MHPHOCKEY

So I leave my C Class at home in Los Angeles while I attend Tulane in New Orleans. However, with the condition of the city (specifically the crime), I need a car here. I have decided to buy a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It is 4x4 and has a V8. I drove the car and it seemed great. Checked fluids, transmission, engine, and everything was good.

I need to know if anyone has any experience with these vehicles and if there is anything that I need to watch out for. I did a CARFAX and am having the dealer do a quick run through. So far so good.

The car has 133,000 miles, which is a lot, but it is only $3,900. Seeing that I am a student and this is coming out of my pocket, the price is very appealing.

If anyone has any insight I would appreciate it. If you can email me so that the moderators do not get angry because this is "not C Class (or Mercedes for that matter) related".

Mike
mpearson@tulane.edu

dbvolz

Just bring your benz here... I go to Loyola and have had my car here before and after Katrina, and have not had any problems.

MHPHOCKEY

My friend has a 325 ci and has gone through 3 tires and a front bumper due to the pot holes. I don't want to have to worry about parking it places or driving at night and not seeing holes.

On another note, I think I have seen your car around. There is a red one with Carlsson rims around to, I think she is a Tulane student.

dbvolz

Yeah theres actually quite few Cs around here. Theres a silver one with SLK rims on it and a rieger bumper. I guess its just a matter of driving careful down here, or at least sober haha. nice car btw...

MHPHOCKEY

Thanks. I am going to mod it eventually, but until I am driving it full time I do not think it is worth the investment.

Capt Nemo o2

Big thing to watch out for is the tranny. '95+ was a different tranny than '94 (slightly different, dont remember the differences anymore). MANY MANY people had their transmissions replaced, some more than once. Another thing to watch out for is the transfer case. The viscous coupling in the NP/NV 241 gearbox has a habbit of going bad. When that happens, as the TC heats up it locks and the front and back axles spin at the same speed... Great for off roading and going straight... bad for turning. Thats what happened to mine... but an easy fix is to just remove the front axle prop shaft.

Not sure if by '96 they fixed the AC issues. The original system was desgined for R-12 but they used R-134. The material used was corroded easily with R-134 and the thing that usually went bad was the evaporator core.

The 318 was fairly bullet proof, but minor things caused issues. Alot of people had problems with the engine not starting. It was usually the ignition coil being poorly designed and would crack causing it to short out with the block... thus no spark. Another common cause was the CPS being screwed up. Both are pretty easy to fix but if I recall correctly the CPS is on the top of the tranny and a real pain to get to.

The 318 small block also will give you about 11-12 MPG combined. I dumped mine just as gas hit $2.00 before the huge jump.

Hope that helps.

yeuchau

if you feel is worth it, then just buy it
no big deal

patrick_y

I agree. No big deal. Seems somewhat expensive though. An 11 year old car with that kind of mileage still worth as much as they're asking? I hope it's in very very good condition (which nothing seems to be in since Katrina). Also, I wouldn't buy a car in New Orleans, since the Katrina incident has flooded so many of them. Be sure to check thoroughly for flood damage.

Watch out for the rear differential on the Jeep Grand Cherokee, sometimes those things make these "chunk chunk" sounds when you're doing sharp turns. To test, turn the steering all the way to lock position and drive slowly and listen for chunk sounds.

tommy

Just live uptown and buy a mountain bike.

Cherokee sounds like the perfect car for down there now. Great choice of school!

I had my crx down there when I worked in the CBD, and lived in the Marigny. Got broken into twice, once when it had the stock stereo only. Good luck!

MHPHOCKEY

Thanks a lot for the input. I have a bike, but at night I don't want to walk around the block because of the crime. The car is fully loaded (even has XM Radio) and very clean. I am getting the car below Blue Book.

I will have everythign checked. The reason I asked is because I cannot spend $3,800 on the car and then spend X amount of dollars keeping it running.

Also, the car is from New York and re-registered in Texas...I made sure it was not flooded. The guy is in the Navy.

Thanks.

Mike

Capt Nemo o2

Thats not the rear end. That is drive line binding because the center diff in the transfer case is locked (meaning it is going bad). The center diff only locks on the newer ZJ's with the NV-241 case ('96+) in 4WD-low. Thats exactly what it sounds like.