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girlfriend needs new vehicle. Need help

From what my buddies say with their cherokees and wrangles, I'd say they'd probably be great for daily driving. As long as you don't plan on putting some huge tires on them, they get decent mileage and are pretty dang reliable.
 
First choice would be Toyota PU with R22 bullet proof engine good MPG. 2nd.Ranger or Mazda 4cyl. IMO Stay away from S10 unless in very good condition.
The "little Jeep thingys" mentioned above are "YJs" They are MPFI and get 22 MPG. Very popular 4x4. I am looking for one for my daughter. XJs are late model jeeps.
Might also want to look into a GeoTracker or Suzuki Samauri. Good MPG, Basic 4x4, can be had for cheap.


correction if you will...YJ's are Wranglers....XJ's are Cherokees...i have an 89 XJ with 220k on it and never had a problem out of it plus it still gets 20mpg...i got mine for $150 running and driving but they can be found for less than 2k in great condition and they make great wheelers with few if any mods
 
The Cherokee's are a decent rig... they usually easily last a long time without major issues for a daily driver.. I have a friend who has one.. loves it. Didn't have problems till he started wheeling it, but that's typical of most of our rigs :D

The 4 cylinder Rangers are decent trucks.. I believe in the early to mid 90's they made a 4 cylinder 5 speed 4x4(A friend has one), gets good mileage but gutless.
 
XJ, YJ, CJ, TJ ??? Damn I cant seem to keep Jeep thingys straight any more. LOL.
I even used to own an XJ. It was a 1993 Cherokee Sport. Good little rig, Had the 150 cid 4 banger with 5 speed manual, got good gas milage. Great offroad. I bought it for my wife.
I agree. Cherokee would be a good choice they seem to run forever and are easy to work on.
When I read the Dabbas 1st Post he said "truck". So I was thinking Pick Up. Missed the part about "PUs are out".
 
Thanks, hows 130-150k on a cherokee, also seems kinda high. I guess ill have to look around, got a few names in my head. any more suggestions?
 
Thanks, hows 130-150k on a cherokee, also seems kinda high. I guess ill have to look around, got a few names in my head. any more suggestions?
Thats not too bad, those can easily go over 200k. Though I'd look for something with around 100k. And try to get one with the 4.0 inline 6 from the early to mid 90s. The 80s xjs have the renix fuel injection system and I've heard that sux. Also try and avoid the v-6s cherokees. When you are looking at one, check the exhaust manifold for cracks, its very common on those.
 
when i hit the junk yard, pretty much all the cherokees in there(which is like 20-30) have atleast 160k miles on them....saw one the other day with 320000 i know somebody with one, and that gets my vote. great little SUV's. they are unibody though...keep that in mind.
 
Rangers seem to be tough little trucks. Though my girlfriend cant go with a pickup. Ill look more into cherokees and pathfinders. Any word on izuzu rodeos? Saw one today, looked like an early 90s pathfinder, any good? And yeah i heard those straight 6s in the jeeps live forvever.
 
im gonna go with suggesting a wrangler if you can find it in the price range. out here they're a dime a dozen. They are really easy to work on. I had a 95, with the five speed, and the 4.0L six, and got around 22mpg with a 2in shackle lift and 31x10.50 tires. Fun little runabout, till i flipped it in a snowstorm in vermont, hence the reason i got a M1009 :) which by the way, i bought for 1500 bucks, and gets 20mpg at least on the highway with 33in tires :) although to be fair, i wound up spending about 4000 on it to get it safe to drive on the street. but you might have better luck. those trucks come up all the time on government auctions, although i really wouldnt call them small.

really, i have no problem suggesting a wrangler, i never had a problem with mine that i couldnt fix on the cheap over a weekend, even installed my shackle lift in about 3 hours (with a lift and two xmas tree stands). I drove that thing back and forth from virginia to vermont on a regular basis, and even did some light wheelin with it and like i said, never had a problem. If i hadnt have crashed it, id probly still be driving it. Just keep your eyes open, my buddy scored an older, 1990 i think for 300 bucks, that some old lady wanted to get rid of, apparently her son abandoned it there. It was kinda rough, didnt have a top, needed tires, but it ran. i think we had it pass inspection for a total investment of around 1800 bucks and a few weekends worth of stripping out the interior getting rid of some mold and basically cleaning the thing from top to bottom. doing a tune up, and putting a new top and tires on it.
 
my brother had a 93 rodeo that he put nearly 100k on it since he bought it at 95k and ran like a champ and he made a really competent wheeler out of it. if it says anything of the reliability of an isuzu, in africa on my mission i noticed that the only real old pickups on the road were either clapped out old 'yota's or isuzu's, and the isuzu's were in better shape generally. any isuzu has my vote.
 
i say all 80's to mid 90's automatics suck no matter what suv/ little truck there in. To me the reliablility depends on if its an auto or a stick. Its going to be hard to find a reliable automatic 4x4 that gets good mileage under 2k. toyota 4runner would be my closest guess.
 
parents want to get her a 92 mercury tracer, which is the copy of the ford escort which she has already that lasted her a bit. 80k miles for a grand. Anyone know if these cars are any good?
 
Hey if her parents are buying it I'd say go for it. With 80K on it, it should last quite awhile. Then again it is a Ford....
 

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