Is Grand Cherokee just as reliable as Cherokee

[M1Accord]

I thought I heard someone said the Grand Cherokee is very finicky. I am looking at a I6 4.0 liter version from 1996 to replace my Corolla, which has some straight electrical problem causing it to not start once in a blue moon.

I am also looking at a 95 model with 5.2 liter V8. I really need a larger vehicle.

 

[chad8]

keep the corolla .look at your corolla. it probably has a delco alternator . switch to a Nippondenso. been there done that. random no starts. bad diodes in the alternator.otherwise the contacts in the starter are beginning to burn. does the car go click click. or is it just dead and you have to jump start it. click means starter. I have owned 3 of them same problem , a few times.

you will not like a jeep. 12 mpg on a good day.run run run away.
the grand cherokee had a good engine and nothing else. look at consumer reports. get a previa or sienna if you want more space.

 

[Jeepster_nut]

No the grand is not. I had both. Get the regular Cherokee with the 4.0 I-6 and the AW4 auto trans. I had one and put close to 900,000 miles on it before I got rid of it. Lots of replacement parts were used in that time but it still ran.

 

[Nick R]

The cherokee and GC are still both pretty reliable, as cars go. You won't likely have any major failure. I've heard that the 4.0L eats O2 sensors and Rear main seals though. But it is one of those cars that will start everytime, all the time.

Originally Posted By: chad8
keep the corolla .look at your corolla. it probably has a delco alternator . switch to a Nippondenso. been there done that. random no starts. bad diodes in the alternator.otherwise the contacts in the starter are beginning to burn. does the car go click click. or is it just dead and you have to jump start it. click means starter. I have owned 3 of them same problem , a few times.

you will not like a jeep. 12 mpg on a good day.run run run away.
the grand cherokee had a good engine and nothing else. look at consumer reports. get a previa or sienna if you want more space.


Sienna, yuck. Ugly and toyota's worst in quality. (I also looked at one of these, for the heck of it. No. No no no. And as far as gas mileage is concerned, the GC is capable of 17, 18mpg or better on the highway, depending on how you drive. I've seen people say they've gotten at least 20mpg on the interstate.

 

[M1Accord]

There is no "click" and the starter was replaced 2 years ago because I had random no start. Alternator was replaced twice, first by Meineke and died a year later. It's on AAP starter now that has life time warranty but I would have to pay for labor though. The battery is less than 6 months old.

A friend of mine said that there is a device plug into the cigarette lighter to tell whether or not the alternator is charging. It works fine now though but I'll get the indicator.

I was going to keep the Corolla anyway because I don't feel right selling a car to someone and it has random no start. I don't want some kids to get stranded months or years down the road and get hurt because of my car.

 

[Eddie]

My GC 1995 with a 4.0 engine and RWD consistanly got 18-20 mpg. Unless you really need it do not get the towing package or 4WD as it can drop mileage 3 or more mpg. Sold mine to relative at 140,000 + miles 5 years ago and still running fine. I replaced one rear seal as the repair in the first 120,000 miles.

 

[chad8]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
There is no "click" and the starter was replaced 2 years ago because I had random no start. Alternator was replaced twice, first by Meineke and died a year later. It's on AAP starter now that has life time warranty but I would have to pay for labor though. The battery is less than 6 months old.

A friend of mine said that there is a device plug into the cigarette lighter to tell whether or not the alternator is charging. It works fine now though but I'll get the indicator.

I was going to keep the Corolla anyway because I don't feel right selling a car to someone and it has random no start. I don't want some kids to get stranded months or years down the road and get hurt because of my car.


still check the back of it. nd alternators that have been rebuilt fail just as often. You need a new one. The parts that aap and meineke sell are designed for 1-2 years service.
the alternator is charging, that is not the problem. you have a triode rectifier that is failing.junky rebuilder parts . It is leaking current back to ground. Over time it will leak enough current to get the battery down below threshold starting voltage and voilla,random no start. Either get a used o.e.m. nd alternator or a brand new one. that will solve the problem. I just fixed the exact same problem on my kids 1995 corolla and yesterday a 1993 cadillac allante.

 

[chad8]

This is the only rebuilt alternator you should put on. It is sent to japan like the dealer units and rebuilt by denso to like new o.e.m. specifications. Any others and every other year you will be having trouble.

http://www.amazon.com/Toyota-Corolla-Den...0619&sr=8-2

 

[M1Accord]

Here is an update:

I took the car to AAP to test the alternator and to buy a charging system monitor, which plugs directly to the cigarette lighter. The fellow at AAP tested the alternator using an odd method. He asked that the car be running and removed the positive terminal. He stated that since the car was still running, the alternator is good. He suggest that either the starter itself is slowly dying or the bad connection. Since the connection itself is 19 years old, I may have to replace it before replacing the starter, which is about 2 years old.

I am holding out on getting fresh tires because the tires are still good for 5000 miles, which could be a year because I don't drive this car long distance much.

 

[bretfraz]

So.... you are looking at replacing a 19 yr old Toyota with a 14 yr old Jeep? And you are wondering about reliability?

What does a 14 yr old Grand Cherokee go for nowadays? $2500, maybe? It'll probably have around 150,000 miles on it, right?

What kind of reliability do you think a $2500, 14 yr old SUV with well over 100K on the clock will have?

 

[Zedhed]

I have a '03 GC Laredo and a '98 Cherokee Classic. both 4.0 and both rock-reliable.

BTW, the Cherokee has 185,000 miles on the clock and no engine leaks, no smoke and no oil consumption. Nothing but Rotella 15w-40 and Motorcraft FL1 filters.

What's it worth? Who cares? 'cause I ain't sellin' it. Too cheap to keep. It's a shame all the Jeeps that got trashed in the "Cash for Clunkers" program. I'll still be drivin' the Cherokee long after all the Corollas that were bought in CFCs are dead and gone.

 

[gtx510]

does the GC use the same poopy neutral safety switch (NSS) as the cherokee?
hit it w/ degreaser, remove/clean/replace, or carry around a loooong screwdriver and jump the starter...

2wd jeep?
solid front axle and no 4x4? great...

 

[Nick R]

Jeeps are awesome, and if you don't think so you must be stupid!


(Just Kidding of course, about the stupid part

)

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: bretfraz
So.... you are looking at replacing a 19 yr old Toyota with a 14 yr old Jeep? And you are wondering about reliability?

What does a 14 yr old Grand Cherokee go for nowadays? $2500, maybe? It'll probably have around 150,000 miles on it, right?

What kind of reliability do you think a $2500, 14 yr old SUV with well over 100K on the clock will have?


+1 total [censored] shoot here. Maybe you'll get lucky? The odds are against you though.

 

[Chris142]

The GC has more creature comforts that tend to stop working. There are threads pages long about the blend doors and rear axle problems. You do not want the dual climate controls if you buy a GC.

The regular Cherokee is a basic and undestructable truck. They will still be around along with roaches and Twinkies.

 

[M1Accord]

Any vehicle that has been properly cared for should have either minor or no issue at that age. I know the only issue my Corolla has is the random no-start that can be solved by jumping. It happens about 3 times a year. There is no other problem.

Believe it or not, there are people out there that drive 14+ years old cars with well over 200K miles on them. Most Cherokee can go 300+ miles without any drive-train hiccup. CFC destroyed a lot of perfectly fine Cherokee so only Grand Cherokee are available.

 

[L_Sludger]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
Here is an update:

I took the car to AAP to test the alternator and to buy a charging system monitor, which plugs directly to the cigarette lighter. The fellow at AAP tested the alternator using an odd method. He asked that the car be running and removed the positive terminal. He stated that since the car was still running, the alternator is good. He suggest that either the starter itself is slowly dying or the bad connection. Since the connection itself is 19 years old, I may have to replace it before replacing the starter, which is about 2 years old.

I am holding out on getting fresh tires because the tires are still good for 5000 miles, which could be a year because I don't drive this car long distance much.

Call me old fashioned, but I would have used a multimeter instead of risking frying the engine computer and who knows what else.

 

[severach]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
The fellow at AAP tested the alternator using an odd method. He asked that the car be running and removed the positive terminal. He stated that since the car was still running, the alternator is good.

Never test an alternator that way. The test is neither valid nor safe.

 

[super20dan]

i agree a cherokee is one of the most reliable american cars ever made . a solid used car choise