1992 Jeep Cherokee 2 door Sport Utility 4.0 H.O. from North America

Summary:

Practical, fast, sporty wagon

Faults:

Replaced dual purpose tires with premium highway tires.

Some fuses out..

New front shocks and steering stabilizer.. new sway bar bushings.

General Comments:

Very powerful acceleration and passing. Smoother ride than expected, steers and tracks well on highway.

Power windows and tilt wheel/AC/Stereo etc...

Nice seats and quiet on most roads.

Exceptional fuel economy with 3.07 rear end coupled to 22% overdrive fifth gear gives a 2.39 final drive with 1550 RPMS at 55 MPH and 1900 at 70 miles an hour... averaged between 26.5 and 31.5 miles per gallon on strictly highway trips...20 in town. I have been very pleasantly surprised by this vehicle.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 1st June, 2009

21st May 2012, 22:18

Same Cherokee... same owner... over 220,000 miles now.

Very quick. Mileage stated in original review.. in error... gets 21 MPG hard driving... 50/50 city/highway. A max of 26.5 when driven easy at 65-70 on the interstate.

My 2WD 2door manual really is quite light, and seems to be getting better.

5th Oct 2014, 00:03

Well. Same car and owner.

Replaced the front rotors/calipers, pads, rear shoes and wheel cylinders.

New Thrush muffler with lightened converter, and replaced the engine driven fan with electric... as it needed a fan.

New clutch and pressure plate.

Modified the original air intake for improved flow.

It drives very nice... quick... close my eyes and the sound at full throttle is much like that Maserati Sebring I remember passing with my Dad on the autobahn in late sixties... some sound.

1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo 4.0L Straight 6 from North America

Summary:

More reliable than gravity

Faults:

Engine rear main seal leaks oil, which is a common fault with the straight six, and was cured by using high mileage engine oil (which has an additive that causes rubber to swell).

Self adjuster cable broke in one of my rear brake drums, and the cable wrapped around the brake pad, which caused a large groove to form in the drum itself. I would attribute that to bad dealer service though. The one time I took it to a Jeep dealer.

Nothing catastrophic has ever happened to this vehicle (at least not while I've owned it). It has covered 94% of the distance between earth and the moon (approximately 360,000Km), and I fully expect it to reach the moon and start coming back without so much as an engine rebuild.

General Comments:

I would have to say that this Jeep has been the best purchase I've ever made. It is rugged enough to take off road up a trail that is normally only wide enough for quads, and tow a trailer full of waterlogged lumber over hilly roads (though not at the same time), yet comfortable enough to drive for hours on end.

The best part about the car has to be the engine. If you look up torque in the dictionary, you will see a picture of this 4.0 litre straight 6. It's powerful enough that I regularly pass newer cars going up steep hills on the highway, while I'm in 5th gear. Having said that, the engine does lack a bit of high end power, given all the low end torque it possesses, but hey, you can't have your cake and eat it too.

The reason I said I wouldn't buy another car from this manufacturer is because, in recent years, Jeep has become too Chrysler-ized. The 1991-2000 era, shortly after Chrysler bought Jeep from AMC is the time when Jeep vehicles were at their best. The cars were AMC designs that had been improved by Chrysler engineers, and the collaboration proved to be great. From about 2001 onwards, Chrysler replaced the old AMC designs with their own, and that's when people started to experience the typical Chrysler problems.

Also, I love the shift-on-the-fly 4x4. It's really convenient when you just need a little extra traction to start on an icy road, or any time when you only need 4-wheel drive for just a second, and don't want to get out of the car to lock the wheel hubs.

Once again, this has been the best buy I have ever made, though it could be better in the fuel-consumption area. I get about 13mpg (30L/100Km) city and 27-30mpg (7-9L/100Km)highway.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 10th February, 2009

6th Jan 2010, 00:59

I was surprised at this review. I also had a Jeep and it was also bulletproof. I want another and I want it to be a Cherokee from 1990 to 2004. The comment that after 2001 Chrysler started to Chrysalises the Jeep line was surprising. It was about this time that Daimler Benz wrestled control from the Chrysler people and the designs and vehicles went south. Would I buy another Chrysler product? Yes, to date I have found nothing better, and today drive a Dodge truck.