25th Jun 2004, 11:29
In regards to the person with the 94 YJ with the blown tranny in the middle of no where... To my knowledge Jeep had contracted Peugeot to supply them with the transmissions, and Peugeot did not design a very well tranny.
14th Jul 2004, 09:20
Just wanted to add in a comment. I used to be a full-time mechanic and have worked just about everywhere in town. Now it is a side hobby for me. I have worked on Both Land Rovers and Jeeps. To tell you the truth, I haven't worked on many Jeeps. Only ones I have worked on where those that have been driven like Ferrari's, and of course, the engine blew up. I have seen my fare share of Land Rovers (I also used to work at the local Land Rover dealer). Frankly, I'm not impressed with them. In my OPINION, they are way over priced, and can't handle a lot of crap off road. Jeeps can take all the crap you throw at it, and then more! I have owned a few in my time. I had a 93 Cherokee Sport which I drove untill 350,000 miles and then sold it to a college kid, a 94 Wrangler, which with proper care, the tranny never gave me a problem. Also owned a 98 Wrangler, both had manual tranny's, a 2002 Grand Cherokee, and now my wife and I have matching 2003 Liberty's. They are both black Renegade's. Now, I certainly would not beat the crap out of the Liberty like I did my Wranglers because of it's "independeant" front suspension. It's still a lot of fun off road.
Bottom line, if you're looking for something you can thrash around off road, and still take to work on Monday, you can't go wrong with a Jeep. Ignore all the complaints about them. Yes, the Wrangler leaks a little. ANY CONVERTIBLE WILL!! As for the Grand Cherokee brake problem, these are from people who drive them like cars, and ride the brakes or are very hard on them. Go easy on them and they will last a while.
15th Sep 2004, 21:40
The Jeep wrangler is not the most reliable vehicle. They are reliable, but I can name a few cars that can last longer.
Someone made a comment about the Toyota IFS, and how it's a bad setup. The IFS is better for high speed driving, like prerunning for example. Just because a vehicle is made to go off-road, doesn't mean its intended for mudding, and rock crawling.
Jeeps are notorious for transmission problems.
To name a few cars/trucks that are as or more reliable than the JEEP.
Mercedes W123 diesel (most reliable vehicle I know of, besides maybe some 18 wheelers)
Toyota Tacoma/Pickup
1980's Volvos
1980's BMW's.
Some people don't want a Jeep. Maybe they commute, and its not practical to drive a wrangler to meet with business partners.
Maybe some people need the extra cargo/seating room of the Cherokee/Grand Cherokee.
The Jeep is a good vehicle, but its not the greatest thing for everyone.
20th Nov 2004, 07:58
Jeeps versus Landies? It's ironic that stateside the Land Rover is seen by some as a yuppies car when it's the other way round in the UK. The Wrangler was listed as "Top hairdressers' car" in a popular magazine here!
The jeep a serious work vehicle? I've never seen a farmer, utility company, special forces unit, fire and rescue, etc. etc. using a Wrangler. They DO use Land Rover Defenders though: ask the SAS! My mate has just come back from Iraq: he said the Brit Landies ran rings around the US Hummers which, let's face it, are too big for any roads outside the USA and are very slow. He didn't see any Jeeps there either.
Final point: Range Rovers and Freelanders aren't Land Rovers. Honest!
Dave S.
Canterbury,
England.
8th Jun 2006, 09:16
I wrote the review titled affordable all terrain sport utility vehicle; that was almost 4 years ago. I still have that same jeep; it has become my daily driver. I also since that time became a fireman in a rural community, and have used this vehicle on many a fire call. This on many occasions has required me to go into the woods with it, and it has performed superbly. "Brush 40, as it is now called, is now equipped with a stainless steel lightbar mounted to the windshield assembly, which houses two forward facing off road lights in the middle, and blue strobe warning lights on the outer mounts which are used on fire and emergency calls. It is also equipped with a heavy duty front end grille guard and rock rails. It didn't cost a fortune to put the upgrades on it, and it still functions as a Jeep should. A jeep has one thing in common with all other vehicles. The better care that you take of them, the longer they will last. Don't get me wrong, I do ride it pretty rough at times, but proper maintenance after the fact makes a big difference. It is by far the best vehicle I have ever owned, and as I said in my original review, I plan to keep it a while. I have had no major problems with maintenance on this vehicle, and I attribute that to proper maintenance and upkeep.
26th Jan 2004, 16:18
I'm not sure we're talking about the same Jeep as the other reviewers because I've had nothing, but problems out of 2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport 4.0 from day one - literally!
On the way home from the dealer, the transmission went out before the odometer even got to 100. At 37,000 miles, both front and rear pinion seals were leaking. The next month, I got to take it back to the shop because the rear pinion seal was leaking again. I got to buy a yoke this time too. Also, by this point, the upholstery was coming apart in the driver's seat.
At approximately, 45,000 miles, the windshield wiper motor started shorting out and oil is slowly escaping around one side of the engine at the head gasket.
At 56,000 miles, the engine starts spraying coolant so badly that it's spraying up over the hood onto the windshield. Only now, my windshield wiper motor has gone completely out so I can no longer wipe the coolant off my windshield. That brings me up to date with the major stuff.
Right now, it's in the shop to stop the coolant leak. They've had it for a total of 5 days and they still can't find the source of the leak. They've tested the radiator. The head's not cracked or warped either (so they told me). They've talked with "5 Star" (whoever that is), and 5 Star concluded that I either need a new head or a new block! I've encouraged them to continue searching for the real problem because an engine *should* last longer than 56,000 miles.
All of the above is completely true. My conclusion is that if I had ever taken my Jeep off-road, it wouldn't last 5 minutes before the whole thing would break into a thousand pieces.