Faults:

It was a 1000 dollar beater I bought, so as the miles accrued, repairs did pop up. Had to do things like put a new radiator in it, put a new water pump on it, replace the radiator hoses, and thermostat.

New track-bar because the front end wobbled under braking.

New front rotors due to shaking under braking.

New rear drum shoes due to wear.

Alternator and starter brushes replaced, saved a ton of money doing that.

Clutch got replaced due to throw-out bearing failure.

General Comments:

I had never owned a Chrysler product before. I wound up buying this because I was racking up miles on a 2004 F150 that I was making payments on because my job required some travel. It was on a whole-sale lot and belonged to an employee who traded it for an I6 model. I paid right at 1000 dollars plus TTL.

Jeeps are crude vehicles, but they are so simple to fix, and this one had been through a lot. The quadra-link suspension to me is great because it can be beat on without falling apart; only problem is, it isn't stable in dangerous situations, such as swerving to avoid an obstacle.

The four cylinder, though weak on take-off, has a lot of low end torque. I never could kill it when releasing the clutch because of the torque. The engine is very easy to work on and it just wouldn't die. The transmission is also very good. The five speed still shifted with ease the entire time I owned it. It got good gas mileage for a rear-wheel drive 90s vehicle. It got 18 in the city and about 22 on the highway. Not bad for something that is pickup based. A/C always worked well.

Most people would think it was a pile of junk because of its age and all the little things that needed fixed, such as the door hinge on the driver's door coming off, and one of the windows wouldn't roll down. In my eyes, it was so easy to work on, I was always able to get it back up and running and it never left me stranded, so to me it was reliable. I finally had to get rid of it because the floor pans began to rot at 23 years of age and I'm not a welder, nor do I have the time to work on it. My boss wound up buying it off of me to be his beater.

Faults:

Changed water pump (bad bearing) at 138,000 miles.

Paint is peeling.

General Comments:

The Jeep Cherokee XJ is a great SUV with a great 4.0 liter engine. It also has a good automatic (AW4) transmission. It's not that flashy, nor is it ergonomically friendly inside, but it's a Jeep - what do you expect. I haven't had any problems with it.

Also, there's a lot of XJs around, so there's a lot of used and aftermarket parts for it.

Faults:

Replaced the radiator, power steering pump, water pump (three times), serpentine belt (three times), thermostat (three times), exhaust system, flange gasket in exhaust manifold, and added a transmission cooler.

I've also replaced the brakes at least 4 times.

All these repairs were done over the course of over 317,000 miles.

General Comments:

Dollar for dollar, this has been a tough rig to beat. We bought this Jeep new back in 1995, and I am still driving it today. It now has over 317,000 miles on it, and the engine and transmission have never been rebuilt. The inline six has real snap to it.

I've used the Cherokee to tow a utility trailer, motorcycle trailer loaded with dirtbikes, dog trailer loaded with equipment and four large dogs, and our family tent trailer. We even owned an old style, really heavy, travel trailer at one point. The Jeep hauled that around as well, although it got downright scary at times.

I've owned three Jeep Cherokees. The first was a 1988, and that rig was still running strong when I sold it at 267,000 miles. My wife currently drives a 1996 Cherokee, and has 167,000 on it. These inline 6 cylinder motors are good ones. Keep the oil changed, and they just keep going.