Need vehicle opinions - Jeep Grand Cherokee

[Bugeater]

So I'm thinking about breaking my streak of buying minivans at 5, and am considering a small SUV. I like the style of the 99-02 years, and they're in my price range.

Anyone have experiences with these? There seems to be a lot of them out there. I'm leaning towards one with the IL 6 cyl since it probably does better on gas and the V8 is really crammed in there and likely a bitch to work on.

Thoughts?

[burt]

Originally Posted by kaplin42

Do they still make them?

Yes.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by COchief

Ha, it really is that I have spent a ton of time researching this exact vehicle range and feel a little less dorky if I can actually help someone out. Take this as you will, but when any of my friends decide to go with something new, I get the "begin the hunt" email.

Bug, when searching CL for 4runners, you have to search 4runner and 4 runner as people list them both ways and due to CLs garbage search you'll miss some.

Just giving shit. I do the same thing. I love car shopping when it isn't me paying for the car.

Originally Posted by Bugeater

The CL search does suck but it doesn't help when these idiot sellers that I alluded to earlier don't know how to properly advertise their vehicles. I get annoyed when I have to call or email them for basic shit like engine type or mileage. CL really should have a tutorial for these morons, but they probably wouldn't use it anyway.

When I was shopping last year, I thought about stating a CL moron thread. I couldn't believe what people do. Stuff like ads with a title like "1992 Honda" that doesn't have a picture or tell you what model it is. A lot of them don't tell you what transmission the car has.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by COchief

True, but the kicker is some of those idiots are 60 year old men that have been wiping their car down with a diaper every week. I called on a MR-2 out of the newspaper a few years back when online ads had already taken over. The guy was a moron, but damn that thing was mint, drove it for a summer and re-sold to the first guy that looked for a $2k profit.

The guy you want to find probably buys a new car every 15 years and has no idea what he is doing, can suck on the surface, but a call sometimes can find you a gem.

Heh, I suppose that's true. I have a job scheduled for this afternoon but I'm going to try to get down and check out that 4runner before it gets dark out. Maybe I'll get a better impression of the place this time.

[bevischief]

Originally Posted by kaplin42

Do they still make them?

Yes they do but the are bigger now.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by Frosty

When I was shopping last year, I thought about stating a CL moron thread. I couldn't believe what people do. Stuff like ads with a title like "1992 Honda" that doesn't have a picture or tell you what model it is. A lot of them don't tell you what transmission the car has.

I always click "has image" when I do searches. If you can't even bother to take the time to upload a picture then I'm going to move on.

I saw one a while back where the seller gave a brief one sentence description, then wrote an entire paragraph of all the things he'd be willing to trade the vehicle for.

[Bugeater]

On a side note, facebook really creeps me out at times. Right after talking about these on here, I go to my fb page and I see this ad:

Search on Cars.com

Get great deals on a 2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 4WD.


142,819 people like Cars.com.

[COchief]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

I always click "has image" when I do searches. If you can't even bother to take the time to upload a picture then I'm going to move on.

I saw one a while back where the seller gave a brief one sentence description, then wrote an entire paragraph of all the things he'd be willing to trade the vehicle for.

Last point on this:

-Who would you buy a car from if you had your choice of previous owners? (for me 60-80 year old person)

-How crappy is their ad likely to be? (pretty damn crappy)

[Bugeater]

That's a damn good point.

[Bugeater]

Here's an example...my god.

http://omaha.craigslist.org/cto/3662760159.html

[COchief]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Here's an example...my god.

http://omaha.craigslist.org/cto/3662760159.html

That is exactly what I am talking about, that might be some confused 70 year old. Once he puts pics up (again an old person would probably struggle with this) and some details that could be gone in a second, but you can beat those guys to the punch if you jump on it and call before they do.

Obviously could be a huge piece of crap too though.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by COchief

That is exactly what I am talking about, that might be some confused 70 year old. Once he puts pics up (again an old person would probably struggle with this) and some details that could be gone in a second, but you can beat those guys to the punch if you jump on it and call before they do.

Obviously could be a huge piece of crap too though.

If it was closer I'd probably call and check it out when I head out, but it's clear on the other side of town. If that ad is still up tomorrow morning I may look into it just for fun.

Funny thing is that's what we had to deal with in the old days of the newspaper want ads, the internet has spoiled us and we want to find the perfect vehicle without ever leaving our desks.

[Nzoner]

Originally Posted by COchief

What package, couldn't see a badge on the side where they usually are.

edit: just realized I'm asking a dude on the internet about his "package".

Sorry man been busy with work,it's called the Altitude edition has inside red stitching of the word jeep in the seats,black wheels and a design on the front hood which I'm not overly fond of but others have said they like it a lot.

[Bugeater]

Finally made my move yesterday. I had gotten pretty frustrated over the weekend seeing the same old overpriced turds posted over and over again in Omaha and started checking other cities some more. So Monday night I'm looking at Des Moines Craigslist, and I find what appears to be a pretty nice privately owned Grand Cherokee that has Bellevue, NE listed in the location. It has exactly what I'm looking for, 6 cyl, cloth interior, and not black and they were asking $5850, right in my price range. Plus the transmission had already been rebuilt in it which is a huge plus. While it's not unusual to see vehicles advertised in multiple cities, it damn sure is to see one listed only in another city. Thought maybe I had missed it in the Omaha CL, but double-checked and it wasn't there.

Kind of a WTF moment for sure, but then I thought about what COchief had said about ****ups like that...it's probably someone older and confused about what exactly they were doing. I decided to let it sit for a couple days and see if anything changed, my thinking was they weren't likely going to get many, if any, calls for it seeing that they had it listed in the wrong city, and they may take any offers they get for it seriously and I could get it for an even better price.

So I watched the thing like a hawk, waiting to see if they realized their ****up and the ad disappeared and reappeared in Omaha. As of yesterday morning, nothing had changed. I decide it's time to make my move. I call the guy, arranged to meet him, and sure enough, it was an older retired guy. He was nice as hell, original owner, had every freaking service record going back to the first oil change. He had just put new brakes, tires and battery in it last fall. It had always been garaged, never abused. I took it for a ride and it ran & drove perfect. Only issues I could find were a few very minor cosmetic things. I did throw him the $5k offer on the spot, but after some thought he declined it. I decided that I wasn't going to let a few hundred bucks get between me and a one-owner creampuff, and we eventually settled on $5400.

Here's my new baby, I freaking love it.



Also, a big thank you to everyone who gave input in this thread. This place is better than Consumer Reports. Nearly everything that was mentioned I saw at one point or another.

[SAUTO]

hell it even has some good american made tires on it...

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

hell it even has some good american made tires on it...

Yep, Cooper Discoverers...same thing I have on my Dakota.