buyers guide

Hi i am looking to buy a jeep cherokee but i was wondering what to look for in the test drive and any other thing.

wheels and tires are good to start. engine and drive train are pretty sweet i hear. some people like radios so that you can listen to music, but that's totally up to you. i like red jeeps and black. i've seen green, yellow, blue, there are an amazing amount of colors. that's just a few things i'd look for

You're gonna wanna check for skid plates, or rather, any marks on those. If the plates have alot of scoring, you can be pretty certain that the jeep was used and/or abused off road. You wanna take a look at the engine and pay attention to the exhaust manifold in earlier(pre-96) years. Start it up and listen for any exhaust leaks that may be present in a broken manifold. It was common in those years, my first one had a cracked manifold. When you drive it you want to check for any loose ness in the steering and any vibration in the drive train. If you get a sort of pulsing vibration it means something is damaged in the drive train, or the drive shaft angles are too extreme( especially if its a lifted XJs) If the XJ is lifted beyond 3-4 inches check for an SYE(Slip Yoke Eliminator) other than that look for rust, any rust is a bad sign. If you really want to get into it, you can check the rear axle and see what its got back there. All the fronts were Dana 30s. In the back you will most likely find a Dana 35, though you might see a Dana 44, or a Chrysler 8.25. All are decent axles but the 44 is one most sought after for its strength and aftermarket support. I could go on for a while about great things to look for and check, but there are many others with alot more experience and knowledge than i have out there. so, hopefully they will chime in.