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Senior Member
Considering selling my bling-subaru and picking up a cheap little truck. I'd like a 4x4... and I'd like to spend less than 3k on it.
I drive 15 miles to work 3 times a week. Currently taking the highway, but i could switch to back roads. other than that i ride a bike.
Senior Member
My favorite 4x4 right now is a mid-90s Jeep Cherokee. They are super affordable, and this particular brand is aging very, very well. Go to www.cherokeeforums.com and check out some of the strengths and foibles of this particular vehicle.
Bottom line, fix the leaks, patch up the rust spots and possibly do a fairly inexpensive and simple tranny fix and you are set for 300,000+ trouble free miles.
Last edited by 120mm; 11-15-10 at 04:31.
Senior Member
I have a few friends with Tacomas. Nice little trick with plenty of utility.Originally Posted by skyugo
Considering selling my bling-subaru and picking up a cheap little truck. I'd like a 4x4... and I'd like to spend less than 3k on it.
I drive 15 miles to work 3 times a week. Currently taking the highway, but i could switch to back roads. other than that i ride a bike.
Because they are so common they can be had for fairly cheap too
Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit
What Happened to the American dream? It came true. You're looking at it.
Senior Member
hmm.. i do know quite a few happy owners of old cherokees. spacious too, and solid axles....
Senior Member
I drove a samurai all through high-school. Including some road trips up to and including a 12-hour trip from central OK to the mississipi river in August in a hard-top, lifted, no-A/C Samurai.
Can it be done? Sure
15 miles 3 days a week is no biggie. Even the highway is no big deal, unless you mean "freeway in major city at 80 mph" in which case a Sami is not going to cut it. The Samurai's natural enemies are heavy wind and rapid acceleration.
If you can bike the trip, you can probably handle it in a Samurai. That said -- they are about as basic of transportation as you can get, not much in the way of creature comforts.
Gosh I miss mine
--Josh H.
Zombies seek out and eat brains. Don't worry; you'll be safe if they attack.
Senior Member
well i can't bike the 15 mile thing. at least not willinglyI drove a samurai all through high-school. Including some road trips up to and including a 12-hour trip from central OK to the mississipi river in August in a hard-top, lifted, no-A/C Samurai.
Can it be done? Sure
15 miles 3 days a week is no biggie. Even the highway is no big deal, unless you mean "freeway in major city at 80 mph" in which case a Sami is not going to cut it. The Samurai's natural enemies are heavy wind and rapid acceleration.
If you can bike the trip, you can probably handle it in a Samurai. That said -- they are about as basic of transportation as you can get, not much in the way of creature comforts.
Gosh I miss mine
school is like a 2 mile bike ride. it actually takes longer to drive to class, with the parking and all that.
the summer before last i rode a KLR 650 everywhere.. I'm thinking the samurai should be slightly more comfortable than that...
the dude a couple posts up has me kinda hooked on the cherokees though. there's a SHITLOAD of relatively clean 90's cherokees for sale on craigslist for under 2500 bucks...
Senior Member
Yeah it's a lot easier to find a clean Cherokee than a clean samurai these days. An unmolested Samurai is going to be way over priced due to scarcity.
--Josh H.
Zombies seek out and eat brains. Don't worry; you'll be safe if they attack.
Senior Member
I like Cherokees. I've owned four and looking to get another. Rolled one, broke one, traded one for another and lost the last when my son drove off in it to college.
Get the a 91 & newer 4.0, 4 speed auto or 5 speed manual according to your taste with minimal electric gizmos. Two door or four according to need. I like two doors because there's more room for trimming sheetmetal when fitting 35 inch tires.
The AW4 automatic is about as bullet proof an automatic transmission as you're going to get. The AW15 & NV3500 5 speeds are very durable as well.
Known problems-
-Underhood temps often run high. Hood vents help. Engine controls are designed to run coolant at temps between 180 and 200 degrees.
-They leak oil at the valve cover.
-The crank case ventilation system is a poor design and oil finds it's way into the air box.
-As a result of these two quirks, you MUST keep a close eye on oil level.
-No matter what anyone tells you, Death Wobbles are NOT cause by bad tires, worn steering damper or alignment. When Death Wobbles start, something is loose or worn in the steering or in the control arms. Rebalancing, rotating, replacing tire; replacing the damper or playing with the alignment will damp the Death Wobbles but will not fix the root cause.
-Alternators do not like water.
-When replacing the radiator, use a new one with a three row core from Go Dan (800-RADIATOR).
-Don't take it offroad until you install rocker protection. XJs (Cherokees) are unibody and the rocker panel is secondary structure. XJs are surprisingly capable offroad and it won't be long before you drag the undercarriage across an obstacle and crush a rocker panel. They are expensive to replace. Yes, I know this from personal experience.
Another option is to check out 90's Grand Cherokees (ZJ). They have a stiffer chassis and can be had with an excellent Chrysler V8- more power and gas mileage is about the same.
Avoid 4 cyl in XJs and the 6 cyl in ZJs. Both are good engines but underpowered. The 4 cyl in an XJ may give you better gas mileage in the 2wd version. The V8 in my Grand Cherokee never had a leak anywhere. (Grand Cherokee was another Jeep. I've also had 3 full sized Cherokees with AMC V8s. One was a 360, the other two were 401s. I have liked them all and used each one as a daily driver)
Senior Member
I have had (thus far) gr8 experiences with a 1993 Isuzu Trooper. Not sure how they compare. There is a small, intense following it appears but they are a bit underpowered.
Senior Member
No experience with the Samurai, but I bought a Cherokee Sport 4x4 4.0 new in 99 and drove it until last summer. 10 years. No major mechanical issues.
A/C compressors take a dump every couple years, but it blows damn cold, and here is SC you'll use the air about 9 out of 12 months. Only thing else I replaced was an alternator and that was super simple.
Maintenance was inexpensive. Hell even the original brake rotors went 90K+ miles.
The backseat was unusable to all but my small kids (I'm 6'4" 240 and dont even really fit through the back door).
I never got it stuck though I didn't intentionally try to, but did plenty of mild wheelin in mud, snow, through creeks and streams, and more.
If Jeep would build a new one I'd buy it.
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