OT-Need replacement SUV

Well... the old Jeep Cherokee finally had enough at 294k miles and the wrist pin knock turned to a loud clatter. Going to keep it, fix it, and give it to the boy in the next year when he turns 16 (after he helps me fix it...)
Rather than try to fix it now and buy me something after I give it to the boy, (busy with work, no time to do it in that order)I plan to buy me a replacement now.

Always like to hear everyone's input on here. So here's my thoughts and requirements:

Like everything about that Cherokee. Would be an easy decision to replace it with another of similar year ('99 to 2001) and lower miles.

1. Don't want anything bigger
2. The space between the back seat and the rear window is critical for equipment and tools while a kid or 2 rides in the backseat.
3. 4wd
4. Would love to have a 5 speed
6. Needs to have a long life - I put around 30k to 35k miles a year on it.
7. Used, not new. Really hesitant on anything very new as they are tough for me to fix and maintain. The jeep was easy. My wife's newer Subaru - not easy.
8. Need to get the same approx. mileage or better. I was averaging 20.

So.... before I go out an find another old Cherokee, what else should I consider? Have thought about the older Ford Escape (just not sold on it yet and really prefer a full size spare).

Thanks in advance for the input guys.

Tony

LOVE my 2005 jeep liberty DIESEL. 28 to 30 mpg highway and only ball joints in it so far after 60k miles. they had the diesel only in 05 and 06.

The Ford Escape has been around for quite awhile now. When I worked at a dealership, I don't remember any particular problems, just a good all-around vehicle. Only real complaints that I remember was several people said they were thirsty. Of course, as we know, that depends a lot on who is behind the wheel.

Finding an SUV of that size with a manual tranny will be tough. I suggest you drop that criterion. And if you're going to be putting over thirty thousand miles a year on the vehicle, you're going to need something a lot newer than an '01. You'll be hard-pressed to find a vehicle of that age with less than 150K on it.

The Chevy Trailblazer, made from around 2002 to 2008, is roomy and solid. It gets around 18 mpg and has excellent trailer-towing capacity.

(quoted from post at 20:42:48 02/08/13) LOVE my 2005 jeep liberty DIESEL. 28 to 30 mpg highway and only ball joints in it so far after 60k miles. they had the diesel only in 05 and 06.

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No offense, but ball joints at 60K? I can't remember the last vehicle I had to put ball joints into and I drive them to over 250K. Bad joints or is there another issue?

I agree that finding a decent (or any relatively late) used one with a manual transmission is going to be tough.

The automatics are long lived and reliable (excepting Chrysler) if not abused and deliver nearly equal fuel mileage.

If not planning regular towing, I would not rule out an automatic.

Dean

My daughter just bought new Jeep Grand Cheroke, gave $48,00.00 it does everything by voice, no knobs.
What would happen if a person couldn't talk?

she broke a piston. My 99 grandcherokee with a 4.0 did that. it may be ok to pop the head off and the oil pan n see if you can pull out the bad piston n replace it without pulling the motor from the chassis. Piston is like 22 dollars. this can be a pretty easy fix or a costly repair if the block is damaged. mine, cracked the cyl wall n had to be sleeved. only had 130,000 miles! beautiful inside n out so i fixin it. I took alot of photos of the engine if your interested in some pointers.

Get another Jeep.

I see you are in Indiana and I have a friend that has a Ford Explorer he needs to sell,getting a different one,his is about 6 or 7 years old and is in Southern Indiana.Send me an email if interested and I will contact him.

if your close to northern indiana, I have located a 00 4.0l HO for 350.00 at a local wrecker service, thats if you have the 6cyl, and wanted to do a motor swap. its out of the vehicle. I would have bought it n dropped it in my 99 WJ, but,, my engine, when i torn it down, (other than the shattered number 4 piston) was in excellent condition. didnt hurt the crank, or the connecting rod. Im going to give it a lil bigger bore, and alot better pistons, but still cheap... and use 258 connecting rods, I ported the cyl head to hope get rid of some excessive exhaust temps the 99-04 4.0 have problems with heads cracking, and belive this could be a remedy and a fun cheap way to pick up some horsepower too.

i have been a die hard Dodge fan for ever but when we wanted a 4X4 SUV a Durango or Jeep were out of our price range. we looked at the KIA Sorento and for the the price it is one hel- of a SUV very well made and very reliable we are on our second one and no faults with ether one. find a used one and you will not be sorry

If you do a fair amount of highway driving how about a ford expedition? got one for the wife and she loves it, can pull a trailer with it, has 3rd row seating that my 18 year old son that is 6' fits in with spare room, gets 19mpg on highway and around 15 in town rides nice and has great reliability and safety ratings.

Tony the most popular SUV we sell is the Chevy Trailblazer. Cant keep them on the lot. The ford and dodge will set here, sometimes have to send them to an auction to get rid of them. Your are probably not going to find anything with stick shift. We have a Chevy here now with 341223 miles on it, still running great. Dodge Durango will not get the fuel mileage the Chevy and Ford get.

My mechanic says it's a Chrysler thing. replace them with better grade aftermarket ones and problem solved. He says they use the same size ones in most all vehicles and they do not stand up well in the suv's