[ISRAEL]

Hey all. Sorry for the jacked up title, can't be edited. It was supposed to read born-again.

Anyway, my very first car was a 1993 XJ sport. I loved the thing and put 30k hard miles on it before passing it along to my younger siblings. Over its 12 years it has had the hell beat out of it with plenty of towing, off-roading, & teenage driving. The thing has been in 4 major accidents! These days it sits around a lot at my parent's place. Occasionally I'll drive it to tow a load to the dump or use it if my DD is in the shop. Despite its appearance and hardship the damn thing still runs like a top. To this day it has never has one mechanical failure. Part of this may have to do with it not having any electrical convenience options (locks windows etc). But still amazing none the less.

Here I am now, 28 yo, and after owning several awesome vehicles I'm starting to crave the an ol'XJ. My last rig was a 99 toyota landcruiser (another sweet machine) and I just sold it.

I have a few questions for you all and I hope you'll indulge me. I have used the search but nothing really came up.

First of all, this may have already been widely discussed and debated, but my family also has a 99XJ sport along with their 93. You may think I'm crazy, but IMO the 93 is smoother, quieter, and seems to have a more punchy acceleration. Not only that, but the 99 seems to be less reliable. It has had several nick-nack failures (handles, switches, rotor warpage) along with a blown head gasket last summer. It only has 50k vs the 130k of the 93. If you were to close your eyes while driving each you'd swear the 93 was the newer of the two.

I bought a brand new 1999 Grand Cherokee when they came out based on my experience with the 93. It was a mechanical disaster. I had to dump it at 34K while the warranty was still in effect. I hope this doesn't ruffle any feathers and please don't flame me, but did the quality of Jeep/DC go down for a while in the late 90s? Is there any truth to this? It's for this reason I'm leaning towards a pre 97 instead of a 97- 01.

So my plan is to find a nice XJ, preferably in the "country" trim in the 95-96 year range (airbag) with lower miles. There's one in my town that is a clean, loaded, 2-owner, with 104k on the odometer. The kid has an outrageous asking price but he did let on that he owes $4700 on it and want to deal. It's stock, white in color and for its age I'd say it's a 8.5/10 overall. I know this is a BS question, but what would you guys consider a good deal on this XJ?

Also, is it still possilbe to find all the OEM parts for this rig. For example the d-seat has some splitting, does Jeep/chrysler still sell the seat cover for a 96 Country? I like my interiors to be stock. I can't seem to find any online retailer that carries a comprehensive selection of jeep parts. Is there any special stealer you guys score your OEM parts from?

Thanks a ton. Since selling my JGC four years ago I've become pretty good at wrenching. I hope to contriubte to the knowlege base around here in the future.

[balloo93]

The 99 used a different intake manifold design and might not have come with the "fire blanket" under the hood. The older XJ's tend to have those. The newer ones had the air inlet opening on the air box inside the engine bay and not a extended piece that went through the header panel for air. The older units also have a Ventri in the air box lid where the intake hose connect to it. Might make it a little quieter.

The advancements in the OBDII and more complicated systems, could be the reliablity issues you spoke of. I'm basing my theories on the things I noticed on my wife's 01 compared to my 93. You weren't specific enough.

The 97-99 make great 4wd rigs. They are about as reliable as the older XJ's, have stronger Ujoint front axle and a stronger 29spline rear 8.25 axle. These units can handle 33's without strain. The 95 would have the dual diaphram brake master cylinder and the stronger Ujoints in the front axles as well, but the rear 8.25 would be a 27 spline axle. That rear can easily handle up to about 31's with a lot of wheeling.

As for finding stock replacement seats, you might want to start looking in wrecking yards. the factory units are VERY expensive. Bestop sells replacent "style" seats and adapters for teh XJ, and they would run about the same price. MasterCraft also sells some XJ seats, but make sure they are DOT legal in your neck of the woods.