I've got a huuuuuge delema....need help soooooon! 1999 GCLim????

[jririshman]

Alrite heres what's going on....I'm 17 and fell in love with the WJ model....I've got this private dealer that buys cars w/ high milage really cheap from corperate dealers and she found me a PEEErfect GC....I had a budget, but knew what i want (Quadra-Drive, Limited, V8, loaded, etc) and this one WAAS LOADED.....Its a kindof ugly gold color, which dont mind, but not sure if no matter how much nice stuff i put into it, would EVER look like a white, black or silver one....Anyways, this one has 166,000+ miles but the michanic said it was extremely clean and seemed clean to everyone i had test drive it....Got it for $6,5000, Ive had it now for over a month, it was fine until recently, now im worried....the front end clunks and makes abnormal sounds wen i enter a driveway, or spead bumps and everything thats not flat...the transmition is really jerky and also clunks and knocks wen i drive it smoothly to save gas.....ALSO, the whole truck swaays at times and litterally feels like the frame isn't bolted down!....AND NOOW the engine is idoling refusely between 1k-1,3k rpms and when im stopped at a light or watever it jolts forward every 5 seconds....Think thats wierd, just yesterday, for the first time, the check engine light came on and the engine shut off when i was at a stop light....it firsed right back up and was fine until today, when it shut off on me at every stop sign i hit going home from school!...Im really worried about my decision so im having a Jeep dealer diagnose it tomarrow so that i can show my private dealer a list of whats wrong, she mite have her mechanic fix it if its minor.......OR....OOOONNEEE MOOREE THING.....The private dealer i know has this beaauutiful Black 1999 Grand Cherokee Lim. the same exact one as mine loaded w/ every option! only 120k miles but she told me that their not gunna try and sell it because theres a blown piston or something like that they mite rebuild the engine.....heeres my idea.....what about giving them my GOLD jeep back, and taking the exxtremely clean black on black jeep and trying rebuild the engine and lift it and put some performance aftermarket parts on it???????? Im not sure how tough a rebuild wpuld be but i cant imagine it not being worth it because a good rebuild would make the truck as good as new!! I really need some help on this decision i just need some opinions from some educated people that know alot about this model year and/ or anything u want to tell me....The choices are to 1. keep the Gold one and work on it constantly, fixing stuff and what not 2. taking the black one, working on rebuilding the engine w/ my brother and a family michanic. or 3. turn in the gold one and wait for a better deal (which will probubly never happen)

Thanks everyone who read this for your time... I would really appreciate opinions, knowledge or insites that anyone has...just joined for some advice, i hope i didnt write too much! Thank you............

[Bob D.]

I would keep the one you have, the problems don't sound that ominous.
The '99 has a blown engine, when you fix it, how many other problems will show up?
Sometimes a good deal isn't such a good deal.

[jririshman]

yeaah i actually think im going to do that your probly right the other one will have just as many problems....i just gotta choose asap before i put any more miles on the one i have....Im not sure but thank you

[dksob81]

I woudl keep the one you have now, An engine rebuild is not all that hard tho with the right tools, I just rebuilt my first engine about 2 months ago (Chevy 2.2L) all went well, then engine had 0 compression the ring were shot, I replaced all the bearings and seal and honed the cylinder walls myself, I did this for a friend as a project and it came out goooood, she starts right up and runs good. But like Bob D. Said you don't know what other problems it has.

As for your clunking front end and swaying it could be quite a few things, Steering Stabilizer, Sway Bar end links, Control arm bushing, etc...

[Dboy23]

Eh option 3, if your interested I have a 99' it's like a brownish color? It's not limited but it's FULLY loaded, leather, power seats, sunroof, cd and tape, literly not missing anything for a 99' speedo reads 75k but the title reads NOT ACTUAL, if your interested let me know, btw my dad's a mechanic and he wouldn't give me a car if it wasn't good so yeah, mine's a 99 too I got a bunch of pics on a site if you want I can post it. Um I'm thinking of selling it because hopefully within' a week and a half or two I'll have a new Dodge Charger so yeah let me know.

[jririshman]

DKSob-yeah exaactly....i took it too a Jeep dealer to get it looked at, it needs new shox and a steering stabalizer, it died on me because it needs a new air filter and O2 sensor...nothin major tho and they said everything else looks great its suprisingly clean for having soo many miles.....$6,500 tho?? im not sure i see them on craiglist going for 1k less sometimes....

DBoy-Yeah whats ur price? where do u live im in Northern California? Its gotta have quadra drive and V8 tho for sure....

[Dboy23]

Uh not a V8 sorry, I only want $5,000 and I'm far from you haha, but keep looking, to be honest with you I only paid $2500 for mine and that's after they put a replacement engine in it so yeah don't rush, mine's a L6 4.0.

[jririshman]

wow thats a steal...how come the engine was replaced??

[Dboy23]

Eh it was bad, the lady we got it from only drove the car to work, all highway miles, we also put a new alternator for her, there's nothing really wrong with the car I just want a Charger lol. Idk there was something wrong with the engine.