First time car buyer -help please

[Shabiz]

Hi,

I need some direction in my search for a jeep. I am a single mom and need reliable transportation as I need to drive across the county in a couple of weeks. I have a limited amount of money ($7000) to spend so I was wondering if one type or year of jeep is better than another. I live in Portland, Oregon where jeeps are numerous but I also think they be a little overpriced. ANY help would appreciated. I also was considering an Explorer but heard that jeep is better....any feedback? Thank you!

[rmousir]

GOOD CHOICE!

You should be able to get a nice Jeep Cherokee for much less than $7000. I paid less than $2000 for mine and I have put 80 000 miles on it. Now you may want something newer. Mine is a '91. I have seen many newer Jeeps for more but I didn't need that. I am sure that you can get a really nice Cherokee for around $5000. My friend just bought a '96 for $5500 and his Jeep is loaded. Very nice. Good luck.

Keep on Jeepin.

[rmousir]

so how did things work out? Did you get a totally nice rockin Jeep? i bet it is loaded with nice features and did not cost nearly as much as a chevy or ford. let us konw.

keep on jeepin.

[goudy]

well, i'll assume you are looking for a four door, four wheel drive, automatic... the most common setup for a cherokee.

'91 or newer is your best bet for a reliable engine, it was reworked that year, plus its High Output.

if its older that about '96 make sure it hasn't ever overheated, that was a problem with my '91.

you are only going to find 4x4s north of the mason-dixon line, so get part time, otherwise fulltime will just give you front axle repare bills.

and just an opinion, get power windows, manual windows on a 4 door are a pain.

additional note, if you replace tires, i would suggest the "police tires" they are 70 series instead of 75, the car handles much better on the road, i preffer michelins, but that is obviously up to you...

all in all I think a cherokee is very capable and affordable... but keep in mind all my suggestions are concerning on-road driving.

one other note, don't try this yourself, but i've spun a cherokee at 90mph, on 70 series tires (i fell asleep), did a 180, skidded off a steep shoulder, should have definately flipped the car, but i turned around and drove home, its pretty stable.

good luck looking for a car.

[FallenZen]

I just bought a '95 Cherokee with 89k miles on it for $4750... It's got manual windows and locks 'Cause the less electronics I have, the better the chances I can fix it when it breaks (bad experience with a cadillac made me a manual everything junkie). While having manual everything can be a pain, at least I can fix it.. And I may look into installing automatic items, but I'm in no hurry to do that.

Good luck with your Jeep hunt, had mine 3 weeks and I'm already pretty well sold for life.

-Zen

[zee 400]

Originally Posted by Shabiz

Hi,

I need some direction in my search for a jeep. I am a single mom and need reliable transportation as I need to drive across the county in a couple of weeks. I have a limited amount of money ($7000) to spend so I was wondering if one type or year of jeep is better than another. I live in Portland, Oregon where jeeps are numerous but I also think they be a little overpriced. ANY help would appreciated. I also was considering an Explorer but heard that jeep is better....any feedback? Thank you!

How far will you be traveling.