Help me choose a Jeep

[k-ink]

I plan on buying a Jeep. Probably with a straight six engine for reliability. Mainly as I love having decent traction in winter. Going from RWD to a part time AWD S3 with winter tyres opened my eyes. Now I want even more! Plus the ability to have a play off road sometime would be very cool fun. Mostly it will be on the motorway though. Budget up to £8k max. Ideally a chunk less. So...

Which variant to go for?



Wrangler

I like the way it is small and looks the coolest (especially with larger tyres). But I suspect it may be noisey? A hard top would be fitted permanently.


Cherokee

Would have to be the older shape, but with the facelifted interior. Not a fan of the jelly mould new one, unless it was in black. Is the newer one much better?


Grand

Good looking. Is it too wallowy?




Help! Thanks

[Stu R]

Wranglers are great, I love 'em. But the thought of having one as a daily driver / motorway cruiser leaves me utterly cold in the same way a defender does. But then I'm getting boring in my old age.
Grand Cherokee on the other hand, sounds perfect for you. Not bad should you choose to get it dirty either.

[k-ink]

Thanks. I have not been in a Wrangler or a Grand so do not know how they are to drive. I have only been in the previous Cherokee.

I see a new shape Grand with sensible to low milage is not too much money. These look good value.



ps

Saw this. High milage but looks cool...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Edited by k-ink on Wednesday 3rd April 18:44

[300bhp/ton]

k-ink said:

Wrangler

I like the way it is small and looks the coolest (especially with larger tyres). But I suspect it may be noisey? A hard top would be fitted permanently.

£8k won't see you in the latest version of the Wrangler, known as JK. The JK was an all new vehicle in 2005 and is very very good.

£8k will get you the previous version which is known as the TJ. This is a very capable vehicle, but it parallels with a Land Rover Defender in many respects.

This means that while you could use it daily, it'd be a bit like wanting to use a Defender or an Elise daily. It's somewhat more hardcore and compromised.

All have removable roofs, either a hard top or soft top. Doors are removable too and the windscreen folds down. This means it will be more noisy and drafty than most modern cars.

Handling wise they are perfectly fine, but they do drive and feel like a proper 4x4 (which is what actually appeal to me).

TJ's are very capable off road vehicles, although from the factory they ride quite low. To fit bigger tyres you will need to consider lifting it first. This isn't as bad as it sounds and all you need to do is lift it to a similar height a Defender is in standard trim, so it won't really have any real adverse affect on handling or ride.

The 4.0 engine is the best, in the Wrangler it makes slightly less HP than in the Cherokee though, although unlike the Cherokee you can find manuals in the UK. They are genuinely nippy and not too bad on fuel for a vehicle of this type.

2.5 petrols aren't bad either, they are more powerful than a Tdi Land Rover and easily out perform them. They obviously aren't as quick as a 4.0 and they lack the low end grunt, but they really aren't bad vehicles.

The very last TJ Wranglers used a more modern 2.4 litre engine as the base version, although I don't know how rare they are in the UK.


The only thing I personally dislike about the Wrangler is the transfer box, it has no centre differential. This means it's 4wd mode is for slippery surfaces only and can't be used on the road in normal dry conditions. So nearly all your road use will be in rwd. On the Cherokee the 4.0 uses a different transfer box that does have a centre differential, so a Cherokee can be used in AWD mode all of the time.

k-ink said:

Cherokee

Would have to be the older shape, but with the facelifted interior. Not a fan of the jelly mould new one, unless it was in black. Is the newer one much better?

The XJ Cherokee is a very good vehicle IMO, although you'll not need to spend anywhere near £8k to get one. More comfy and refined than a Wrangler due to it's construction. But it shares many major components with the Wrangler.

One difference is leaf rear springs on the Cherokee, but don't let this put you off as it really isn't a negative at all, and it will perform just as well off road and on.

I'll be honest and say I always wanted a Wrangler, but I bought a Cherokee. Having now had a Cherokee it makes it hard to justify a Wrangler unless you want a Wrangler for the open air experience. At everything else the Cherokee easily matches or exceeds the Wrangler, and for a lot less money.

The only downer is, as I mentioned earlier. For the UK market they never offered the 4.0 Cherokee with a manual gearbox only auto. The auto works well I admit, but a manual would be more fun, faster and better on fuel.


The newer shape Cherokee, known as the KJ arguably isn't really a Cherokee. In the US home market it was branded as Liberty as it didn't really offer the same thing as the XJ Cherokee did.

The KJ is a good vehicle in it's own right and is arguably more road biased than the XJ was. IFS means it should steer and ride more car like at the trade off of slightly less off road capability. You can see this through the rest of it's design, it's generally more compromised for serious off road use, with bigger bumpers and more plastic. But it is a better motorway vehicle and with a lift and some chunky tyres can still look the business and is still more than capable at most off road tasks.

k-ink said:

Grand

Good looking. Is it too wallowy?

In short no.

Although £8k means you can look at several different versions of Grand Cherokee. The earliest being the ZJ.

The ZJ shares much with the XJ Cherokee on some levels, but is coil not leaf at the back and uses it's own larger chassis/platform. There are also V8 engine options.

Now remember while the Grand Cherokee is a size up from the Cherokee, it is still a smaller class vehicle than a Range Rover or Discovery and lighter too.


In fact it's worth noting that the XJ Cherokee isn't very big, it's marginally longer than a Land Rover Defender 90 and despite it's looks is no bigger (smaller in some dimensions) than a MK2 Ford Focus.

All in all this means they aren't "too wallowy" at all. But they still drive like a proper 4x4.

The big difference with Jeeps is the Grand Cherokee and Cherokee are unibody/monoque designs and not ladder chassis vehicles like a classic Range Rover. This means they are more compact, lighter and less tall. This all aides and improves on road performance.


After the ZJ there is the WJ. This is an updated and revised version of the Grand Cherokee. Just as capable as the ZJ, but more modern looking inside and out.

I'm not sure on prices, but I suspect the WK might be in budget too. This was an all new design and arguably moved the Jeep more upmarket. A good vehicle, but less rugged than earlier designs.


Personally I prefer the styling of the earlier ZJ's, there is just something that appeals to me on how these look inside and out. The WJ just seems a bit less American inside. With Grand Cherokee's you might want to look at the diesel variants too.


Overall any of these Jeeps are good capable machines. Just depends on what you are after and your intended use.

The Wrangler is the most rugged, but the most compromised. But in return could be the most fun and is the smallest and most nimble off road. But it will also be the least civilised.

The Grand Cherokee's will offer the most space and comfort and still have go anywhere ability when setup to do so. But they are bigger and heavier for off road use.


The XJ fits nicely in the middle, it's still a fairly rugged truck, but is still a pleasant place to sit.

[psychoR1]

I would suggest Grand Cherokee.

Models to go for would be:
- 4.0 straight 6 XJ,
- 4.7v8 WJ,
- 2.7 CRD WJ,

as said above the XJ is tougher but the WJ more civilised and spacious.

the 4.0 in the WJ is no more economical than the V8.

The 2.7 merc CRD is the economy option.

Generally they're well built and very reliable.

We have done over 30k problem free miles in the last 2 years in our WJ v8.

[k-ink]

Thanks for the detailed replies everyone. Much appreciated

What do you all think of the V8 engine options? Are these reliable? It will either be a 6 or 8. No chance of getting a diesel!

[tr7v8]

k-ink said:

Thanks for the detailed replies everyone. Much appreciated

What do you all think of the V8 engine options? Are these reliable? It will either be a 6 or 8. No chance of getting a diesel!

If you're going LPG then the I6 otherwise the V8 is pretty good. The I6 is truly unbreakable, the V8 isn't bad not quite as bulletproof.

[jay140285]

I have a WJ V8 on LPG,

It started life standard with me, then went shiney with 18inch Startech alloys and General Grabbers, shiney A bar and Running boards.

Since Christmas its had a 3inch IRO lift and Muds fitted.

All I can say is that its good on fuel for a V8 with LPG loads of power, and not wallowly at all, even less so now lifted.

A Massive plus one from me and with your budget you can buy a great WJ and get modifying to suit your needs.

[300bhp/ton]

k-ink said:

Thanks for the detailed replies everyone. Much appreciated

What do you all think of the V8 engine options? Are these reliable? It will either be a 6 or 8. No chance of getting a diesel!

ZJ's use the older 5.2 and 5.9 Magnum V8. Not a bad engine and been around a long time. Not the most powerful but out gun and out mpg the Rover V8. The S6 is known and has a rep of being more stout, but may feel slightly underpowered in Grand Cherokee if you have a go in a V8 first.

WJ's you could get the newer 4.7 V8. Very nice engine it is and genuinely pokey.

[dome]

Theres a couple of us on here running 4.7 WJ's on LPG, I love mine. Very comfy, drives well, nice inside(mine is an 05 plate Limited XS, these have the best interior IMO) and sounds lovely. £4-5k absolute tops should see you in a good one. 18-20 MPG on Gas-fuel wise this costs the same, maybe slightly less than the Saab 9-5 Aero I had previously.

Loads of info on Grands on this site.

http://www.wjjeeps.com/jmenu.htm

[skyrover]

4.0 straight 6 all the way...

what an engine, will do a half million miles if you change the oil regularly.

It struggles a bit in my GC on some of the steep hill's around here, but I didn't buy this car to race around in.

It's a wonderfully comfortable and capable vehicle that I bought to complement my Land rover 110

I use the land rover work/rough and tumble and the GC for everything else.

Edited by skyrover on Wednesday 10th April 10:49

[K50 DEL]

I've had the 4.0 6 cylinder in the past and currently have 2 x 4.7 V8 WJs
Neither run on gas and both are used extensively both on and off road.

I made the switch to Jeep as my old Range Rovers were just costing waaay to much in maintenance.
The Jeeps have been great, I managed to plug the rad of my UK car up with mud last year on Salisbury Plain, it needed the front end taking apart to clean the rad properly, but it never boiled and the car now runs just fine.

The UAE car has had a top-end rebuild, damage caused by a previous owner running it low on oil, other than that, both have been bullet proof over the last 3 years or so and I'd recommend a WJ V8 to anyone.

[Konan]

skyrover said:

4.0 straight 6 all the way...

what an engine, will do a half million miles if you change the oil regularly.

I really have to change the oil?