To buy, or not to buy

[60thAnivrsryXJ]

A friend of mine is looking at a cherokee he wants to buy. I wanted to get some of you guys opinions to help convince him to buy it. He says he can get it for $4,800, it is a '98, with 90,000 miles, 2 door, 5 speed, four wheel drive, and the only downside (in my opinion) is that it's a 4 cylinder. He is a tuner car guy so I would really like to see him get a 4x4, just not if it's a complete turd cause of the 4 cylinder. Can it still be made into an awesome offroad machine. What do you guys think?

 

[Ramsey]

gears go a long way. i would keep shopping personally, but thats just me. i also like autos too though

 

[old_man]

For a newbie, an auto makes a ton of difference. The 2.5L is ok on the trails, but sucks on the freeway.

 

[Eagle]

I test drove a 97 or 98 4-cyl 5-speed a few years ago. Still sorry I didn't buy it, but it was way overpriced and the idiot used car dealer had paid a 4.0L price for it, advertised it as a 4.0L (actually, he advertised it as a "V-6"), and refused to lower the price after I popped the hood and showed him the engine. ("Duh, I can't understand it. It was a 6-cylinder when we bought it.")

It was fine in normal stop-and-go traffic, and since by the later years all the 4-bangers had 4.10 gears I'm sure it would be fine on trails (not great for mud bogging, though), but it was a bit lacking in brute force for highway driving.

The MPFI 4-cyl puts out more power and torque than the original 2.8L V-6, for whatever that's worth. I'd buy it (if my wife wouldn't kill me for bringing another Jeep home).

 

[ECU88XJ]

I'd advise them to get the price below 4k. That is probably one of the least desirable combo's in a cherokee from a sales standpoint.

 

[60thAnivrsryXJ]

Thanks for the input guys. I have an update though. He found another cherokee and this one I am really gonna push him to get. It's a '97, 2 door, 6 cylinder, 5 speed, 4x4, 76,000 miles, and they want 6500 for it. What do you guys think?

 

[kawijames]

he could do the 6 cyl swap the trani will support it for the most part but i would talk the guy down on the price a bit.

 

[XJ_ranger]

he could do the 6 cyl swap the trani will support it for the most part but i would talk the guy down on the price a bit.

an AX-5 will not hold up to a 4.0...