[Buyingajeep]

Okay here's the good bad and and the ugly. The good is Im looking at buying a 94 grand cherokee laredo from a dealer ship. It's the color, got the interior, and all accesories I've been looking for for a few weeks now. The bad is that it's from a small junky dealership. (You know the ones in the ghetto w the broke down fence around it ). I'm afraid they may have put something in the system to quite down the noises Valves,rods,lifters etc for a few months until they get it sold You and I both know that these dumpy in town dealerships are good for that. The ugly is That the 4.0 motor w/ 133000 miles on it for $6250. Its the white one w/ the gold trim. Anyways I change oil for a living and have noticed that these specific motos are pretty much bullett proof. Pretty nice all around besides the transfer cases always leaking which im sure is a pretty common topic on this site as well. Now I'm selling my acura legend to get this vehicle and was wondering How many miles most people usually get out of these 4.0 litters. My acura has over 200000 and I drive my vehicles pretty- actually really really hard. Now my ford probe I have has 120000 and i think id be lucky to get a nother 30000 out of it. So what is the average milage on these motors and what common problems do most people have w/ these straight 6's? Also how is the cost of maintence on these. Sorry for the long post and hope to soon be a member of this sight.

[ChrisinVA]

Skip it. Entirely too expensive with that many miles. It's not the motor you have to worry about...the automatic tranny is the culprit. Chrysler unit. If they haven't reman'ed the trans yet, it will need one soon. $$$.

For $5000 you can get a *nice* XJ with less than 100k miles, and it has the japanese AW4 trans which lasts a long time (also used in various Toyotas).

Check out Autotrader.com for more Jeeps within your area.

[Swamp Boy]

I agree with chrisinva entirely to much ..However If you could get him to take 5500 .. Make him an offer around 5000 . and maybe he will meet you half way.
As for your primary concern. Take it on a test drive and before you do arrange with a local garage to get it in for a quick look.
You can tell if there is sawdust in the tranny by looking at the dipstick. If you have your mind set on this ZJ then give it a hard look check everything.. Oil (no water) water (no oil) Tranny (no metal flakes or powdery substance, like sawdust) brake rotors (not skarred to bad) No slipping in tranny. Lock it in to 4lo and make sure it shifts in and out. And also for that price I would expect brand new tires.. You get where I am coming from.
If you want it go for it. But look before you leep.
PS some of the ghetto dealerships buy cars directly from auction and never even have a mechanic touch them. So it may be clean.
Just try to get a better price.
Good luck.

[rJEEP]

I got my 98 for 7300 with 96,000mi....there's a lot of Jeeps out there and a lot of decent deals...keep looking man, Personally I think that you would be getting ripped off buyinga 94 for that much $$ with that mileage.

[zcubed]

I've got a '98 with the 4.0. I've put 158K on it, and she's still rocking along. I did have a tranny scare about 35K ago. It went into the "safe mode" where it wouldn't shift out of second (designed that way so you can get to the shop without doing further damage). Anyway, i called the stealership and a couple of shops, and they all wanted to replace or rebuild ($1500-$2500). I then heard about an "honest" shop. I don't remember what the exact problem was, but i was on my way for $160.00. Now, though, it's kinda acting up again -- revs real high before shifting into second.

Other than the tranny, the most major thing i've had to do is replace the exhaust manifold which had cracked, and which i heard was a common problem for ZJ's??? Other than that, just oil changes, brakes, and tires, and shocks (2wd).

But, i agree with the others. It's too much money for that many miles. Keep looking in the paper, and you'll eventually find what you're looking for, and if you look hard enough and long enough, it will be from an honest person, and for the right price.

[JeepGuyRyan]

if it makes you feel any better, my neighbor just blew up the engine in his RSX while up at the track the other day, and he races his modified 4.0 grand cherokee as well and it has over 100,000 miles last time I checked. the 4.0 is a good engine. just the stupid trannies you ahve to worry about

[Beachead19]

JeepGuyRyan: I'm assuming your friend mis-shifted with the RSX's 6-speed. There have been TONS of instances where that has happened. Tell him to check out ClubRSX.com, there is a post a day about American Honda covering mis-shifts under a goodwill account.

[Zaphod]

I just bought a 94 grand cherokee limited 5.2 V8 with 137000 miles for $7000 out the door. Used car dealers are struggling to make ends meet with the low APR for buying new cars these days. Make the dealer sweat it a bit, don't seem to eager to buy, get a buyers inspection done at a third-party mechanic, and wait a week. you should be able to get that Jeep for a lot less.

[blackbelt]

I also agree, that seems a bit high. I have a 95 white laredo 4.0 with 98K. It needs NOTHING. Tranny shifts strong, it has a decent JVC CD and MTX speakers, remote starter, and select-track. I put in a new starter about 6K ago, plus i had the transfer case resealed and a new exhaust manifold. Body and interior are clean.
I would sell this right now for $5900.
Based on that, i think that 94 is worth at least $1000 less than mine..maybe more?
Dave

[customperforman]

95 4.0--- 227000.

no problems with the engine. keep the oil changed. tranny is starting to rev high before shifting into 2nd.

fuel delivery problems- do things always go wrong at the same time?

Rick

[automan25]

Hey Blackbelt,

What did it cost you to have your Tcase resealed? The case on my 93 limited is leaking.

[MilanJeep]

Originally posted by automan25
Hey Blackbelt,

What did it cost you to have your Tcase resealed? The case on my 93 limited is leaking.

At my dealer it cost a little under $300 I believe

[KillerZJ]

I just bought a 1995 model ZJ from a dealer and it has 130,000 miles on it and it was purchased for around 5G. Not bad, it has 4 wheeld ABS Disc Brakes, 4WD, Trac-Loc, Premium Wheels, i was impressed when i saw it.

[BadXJ]

I have been looking for about 2 months and I finally found one. I looked in AutoTrader.com and if you dont mind driveing to MI there are some great deals on ZJ because DC is here. I have a couple of really good wholesales that have awesonme deals. I just got a 98 Limited W/ 130K for $5500. Its bad ***, single owner and the title checked out awesome. I would be more than happy to help out.

I passed up a 96 ZJ Black Larado W/ leather 103K miles for $6200. It was super clean. Take your time and research everthing....

aslosar@hotmail.com