I had a 1996 Limited V8 ZJ from the time I was seventeen to just about a year ago. When I bought it I was pursuing some kind of career in custom car audio installation (I was seventeen) I wanted a car with better acoustics and room for good 6.5 component/coaxial set up front and rear. I also wanted more power, still wanted 4 doors, and wanted the option to tow a trailer with the dirt bike and stuff.. I had previously owned a Jetta and my first car was a '76 2wd F250 with a built 428 big block. So the ZJ was my third car, and the one I've owned the longest, and the one that gave me the most problems (1996 ZJ)....
Loved the car to death, hated the electrical gremlin chasing every other weekend. I swear to god I still seem to have dreams about owning the car every now and then. Unfortunately the entire time I owned it while it was in it's prime I had 20" wheels on it. It was much less a Jeep and more of a cruiser. Custom color paint, probly approaching $7,000 dollars in the stereo, wiring, and dynamat(won several competitions for SQ and SPL), the 20" wheels on the fancy 295 wide directional performance road tires, 5% tint, intake, exhaust, chip, programmer, 5.9 fuel rails/injectors, had the engine compartment dressed up a little bit.. The list goes on and on. At the very end of her life I bought her some new shoes (15.7 powder black aluminum XD's and 31x10.50 Micky MTZ's, ripped the front bumper off, cut and folded the wheel wells, was going to start building her to wheel, purchased a set of adjustable teraflex lower's and got some 4" coils.. And then she just wouldn't run for me. Strangest problem I've ever ran into with a vehicle, but it wasn't reliable enough to get me back and forth to college anymore. I retired her, bought my Nissan Hardbody and then just last summer had an opportunity to buy a vehicle again and instead of spending ten grand on an Xterra we spent eleven grand on a 98 XJ and a 02 325XI..
Told myself I wouldn't own another ZJ unless it was a 98 5.9. XJ's are more economical, more utilitarian, and cheaper to build. Seemed like all my buddies always has stock or pucked and shackled 2" XJ's but they used to seem bullet proof.
I'd say my ZJ got me hooked on XJ's... I try to push them on everyone now!