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SUV Body-on-frame or unibody
My experience with Grand Cherokees:
'94 had 185,000 trouble free miles on it (5.2 V-8)
'96 has 120,000 now and still going on the 4.0 six(Owned by the out-laws now)
'99 had 40,000 on its 4.0 six when it was traded it for the '01 Jetta TDI.
We are now looking for a 2003 or 2004 with the 4.7 V-8 and less than 36K. Pilot and 4Runners are great, but too much $$ for me, one doesn't see those on the used market (That must mean something!).
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We have a definite budget in mind, and there's a possibility the Jeep will be the only one that won't stretch it. If so, that may well be the way we'll go. The employee pricing and additional $2k discount is certainly an incentive.
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Ken, I don't think this model is in the price range you were considering but did you look at the Volkswagen Touareg V-10 diesel? At least in theory a diesel will last longer and is a long term ownership purchase and theoretically will last much longer than a gasoline engine vehicle. The rumor mill has it that VW may bring the 2.5 liter 5 cylinder diesel next year as an option. That should lower the price a bit and boost the mileage well above 23 mpg. At least I figured this into when I purchased my Dodge Cummins. That is still a LOT of money to spend. The other thing I considered with a diesel is that in the event of a fuel shortage there will always be diesel. The green dye road taxed diesel may be just as short as the gas but not off road red dye diesel. During hurricane Ivan, Jebb Bush authorized the use of off road red dye diesel during the aftermath of Ivan for a few months. The other option is that you can make your own out of waste vegatable oil in a pinch if worst comes to worst. I know........I sound like the gun buff guy who lives with Reeba McCintire on the movie series Trembors. ;O)  ! Just something to consider.
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Yeah, I looked at the Touareg. It's really nice but out of our price range. The plan is to sell the Taurus and my Ranger and buy a diesel pickup too. Probably used, at least until the tractor is paid off next year. Here in Oregon the idiotic, moronic, and generally clueless governor wants to impose California emissions standards for no particular reason. It's not like we have a bad air quality problem here. The radio commercials against are implying that if that happens diesel vehicles won't be sold here anymore.
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Is that the illegitimately "appointed" govenor who defrauded and stole the election? Or is she the gov. of Oregon that I am thinking about? I thought that happened in Washington. What do you expect from the extemist social-communist party? Diesels can be made to run pretty clean now. The VW diesels are computer controlled and you can buy software for your laptop to modify the power and output of the engine and then change it back for emision inspections.
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You're thinking of the illegitimate Washington governor, Christine Gregoire. In Oregon it's the legitimate but incompetent governor Ted Kulongoski (aka Ted Tax-and-gouge me).
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Here in Michigan our governor Jennifer Granholm, a Canadian by birth has done nothing but tax us. She has found new taxes on everything. She is now working on taxing internet sales.
Ford Explorer is still the best for your buck. A nicely equipped model (leather, moonroof, decent wheels and tires & sound system) has a sticker of about $34,500.00. With employee pricing and rebates you should get just slightly over $10,000.00 off. So for about $24,500.00 + tax & title fees you can take it home. I think that is allot of vehicle for the money. The same thing in a Trailblazer/Envoy is about $26,500-$28,500.00 with poorer mileage and not as good crash tests. The Jeep grand is about $28,500.00-$30,000.00 with the same equipment. You can cut prices slightly if you drop the moonroof and leather.
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Ken, you're right, I thought I mentioned earlier, but maybe not, 2004 was the last year the Dscovery was in production, it was replaced by the VERY new LR3.
Which is, I'm told, all Land Rover underneath the skin, but what an ugly skin it is....YUCH!!!
In this area you can get a 2 year old "off lease" Discovery with about 20,000 miles on it for a little under $30k. with lots of factory warranty left.
For off-road capabilities about the only thing in the same class is likely sitting on tracks. After a short drive around the cottage road (including a short jaunt through the forest on the hiking trail) my Dad called it "a well appointed Sherman Tank with really nice seats" when Mom asked how it was.
A neighbour of mine had an Envoy on lease for work, in 24 months it had 17 MAJOR repairs and non-stop parade of little stuff, including the 4wd giving up 4 hours from home in a blizzard pulling a snowmmobile trailer, because a wire came loose on a sensor/switch.
After 17 of 24 months GM took it back when the 4th transmission failed, no questions asked.
I've driven an Explorer, they are too short a w/b and too soft a suspension, rough roads make them ride like one of those bucking bulls at the cowboy bars.
The Jeep is not bad, several family members have had them, still lots of little stuff though, switches broke, A/C was a constant headache and poor mileage. Mind you they were made prior to Daimler jopining the party. I assume the quality went up after that.
Best of luck.
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Yooper, you're right that the Explorer is a heck of a deal right now. And they're very nice and really would be perfect for my wife. But I'm prejudiced by prior experience with certain brands. There is no way I'll own another GM. After our last three Fords I'm inclined not to own another one of those either. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is on employee discount now with another $2k cash back so it seems to be in the same ballpark as the Explorer. The odds are that the Honda or Toyoata would have the best reliability. The question is if that extra reliability is worth another $5k.
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I have a 2002 Grand Cherokee Limited which I purchased new. Luxurious (by our standards), powerful, nice handling. We have had minor electronic problems (only 25K miles on it - my wife's vehicle). Someone at work had a terrible experience with a Jeep Cherokee, recommended I not purchase one - but I bought it anyway and paid extra for a 7 year warranty. I figured that reliability wasn't so much of an issue with the limited miles my wife puts on it. I have needed this vehicle to pull my 21 foot boat to the marina.
The only thing I don't like about the Jeep is the low vertical distance on the windshield. I have better visibility in my Subaru Forrester.
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07-13-2005, 21:04 
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