girlfriend needs new vehicle. Need help

[K5dreamer]

wranglers at the price around here are either ****boxes or 150k or more on them.

i guess the miles dont really worry me that much. because theyre so easy to work on, any problems your gonna have related to mileage, can normally be pretty easily fixed. aside from an auto tranny needing to be rebuilt. but id only drive a manual jeep anyway. im pretty sure my jeep had over 100k on it, and like i said, never had a problem, driving up and down the eastern seaboard. i wouldnt ignore a good deal just cuz of mileage. my 89 IROC has about 160k on it, and the engine dosnt burn any oil, or leak any fluids, except from the valve cover gaskets a little bit. i lost the tranny but thats it. Now its got a fully rebuilt tranny it runs like a top. im only building a replacement for the engine cuz i want to, not cuz i need to.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Might also want to look into a GeoTracker or Suzuki Samauri. Good MPG, Basic 4x4, can be had for cheap.

For $2k you should be able to find a decent Suzuki Sidekick/Geo Tracker 4x4. I've had 3 now and two other related Suzuki 4x4's. Love 'em. They've become more popular since gas prices spiked 3-4 years ago but they're still the bargain of the "has actual 4x4 and yet still is small" market.
I've only had 2 door Trackers but would really like a 4 door. I basically find I use the soft top never and could use more interior room more. At any rate they aren't bad and unless you want to haul all sorts of stuff or people they can fit what 1-2 people would pack into a car for any decent trip.
Ride like any small econobox only a bit taller and with a solid axle in the rear.

Only real downside is finding one that hasn't been abused or neglected. Lots of them were bought by people who wanted cheap 4x4 and then ran them into the ground. Those and some of the ones that were taken care of have since ended up in the hands of rednecks/morons/white trash/punks/idiots/etc and you end up with them being even more abused.

A stocker can easily get 25mpg or better around town and mine on 31's with 6" of lift still manages 21mpg during the summer and around 19mpg right now.

 

[fourwheelerjeff]

i vote for an xj; they are commonly called cherokee's; not to be confused with the fsj (full size jeeps). the earlier cherokee's were 2 doors while the 4 doors were called wagoneers. when the xj was introduced, the full size 2 door cherokee was dropped and the wagoneers were called grand wagoneers, as you could get the xj type in a wagoneer trim option also that had 4 headlights, 2 on each side stacked on top of each other.
the cj series ended in 86, followed by the yj series until the tj series debuted in 97 and the new jk debuted in 07.
i like the xj's; i have a couple of them.

and a buddy's rig

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Just remember where he is guys. Anything in the 2k range will have rust issues. Cherokees get lots of rust up here, I'd imagine they do there.

 

[Dabba]

actually cherrokees ive seen dont rust nearly as bad a chevys, sometimes no rust at all. Weird

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Up here the ones you find for 2k usually have rotted out doors and you have to start worrying about the structural integrity of the unibody "frame rails" on the bottom. You guys might get less salt than us though.

 

[Dabba]

i dunno bout that, we do live on an island haha