1988 Jeep Cherokee Pioneer 4.0L from North America
Summary:
Definitely got my money out of this one!
Faults:
Only what would be considered routine maintenance and expect wear and tear. This includes having to have changed the Harmonic Dampener a couple of times.
General Comments:
Our family has owned our 1988 Jeep Cherokee for nearly 15 years. My dad bought it as a "buy-back" car with about 14K miles on it. It now has well over 275K miles on it, and is only now starting to show signs of age. It has been, by far, the most reliable car I have owned. I cannot say enough about the dependability of the 4.0L engine and the AW4 transmission pair. Someone did a fantastic engineering job on that match. We rebuilt the engine ourselves at about 250K miles, mostly for fun. We found that the engine had worn, but not unreasonably. The transmission feels like it would pull a freight train, but I would not recommend it.
If you can find an '88 Cherokee with less than 125K miles on it, in otherwise good condition, I would not hesitate to buy one. I am a 100% satisfied owner. Too bad they did away with it.
Unfortunately, I don't think I would buy a new Jeep. It seems like since DC took over the quality and workmanship have slipped quite a lot. I also own a 1998 Jeep Wrangler and have had a lot of annoying minor problems with it. The Cherokee is a much better basic car.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 1st May, 2003
25th Jan 2004, 09:34
I just wanted to say I just bought an 1988 Jeep Cherokee with only 130,200 miles for only $1000. I love the car there are only a few things that annoy me about it, maybe you can shine some light on it for me. For one it takes me about 4-6 seconds to start the car any idea why it might take so long? Also, over head there is something missing above the mirror any idea what it could be, cause I think it might have been a light? if anyone has any information for me please e mail Timmy185@aol.com THANK YOU.