Any TDRer's Have the Down Low on Grand Cherokee's?

[R.E. Miller]

Ok, so I am lame. I need to have something to drive other than my two dodges. I have been looking at some used Jeeps, and was wondering what everyone had to say. All I know is that the one that I am looking at has the 318, 116K, leather, loaded, and taken care of for a 1994 (i. e. it looks new) I know of two sides to their story, A) These things win 4X4 awards very frequently from the publications, B) I have heard that they have "problems" I need something that is not going to fall apart on me, and I am trying to get a general idea of how others feel about them. In the mean time I may try to test drive this thing.

Thanks for the help,

Russell

 

[klenger]

I had a '98 Grand Cherokee 5. 2L V8. Had a few problems with it, but were fixed under warranty. I sold it with 60K to buy a Dodge truck in 01. I liked it.

 

[jgillott]

My wife currently has a '96 GC Laredo 318 full time 4x4. It just turned 100k last week. Now this thing has gone literally anywhere we have tried to put it. For the most part, my wife has been very happy with the vehicle. She is most impressed with it's performance in the snow. The full time 4x4 and 4-wheel abs makes for a very good winter vehicle. We are planning on selling ours in the near future. The wife wants a new QC CTD instead of another SUV, basically because we are looking for something bigger and she absolutely loves these trucks.



The GC has been somewhat of a maintenance problem however. It started at around 70K. A front end noise began and ended when I rebuilt the front diff and replaced both hubs. It has been fine since. Secondly we have had an electrical gremlin that neither I or the dealer have been able to find. Occasionally the gauges will quit, and not come back on until the turn signals have been activated. At that time, the gauges will come back on and work fine for weeks and then do it all over again. We have also had some intermittent failures of the headlights. I'm sure it is a grounding problem, but again, I havn't been able to find it or reproduce the problem on a regular basis.



Recently the engine has developed an oil pump/pressure problem, which in turn turned into a lifter problem. I took care of that one over the last several weeks. I am a preventative maintenance freak and it has bothered me that we have seen these kind of issues. All in all, I've been impressed with the performance/drivability of the Jeep, but somewhat disappointed with the reliability of major components. Again... . this GC does have 100k on it, so I can't complain too much. It has never left us stranded. I'm sure that the problems that we have had could be chalked up to wear and tear, but they have happened.



Finally, the 318 has never shown very good fuel economy. We have seen around 18 mpg on very long trips (PA to Florida), but usually see something around 12-13 mpg.



Good luck with your search.



Justin

 

[TowPro]

My neighbor has one, Besides needing rotors and brakes pads every 30,000 miles, they have 160K on it with no problems yet.

 

[R.E. Miller]

Thanks for the input guys! As much as I would love to have another cummins, they have yet to put a 3. 9L in anything that could be a daily driver I am going to look into this jeep further, I know the owners well, and that might be the best thing I have going.

Thanks,

Russell

 

[JLEONARD]

Russell,

A common item is also the differential bearing... the one from the driveshaft. They lose preload and make noise.

My son has a repair business and does a ton of them.

Just another thing to look for or know about if you hear a noise back there.

Jay