Jeeps are shit, right?

Someone nearby is selling a jeep Cherokee for $650. Needs a new serpentine belt and windshield installed (new windshield comes with the car). 200k km on it. People keep telling me a jeep would be a bad choice but if I could talk the guy down to $400 wouldn't this be a stellar first car?

personally not a jeep guy, but as you can see people have different tastes, so fuck what the other people say and just go for it. you'll love it cause it's yours

120k mile Cherokee with the straight 6 for $400 is a killer deal desu. Just make sure it only needs that belt.

I've heard the cooling systems on these are bad and they tend to overheat if you aren't careful, so check to make sure the engine hasn't been damaged
If you keep the cooling system in good shape I've heard these things will easily do 400k miles

Great feedback. People kept saying they're not reliable and they rust out but
a) I'm still in high school and just need a cheap car
b) this car looks spotless (and the jeep body look really works for me

Hell no. Buy a clean one instead. Or better yet, just get a civic for 3k.

I'd definitely take it to a mechanic to get it pre-safetied and inspected

Spending limit is $2300 at most

They are very reliable if they were taken care of which is important so take it to a mechanic if you can first like the other guy said. That AMC I6 was the best thing AMC ever did and Chrysler even kept making it for decades after they bought out AMC.

>buy a clean one
>implying cars are impossible to wash

Then get a civic for 2300. Post your local Craigslist.

A clean one as in no mechanical problems and good paint and good interior.

Other options are limited. Not a lot of good civics for sale. If everyone here would like to debate, I have a list of five or so other options out of 600 vehicles I checked the other night

Don't listen to those guys telling you to find that exact vehicle for a certain price. I was literally just in the car shopping market (picking up the new car today) and I had to keep my options open to find something nice. I looked at Jeeps, Hondas, Toyotas, Subarus, Chevys, just anything in my price range. When you find something you like just google the common problems they may have and check if they were fixed on the one you are looking at. Took my almost a month and a half to find the Buick I'm getting but it was a good choice for the used car market in my city.

Protip: most people tend to clean the fuck out of their cars before selling them. It's a cheap car and no doubt has a lot more issues that the seller won't say but the important thing is it gets you from A to B until you can buy something better. Don't spend any money on it other than basic maintanence.

Me again

>just get a civic for $2300
>look at my local craigslist again
>this is the Honda market
>fart can
>destroyed interior
>engine modded to shit
>guy complains it doesn't run or doesn't run right after modding

2005 Nissan Altima 2.5S: 205k, apparently no repairs required, $1600 (Ottawa)

2008 Nissan Altima S:
225k, apparently no repairs required, $2400 (Kingston)

1992 Honda Prelude R:
208k, is getting pre-safetied by owner to see exactly what it needs, $1650 (Ottawa)

2007 Pontiac G6:
190k, apparently no repairs required, $1900 (Ottawa)

2004 Hyundai Tiburon:
138k, apparently no repairs (although I think brakes might need work somewhat soon), $1500 (Ottawa)

That's in kms right? I'd almost say the Hyundai but the two Nissans don't sound bad either. Just get those pre-purchase inspections.

It is in kilometres

Buy it

Get a belt, fuel filter, air filter, all fluids change, new radiator hoses, and new brake pads

All that will cost around $300 and you'll have a car that will make it at least 20k miles

Tiburon is in good shape mechanically but there is what looks like rusting happening

I've emailed the person back to ask if they'd be cool with me taking it to a mechanic to see what it needs

Rattle can paint too. Just shows how much they cared about it. Check out those Nissans.

Good

XJ platform owner here, I got the worst possible situation (up Renix MJ). Let me tell you how this can go.

>pre '97 face-lift
If it's '91 or later, you have a Chrysler OBD1 system. This will, at least, let you read some form of codes. For us poor Renix bastards we have nothing but our multimeters, and even if we have the Renix scanner the truck has to be running to read from. If you have a '96, you have OBDII of course, but now you're beholden to emissions testing.

If it's '91 or later, you will have a Chrysler open cooling system. When people talk trash about the cooling, they're talking about the AMC closed system, and the problematic overflow bottles. Airflow can be an issue if your fan shroud is missing (mine is). If you have a '96 there you will have slightly better access to cooling system components.

>Needs a belt
Make damn sure it didn't overheat or blow the headgasket. Check the oil and the coolant. Make sure the AC compressor hasn't seized.

>Windshield
Just get someone to throw it on. NBD.

Overall, they're not hard to work on. Call your local junkyards or pick-n-pulls and ask how many Cherokees they have. If you're lucky, they'll still have 5-10 of them in the lot still. Any damaged trim or other simple components can easily be pulled. Be prepared to do some prep work on it after you buy it, including a headlight relay harness (pre-'96 headlight switches pose a fire hazard due to undergauged wire; headlight relay harnesses alleviate the issue by applying the voltage only at the headlights), refreshing all your grounds, and inspecting the floorpan.


Do that and it will work fine. Running XJs for a few hundred is always a good bet. Good fucking luck on gas though.

I've always wanted an xj with the selec Trac 4wd. A buddy of mine had a 92 in highschool, and even with some bald ass tires the full time 4wd kept us on the road. Plus dat straight six.

Sadly I live in the heart of the rust belt so finding an xj with full time 4wd without a ton of rust and less than 160k miles, its pretty much impossible for under 4k.

It's not all bad. You can always get yourself a $400 2wd junker that runs and swap in JY parts from 4wd models. My MJ is a huge pile of junk 2wd and while I intend to eventually swap in 4wd components, I'm enjoying it as a road truck and restoration project with the bench seat in it for now. I love bench seats. When I convert to 4wd I'm going to have to do a lot of work other than the 4wd conversion, including swapping in buckets and a center console just because that's how I want to do it. I'll even cut an XJ overhead console to fit and modify it with the arduino Renix scanner to get back the telemetry functions and slap in a compass.

They're really not hard to change into whatever you want, they break down into parts fairly easily and everything swaps from all years. The biggest issue is finding one with good bones, so as soon as you find one with at least the door count, engine and transmission you want, get it, and change the rest later. Examples with blown engines can be had for $300-600 depending on the condition of the rest of the truck and makes for easy and often cheaper swaps.