Minnesota Classic Glastron Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: dorelse on August 25, 2012, 10:16:56 AM
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We're shopping for a car for my son today.
We've stumbled across a '97 Jeep Grand Cherokee (86k miles) with the 4.0L I6. Everyone says its a bullet proof motor. Normally, we weren't thinking about something quite that age...but...that's not a lot of miles and its in great shape, so might be a good first car.
and...its rated to tow the boat.
Anyone have any experience with them?
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Your right on the I6
What does the son think
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I like the Grand Cherokees (especially the new SRT8), but I believe the I-6 GC is what my uncle bought my cousin for her car when she went off to college because he specifically expected her to experience very few if any problems.
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Doran, I've had all kinds of Jeeps since I was 16 yoa and the last few I had was the Cherrokee, I sold my last one just about three years ago because I started pulling 5000# boats
You would not Believe all the boats I've pulled. or even how far with my last two cherrokee's, and sometimes two in-line, a 1996 and a 1998 with that high out-put 4.0 motor with absolutely No Problem with the motor Or the transmission. That little sucker is 225hp and gets 15 / 16 mpg in town, 21 /22 highway, pulling the boats were all different but still pretty good. Once I pulled a little house, 20ft long 8 1/2 ft wide, on a 20 ft car trailer, 180 miles to my sisters house, that was my grandparents first house, we moved to Okc when we sold the farm.
The only thing I was really causious about is the overdrive, I never pulled a boat in overdrive, unless it was a lighter boat and I never try'd to keep up with traffic on hills, winds, or hot temps. Just One Thing ... the trailer you pull needs Brakes, I got a story in Dallas Tx. about that .. you Need trailer brakes.
Oh Yea .. I sold the 1996 when it got to 200,000 miles, and I sold the 1998 when it had 277,000 miles, and my buddy's dad is still driving it with well over 300,000 miles on it and has yet to spend any money on the motor or trans, other than regular service stuff.
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Here is the little house I towed, also the tractor and brush hog another trip, and the old tub in the foreground was my first boat, hard to believe that stuff is till around. The tub wasn't hard to tow.
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj231/OleReds/OldHouse1-1.jpg
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj231/OleReds/RedsFirstBoat.jpg
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I hate to throw anything negative in about these with all the praise they are getting and I am NOT speaking from personal experience but a boss I had once had one, probably mid or late 90's. It must have been a Grand Cherokee because it had all the bells and whistles, leather etc. Anyways his had a lot of electrical issues. What kind I dont recall but they plaqued him enough that he got rid of it. Maybe he had a bad one. I dont know. Just throwing it out there.
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You are right about the old inline 6. Very good motor. The drivetrain is pretty much bullet proof. Like Ross said, they can have other minor electrical and normal wear and tear issues like u-joints, tie rods, ect. Oh yea, it may be a 6 cylinder but i would expect not much better than 15mpg. Being that it's 15 years old, stay away from fancy ones with lots of gadjets. The simpler the better. less stupid problems.
Actually, Tom Goetsch has one. He pulls his CVX20 Jet with it.
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Its about as plain as they come actually. 2WD, cloth, not a lot of options, so no 4WD parts to wear. I'll keep everyone posted.
Thanks!
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Sounds prefect!
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We have a '98 cherokee sport 4x4 currently with 185k miles on it. It has been a very dependable vehicle for the 8? Years we've owned it. (Nancy owned it before we got married) So far, just normal maintenance. It was our original tow vehicle for our boat, including towing our boat from Detroit, 300 miles one way. I agree with Red about having trailer brakes, even though the vehicle is rated to pull 5000 l bs, it's light and gets pushed easily when stopping. Now that we have a newer trailer under our boat, with brakes, I don't mind towing withi the Jeep now. The I 6 built by Chrysler is like the old slant 6 they built years ago, practically built proof. IMHO
if it was 4 wheel drive, and you didn't want it, I think we would buy it
Terry
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Oh...and son loves the '03 Mustang we just drove. (Who wouldn't?) However, does like the '97 over the '02 Grand Cherokee we drove today as well.
Good thing Mom & Dad have the money final approval.
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Thanks for the info Terry.
We're just looking for a uncomplicated, reliable car for him. I'd probably dismiss the car if I were shopping for one, like you, b/c I'd want it to have 4WD. As a first car for him, its probably better for my wallet that it doesn't have all the added 4WD parts.
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I think 4wd in his age group would add to the insurance expense.
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Fwiw I think that'd be a great first vehicle. Granpappy Jack always said you should learn how to drive a truck before you were allowed to drive a car ...?
Then move on to a Mustang ...
Sounds like a decent buy, and it'll pull a boat? Go for it!
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My daughter turned 16 last year she got our old and tusty 05 Taurus and I have to admitt it is a somber moment when you let them loose in a car...She turns 17 next month and so far no accidents....Life is good...
Joe
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Yeah, its going to be a big & fun step for him, but a nervous time for us.
We may just pick up the Grand Cherokee for me...bye bye Skimitar. :(
We'll see.
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I've been thinking about that scimitar aswell, not only is it my dream boat, but I would get so much satisfaction removing those god forsaking van seats...
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I've been thinking about that scimitar aswell, not only is it my dream boat, but I would get so much satisfaction removing those god forsaking van seats...
Please buy it! Get the temptation outta here. I love my CVZ and having that Skimitar gone would be nice, honestly.
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Two problems, 2 boats and a wife, don't even think it is worth the battle yet...
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Two problems, 2 boats and a wife, don't even think it is worth the battle yet...
I have the exact same problem. Well, that and I want Goldie 100% done before I even think about another boat.
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Oh yea, it may be a 6 cylinder but i would expect not much better than 15mpg.
I'm tellin ya ... 20+ continually on the hwy with mine, a bit less runnin the air, and 75 / 78 on interstate, all my jeeps were 4X4
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appropriate chuckle for this thread ...
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I've been thinking about that scimitar aswell, not only is it my dream boat, but I would get so much satisfaction removing those god forsaking van seats...
what scimitar for sale ?
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what scimitar for sale ?
There's an Emerald Mist 'Skimitar' (spelled incorrectly in the CL Ad) for sale in SE Iowa.
$5k. Needs a bit of work, but looks like there's a lot of potential there. Engine rebuilt 3 years ago, saying 300HP.
Biggest down side is Velour Conv. Van seats are in the boat now.
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mileage is 20+, yes, unless you're towing a 4000lb boat and trailer. Then it's about 10 mpg! We get about 12 with the Trail Blazer towing the boat. I leave it in drive.
Terry
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Red - Here's the Scimitar:
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cmGVrE0SfFc/UDmIR1ys1HI/AAAAAAAAI5g/oTk-3eitLco/s800/1981_Glastron_Scimitar_WestPointIA.jpg)
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I haven't seen that one, but I'm going to sneak a couple pic's and add them to "The Scimitars" page. If I had the money I'd be a player on that one, but I've got enough to do now to keep me busy till spring, I just bought a 1993 WellCraft 23ft Spyder, me and the Fox is going to test our uphoulstry skills on that one, then it's going on the market, wish I had seen this scimitar first.
Thanks Doran
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I love my (Dottie's) Grand Cherokee, but I only paid $2 for it new in 2000, and it has 160,000 on it now.
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We actually drove a 2000, Jerry. It's a little bigger, but it felt much bigger. The older style is definitely a better fit for Andy.
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Doran:
Before I moved into a Honda Element, I owned a series of new 4 wheel drive Jeep vehicles, maybe 8 in all. It started with a 2 door Cherokee in 1990 with a 4.0 liter and ended with a 2005 Grand Cherokee Limited with 330 hp hemi. Somewhere in the middle of the run, I reverted back to a 4.0 liter straight six in a Grand Cherokee. (I was usually buying the 4.7 liter V8.) All the while, I was towing a Glastron 237 SL Futura w/270 mag mercruiser I/O (22' 7")with double axle trailer with brakes. Estimated the weight at 5600 lbs.
The 4.0 liter in my 2 door Cherokee was rated to tow 5,000 lbs. The same with a Grand Cherokee 4 door.
The 4.0 liter is a tough engine and should serve the purpose well for your son. Likely, since your looking at a 2 wheel drive, the chance that it was off-road driven is remote. You can always locate the former owner and find out if it was used for towing. Most of them are driven by women who never have towed a thing.
The Mustang might look like fun, but your insurance agent might not be able to insure a 16 year old in a sports car. The Jeep has more steel and weight to it, and therefore have some safety advantage over a small unibody sedan.
Red harped on the trailer brake issue, and that issue applies to all trailers and all vehicles used for towing. There should be a law in the USA that requires brakes on any trailer rated over 1000 lbs. A Honda Element has poor brakes for trailering. But with disc brakes on the boat trailer, I can't be happier with the 2.5 liter 4 cylinder Honda AWD to tow 3500 lbs. (19CSS). Your next project should be to put disc brakes on your recently re-habilitated trailer.
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My 98 Cherokee Sport 4.0 has just a over 185 K and its just getting broken in, those I6's are the old Nash / AMC 258 sixes albeit a few ci smaller , their almost bullet proof . ( i use my cherokee as a log skidder sometimes and as a daily driver to work ) Even though its a great motor the Jeep still has a few electrical issues like the dash gauges going dead ( a sharp hit to the dash usually fixes that ) and window switches that go dead other than that their good suvs.
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Thanks everyone.
Ins. isn't really an issue. The difference in insurance premiums between a V6 Mustang and the Grand Cherokee is a grand total of $80/6 mos. Its not the car you're paying for, its the liability coverage.
I checked all that out before we even started looking.
I'll let everyone know what we end up doing.
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Ya know the more I think about it your only 16 once get the Mustang, my first real car was a Mustang II, ya II, not the greatest Mustang of all times, but for little car it had a 302 in it and it would move pretty good...
Joe
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Well, we've gone and done it now. No Grand Cherokee, I'm keeping the Avalanche. We found a great deal on a 2002 V6 Mustang and she's now escorting my son & wife to Target.
It was a very long day of driving to the Quad Cities (Rock Island, IL) to pick up a u-haul car trailer, load the car and hustle back to have it ready in the garage when he came home from school. The surprise on his face was worth it! (I told him I bought the Skimitar...and he bought it hook, line & sinker!)
He loves it and he deserves it for his hard work and being an awesome son...the best actually. Thanks to everyone for the thoughts on the Jeep. That Jeep is in Mankato, MN at a dealership called 'Fromm's'. If anyone was interested in it.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-HsezT2y9lTQ/UD6RMSc-O3I/AAAAAAAAI9w/TwUncPl41P0/s800/100_0142.JPG)
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-LdMJbmNJlBQ/UD6RNz_8jPI/AAAAAAAAI-I/n6jtVnH4i08/s800/100_0145.JPG)
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Sweet Doran, at least the V6 will keep the speeding tickets at a minimum! ;D ;D ;D :D :D :D :D
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Beautiful! Nice find doran.
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Nice looking car Doran. Good find.
Terry
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Nice...
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He must have been a really good son. Nice car.
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great looking car, he will have fun.
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Suweet! I like the color. Definitely cooler than a Cherokee. (No offense)
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Did he get to drive it to school today? How cool is that? Here is my 2007 that I bought myself as a retirement gift.
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Both are very nice looking 'Stangs. My wife went through a "Mustang era" (think she had three or four of them all together '96-'03), that 3.8L V6 is a great motor. Surprising power and torque, would still put a grin on your face!
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Just drove to school today. He made it just fine.
Its exciting (and a bit nerve wracking) to watch them go off on their own. He's been driving for 18 mos. already on his learners permit, and will have his school only permit for another 6 mos., so we're hoping all that time behind the wheel pays off.
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He's been driving for 18 mos. already on his learners permit, and will have his school only permit for another 6 mos., so we're hoping all that time behind the wheel pays off
Well let's hope so, though it sounds awful strict ...? But seriously, I think it's for the best that states are tightening up a lil on the licensing process. Way too many bad drivers out there.
Sounds like your boy has his head screwed on fairly straight Doran, he'll be allright. Just remind him to look out for the other guy.
Is that really still the venerable 3.8 liter? I had an '86 LX that needed a lil head work initially but ran great afterward. Put a crapload of miles on it.
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Well, its a 3.8L V6...so I'm gonna say yes?
Supposed to be a rock solid powerplant & transmission.
Iowa has a very graduated drivers license...and yes, I'm perfectly ok with that!
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Heck of a nice first car! I had to buy my own 1963 Chev Impala and spent a whopping 200.00 for it. Needed a lot of attention but that was in 1974 dollars.
Great parents for helping the kid out.