Looking at a 2000 XJ

Alright, I’m looking into upgrading from my 95 Cherokee (149000 miles) that is starting to nickel and dime me to death. I work part time at a dealership and have had the opportunity to buy one of the trade-ins. Its a 2000 Cherokee, 94420 miles, auto, 4wd, 4 door, black on black, with craiger soft 8's on it. I looked it over for about 45 min and am still not sure if I’m going to buy it. There are four concerns that I have. The first thing is that there are a few spots on the roof where surface rust has bubbled some of the paint. Second there are no maintenance records for it. Third, It has been broken into in the past and the ignition is bent up and the passenger side door lock is punched out. The ignition works perfectly fine so I’m not too worried. And finally, I will have to transfer all of the goodies off of my 95 to the 2000 including the bran new 3-core radiator that I just put in.

Those are my issues and here is the bottom line... My cost is $2800 + tags and title so around $3000 out the door. Kelly BB puts it at $4500 in fair condition. I just do not have any past on this thing. What do you think I should do? Is there anything that I should look into with this Cherokee? I am going to go back tomorrow and go through my checklist;


- Check for rust at the leaf spring mount torque boxes as well as the front control arm mounts.
- Check the skid plates for gouges as well as the gas tank skid or tank. N/A
- Press every button on it and try every option it has.
- Open and shut the doors, the hatch and the hood.
- Try the HVAC options on every position.
- Check oil cold and warm
- Look at oil filter
- Check tranny and smell fluid
- Start consecutive times when warm
- Check tire pressure
- Run A/C
- Run Heat
- Run 4wd L and H
- Power brake and load test
- Look for oil leaks
- Look over all vacuum lines
- Test alt charge
- Check coolant
- Inspect all lights
- Check cat
- Make sure manifold is not cracked
- Steering smooth from lock to lock
- Blow by in air box
- Hoses
- Roll every window up and down
- Motor mounts
- Check all fuses
- Look over all drive line
- Spare tire
- Check under rear seat
- Look for bad wiring under dash
- Check all lights
- Leaf springs and coils
- Shakes and shimmies while driving?
- Tight steering
- Braking forwards and back
-
- Maintenance records?
- Owner ship changes?

Thank you for all input!

Dude, that's a pretty comprehensive list. The only thing it lacks is somebody to powder yer butt to encourage you to buy the heep.

For 3k, I'd buy it without hesitation. Hell, you work at a dealership. If you decide it is trashed and not worth the money, just resell it to the next guy for more than you paid for it. It's the American way.

:wantyou:

I'd cross "blow by" off your list. That is an issue mainly with the early model XJ's. Matter of fact, dont think i've ever heard of it happening on any one newer than mid 90s (if that).

I would however definitely check the head to make sure it's not cracked. The 2000's were much more prone to cracking heads (search 0331 on here and you'll see what i'm talking about) than other years. This is because chrysler switched to a different head beginning in 2000. While some have close to 200K on theirs with zero issues, others have had them crack with as little as 70-80K on it. First tip off is the obvious disappearing coolant, or oily looking coolant.

Other that, I think you've got everything covered (and then some!)

redneck said:

Alright, I’m looking into upgrading from my 95 Cherokee (149000 miles) that is starting to nickel and dime me to death. I work part time at a dealership and have had the opportunity to buy one of the trade-ins. Its a 2000 Cherokee, 94420 miles, auto, 4wd, 4 door, black on black, with craiger soft 8's on it. I looked it over for about 45 min and am still not sure if I’m going to buy it. There are four concerns that I have. The first thing is that there are a few spots on the roof where surface rust has bubbled some of the paint. Second there are no maintenance records for it. Third, It has been broken into in the past and the ignition is bent up and the passenger side door lock is punched out. The ignition works perfectly fine so I’m not too worried. And finally, I will have to transfer all of the goodies off of my 95 to the 2000 including the bran new 3-core radiator that I just put in.

Those are my issues and here is the bottom line... My cost is $2800 + tags and title so around $3000 out the door. Kelly BB puts it at $4500 in fair condition. I just do not have any past on this thing. What do you think I should do? Is there anything that I should look into with this Cherokee? I am going to go back tomorrow and go through my checklist;


- Check for rust at the leaf spring mount torque boxes as well as the front control arm mounts.
- Check the skid plates for gouges as well as the gas tank skid or tank. N/A
- Press every button on it and try every option it has.
- Open and shut the doors, the hatch and the hood.
- Try the HVAC options on every position.
- Check oil cold and warm
- Look at oil filter
- Check tranny and smell fluid
- Start consecutive times when warm
- Check tire pressure
- Run A/C
- Run Heat
- Run 4wd L and H
- Power brake and load test
- Look for oil leaks
- Look over all vacuum lines
- Test alt charge
- Check coolant
- Inspect all lights
- Check cat
- Make sure manifold is not cracked
- Steering smooth from lock to lock
- Blow by in air box
- Hoses
- Roll every window up and down
- Motor mounts
- Check all fuses
- Look over all drive line
- Spare tire
- Check under rear seat
- Look for bad wiring under dash
- Check all lights
- Leaf springs and coils
- Shakes and shimmies while driving?
- Tight steering
- Braking forwards and back
-
- Maintenance records?
- Owner ship changes?

Thank you for all input!

Click to expand...

To start off, check the rear main seal and valve cover. I can guarantee you that one or both are leaking. They can be a pain to fix so just something you'd might want to consider doing after purchasing it. Do it at the dealership if you can, on a lift.

I just bought a 2001 full black cherokee with 82k on the ticker. Like yours, there was no maintenance record for it. Because of this, i went nuts and changed every fluid in the vehicle and it's a good thing i did cuz they were all the original fluids, even the oil! Crazy college chick (dealer told me she was HOT!) never bothered to maintain it. So that's something you should look forward to doing and it should cost around $100-$200 for all fluids to be changed and tranny flush. My springs were all shot and a lift kit will be replacing them. My sway bar front bushings (under bumper) were shot as well causing a nasty metal-to-metal clunk on every bump. It has three leaks, rear main, valve cover, and rear pinion leak. There are write-ups on how to fix each of these leaks on this forum.

Hopefully my experience will give you some ideas of what to look at. Oh yeah mine was $9000 but in excellent shape (exterior/interior/drivetrain) minus the leaks and bushing problems.

I say buy it, fix it up with some $$ and then break it all over again

Hey redneck, I've got a bit of time left on a month long carfax deal, send me the vin and I'll run it for you. A Jeep dealer can run the last 9 of your VIN for you to get the build sheet.

I just got an "01 Sport. It's got the Up Country package and had about 86,500 miles on it. Super, super clean, not even one scratch on the skidplates. I can't get to photobucket from work, but you can see it in this thread: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=930241

I was able to take it home and go through it before buying. You could probably put yours up on a lift at work. Excellent checklist BTW. Price sounds like a killer deal too.

Doug