How reliable are Jeeps?

[Shamo]

I thought this is a general chat type subject so here is my question.

How reliable are Jeeps?

I want to know this because my mum is currently looking at buying a new car and wants one (for what reason i don't know) She is looking at buying the JK wrangler 4 door in the diesel.

My first reaction was to say no definitely not, get a prado or D2, but i thought i would be more open minded about the situation and find out what they are actually like.

She wants it for general use in town and some dirt roads and wants to pack a fair bit of random crap into it at times and she also wants to be able to tow a horse float with two horses in it.

Will the Jeep be able to handle the towing and does anyone (i know you might gaz) know what the Jeep reliability is for someone who obviously wouldn't be doing any work herself on it and as i live in a different town to her i won't be able to assist alot of the time. Also what is it like on getting parts?

Shamo

[Tombie]

They're actually quite good, if left alone...

If you start modifying, then you head down a long road of extra jobs required to make it all work together as a cohesive set up.

[FenianEel]

What Tombie said x2.
I've had a lot of mates with Jeeps, particularly Wranglers, and my oldest sister has a Patriot, Jeeps are good units.
They are reliable and good to tow with, the JK has a 2.5t towing capacity too, not 3.5t like a Disco.
The V6 petrol is heavy on the juice though. ;)
Get her a Diesel Landy :p

[Blknight.aus]

They're good enough.

like landies they have some minor issues but mostly they're not show stoppers.

depending on what level you come in at I call it as they bridge the gap between the utilitarian offroad ability of the defender and the comfort and grace of a disco.

[justinc]

Just DON'T buy a Cherokee with the VM diesel:mad:

The later ones are reliable, lightweight and the Rubicon has crawler low range and twin lockers, From the factory:cool:. Now just released in OZ with a diesel late last year IIRC.

I worked on early examples and they are pretty agricultural, but a late model Wrangler Diesel wouldn't be all that bad. Pretty small though.

JC

[incisor]

Just DON'T buy a Cherokee with the VM diesel:mad:
yet they are such a good thing when mariinised

go figure...

[JDNSW]

yet they are such a good thing when mariinised

go figure...

I seem to recollect it is the other way - they started off marinised!

John

[Grumbles]

You might like to go and have a look at the Australian Jeep website AJOR and do a bit of research there on Jeeps and look at their stickys. The JK seems to have a few problems which the guys are pretty keen to discuss. But given what I have learned over the years I don't think I could ever own a diesel Jeep of any model though.

[will d8r]

My boss has a four door Wrangler I've driven it a bit , it ,don't like it goes ok you seemed to be jammed in not alot of leg room I guess the disco is completely different

[Shamo]

Thanks for all the replies guys, i was just mainly worried about the overall size of the car and it towing the horse float, how it would go just keeping it all stable, like the engine might have the grunt but they just don't seem to look like they would be able to handle it well...

I really want her to buy a nice D2a or an early model D3 but i'll see how i go... atleast with the D2 i can fix it and i know where to get spares!

Shamo

[CheekyD1]

Hi Shamo

I can only speak about XJ’s
Which are bulletproof, and when they finally wear out, they are easily fixed.

I did drive a little petrol JK in the US, it rolled along nicely and when it can time to fill it, I was surprised how little juice it had used.

Buy Mum an XJ to drag the nags around. They are cheep, about 5-6 K,
I know of a blue one with just over 100,000K in mint condition that the old bloke wants $6,500 for.

In short, yup they still follow the simple, reliable model started by Mr Willy.
Take it for a spin off-road, you will be surprised where it will go standard.

Cheers

Gaz

[BigJon]

XJ's bullet proof? Have you seen the rear wheel bearing design??

[Chucaro]

Here on Moore Park Beach is a diesel Jeep Commander and the owner is very happy with it. Economy is as good as the Tdi300 :eek:
The 3.0-litre CRD V6 engine produces a massive 160kW at 4,000 rpm and 510Nm of torque at 1,600-2,400 rpm which is not to bad I guess :)

[big guy]

I had a Cherokee limited.
Went to the snow and it was brilliant.
They are actually quite a small car, mine had the 4L six and drank, but so the Landies.
A few faults I can remember, stainless headers from factory and if any water splashes on the off road, the tend to crack-Common.
Rear brakes are drum type and car did have brake fade with load on.
Excellent power, great heating and absolutely no problem. Had it 2 years which is actually a long time for me.

They are antiquated but they work. The plastic inside is pretty bad but if they keep going it would be easy enough to live with.

I say go for it.
Millions of Jeep people can't be too wrong.;)

[Mick-Kelly]

Well so far ive owned four landys and one jeep, guess which one has never cost me a cent. I have a mid 90's XJ and it is a good unit. Very light with no real chassis so it floats over sand where others plow through.
One the flip side they are thirsty and they are know to overheat in Aussie conditions if not sorted. Most will have a thermo added by now. Mine has 230,000 kms on it and still pulls like a freight train.
If someone came along with a late 70's J20 ute though i would trade in a flash.

[Grumbles]

There's a big difference between the ten year old XJ Cherokee and the JK Wrangler Shamo is talking about. But for the record I had two XJs. The first was brilliantly reliable. The second was an absolute reliability disaster - I could never count on it to get me somewhere or to get me home.

But go and have a talk to the towies who do road side recoveries for the car manufacturers and also the likes of the motoring organisations - RACV etc. I am yet to meet one who has a kind word for the Jeep brand.

Owning a Jeep is a bit of a lottery. You either get a very good one or a very bad one.

[big guy]

There's a big difference between the ten year old XJ Cherokee and the JK Wrangler Shamo is talking about. But for the record I had two XJs. The first was brilliantly reliable. The second was an absolute reliability disaster - I could never count on it to get me somewhere or to get me home.

But go and have a talk to the towies who do road side recoveries for the car manufacturers and also the likes of the motoring organisations - RACV etc. I am yet to meet one who has a kind word for the Jeep brand.

Owning a Jeep is a bit of a lottery. You either get a very good one or a very bad one.

Same and than some could be said about another brand we love dearly.

Not just tow contractors but pretty much the general publics view for that matter.

I still can't fault mine but the barrage of abuse one cops for having a Landy from the ill informed is incredible.

Its like a license for ridicule.:p

[cucinadio]

Mate have a few friend with jeeps ....and as thick and fast the comment come about the disco ..there alway never far behind with there own problems .....thats y they say the same thing as us!!...."It's a jeep thing, you wouldnt understand!!"...lol

cheers

[CheekyD1]

Shamo, I have been thinking about your issue, Re the towing Horse Floats.
I know that the older TJ's did not have a transfer which had a "Full Time 4WD" Mode.
In Rover terms it is "Locked 4WD" or 2WD.
The XJ does have a centre Diff so to speak so it features a Unlocked 4WD seting in the transfer. Which can be used on the bitumen.
Probaly be the one used when towing the nags around.
Might be wise to check if the JK has the same transfer as the XJ or TJ.

Cheers

Gaz

[dmdigital]

Everyone I know with Jeps seems happy enough with them. Like Tombie said though modifying turns to a world of different issues.

There is one complaint I do hear from Jeep owner's though: Not enough luggage space.

The 4-door has the same cargo area as the two door until you fold down or remove the back seats. A D2 has a lot more cargo area. A D1 is about on par with a 4-door Jeep.

Oh and they are worse ground clearance than the new Hilux.

[Shamo]

Shamo, I have been thinking about your issue, Re the towing Horse Floats.
I know that the older TJ's did not have a transfer which had a "Full Time 4WD" Mode.
In Rover terms it is "Locked 4WD" or 2WD.
The XJ does have a centre Diff so to speak so it features a Unlocked 4WD seting in the transfer. Which can be used on the bitumen.
Probaly be the one used when towing the nags around.
Might be wise to check if the JK has the same transfer as the XJ or TJ.

Cheers

Gaz

Thanks for that gaz i shal have to ask a couple of questions to the dealer/seller when we start test driving.

Thanks also to the other replies, they are shaping up to sound not as bad as i originally thought they would be. I'm not sure when she will be test driving the next one but i will be sure to post up how it goes.

Shamo