Faults:

My Jeep is now almost 14 years old. I've kept it parked either in a driveway or carport. It has no rust anywhere. Over the past month it overheated, apparently due to the transmission fluid being low -- I was driving on the highway and the hot fluid spewed out of the dipstick (this is what the mechanic told me). I had the transmission fluid & radiator flushed & refilled. Last week I had the crank position sensor replaced.

About 5 years ago the floorboard shifter got stuck. Had some minor work done to fix this.

These are the only times I've had this Jeep in the garage for anything other than regular maintenance. I am in love with my Jeep and plan on keeping it another 3 years. Have kept seat covers on at all times, so the seats are in near perfect condition. I've taken good care of it (I am a 58 year old female).

Faults:

Air conditioning compressor failed at 120000. That was the only repair ever needed besides wear items; tires, brakes, belt, oil changes and tune-up. This car was great.

General Comments:

Car was very strong in the city, but with the low gear ratio, it was not the best for gas mileage.

Faults:

Vibration on steering wheel at 55 mph.

General Comments:

I've owned this 2000 Jeep Cherokee since it had 24000 miles on the dash. At the time of the purchase, I've noticed steering wheel vibrations, and the front end was shaking at 55 mph. Below or above the 55mph, the vibration was totally gone. I went back to the dealer and described the problem I had, and the guys recommended wheel balancing, tire rotation and wheel alignment, which was paid for by the dealership. It didn't fix the problem!!!

So I drove the Jeep a great deal of miles, getting used to the problem. I thought the car would look good if I bought a set of aftermarket rims and tires, which I did. It had 136k miles on it. Big surprise! The vibration was permanently gone...

I bought a second 2000 Jeep Cherokee after the old one was totaled at 148k miles. I bought the second Jeep on August of 2010. It had 68k on the dash. The surprise was it has the same vibration, just like the previous Jeep that I've owned. I kept the rims from the first Jeep before it went to the crusher, and I swapped them with the OEM rims on the second Jeep. The vibration was totally gone again, and never came back. Since I swapped the rims and tires, I drove about K miles without being haunted by any vibrations.

My advice is to look at the rims first before you start doing any unnecessary replacements, especially if the car comes with the low quality steel rims!

Faults:

First thing that went wrong was the engine coolant over flow tank would drop low enough for the "low engine coolant warning to flash." Fill the the tank up and the warning goes off. All is well for approximately 2500 miles, and the warning is flashing again.

First: the dealer simply discounted the issue as not a problem.

Second: the dealer began to keep the car over night, and then return it saying they could not find an issue to correct the problem.

Third: the dealer kept the vehicle, and claimed they had let it idle for over an hour, and the over flow tank did not drop any. By this time I suggested they drive it for 40 miles, and when they returned, they would then be able to identify the leak was occurring.

Fourth: they kept the vehicle, and provided a junk type loaner car for me to use while they "tore down the engine." They called me in and had me look at a cylinder head that allegedly had came off my vehicle, and pointed out an oil bubble they said resulted from water entering my oil, and that was the problem all along. Well the reality was they never removed the head, did not replace anything and did not fix the problem. By this time I was convinced they had no intention of repairing the problem, so I continued driving and adding anti freeze as needed.

Finally, a private garage identified a radiator leak, so I gladly replaced the radiator in anticipation of this fixing the leak. NOPE! Over flow tank continued to leak down and I would have to add anti freeze to shut the warning light off. The next thing that was decided needed replaced was the heat sensor relay, so I agreed to that. Nothing changed. The engine to date still does not heat up above 195 degrees and the heat is not as hot as it should be. However, I did finally find a person that identified the HEATER CORE was leaking anti-freeze behind the passenger front floor mat, so now WE HAVE replaced the heater core and found the CAUSE of the anti-freeze leak.

I am of the opinion that had the dealer replaced the heater core when the issue was first brought to their attention, the replacement of the radiator and heat sensor would not have been necessary.

General Comments:

Had I not had the issue with the engine coolant, I could not complain about the overall performance of the vehicle.