Jeep's, opinions sought

Hi
Why don't you talk to people who have owned a Jeep, not to many have made the same mistake twice. Nothing against the motor or gearbox but it's everything else that breaks down and very expensive to fix. Why don't you do yourself a favour and get a turbo diesel 100 series and you can't go wrong. All the best in your travels

my work partner knows why they call them a Grande! every time it breaks something it costs a grand or more!!!

It's a waste of time asking about anything other than Toyota or Nissan here.

Well I will go in to bat for the Jeeps. Mine is 4 years old now and has been almost flawless. So much more comfortable than the 3L Patrol we owned previously, and much better on the fuel too.
Al, I would consider a diesel as well; ours is the 2.7 Merc engine, and its a ripper. Economical and great as a tow vehicle
Fuel consumption = 8.5 L/100k highway and 13 L/100K towing our 19ft full height van
Should be some good late model Grands to choose from.
Cheers Graeme

Al,

Have a look at a couple of web sites I found.....

Jeep Australia Owners

and

Ausjeepoffroad

They may be able to answer your questions with a bit more accuracy.


Keep us posted on what you end up with Al and good luck.

Cheers

Brian

G'day westozal .......

Hope your not trolling .... mentioning jeep on a jap car market orientated forum like this ... LOL

Couple of things for you to consider .....

1/.. There is no such thing as a jeep ... its a badge stuck on vehicle models by whichever company has the design rights.
Basically anything sold in Oz since 2000 is a chrysler. Prior to that anything with a jeep badge was a chrysler built to the
original basic designs of AMC/Renault. Before that ... the list goes on right back to ford and bantam.

2/.. Did I mention you would be buying a chrysler ????? ...
A chrysler with a jeep badge is no different to a big toyota shopping trolley/school bus with a landcruiser badge off a
40 series stuck on it ... its not what it makes itself out to be ... ( wink wink )

The only real differences between the brands are build quality / dealer network and a huge saving in purchase price. Your ability to deal with those issues is what will govern your ability to own a "jeep".

3/.. Have owned jeeps for about 12yrs now ... First one was a new SWB soft top used for solo touring for about 5yrs throughout Qld/NT and western NSW .... gave me less grief than any of the tojos and the subaru I have owned. Was almost good enough for me to compare it with my best ever, reliable / go any where vehicle ... a daihatsu F50.

The second one is an 97 XJ cherokee ... getting tired now .... and about to be rebuilt back up - to tackle another bout of touring. Must have something to do with how 4x4 can be produced almost unchanged for 20yrs and still sell well ... that makes it a keeper.

4/.. Chryslers jeeps are not an Oz tested and proven product ... Checking out the jeep forums will highlight what is needed to make them more suitable for use here .... Just a shame that the Oz govt didnt allow the XJs to be built here back in the 80s ... Anything wearing a jeep badge today would be quite a vehicle by now, with 30yrs of acclimatization.

5/.. Have heard lots of good stories about the Grands and a few sad ones ... Parts prices are no worse than any other brand ... unless you are dealer dependant ... shopping around locally / importing will get you parts as quick and as cheap as it used to be for old holdens.

6/.. Perhaps the only really useful hint - personally I wouldnt use a vehicle without a chassis for towing anything more than a 6x4 box trailer ... brand regardless ... if its going to be used on anything less than bitumen roads.

G'day westozal
The 4.7 motor is bullet proof as is the 45RFE transmission that it's coupled to. Unfortunately it's the electronics and electrical systems that will give you the most grief. Also they have a very soft ride compared to Japanese vehicles so I'd suggest you test drive a few and make sure your happy with the handling qualities before you buy one.

Regards Jon

I had a 1997 Jeep Wrangler and the only problem I had was filling up in the outback towns, I would drive about 5 km after filling up and the car would stop. I always carried a bottle of methylated spirits and as soon as I added that to the tank away it would go. This happened on 4 occasions. I use a scan tool to scan the computer but found no faults. I believe it must have been ethanol or water that caused the problems, I never had the problem in the city.

Hi,
Thanks to all who have replied. A real mixed bag of opinions really from what i've read.
Seem's motor and gearbox are good but the bit's n pieces around it are not so robust.
Oh well gives me food for thought,
Thanks again AL.

A customer of ours is onto his second V8 Jeep and his son has one as well.

His current one is up to 230,000 km and running like a dream.

I can't remember the exact fuel consumption figures he was getting but do recall that they were extremely good.

I was also chatting to a chap in a Caravan Park who had one, he was using 20L/100km towing a 20 foot van. That is pretty good for a petrol V8.

Well worth a look I reckon. The initial saving in purchase price over the "preferred" brands has to be a big incentive.

Cheers,

Jim.

Don't forget to fit a couple of good fire extinguishers- they are renowned for 'spontaneous combustion'....

I have owned a Jeep 1998 turbo diesel xj (2.5L) Cherokee since 2002.Apart from the usuall wear and tear assodiated with going 4x4 and general usage on road i cannot knock it at all. Definately shop around when it comes to spare parts, as there are a multitude of after market dealers that can get a much better price than the local Jeep dealership. Off road it is very competent.We own an offroad camper trailer (approx 920kg fully loaded) and have been over some of the roughest tracks you could find with it in tow.Agreed,920kg is not a heavy weight by any standards, but this in only a 2.5 we are talking about and when you consider the fuel economy of 9.2L around town and 11.3L on the open road with the camper trailer thats not bad.
The max towing weight in the book is 1400kg. So if you are looking at the Jayco range(eg Hawk off road 1060kg, Eagle 1080kg) as we will be soon, you will still be well under the permissable limit.It is a pity the towing mass is not more, but there is always a compromise when it comes to fuel economy,and one has to consider how many times you tow the caravan compared to driving around on the average day !!!
Happy hunting

We have a JK Rubicon Wrangler Unlimited Auto which we purchased 12 months ago new. We do heaps of serious off-roading with it around the NW of WA and my husband has raised its suspension with an ARB lift kit, plus other mods.

In the past 12 months it has travelled 35K about half of which where towing our Coromal Pioneer pop top caravan. Last May we travelled from our Geraldton base up to Darwin via the Gibb River Road. We did numerous side trips revisiting all our old favorite spots around the Pilbara. The Jeep hasnt put a foot wrong. Our average fuel consumption when towing the van varies naturally but is around the 15 to 16 litres/100klms. I love it.

I noted the suggestion that you drop in on the AusJeepOffRoad forum - not a bad place but I do find you get one person with a problem JK and all of a sudden there is a slanging going on. It always comes back to the bad service they consider they have had from Chrysler which is a shame.

Oh forgot. My brother is the proud owner of a Jeep Cherokee Grande he has had it for over 2 years now, he loves his jeep too.

From all the posts I have read about Jeeps, generally it seems people who have bought them new love them and have very little trouble with them. But people who buy a used,seem to experience problems. This seems to be irrespective of how many kms they have done, both the new and used. Don't know if that is generally the case, but seems to be on the various forums. Don't know if there is any logical reason for this.
They apparently have some great features.

KenD
Bris

I had an article published recently on my Jeep as a tow vehicle. It's very positive write-up, esp from me, having had numerous Japanese 4WDs over the years. You can download it from
http://rapidshare.com/files/186335858/Jeep_Action_article_-_One_Tough_Tug__complete_.pdf
However, it's 7 MB.
However, I agree that buying second hand is always risky and perhaps more so for a Jeep. But if you have original log books and service records and get an RACQ or equivalent inspection, then you would hope that you would be buying something that's been looked after.