Comments: 1-15, 16-26
Water pump stopped working- had to replace it.
Alternator stopped working- had to replace it.
Coolant reservoir broke. I replaced it with a new one THREE times.
The piece of junk overheated when climbing a moderately steep hill in the summer. You'd have to stop to let it cool, and then the coolant reservoir would spew out a bunch of coolant. Extra bottles of premixed coolant were fixtures in that Jeep.
Parking lights burned out twice.
Stabilization bar (front) broke.
4WD transfer case stopped working. This cost $1600 to repair.
Windshield leaked water at bottom and top onto the two front passengers' feet.
Distributor stopped working twice (first time: the cap had a crack in it; second time: different problem that I don't recall).
The oil filter was placed at such an angle that you could barely squeeze the filter wrench in. When you managed to get the wrench in place, you could only turn the thing about two degrees at a time- literally. So, taking the oil filter off took about fifteen minutes.
Rear wiper never worked.
ABS brakes malfunctioned several times.
Rear drum brakes didn't work properly. The star wheel mechanism did not self adjust as it was supposed to, and the brakes never tightened properly.
Engine died all the time (probably thanks to the lousy electrical system).
This piece of junk was better suited to rusting away in a lonely parking lot than to being driven around (on pavement or off-road).
If it was raining, I could never have the front wipers, the headlights, the radio, the heater or air conditioning, and the rear window defrost on at the same time. I could only run one or two at a time, or else the heap would die on me at a stoplight.
I had serious trouble with the ABS system, which resulted in greatly increased force required on the brake pedal and greatly increased stopping distance- VERY DANGEROUS. There was a safety recall for the ABS pump motor, so I took it to the dealer from which I bought this four-wheeled death machine. When I got it back, they said they cleaned a connector, said that this is what was needed to fix the safety recall issue, and took my recall notice. Six months to a year later, the same ABS problem came back. I took it to the same dealer, and this time they said that the ABS pump motor needed replacing and they wanted to charge me $600 to do it. I called Chrysler and described the situation. Chrysler took care of the problem for me. I would love to go on about this incident, but this review is only supposed to be about the vehicle. This little ABS story is nothing but true facts, though.
The seats were uncomfortable- HORRIBLE thigh support (I'm a normal-sized person).
An example of how cheesy and fake this vehicle is: On the steering wheel is a circular pattern of what looks like socket head bolts. This gives the impression that these bolts are holding the steering wheel on to the steering column. These are not real bolts. This is just a plastic ring molded into the shaped of socket head bolts and glued to the steering wheel. Someone please tell me what the point of this is. Does it serve to make the interior look "rough-and-ready" or something?
I seriously started trying to figure out how I could make money by having people pay to watch me destroy this heap of junk (what's more eye-catching: blowing it up, or running it off a cliff?)
Those stickers are correct- it IS a Jeep thing, and I DON'T understand.
I don't think this person knew how to take care of their Jeep. Considering it had 63,000 miles on it when you bought it, the previous owner could have, and sounds like they did, beat the crap out of it. Plus, it's a Jeep, not a sports car. You can't drive it like a sports car. And you don't need ABS. Yes it's nice to have in quick situations, but other than that, it's a pain. Learn how to drive an SUV, then complain.
I have a 1990 Jeep Cherokee Limited with 213,000 miles on it and it has never failed me.
I have a 1990 Jeep Cherokee with well over 200,000 miles on it and it has never let me down. I agree the coolant recovery bottle was a bad design, and that's probably why the newer Jeeps lost that part and got the radiator with a pressure cap instead. Other than that.. I love my Jeep and it gets at least 20,000 miles a year on it! It sounds to me like whoever had the Jeep before you didn't take care of it, because with the proper care I have seen many Jeeps over the 300,000 mile mark and that in itself should tell you something. Maybe you should have inspected the vehicle a little better before buying it and perhaps that would have saved you a lot of heartache and mechanical problems. You should always be wary of buying a car that needs "minor repairs" and check it out real good to be sure you know what you are getting BEFORE you put your money into it.
Probably just felt like bashing the car since they couldn't even be bothered to say which jeep they had.
I'm getting ready to buy a 1990 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. It has 120K miles on it, I know that the 6-cyl engines will go far and I also know about the radiator problems that occur in these vehicles, that is why I am replacing the original radiator with a 3 core new radiator. The cooling problems should be gone after replacing the junky stock radiator. I don't know of too many vehicles that will go beyond 200k miles so I wouldn't complain about jeeps. It's very easy to find a jeep that someone did not take care of so it sounds like that's what happened.
Sounds like he got a monday or friday car off the assembly line. My 1990 jeep rans perfect at 135,000, no problems so far.
I purchased a 1990 Jeep Cherokee 2 years ago. It had 116,000 miles. It now has 164,000 miles on it. I have had some issues the irrate fellow was talking about. Here is a list of issues I have had since I have owned the Jeep...
Water/Coolant pump leaked for a short time, then just stopped leaking.
Had a small oil leak, turned out to be homemade piping. The dealer had replaced manufactured piping with his version and it caused oil to blow back into my air filter. Spent about $60 to replace all the piping, fixed...
Right now I just noticed another coolant leak, but I think it's the cooland housing or (reservoir) It's plastic and I can tell that the trim around it is spouting coolant. So i'll just patch it for now until I can get a new coolant housing on there (probably like 20 or 30 bucks) I can replace it myself and be done with her.
Other than usual wear and tear this is the ONLY issue I've had with this jeep. It's still running on (pretty much) all manufactured parts and I haven't had any major problems with her. Guess he just got a lemon. There are lemon laws ya know. ;)
Anyway, let's not forget folks, these cars are 14 years old. Things are gonna start to break eventually, no matter how much preventative maintenance there is. Wear and tear just happens. But to be honest fella... You could buy a brand new car and still have to replace all those items you've fixed so far. Just depends on vehicle. I will say that Jeep is built tough, I've never had any major issue with mine (Thank God) but there again something could happen and if it will need fix'n well then... fix her up, or trade her in.
Alternator? water pump? dude, these are parts that are replaced daily in cars all over the place... that's in my opinion routine parts that need to be checked for damage and replaced.
The light bulb went out and your blaming the vehicle?
I think you should blame what ever brand was written on the package for the bulbs.
Why would you need to unscrew the oil filter for 15min with a filter wrench when you can screw it off with your hand after the first very few turns.
If you got your Cherokee with only 63k on it I do believe that you've been beating on it, or atleast the guy who owned it before you did. A Jeep (especially the older ones) need to be maintained, then they're good forever with proper maintenance.
A lot of the Chrysler cars of the early 90's had over-heating& water-pump problems.
Just got a 1990 Cherokee Pioneer with 179k on it, it has been very well maintained& I do believe that it has well over 50,000 left on it.
No offense, but there was a comment above this one that stated that they were buying a 1990 Grand Cherokee, are you sure you're not thinking about the Grand Wagoneer (which I have owned)? They didn't start making Grand Cherokees until 1993. No offense, just trying to be friendly.
I have owned a number of Jeeps over the years and not one has been troublesome. They have ALL been reliable, durable, practical and FUN transportation.
The writer of this review complains about everything including normal wear & tear items down to the design on the steering wheel! Yet this vehicle was purchased with over 60k miles on it. How does the writer know how this vehicle was treated and maintained before he/she bought it, yet he/she blames the vehicle and Jeep for the problems.
The writer also states that he/she does not understand the "Jeep thing", well my response is that's probably a good thing as in my opinion the writer would probably be happier driving a Toyota Camry or Honda Accord anyway.
My final piece of advice to the writer; If you buy a used car that proves to be troublesome and needs much work,
don't blame the manufacturer, blame yourself for not having the vehicle throughly checked out.
I recently traded a car (six months ago) for a beat up 1990 Cherokee.
Used to swear at the other car a lot because it was so hard to work on.
I work on this Cherokee a lot, not do to the type of vehicle, but because it wasn't maintained properly.
This jeep is much easier to work on then any vehicle I have had in a long time.
First time I've actually enjoyed working on a vehicle since I was a kid.
Only problem is I'm stumped.
This thing keeps trying to start when the key is not in it.
I've changed the ignition switch, remote starter relay, starter/solenoid and checked the wiring for shorts and haven't found any.
Still it keeps trying to run away from home.
Anyone got a suggestion, I'm about to change its name to christine. still loving my jeep though.
Mjenk@netpenny.net.
Sounds like my Jeep - a 90 Cherokee Laredo. Not the best year, the '92 and up are much improved by Chrysler - even the Factory Service Manual. I highly recommend it. Any older vehicle will suffer many of the same problems - I have 3 others no newer - without going through the entire litany of problems, let's just say I'm glad I fix them and save the cost of shop overhead and labor. I don't always like to change a head gasket in two inches of sleet, but if I could afford to pay for services I would still own the Jeep - what other vehicle will 4 wheel in snow up to the axle in comfort at this price level, or keep up on dry roads?
I'm sorry, but the oil filter was not designed to be a pain, hence the reason anyone can open the hood, reach in comfortably, and take if off with their hands in a matter of seconds. And to me it sounds as if you don't understand that an alternator, water pump, and bulb and standard maintenance, and wear out no matter what. Sounds like you just need to be a little more careful what you buy, and a little more understanding when things wear out.
It looks like neither you or the previous owner never took proper care of the Jeep.
Replacing bulbs is usual, so is for the rest of the usual wear and tear items that you mentionned.
If this was your first car, well maybe you would be better off with a Honda scooter or anything that's DISPOSABLE.
My 1990 Cherokee just passed 347,000 miles. I had the motor remaned at 200,000 (cost $1,500) and the Transfer case at 290,000. The same coolant issues as others above, but I could teach a class on this horrible ABS.
I reccomend to anyone thinking of owning an old jeep to put it down for maintenance once a year for a week. Spend $500 preventative dollars and change out ALL the cheap parts. hoses, belts, coolant bottle, water pump etc... It will never break down and $500 a year is way better than $40,000 for a new SUV.
PS I drive my Jeep back and forth between Florida and north Georgia every week (450 miles each way) at 80 mph. Works just fine!!