Fixer-upper or too far? (Cherokee)

[eltax91]

Hi all

I've been looking at getting into Green-laning, but i'm struggling to convince the wife to let me loose with the purse strings. I'm thinking of having a sneaky bid on a 4.0 Cherokee on ebay and seeing if I can get a cheap one. I'm not afraid of spanners, will tackle most basic jobs. So, any Jeep experts want to cast their eye over one for me and give their opinions? Cheers.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1998-JEEP-CHEROKEE-LIMITED-A...

[pits]

No log book, selling on behalf of someone else, personally I would steer clear, bear in mind the Jeeps are expensive when they go wrong, if there is only a few things wrong with this one why is it being sold spares or repairs with MOT? I would hazard a guess he cant get the bits for it, or can but they are horrifically expensive.


ETA: No frills off roader for green lanes, I would look for a cheap LR90 or a Suzuki SJ, or SWB Pajero, the Jeeps are good off road, but a bit a long, only Jeep I would buy for off road is a CJ, not saying the Cherokee is rubbish off road, just the cost of running vs how far you wish to go with mods and bits in the UK I wouldn't use one personally.

Edited by pits on Wednesday 27th January 21:36

[normalbloke]

Get your parts from an indy and they are cheap as chips.
Cherokees can rust almost as badly as D*scoverys.So beware,and have a look prior to buying one.

[pits]

normalbloke said:

Get your parts from an indy and they are cheap as chips.
Cherokees can rust almost as badly as D*scoverys.So beware,and have a look prior to buying one.

Come on thats not fair is it, nothing can rust anywhere near as bad as a Disco

[richyd]

there's plenty of choice at the mo, so no need to compromise if it looks knackered. Personally I'd spend a little more, between £1-2k and get a solid runner with a long MOT. These are a bargain.

Weak points are leaky rads, rear diff oil seal and the brakes. All electics should work and if you get a 4.0 it shouldn't use oil. Check for a FSH and you should be fine.

Re rot, I was told last week that the run from around '96-98 do rot, as Jeep botched their galvanising. By 99 then got it sorted though. My 2001 Cherokee is certainly very solid, no signs of rust anywhere.