Buying a 20-year old model

[Kelley.jarman]

I am new to the forum. My daughter wants to buy a 1988 Jeep Cherokee and I'm wondering about the age of it. The engine is good, but my husband seems to think that the off-road stresses on the metal may cause the bolts, etc. (as in the spare tire arm) to pop and break. I'd be curious to hear what owners of older off-road vehicles think. Thanks, Kelley

 

[JeepMonkey]

It depends on how much real off-road use it got. If it is a stock vehicle with no suspension mods then I'd bet it hasn't seen much of the off-road use. I'm not sure what part of the country you are in, but the only thing I would worry about is salt corrosion if your in one of those areas that still uses a lot of salt on the roads in the winter.

 

[TerryMason]

I'll pretty much echo what JeepMonkey said. Does the Cherokee have big tires? If not, then I bet it's never been offroad.

What type of Cherokee is it (4 door, 6 cylinder, automatic?)

 

[Kelley.jarman]

Thanks for your replies! We have decided against the Jeep. It had too many problems. The stressed metal was where the spare tire arm attached to the right rear side. The metal panel was severely cracked and looked like the arm might just fall off soon with a piece of panel attached. The tires and rims were huge and within 3 years old, really nice, but the jeep itself had been rewired (whichmeant none of the signals worked), needed a lot of new parts and was just plain beaten up. Oh well. Thanks for your help. Kelley

 

[currupt4130]

I wish I could buy a 20 year old model... I don't know if that's legal in the US though... I think that would be my only chance with a 20 year old model anyway. Oh well, guess I'm screwed

 

[jps4jeep]

I wish I could buy a 20 year old model... I don't know if that's legal in the US though... I think that would be my only chance with a 20 year old model anyway. Oh well, guess I'm screwed

Plenty of perfectly legal 20 year old models for a good price, called mail order russian brides (probably not the model you want though)

 

[redrooster]

Pretty sure those will be all beaten up and showing signs of stress. Don't know about the crack though. Maybe some meth.

 

[currupt4130]

Yea, I'd like the unopened, or gently used models please.

 

[JeepMonkey]

Plenty of perfectly legal 20 year old models for a good price, called mail order russian brides (probably not the model you want though)

Glad I wasn't the only one thinkin that!:shock: