What would you recommend vehicle wise?

Nef357Max

New Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2012
Hi everyone,
I'm looking at getting a 4x4 for the winter months here in the NC mountains. My budget is sub $3500(College student/part time job) and I"m trying to get the best bang for my buck so to speak. I have a Honda accord so this would be a second vehicle only driven on days with snow etc. Dads a mechanic for a living but would be 5ish hours away if I have issues. It needs to be dependable. I know this may be hard in my price range.

What I'm looking for:
-Dependable
-4x4
-Smaller SUV prefered
-5 Speed (Less issues?)
-V6/Inline 6

I have narrowed it down to these three here

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ctd/3350418884.html
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/ctd/3373306132.html

and of course a Ford
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3368787271.html

What would you buy in my situation and why? From my understand and what I have read the Auto transmissions are usually junk in the Rodeo/Trooper. Hence why I'd like a 5-speed. Also that the engines in the Troopers(3.5) have major issues as far as oil pressure and locking up etc.

I'm really open to suggestions whether it's a different make or model. Jeep would be fine but the high miles have me weary. When I saw high miles I mean over 200K. Thank you ahead of time for your responses/help.
 
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This screams Jeep Cherokee to me. The manual transmission is a little harder to find, but they're out there. Their I6 engines are super durable and there are a ton of them around if you ever need parts. I'm sure you could even find something you like off the For Sale section here.
 
Sneedle Vision said:
This screams Jeep Cherokee to me. The manual transmission is a little harder to find, but they're out there. Their I6 engines are super durable and there are a ton of them around if you ever need parts. I'm sure you could even find something you like off the For Sale section here.
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Thanks for the reply and that's kind of my thought also. Just haven't seen anything that I'd like yet. How durable are the auto transmissions on the Cherokee? I guess a lot of it depends on how they were maintained and driven right? I know most manual transmissions are bullet proof so that's what got me thinking in that direction.
 
Jeep and dependable do NOT belong in the same sentence :flipoff2:. Toyota all the way, from your wants a 4runner. The price range might be hard to find. Stay away from the 3.0 unless it had head gaskets done. The 3.4 is a damn good engine and with a 5spd fun to drive.
 
Redneck92 said:
Jeep and dependable do NOT belong in the same sentence :flipoff2:. Toyota all the way, from your wants a 4runner. The price range might be hard to find. Stay away from the 3.0 unless it had head gaskets done. The 3.4 is a damn good engine and with a 5spd fun to drive.
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Kind of figured that and that's the reason I had not put a ton of thought into the Jeeps until now. I need something that's going to start when turning the key and not leave me stranded on the side of the road in 20-30 degree weather. The more I look, the more I realize I may not find what I need in the low budget I have.

Had a 1990 4runner in high school. Had the little 2.4 22RE with auto transmission. The thing was slow slow it wouldn't get out of it's own way. Hate to say it but I think a Toyota is out of my budget. Especially anything with the 3.4's. Dad has seen so many blown head gaskets on the 3.0 4runner's and pickups come to the shop that hell would freeze over before he worked on one I bought. My $$ but he's the one with the experience if and when things do go wrong. Thank you for the suggestion though.
 
A 22re 5 spd runner is slow but it's what Id go for, the re's are easy to work on and rock solid reliable. Any reason you want a 6 cylinder?
 
Redneck92 said:
Jeep and dependable do NOT belong in the same sentence :flipoff2:. Toyota all the way, from your wants a 4runner. The price range might be hard to find. Stay away from the 3.0 unless it had head gaskets done. The 3.4 is a damn good engine and with a 5spd fun to drive.
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The two XJ's I've had have been dependable and never gave any major issue where it left me stranded. Guess it just depends on what you start out with and how hard you thrash it. I won't bash Toyota with a blanket statement cause I've never owned one.
 
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Sneedle Vision said:
The two Cherokees I've had have been dependable for me and never gave any major issue where it left me stranded. Guess it just depends on what you start out with and how hard you thrash it. I won't bash Toyota with a blanket statement cause I've never owned one.
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I've been stranded twice with the family's 99 wj. Ungodly amount of electrical issues, along with a handful of other things. That and I've worked on plenty of jeeps and Toyota's my opinion is what it is. Some people will never have problems, others will have every issue you can think of. I've found Toyota's have less issues.
 
For the price range, jeep xj, zj, yj (if you're feeling lucky), or a suzuki samurai. Yota's are fawking awesome, but crazy expensive, even for one that looks like hell.

I wouldn't knock the jeeps. I'm not a fan of the later model wj or jk, but I beat the ever loving snot out of a $180 xj, and it would not give up. It had 220k miles, bone stock, I6, and had previously had the hell beat out of it (supposedly was forced through every trail at uwharrie, including daniel). I was young and broke, so it got thrashed around the property at home, radiator was clogged, so it constantly overheated, ran it out of oil numerous times, locked it up due to lack of coolant at least twice, and had water freeze in the block (no antifreeze).

Got it stuck in a hole once and had to leave it for a while. Yanked it out and continued to drive it (hard). Trans stopped working all together, the thing wouldn't move. Turns out, it was full of water and had been for several weeks, fluid was the color of poo. Changed fulid and filter, and ill be damned, it was good as new, overdrive worked well and everything, in the hot, cold, even snow.

Finally killed it when the engine got hot enough to melt a fuel injector (back and forth full throttle, I wanted out of that hole), and caught the engine on fire. Soaked a rag and my shirt in mud, opened the hood, and put the fire out.

Dead? Nope, not yet. Put crappy u-pull-it injectors and harness on it and the sumbitch still ran. Had a break in the intake manifold gasket though (idled high/vacuum leak), and I decided it was time to move on and move up, so off to the scrapyard it went and i bought my zj, which has also been good, but not without its issues.

Lesson being, never knock an xj....
 
Buy the newest XJ with the lowest mileage that you can find.
 
Another vote for an XJ or even a ZJ, not much difference in the two as far as mechanics.
Buy under 200K, fix the oil leaks, go ahead and change out the throttle position sensor, and O2, change all fluids, synthetic if you can afford, decent set of tires, good battery. and go.
You can do this well under your budget, if you look around.
Good luck
 
I had a TJ for most of my time at ASU and it worked well. Only real issue was salt spray on the plastic windows. I had half doors.

I replaced it with a cherokee about two and a half years ago. I definitely liked the TJ better, and it was more reliable. Having a 5 speed makes a difference. I remember replacing the battery in the TJ during a snowstorm, and I had to push it across the parking lot to work on it.

Cherokee is probably better in the long run, but buy a beater because the salt will eat it up
 
I always thought the XJ automatics were known to be very reliable, but the ZJ automatics are not.
 
I'll throw out another option, R50 Nissan Pathfinder/Infiniti QX4. We bought my wife's 97 Infiniti QX4 in 2006, during her freshman year of college with about 145k mi on it. The timing belt had been done, transmission rebuilt at 130k, new shocks and struts. Fast forward to now, it has 220k mi on it, have done all regular maintenance, probably time to do the timing belt again, but haven't done it yet, the only things I have had to do with it is fix one vacuum leak and replace the bushings in the rear suspension. Other than that it has been trouble free, has no issues right now even with the high mileage. Gets decent mileage, about 17 for her driving, 21-22 on long highway trips. The power is surprising for the little 3.3 V6, gets up and goes fine, pulls our little landscaping trailer with 4 wheelers on it just fine. Drove it up the mountain yesterday, took it out of O/D at the bottom, and it was able to maintain speed just fine without downshifting any further going up. The newer models have the more powerful 3.5 v6, and then they went to a 4.0 v6. The Pathfinders can be found with 5 speeds, although they are hard to find.

It is the most sure footed vehicle I have driven in the snow, compared to the Jeep TJ, XJ, Tahoe, 1/2-1 ton Chevys, I have owned. I put some new Cooper AT3s on it the other year, and they grip in the snow and ice very well. It has a selectable transfer case, Auto, Lock, and 4 Lo. (not sure if the Pathfinder has Auto or if that is a Infiniti thing). As far as tires, it can fit 31" tires stock, I have 245/75R16s on ours now, the Pathfinders have a little more clearance without the Infiniti running boards, ground effects, low hanging bumper, etc. There is not much out there for lifts, but you can put 2" springs on them and fit 285s.

And the interiors are really nice, ours has leather, sunroof, auto climate control etc.

Pic of it from yesterday, Infiniti's do look more like a "chick" vehicle, but the Pathfinders don't look as bad IMO. They can be had in your price range too.
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/GCncsuHD/2012-10-31_18-36-54_324.jpg
 
drkelly said:
I always thought the XJ automatics were known to be very reliable, but the ZJ automatics are not.
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You're very right. Only bad thing about a zj other than the weight imo. I stuck an an external cooler, external filter, service it every 15k or so, and adjust the clutches when I feel like its a good idea. It's been well-beaten and hasn't given up the ghost yet, although, I'm still weary of it, and the maintenance is really annoying.
 
Nef357Max said:
Thoughts on this one?

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/3372105823.html

Having head redone so early would possibly mean overheating and blown gasket right?
Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
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With the list of new cooling system parts (water pump, radiator, etc) I'd guess it probably had some overheating issues and either blew the headgasket or they suspected it did and had it replaced. The XJ's do tend to have some cooling issues but can be easily addressed if needed. Seems to be pretty desperate to sell it, show him $1500 cash and see what happens. Check it over for rust, check the floor pans from underneath and the rockers. Ditch the Hella's and seems to be a decent looking XJ.

The AW4 auto in the XJ's are awesome transmissions, super reliable. All 4 of my XJ's have the AW4 and I prefer the auto to the AX-15 manual trans. Personally, I like manual windows/locks since that is one less thing to go wrong but again, not a major issue to fix a power window or lock if it goes bad.

As mentioned, parts for the XJ's are everywhere. From stock body & interior parts to drivetrain to aftermarket upgrades, they are everywhere and typically very affordable. $3500 will get you a very nice XJ, although honestly I'd set my budget at $2500 or less, unless you are looking for a nice one that has a lift and some extras already on it.
 
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