[THEFERMANATOR]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

My brother has an 04. He loves it. That being said, I've heard nothing but bad things from a lot of people about them. Tranny's seem to be the biggest complaint I've heard. Guy at work had an 03. Couldn't wait to get rid of it. Funny thing is, when he sold it, he bought a brand new one.

The tranny behind the 4.0L was a CHRYSLER slushbox, and pretty failure prone. They normally lasted in the 60-100K mile range if you took care of them and not beat on em. If you beat on em and neglect them, and I have seen plenty fail MUCH earlier. The 45RFE/545RFE behind the 4.7L was a MUCH better trans based off of the CHRYSLER 604 without all of the seal and accumulator problems the 604's had. The 4.7L V8 is a GREAT engine, BUT it MUST be maintained to a T. It is a MERCEDES design engine, and being based off of a EUROPEAN engine it is NOT resistant to ANY neglect. The 4.0L was a great engine, but keep in mind the last year of them was sort of a basket case hodge podge of parts from CHRYSLER trying to clean it up for emissions, but knowing they had another in the works for them. By then I wasn't working on them anymore, but a friend who runs a shop said he's had a few 04+ in for engine work, and the engine parts from earlier years didn't readily interchange. I believe 05 was the last year of them for the WRANGLER, and 04 for the WJ. The older 93-98 GRAND wasn't a bad ride, but it wasn't a CHEROKEE by any means. They used there own drivetrains, CHRYSLER trannies, and alot more elctronic controls than the regular CHEROKEE's had.

Myself personally I wouldn't want a ZJ(93-98) or WJ(99-04) GRAND CHEROKEE. The CHRYSLER trannies of 93-98(unless you find a VERY EARLY build 93 with a 4.0L, then it has the TOYOTA trans in it like the CHEROKEE had) were enough of a reason for me to run, and the electronic controls of the 99-04 as well as the worry of wether or not somebody took care of the engine if it had a V8 would be a huge concern. They're not bad vehicles by any means, but they did have more than there fair share of problems. I coudl go on and on about them, but a few highlights that scare most off are the constant evap problems of the 93-98's(99-04 wasn't immune as I did more than a few of them back in the day), CONSTANT fuel pump problems for the 99-04's, rear end problems if it has the aluminum DANA 44, and the DANA35 in the GRAND wasn't much better, CV joints were used for the front axle as well as front driveshaft on many, transfer case issues if it had the full time 4 wheel drive(viscous couplers were always a problem), and who could forget doing 3 or 4 window regualtors a week on em. The regular CHEROKEE didn't have a 1/4 the problems the GRAND had, and was mostly due to the fact that CHRYLSER added alot of luxury features and tried doing alot more refinements that bit them in the hind end.

If the RIGHT priced one came along, I would consider it. Also keep in mind it is still based off of a truck platform, and either the 4.0L or any of the V-8's are still only going to get you milage in the teens.