General Comments:
A Jeep is not a Honda... let's go ahead and clear that up. I knew what I was buying. I bought an American SUV over 10 years old with 113k miles.
However, this Jeep had dealer service records from 40k miles. From 40k miles to 113k miles, the Jeep required $11,000 dollars in maintenance and repair. Major things like the entire A/C system being replaced twice and the front and rear differentials being rebuilt. Things like water pumps are good for a lousy 45k miles. However, this Jeep ran, drove, and performed like I was driving off the showroom floor in 96'.
There are parts of these vehicles that are complete garbage like bearings, switches, gaskets, etc. But maintenance is key for the non-garbage components.
The 5.2 V8 is amazing, and when coupled to the Quadra-Trac system, this Jeep is unstoppable.
Now at 126k miles, the Jeep is like new. No oil consumption, no leaks, no squeaks. But this isn't build quality, this is maintenance and repair by picky people. This is my daily driver, and I average 30k miles/ year on my cars.
It's big yet small, safe, and comfortable for the most part. The front seats lack any lumbar support and they desperately need it.
It's reliable and I drive it all over the place. Things that break don't stop the Jeep, you just put them on your list and repair when convenient. Also, I keep this thing up on a broke college student budget, so it's not too bad.
Fuel economy is not great, but not bad for a V8 and All Wheel Drive. I average about 16.5mpg mostly highway.
Parts are extremely abundant and extremely cheap.
I'd definitely buy another one, but I'd look very carefully. And, I would probably get the 5.2 V8. It has so much more power and yet returns very similar fuel economy to the 4.0 I6. Mine is rare as it is a Laredo (base) model equipped with the V8, and almost all Laredos had the 4.0 I6. I get the weirdest looks from guys at the oil change places. It's always funny to watch them write 4.0 I6 on the service sheet and then every time they end up going back and changing it.
The A/C is too cold and the heat is too hot, even on the lowest settings. I usually end up rolling down the windows or something.
19th Feb 2008, 17:59
I had the same problem with my 97 JGC (coolant censer bad). I know this is a problem with the JGC. It's the message center that's bad; a new one costs over $400.00. If you get one from a junk yard, MAKE SURE IT'S FROM THE SAME YEAR. The wrong one can cause electrical damage. Chrysler does not recommend using one from a junk yard. PS Chrysler knows this is a problem.