? Having spent plenty of time driving the Jeep I'd say you'd have to be doing something really stupid to swap ends in it.

Drive your empty Cherokee once in the snow and ice without being in four wheel drive. The tail steps out very fast.

What's wrong with a Vibe or Matrix?

That's the first time on this board I've ever heard anyone recommend a 25 year old AMC/Chrysler design over a modern Toyota.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

Google for the Cherokee death wobble, I think its called. Would hate to be a new driver suddenly confronted with this at 70 mph on a crowded freeway w/ no breakdown lane.

My father has an older Cherokee which does this, it happens infrequently enough that it won't show up on a test drive, but it is also not economical to diagnose and fix.

If you do get one, make sure he knows what the death wobble feels like and what to do about it.

Other than that, I like the Cherokee a lot and think it would be a decent first vehicle.

Different rotors help, heavy duty ones. Also check that the steering damper is not DOA. Mine had it in San Deigo and it would shudder like crazy going up the 163 hill. New rotors fixed it.

masraum · 05-21-2010, 11:14 AM

When we bought our Cherokee it had a bad shimmy from the brakes. I replaced the front rotors and never had the problem again with lots of miles (about 100k) around town and highway.

924slover · 05-21-2010, 11:15 AM

I drove bolth my cherokee's in ice and snow and blizzards (sometimes in 2wd) and never once had the rear end get out of line unless i wanted it to

.AMC chrysler got it right (finally) with the 4.0 6 it is in the top 5 most reliable engines. and the cherokee is easy and cheap to maintain.......I only had a death wobble once i lifted it, got bigger tires and removed the sway bar for better articulation offroad.

kaisen · 05-21-2010, 11:16 AM

Death wobble comes (mostly) from the arms that locate the solid-axle front end. Many Jeep and Dodge designs have the same issues.

jyl · jyl's Garage

It is sort of funny, as I said, Google the term and you'll see some people replace darn near everything in the front end and still can't fix it, others replace one part and everything is fine. For a vehicle worth maybe $4-5K, that kind of expenditure must be aggravating. For us, it's not worth the money, as the Jeep is just the spare car.

Chocaholic · 05-21-2010, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaisen

Consider getting him a Subaru wagon, if you need AWD. Or a Focus Wagon, Saturn Wagon, Pontiac Vibe / Toyota Matrix, or any number of other small/mid wagons.

Thanks for all the comments. The wobble is concerning, but I wonder just how commonplace it is in the real world (vs the internet). He will only drive an America car....his decision, not mine...but he's adamant, so that limits choices....and I can't really argue with him since I agree with his reasoning. Regarding the Vue, Vibe, Matrix and Focus, cute cars but would seriously impact his chances of ever getting a date!

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

I had the death wobble issue for a short time in San Diego, and the problem was the rotors. I expect that the warped rotors were the stimulus for the issue, I should say. I haven't had it since I changed the rotors and had the spare set turned.

Oh yeah, the rotor warping is a real issue. If you tow anything over 3000 lbs, expect to get the rotors turned. Both times I towed my 914/6 any significant distance with serious hills, the rotors needed turning afterwards. I haven't towed anything large in 5 years, and the rotors have stayed fine.

fastfredracing · 05-21-2010, 01:18 PM

Kaisen is right, 9 times out of 10 the death wobble is caused by the trac bar, or trac link. Its upper joint gets loose and lets the whole front axle move back and forth. It is around a $100.00 part aftermarket , and is a pretty easy install.
Dont be afraid of the grand with the 318 either, fuel mileage is not that much worse, ,has tons of power, ( we towed an 1800 lb trailer, with a 911 on it all over the eastern sea board with one), and are every bit as , if not more reliable than the 4.0. Mine just turned 244,000 miles, and never even had a valve cover off the motor. It ate a couple of water pumps, a tranny, and wheel bearing + regular mantanence in all these miles.
Great 1st car, they dont like to be driven fast either, they kind of just lump along, that should keep him out of some trouble as well
This winter, I got my 4 wd drive one ton dually really stuck, and my neighbors 3/4 ton chevy stuck trying to get me out. That damn old jeep pulled both trucks out, and the dually weighs twice as much as the jeep