Who used to own a Jeep?

I'll be honest, I really like the 4 door Wranglers,(flame away, I think they are cool) especially with a lift and tires. For those that used to own Jeeps, why did you make the switch to 4Runners? What did you not like about them?
Problem with reliability? Poor road manners? Lack of refinement?

I'm with you. I love the way a Rubicon looks but I can't get past the reliability issues. We had a brand new Grand Cherokee in 2006 and it was a lemon. In the year that we had it we constantly had it in the shop for electrical issues. Through the years many of my friends have owned Cherokees and Wranglers and every single one without exception has had major issues. I think they make excellent trail vehicles, but I would never own one as a DD.

I had 2 Jeeps in the past, a CJ5 and and XJ (Cherokee), both were great.

I switched to a Toyota 4WD pick up because I wanted something that was capable offroad and would haul my Odessey.

If refinement was an issue I never would have gotten the CJ at all, CJ's have no refinement whatsoever. Heck, the tires, rear seat and the top were all optional.

I had a wrangler YJ 4cyl 4WD (all wranglers were 4wd at the time). It was a great truck: no AC, no carpet, no radio. I had to save $$ to buy a back seat. That thing never let me down and I beat the crap out of it. Even the 4-cylinder was impressive off road. Wranglers are very utilitarian though...even the new ones. 4runners are better all-around vehicles, IMO.

GC's are different than wranglers. I don't think they're built to put up with the same type of punishment. GC's have lots of bells/ whistles to break as well.

I love the look and concept of the new unlimited. But even jeep guys will tell you wranglers aren't as tough as they used to be. They have more shared parts with passenger cars, etc.

I bought a brand new 99' Wrangler Sport 4.0. I really liked it. The only jeep issue I ever had was that the transmission was very shuddery. The dealer told me they are all like that so I lived with it.

I moved to the city shortly after buying it and my canvas top became a regular target for vandals. After replacing it 3 times at $1,100 a pop, I just started using duct tape.

Then one day I realized that I paid $26,000 (which went a lot further back then) for a truck that required me to unzip the windows, had a shuddery trans, and was being held together with duct tape. Reality check.

I would happily own one again. Just not a brand new one, and it wouldn't be my daily driver.

I had a '97 XJ and an '01 wrangler

i'm a toyota snob and proud of it. Jeeps are fer Creeps!!!!

I had a Jeep XJ that I built from stock, wheeled it constantly, DD everyday and never once had a problem with it.
I have owned my 2nd gen 4Runner for a very short period of time and i'll be very honest, I way prefered my XJ. The flex and power of the engine was WAY better then my gutless no flex 4runner. I honestly wish I had never sold my XJ.

Flame away

I still have my 91 Wrangler 4.0 liter manual trans and love it. It will go places my 4runner would never dream of going and is fun to bash it off road. It has been very reliable needing minimal maintenance over the years. It still has the original clucth although I did replace the weaker dana 35 rear axle with a ford explorer 8.8 with 4.10 gears and put matching gears in the front axle. It is great for off roading and around town but sucks on the highway with the softop. My lifted 03 4runner does great on the road and easier off road trails in the desert. I do not worry about scratching up the Jeep and that makes it more fun off road because I worry to much about damaging the 4runner. This forum greatly over reacts on Jeep reliability just like the Jeep forum bashes the Toyotas. I love both of them. I may be getting a new Wrangler soon now that they put a descent engine in them again.

JEEP: Junk: Each & Every Part

Had 4 Grand Cherokees, 3 ZJs and 1 WJ. The WJ (2000) was actually my sisters, but she ended up with alot of trouble with it. She got rid of it for a new Highlander. I loved my Jeeps, but for as much as I babied them (detailed them often, great maintenance), they kept "taking a crap on me". After stranding my wife for a second (and last) time, I dumped it. At this time is when I picked up my current 4R. I lived in South America and had 2 Toyota surfs and those were very reliable. I've always loved the 4Runner. 4R is just oceans apart in build quality, also handles 100% better. Spending the time to mod, and put toys in our trucks instead of repairing them is very nice..................

It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand............................ Oh I understand, that's why I drive a Toyota!

NEVER AGAIN!

reead this and everyone's opinion will change on chrysler (they make jeep and dodge) these are real people and if you scroll down the the bottom there are many more links.

Before You Buy Dodge Vehicles - Chrysler Cars Trucks Minivans Suvs

also check this channel: youtube.com/user/dodgechryslersucks

I've had a couple of Jeeps...
1. '89 Wrangler (YJ) Islander Package, 4.2 liter, 5-speed. I added a Rancho lift and 32x11.50 BFG AT on 15x10 AR wheels. The only problem that I ever had with it was the little distributor hold-down broke and the timing would wander all over the place! It was loud, rough, and didn't have AC in Scottsdale, AZ.

2. '88 Cherokee Unlimited that I received in exchange for tiling someone's kitchen. It was pretty rough and I put about $5k into it... Tomken 6" lift, slip yoke eliminator, custom drive shaft, 33" BFG MT on black steelies, front winch bumper (don't remember the brand), a bunch of Rusty's Offroad goodies, custom exhaust, all new vacuum lines, and some other stuff. It actually rode pretty well and ended up running great, but it was a pretty uncomfortable vehicle as far as seating position and interior room go. Sold it for $6k.

Definitely not bad experiences with Jeep and they were fun vehicles for me, but I don't think that I'd ever buy one. Why would I? I'm hooked on Toyota now and know too many people with Jeep problems!

Me too, I want also to have a wrangler and I think this is the origin of all jeeps.

Previous Jeeps

I've owned three Jeeps:

1. 1973 CJ-5. This was my first vehicle and I bought it new while I was still in the Army. It had a 304 V8 and had more power than I could handle! It was great off road, as long as I didn't get the wheels spinning. I thought the reliability was great, right up until I began to race it while still expecting it to be my DD. That all ended when I blew the engine during one memorable off road race.

2. 1984 CJ-7. This was bought new just before moving to Alaska. It was a bit more refined than the '73 CJ-5, but not by much. Still, it ran well for years before catching fire in my garage in 1997. I got it out of the garage before it and the house went up, but it was a total loss. When totaled, it still had the original tires, shocks, and so on. I found it quite durable and almost never had it in the shop.

3. 1997 Cherokee Sport. I got this one from a rental outfit when it was a year old with 11K miles on it. It now has over 200K miles on it and had only had 2 tuneups! Up until recently it had only been in the shop for burned out alternators. Then I began to have trouble with the heater blower motor not running (resistor problems) and an odd hitch in the steering wheel on only one particular off ramp (not really corrected at this point). What finally moved me to make a jump to the T4R was when I noticed that there was an inch of water on the Weatherbeaters when no one had been on the passenger side for some time: turned out that the windshield channel was rusting out, allowing water to run down the channel to the A pillar and then down to the floor. I have since filled in the holes with silicone and allowed the Cherokee to become my daughter's ride to school.

I'd like to think that the above shows a steady progression from off-road ability at the expense of comfort to a preference to comfortable off-roading at the expense of being the baddest off-roader in the state! Or maybe it's just the difference between being 18 then and 57 now. And my TE is way more comfortable than the Cherokee, with way more cool features and neat stuff.

On the other hand, there are lots of things I still want to add, so I guess some things don't change over the years. Must be a guy thing . . . .

I've never owned a Jeep; however, I will say that I considered getting one, just prior to getting my 4Runner.

However, the fact that I previously owned a Dodge (not the 'same', I'm told, but still, same parent company) that was in the shop SEVENTEEN times over 18 months brought me back to reality.

We had a Jeep TJ that my wife drove. It was ok and we spent a lot of $$$ modifying it. It never let my wife down as far as getting stuck or losing control in snow storms. The gas milage was not very good and the 4.0L engine had very little power. But then a Jeep is not a race car.

We have custody of our 2 year old granddaughter now so the Jeep was not very practical as far as putting a 2 year old in the car seat.

We sold it and bought a Toyota FJ. I am glad we made the change. The FJ has a lot more room for people and stuff. It feels more secure than the Wrangler and IMO it is a much better 4 wheeler. I wish I had the money I put in the Wrangler for mods on the FJ.

Jeeps are nice as a recreational toy but I dont like them for a family vehicle.

I drive a 4Runner and I am very happy with it.

Would I ever buy a Jeep again? I dont think so.
Do Jeeps look cool? Absolutley.
Are Jeeps good for off roading? For sure
Do I hate jeeps? No, just dont get in my way :roadkill:

it's a jeep thing, you wouldn't understand............................ Oh i understand, that's why i drive a toyota!

Click to expand...

right on!!!

You know, it's rare, but once in a while there seems to be a Toyota that appears to be a lemon. Overall not the norm.

From what I've heard and read, it's the opposite for Jeeps. Once in a while there's one that is reliable for someone, but it's rare.

Even if you found one of those though, I bet you drive the same age/mileage Toyota to a Jeep and the Toy will drive like a brand new vehicle in comparison. I've driven/been in a few various style Jeeps in my day and no matter how new they were they already felt years older.

Done my jeep bashing for the day, lol....

I bought my 4Runner with 155,000 miles on it.
There is no way I would buy a Jeep with that many miles to be used as a DD and primary offroad vehicle.

The Jeep we had was less than 50,000 miles and i had already replaced the waterpump and thermostat due to a break down. I had to use a hammer and spike to break loose the fan nut. The fan nut requires a special tool that you can borrow from Autozone. Too bad the one I borrowed from Autozone didnt work. The 4 pound sledge and spike did just fine.

Used to own a '99 Grand Cherokee, it was only a couple years old at the time and I don't remember any real problems, but i do recall it being surprisingly small and uncomfortable inside, especially in the width from the door to my shoulder. It was generally tacky and unimpressive inside but ran OK. Those 4.0's aren't as powerful as they were made out to be. My mother's Cherokee Sport was a freakin disaster. This thing was driven by a 60 year old woman at 60 on the highway, and never off road, mind you, and it had nothing but problem after problem. She loved it, but got rid of it and got a Subaru. It rally lived up to the Heep nickname.