Need Jeep Advice (fix or buy?)

[Vexta]

Greetings.

For a while now I've been reading these forums with this nagging question in the back of my head.  I have a 96 Cherokee Sport 4.0L HO 4x4 auto with about 202K on it.  All original everything besides regular maintenance and a thrice replaced water pump.  It's been incredibly reliable for an older vehicle (not a single break down) but its getting to the point where Im going to have to put some money into it soon.  The suspension needs to be replaced, the engine needs at least a good tune up, and the transmission is feeling old.   There's nothing horribly wrong with the engine, it just feels like many horses have escaped (compression maybe?  I dont know what Im talking about).  I could also use an alignment and eventually new tires.  Im assuming all this work will cost me $3000+ (uneducated guess).  Im wondering if its worth it to spend the money when it's probably only worth $4000 in private sale (if even?).

Im hoping some of you have gone through similar experiences and would share some insight.

Some background...  The Jeep is my only vehicle.  It's mostly used for groceries/misc transportation (during the winter) as I walk to work.  In the summer I do a lot of camping/hiking/fishing and light off-roading (no rock crawling or anything).  The stock suspension was enough to survive the trails, but I was usually wishing for more.

The choice Im trying to make is between Fixing my Jeep or trading it in for a new Wrangler 4dr.

Fixing

Pros
+No car payments
+Everything else on the Jeep is still working fine (fingers crossed)
+No insurance increase
+When I move to a house, I'll be able to keep the Jeep as a second vehicle

Cons
-Could possibly cost as much as the Jeep is worth
-Who knows what will break next

Buying

Pros
+New Vehicle
+Wouldn't have to worry about troubles for a while (hopefully)
+There are good deals to be had these days

Cons
-Car Payments
-Insurance increase
-It's still an older vehicle
-Do I really need the Rubicon??  


Please let me know your thoughts, or if you think my $3000 estimate is way off.

[JackstandJohnny]

jeeps are immortal, specially XJs (wheres Trevor?)
if you fix everything you list you'd still be lucky to get 2500 for it......... that being said your work load can be done in a driveway.  change your sparkplugs/wires/cap/rotor etc on the engine. that'll bring it back to life.  change the transmission fluid in thetranny.  when have you ever done that? 
suspension? yes its an 15 yr old car. springs sag.  lift kits are cheap for those, 3" lift are made by many companies...... tires are......... expensive

trade in con;  the vehicle is not pre 95' so i don't think it'll qualify for the 'recylce your ride' program. 


just what i think, i'd keep it, do the work, slap on a 400$ 3" lift and some 31s and call it good

[fug]

I'd say if you like to tinker with vehicles and you get a charge out of telling people "Yeah I threw a rod/grenaded a diff/busted a link on Saturday while wheeling and had it up and running sunday by midnight" then keep it and fix it.  If you hate working on your own vehicle and don't have tools or inclination to learn... then dump it and move onto something new.

BTW I don't think a 96 XJ is worth more than 2-3K in awesome shape (and I've sold a few).  Heck you could have my 99 for 3K.

[Vexta]

if you fix everything you list you'd still be lucky to get 2500 for it.........

Damn

that being said your work load can be done in a driveway.  change your sparkplugs/wires/cap/rotor etc on the engine. that'll bring it back to life.  change the transmission fluid in thetranny.  when have you ever done that? 

Unfortunately I don't have a driveway and the condo board left an angry letter under my door last time I did anything in the parkade (adding coolant... wtf?).  So I would have to go to a shop.  How much difference do you think it would make for the engine?  Are we talking night and day, or mild improvements.

trade in con;  the vehicle is not pre 95' so i don't think it'll qualify for the 'recylce your ride' program. 

Damn

just what i think, i'd keep it, do the work, slap on a 400$ 3" lift and some 31s and call it good

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

[Vexta]

I'd say if you like to tinker with vehicles and you get a charge out of telling people "Yeah I threw a rod/grenaded a diff/busted a link on Saturday while wheeling and had it up and running sunday by midnight" then keep it and fix it. 

I'd like to be that guy (to a degree) but with the Jeep as my second vehicle.  I guess I've never done any work on a vehicle beyond maintenance and Im uneasy throwing a bunch of money into it without knowing how much of a difference its going to make.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what to shoot for suspension?  That's probably what I have the least experience with.

[Pookapotamus]

vexta there are a lot of us jeep enthusists on here and we or at least i would help you out for free doing the easy stuff like giving your rig a tune up. its called jeep karma i help you you help me. so if you do decide to keep your rig and fix it up the bill will not be as big as you thought. plus there is always some one out there selling something cheap that you can use.

there are a lot of other things that you might consider with the new jeep, like shopping carts because sure enough the first time you take it to the mall some one will scratch it

what ever you do decide god luck to ya, oh and welcome to the forum.

[Vexta]

Thanks Pookapotamus

The more I think about it, the more Im leaning towards Fixing.  The Allure of a shiny new toy was hard to resist.

Now to figure out what all to do and where to have it done.... and where to get the money.

[Pookapotamus]

start with the small cheep stuff, like your tune up. it is easy and will give you a better ides of how out of shape your jeep is, if you find that it needs a new engine then you are out $100 for tune up parts and not $400 or more after fixing the suspension and then finding out the motor is toast.

and feel free to ask on the forum there is a lot of knowledge here with everyone.

as to where to get the money, i have tried selling my kidney but apparently after you filter enough alcohol through them they tend to drop in resale value

[Pookapotamus]

oh and i almost forgot, lemond aid jay here on the forum runs a shop by national 4wd and he is very reasonable and does excelent work! for your harder to do item i would definately check him out!

[Vexta]

oh and i almost forgot, lemond aid jay here on the forum runs a shop by national 4wd and he is very reasonable and does excelent work! for your harder to do item i would definately check him out!

I've seen him recommended a lot.  Maybe I'll give him a call for a ballpark quote, but I like your idea of doing small jobs at a time.

[cLAY]

I'd say if you like to tinker with vehicles and you get a charge out of telling people "Yeah I threw a rod/grenaded a diff/busted a link on Saturday while wheeling and had it up and running sunday by midnight" then keep it and fix it. 

Haha thats a good one, I'm one of those guys. It ain't always cheap either.......

[Justink]

i'd fix it.  but always figure  in about $500 more.  Went to do brakes and found i needed u-joints unit bearing etc.  They're not worth much to sell like others have said.  Its a good way to learn as well.  I recently did the plugs rotor etc and huge improvement, being as yours motor components are 10+ years old theres room for improvement.

Justin

[dunl]

Here's a different line of thinking, or maybe just further along the same line: 

Keep it, and instead of that Wrangler, upgrade to something like fug's 99 or a TJ instead of a "new" Wrangler.  A TJ will feel like a new rig to you with the coil suspension, and they're cheap enough if you look around.  There's one up here for $5500 right now on our site, 4" lift and 31's.   Not bad, and that's about $20,000 I'm guessing less in car payments.  Less payments means more money to play with....you can upgrade both rigs over the coming months as you wish.

http://reddeerjeep.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=821

[Vexta]

Here's a different line of thinking, or maybe just further along the same line: 

Keep it, and instead of that Wrangler, upgrade to something like fug's 99 or a TJ instead of a "new" Wrangler.  A TJ will feel like a new rig to you with the coil suspension, and they're cheap enough if you look around.  There's one up here for $5500 right now on our site, 4" lift and 31's.   Not bad, and that's about $20,000 I'm guessing less in car payments.  Less payments means more money to play with....you can upgrade both rigs over the coming months as you wish.

http://reddeerjeep.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=821

Which would be awesome... If I didn't live in a condo with 1 parking spot

I need a house, until then I have a 1 toy limit

[Vexta]

I recently did the plugs rotor etc and huge improvement, being as yours motor components are 10+ years old theres room for improvement.

That's exciting news.  Im looking forward do doing a lot of this work myself too.  There are some more angry letters from the condo board in my future I guess.