Which Jeeps are LEMONS??

HEY! I was thinking about getting a used Jeep Wrangler for winter and I heard from a buddy that depending on the year it was made some of them are lemons and nothing but trouble, and others are rock solid, so which ones are rock solid? I think my buddy said that the CJ from 1978 was built like a tank!
thanks for any info. :smokin:

Don't get a '97 unless you want to shoot yourself in the face in a fit of rage when it strands you on the side of the road for the 30th time.

I have owned 3 Jeeps and still own 2. The CJ's and the really old full size Cherokee / Wagoneer from the 60's to early 80's are reliable but really primitive.
The newer stuff is a mixed bag, but generally less reliable than others. My '84 Cherokee has been with me since new and its been a total disaster. However, many people get very good service from theirs.
I think its expcetations. Jeeps are not seemlessly reliable, like a Toyota, so do not expect that.
They need repairs and patience.

i would suggest staying away from '87-'90 wranglers. jeep was having some money trouble throught those years and was also trying to introduce the new CJ replacment. i have an 87 and i've had some trouble with it. BUT, if you have some extra money laying around, once you've replaced the computer controlled carb, the peugot tranny, and the horrible axles you'll have yourself a pretty strong jeep, providing you replace everything with something stronger.

Don't get a '97 unless you want to shoot yourself in the face in a fit of rage when it strands you on the side of the road for the 30th time.

sounds like you're having some trouble. what's the problem?

I have owned 3 Jeeps and still own 2. The CJ's and the really old full size Cherokee / Wagoneer from the 60's to early 80's are reliable but really primitive.
The newer stuff is a mixed bag, but generally less reliable than others. My '84 Cherokee has been with me since new and its been a total disaster. However, many people get very good service from theirs.
I think its expcetations. Jeeps are not seemlessly reliable, like a Toyota, so do not expect that.
They need repairs and patience.

Oh hey there MagicRat, thanks for the tip. I like the Jeep because they're simple yet effective. I'm looking at a 1989 Wrangler with 4wd and the 4 cylinder engine for $3,000. It looks like it's in pretty good shape, the guy that owns it lives in the suburbs so he hasn't used it for offroading. Only one thing spooked me though, after a long drive, I pulled the dipstick out and I saw a good amount of white fudge...could this be a cracked block? The guy has it registered and uses it every day so I don't think it's moisture from sitting.

i would suggest staying away from '87-'90 wranglers. jeep was having some money trouble throught those years and was also trying to introduce the new CJ replacment. i have an 87 and i've had some trouble with it. BUT, if you have some extra money laying around, once you've replaced the computer controlled carb, the peugot tranny, and the horrible axles you'll have yourself a pretty strong jeep, providing you replace everything with something stronger.

thanks for the warning, I was just looking at a '89 Wrangler. Yeah I heard from some guy "It's not the Jeep you buy, its the Jeep you build!" So the huge selection of aftermarket parts is what really impressed me with the Jeep, and they are priced ok too. :smokin:

Don't get a '97 unless you want to shoot yourself in the face in a fit of rage when it strands you on the side of the road for the 30th time.

Looks like you got a real cranky one, thanks for the warning. :icon16:

Every company that mass produces vehicle will produce a "lemon", this is just a byproduct of mass production and there is no way to aviod it. For X amount of cars built, Y will have inherint problem. Toyota's reliablility is going down because they are gearing for mass production on par with GM, Ford, and Chrystler. Since they are producing so many more vehicles, "lemons" are gonna become more of a problem. Every make and model is gonna have some lemons.

As with Jeeps, lemons are few and far between but they do exist. If a jeep has 100k+ miles runs great and hasn't been in the shop a lot, then it isnt a lemon.

Oh hey there MagicRat, thanks for the tip. I like the Jeep because they're simple yet effective. I'm looking at a 1989 Wrangler with 4wd and the 4 cylinder engine for $3,000. It looks like it's in pretty good shape, the guy that owns it lives in the suburbs so he hasn't used it for offroading. Only one thing spooked me though, after a long drive, I pulled the dipstick out and I saw a good amount of white fudge...could this be a cracked block? The guy has it registered and uses it every day so I don't think it's moisture from sitting.

Cars that are used for shorter trips (anything less that 1/2 hour) will do this What you see there is a mixture of condensation and oil vapour (and a bit of sulpher, a common trace element in gasoline).
It means the engine is not fully warming up enough to get the oil hot enough to vaporise and remove these contaminents.
It is not a problem in itself, but cars that build up their mileage in short trips do wear out their engines faster than those that get long trips.
Just don't pay too much.

90-95 Wranglers are a good lot. there fuel injected and still leaf sprung. The only real problems I've heard of is the Dana 35 rear is the C clip version. You can upgrade to a bigger axle or even buy a C clip eliminator kit. Also when lifted the driveline can give you vibration due to the slip yoke they used on the T-Case but this is easily solved with a Slip yoke eliminator kit. The only problems I've had were cause by rockcrawling. The Hammers will do that to any rig though.

there fuel injected and still leaf sprung.

Why is it better to be leaf sprung?

Leaf springs are a simpler suspension to work and a lift cost a fraction of wait you'll pay for new coils and long arms for a TJ. Granted the TJ suspension is really good outta the box and a 4" lift kit performs amazingly well. But if you get really down and dirty and need more clearence and articulation the coils are gonna give you nothin but trouble. One of my pals actually switched his rear to a leaf sprung setup on his TJ. In general I wasn't really trying say that leaf springs are the best BUT for a newbie there gonna be simple, cheaper, and you can still heavily modify them for offroad to gain the performance you desire.

Which Jeeps are Lemons?
NONE OF THEM!

i would suggest staying away from '87-'90 wranglers. jeep was having some money trouble throught those years and was also trying to introduce the new CJ replacment. i have an 87 and i've had some trouble with it. BUT, if you have some extra money laying around, once you've replaced the computer controlled carb, the peugot tranny, and the horrible axles you'll have yourself a pretty strong jeep, providing you replace everything with something stronger.


WHAT DO YOU REPLACE THE COMPUTER CONTROLLED CARB WITH.

With a weber carb replacement I found online. When I ordered the kit, there were two different carbs. I went with the lower performance model and did just fine. But I wasn't doing any hard wheelin'.

Don't get a '97 unless you want to shoot yourself in the face in a fit of rage when it strands you on the side of the road for the 30th time.
My parents had a 97. It was great, not a single problem with it. They got an 01 that was a lemon. Their 04 rubicon has had no problems.

I guess lemons are peculiar only to Lemon trees not to any one brand of vehicle. Some owners tend to look out of only one lense of their glasses, so to speak, when they wind up on the short end of a repair bill or a stubborn problem and never finish looking at the rest of the story. Can't really blame them - it's their pocket book!!


My perception is that everything mechanical will break or wear out - some sooner than later and everyone uses/abuses machinery in different ways.

So far as reliable design goes, when you marry engineering and marketing, you get more art than science and the vicious circle goes round again...... kinda like a vortex tho.

JD's philosophy of machinery consumerisum :2cents: :uhoh: :2cents: