New Purchase Advise Please.

[coleld]

I'm considering the purchase of a 1994 Cherokee with 148000 miles on it. 6 cyl with auto transmission. This is the two door model. The body is clean with some rust on rear bumper. The price will be about $1000.00 he was asking $2400. It is advertised as being very dependable. He seems to need the money for personal reasons. Is this a deal or no deal? What kind of problems can I expect with this many miles. I plan on using it for commuting 80 miles per day in the winter months. I appriciate any advise, thanks in advance.

[MagicRat]

IMO, whether this is a good buy depends....... on your expectations.

There are many old, high mileage Jeeps out there. So long as this one is maintained, it will have many useful miles left. It will need somewhat more maintenance than a car. Don't expect Toyota reliability, but generally they are pretty good.

The most important thing is to do research. Look through all the posts and stickys on this forum. After 1987, the 4 liter Jeeps really did not change much year - to - year, excpet in details.

The engines last a long time, often with 500 k miles between rebuilds.

There are issues with cracked exhaust manifolds, cooling system problems (early 90's only) worn front wheel bearings, ball joints etc.
Some worn front end components may cause the 'Death Wobble' on some Jeeps, but not others.
Fortunately, all problems are well known on internet forums and generally easily solved

[coleld]

Thank you for your input.

[AlohaBra]

Originally Posted by coleld

I'm considering the purchase of a 1994 Cherokee with 148000 miles on it. 6 cyl with auto transmission. This is the two door model. The body is clean with some rust on rear bumper. The price will be about $1000.00 he was asking $2400. It is advertised as being very dependable. He seems to need the money for personal reasons. Is this a deal or no deal? What kind of problems can I expect with this many miles. I plan on using it for commuting 80 miles per day in the winter months. I appriciate any advise, thanks in advance.

For an 80 mile commute, I might look for something with better gas mileage. (Four dollar gasoline is here already.)

The Jeep Cherokee is an excellent off-roader though, if that is something you might be interested in using it for.

[citizen@large]

I totally concur with the above comments. Personally, I'd drive her and see if you fall in love or not...

[dave92cherokee]

Jeeps aren't very well known for being the best commuter cars. Although the engines especially the 4.0 are exceptionally strong and long lasting with proper maintenance most people with a jeep start getting the itch to lift it, then put bigger tires on it, and then it just keeps going from there until you only get around 13mpg like alot of us get. If it's going to be a long drive for winter time look into getting a fwd car with a small 4banger in it for good gas mileage. That is unless you're wanting to buy the jeep to go offroading then by all means join the crowd.

[2000izusu]

as long as it is in good shape! a 94 for 1000 with 148,000 is a great deal and a no brainer. around here that is a 3000$ vehicle (in good shape)