Jeep decision: XJ or WJ

Jeep decision: XJ or WJ

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Discussion

daveenty

Original Poster:

2,357 posts

209 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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Budget ~ £2.5k, must be petrol, either 4.0 or 4.7. May consider LPG but know little about it.

I've been looking for a while now for one of the above, starting last year in anticipation of the bad winter which we didn't get. I just couldn't find one which ticked all the boxes, with the exception of one superb 4.7 Overlander. Unfortunately I spent too much time deliberating and it was sold by the time I made my mind up. (Only 24 hours after viewing but such is life)

It won't be used for off-roading, just the occasional country/farm lanes, though this is not really the main consideration, I just like the look of these things and, like a kid, want one to play with and to save putting the miles on my main car.

I'm in unfamiliar territory really with these things, though have done a bit of homework on them and come up with the following: -

XJ. My preferred shape. Seem pretty bullet proof (especially the 4.0 straight six) and don't object to miles. Possibly a bit agricultural on the road, which is where it will spend 99.9% of it's time with me, though a good solid tool. Not too many electrical gubbins to fail. These are priced at anywhere from a few hundred quid (wanting attention) up to ridiculous (£4k+), which is decent Land Cruiser territory, though they are becoming a little less available now, so probably a supply and demand thing.

WR. Nice looking (in a Jeepy sort of way). Comfortable ride quality, though I appreciate it's not a motorway mile muncher. (I have something else for that when needed) I think I'd prefer the V8 in this one, ideally in Overland trim but Limited would be fine. Heater blend doors will fail though are fixable, and early front callipers were problematic, in that they warped the discs. This is probably my limit of knowledge.

I'm not sure about transmissions on either apart from the fact that they're both auto, which is a good thing to me, but as for axles, transfer boxes etc. this is a minefield. All I've been told is to drive it slowly over an uneven surface from lock to lock when testing it.

So basically, and I know it's my choice at the end, which would you guys with your vast experience suggest for a Jeep virgin? I've pretty much decided that it has to be Jeep now, so no alternatives please as this will just throw me into yet another turmoil. smile


tr7v8

7,185 posts

227 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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I have a 2000 WJ 4L. Now had it 3+ years as my daily driver. In that time it has needed various bits, a rear axle seal, rebuild of rear brakes + 2 x rear discs & pads. Front discs & pads. AN ignition lock, a rear exhaust, radiator & stat & a battery. Oh & a pair of front calipers as it missed the warranty recall! I bought it at 82K & it now has 122K on it. I run it on a car allowance so I tend to be a bit belt & braces, when the radiator had a tiny weep, it got replaced with stat & housing. It gets serviced every 7,500miles or 6 months by a Jeep trained mechanic. I love it too bits, it is my first 4 x 4 & the only thing it'd get replaced by is another Jeep.

daveenty

Original Poster:

2,357 posts

209 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the info.

Most of the stuff you mention is routine anyway, apart from rad and callipers so I suppose I'd be budgeting for that.

Are parts a lot more expensive on these than the run of the mill stuff? We have a local(ish) Jeep breaker/garage so used may be the way forward...

scrwright

2,602 posts

189 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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WJ for me. Had 8 XJs and love them but WJ is a better vehicle. Personally I would stick to the 4 litre, they are more reliable than the v8. Apart from offroad upgrades mine has had a rad, a timing chain (just for piece of mind), front calipers and oil/filter stuff, now on 247k miles and still running fine. Bodywork is better protected than XJs so don't seem to rust (but check the rear arches as they seem to hold the crap)

MatrixXXx

653 posts

151 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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I have the WJ 4.7, i bought it as a winter car , rather than drive my VXR8 in snow, and i still have it, nice to drive, very practical , and very well made and if you do need to fix it it tends to be easy, and the parts are very cheap. and they can do 200k no problem, mine has 125k , no squeaks or rattles, engines are supposed to be bulletproof old pushrod design. designed to be reliable. and it will cruise on the motorway well above the speed limit quietly and comfortably.

pcn1

1,209 posts

218 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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Cut'n'paste from an earlier reply...

Heater doors are a £120 ish item to buy. 1.5 hrs work to fit. This may have been done already ?
If the service records are up to date and look comprehensive, then it should be ok. Regular diff oil changes are a must.
Those 4.0 lumps go on for miles I'm told. Early gc's suffered warped front disc's, but those should have been changed/ upgraded a long time ago !
Prone to broken wires in the loom between the doors and bodywork. Simple re solder fixes that ( YouTube it)
Rear wheel oil seals leak as they get old, £50 for bearing and seal kit, 3 hrs work per side. That's on YouTube also.
No real horror stories with these jeeps, if you get a decent example up front then it's just the regular maintenance stuff you take on.
Had my CRD a couple of years and all's well with that. At 10 years I'm contemplating new shocks this year.

Lastly, the famous WJ wobbly ride can be improved a bit with a ADDCO rear sway bar upgrade and poly bushes in the trailing arms.

Hope that helps.

daveenty

Original Poster:

2,357 posts

209 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated. Seems like the general idea is to go for the Grand.

@pcn1, I read that reply a while ago whilst researching these things and found it helpful then, even more so now as the hunt is on again. smile

The next question would be, do I buy a <£1k snotter, of which there are a few, or splash out a bit more on a decent looking piece of kit? I've found a 1998 4.0 Limited for around £950 that's not too far from me (hopefully going for a look tomorrow) with just under 90,000 on it and loads of history. The alternative is a low mileage (under 60,000) 2002 4.7 Overland, though this is up around the £2.5k mark. I do want something which will last, but not bleed me dry.

Oh, another thing is that it will be doing a lot less than 5,000 miles p/a.

All these decisions to make...

pcn1

1,209 posts

218 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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Buy the best you can afford up front is my poilcy.

Jeeps want more than just an oil and filter change every year to have a real service history.

Suspect worn out suspension at this age unless you see evidense of replaced bushes, tie rod ends, new dampers would be nice as well !

Look for black oil at the back of the rear cailipers, signs the axle oil seals are leaking.

Im sure you know the drill wink

pcn1

1,209 posts

218 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
quotequote all
Oh, and dont forget tyres.

I dropped over £500 on a new set of General AT's last summer.

It all adds up, that "cheap" Jeep can easliy run you more than the dearer example when sorted !

scrwright

2,602 posts

189 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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don't get a pre 99 ZJ, no where near as good as a WJ.

daveenty

Original Poster:

2,357 posts

209 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
quotequote all
scrwright said:
don't get a pre 99 ZJ, no where near as good as a WJ.
This is interesting as I didn't realise there was much difference. Just had a quick trawl round the web and it seems that there's loads. I'm still going to look at the two tomorrow, but will now hold back making an offer on the early one which is a ZJ as I've now discovered.

I only wanted a shed really, but want a reliable and reasonable one.

psychoR1

1,069 posts

186 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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2000 WJ 4.7L here - had it 4+ years as Mrs R1's daily driver - she had a fuel card when we got it and that helped a lot. It does 19mpg round town and 23mpg whenever I drive it if you know what I mean.
Since we got it, it has done 40k (on 90k now) and had calipers all round and is ready for its second set of discs on the front. It has the original teeves callipers and I don't think they are bad so long as the brakes get a workout every once in a while.
It has needed various bits, one rear axle seal, throttle position sensor, several O2 sensors (EML Light on), 2 door locking motors and the door loom soldering. Servicing is yearly - my schedule so probably every 10k and I did do all the tranny oils. Blend doors have been fine. I get bits from Eurocarparts or breakers.
It was written off 2years ago - hit up the tow bar whilst MrsR1 was stationary - by a VW Toeran doing 50ish and was in turn punted up the chuff of a fiestar. They were both home in a wheelbarrow jobs but the jeep drove fine.
I bought it back for sub £500 put a new rad on it, used fuel tank, used tow bar and repaired both bumper skins and it still does the biz.

Mrs R1 loves it, drives it like she stole it, you know the score no mech sympathy etc and it is as tough as the proverbial old boots. It is the cheapest car she has had for the last 15years and she loves it.
Actually 'the beast' as it is called has become part of the family!

If it died tomorrow, I would be sad - and I am rarely sentimental about motors. TBH it is in indecent health at the mo so that's highly unlikely. I would buy another without a second thought though.
I would probably spend about £3k and get another 4.7 in Gunmetal with the grey leather.

Re Tyres it has had Grabber UHP's and now Yoko Geolanders - they seem to last 20k a set.

Whilst it may never be the last word in sophistication I am actually quite impressed by it - I am an engineer by profession and love the simplicity.

BTW the 4.7 is surprisingly 'spritely', they have great road presence and they all pull to the left......

daveenty

Original Poster:

2,357 posts

209 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for all the input guys, really appreciated.

I'm now going to look at three tomorrow to my East, and another three on Thursday to the West. 2 x 4.0 and 1 x 4.7 each day, so worked out well really. smile

I've hopefully taken all the above helpful information on board, and will be having a good crawl around each one, so very open minded at the moment. Colour makes no difference to me really so that shouldn't sway me either way.

As for the economy side, I'm not really bothered as I'll probably be doing more miles tomorrow looking at them all than I will the rest of this month. And at under 20mpg biglaugh

I'll report back tomorrow with any news.

Thanks again for the useful info.

pcn1

1,209 posts

218 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2014
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While we have a good thread running here, I might as well ask.
As the oldest examples of the WJ are 15 years now, has there been any noticable corrosion area's effecting this model yet ?
Ive personnally not read of anything on the net.

scrwright

2,602 posts

189 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2014
quotequote all
I have a 99 one, totally rot free. Had an 01 one and the paint wasn't as good, seemed thinner, and had started to rust around the rear arches. It being written off by a white van man was a blessing

tr7v8

7,185 posts

227 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2014
quotequote all
pcn1 said:
While we have a good thread running here, I might as well ask.
As the oldest examples of the WJ are 15 years now, has there been any noticable corrosion area's effecting this model yet ?
Ive personnally not read of anything on the net.
Mine is a 2000 & has absolutely no rust whatsoever. When the rear box went all that had happened was the cat pipe had pulled out of the rear box, not rotten more like stress & vibration, there was little corrosion on the exhaust, not even surface.
Mine is on General ATs & is awesome in bad weather, they are also lasting well. Mine have done circa 35K & look around 1/2 worn.

daveenty

Original Poster:

2,357 posts

209 months

Wednesday 2nd July 2014
quotequote all
Went to look at three Jeeps today.

1. Private Sale: 1998 ZJ 4.0. Very straight genuine looking motor which just needs a bit of paint. No oil or fluid leaks, started up and ran and drove sweetly. A heater warning light (according to owner) illuminated in panel, just an amber square thing? Heater seemed to work but air con not cold. May have another look... Owner was a really nice man and an enthusiast which helped. He was all over my motor like a rash. smile

2. Dealer: 2003 WJ 4.7 Overland. Absolute dog. Nothing else to say apart from why waste my time? I phoned yesterday to say I was coming. At least they could have put a battery on it and blown the flat tyres up. furious

3. Dealer: 2001 WJ 4.0 LTD. No advance warning given here, just called in to see it on the way home. It started fine though I couldn't drive it as it was being prepped for sale. One bit of body damage to front wing, though he reckons he'll have his body guy sort that. No MoT but will come with 12 months. Needs tyres but they'll be done for MoT. He said it needs three, I suggested he put all four on for the benefit of the drive train...

And Paul, none of the above had any real rust on them, certainly no rot.

Four more being viewed tomorrow, one private and three dealers.

pcn1

1,209 posts

218 months

Thursday 3rd July 2014
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If you got the time, see as many as you can before you buy. Its surprising the difference between the dogs and the well looked after cars, and sometimes theres no diference in the asking price !

daveenty

Original Poster:

2,357 posts

209 months

Thursday 3rd July 2014
quotequote all
Oh I've got the time. smile

Looked at another four today:

1. Dealer: 2002 WJ 4.7 Overland with 60,000 miles. Nice tidy looking car but wouldn't start. Put a jump pack on it and it fired straight away then died. No fuel. You'd think that a dealer would have them ready, especially when advertised and forewarned of my arrival. However, and to give the guy his due, he promised that he would get it sorted, put 12 months MoT on it and tax it for 6 months. Also a three month warranty. Nice car, but should be for £2,500. Full Jeep Service History.

2. Private: 2000 WJ 4.7 LTD. Beautiful and well looked after car in a nice deep red. Unmarked interior, started and drove fine. MoT out at the end of this month though, and the advisories on the previous one (front discs worn and pitted on inside) not been done, which makes me wonder what else he hasn't bothered with. Oh, and the engine, whilst seeming good, took an age to lose revs. 80,000 miles

3. Dealer: 2001 WJ 4.0 LTD. Another dog unfortunately. Non starter, wants loads of paint and oil leaks under the engine. 4 new tyres and lots of MoT. 110,000 miles

4. Dealer (from home): another 2001 WJ 4.0 LTD. My favourite so far. Slight imperfections in paint which, at 13 years old, I'd expect. Really nice interior, started up first time and everything worked on it. 3 months tax & MoT. Smooth drive and transmission, 4 brand new tyres and loads of service history, albeit non-Jeep. 89,000 miles

So typically, out of the seven cars I've looked at, the last one stands out a lot more than the others. The Overland was nice, but this one's nearly a grand cheaper and looks as nice, if not nicer as it has side steps fitted and has been fully prepared for sale. It's also the one nearest to where I live, being about 5 miles away. I've done over 250 miles in the last two days to find one round the corner...

Going to sleep on it tonight, and see how I feel in he morning about it. Incidentally, the only rust I've seen on any of them is under the door rubbers at the base of the window, which seems pretty common.

pcn1

1,209 posts

218 months

Thursday 3rd July 2014
quotequote all
Sounds like youve found the jeep you want. I'd not be bothered if it wasnt a full jeep history at this age, most fall out of the main dealers after 3 years anyway. Just as long as you can see documented work done.
Get the seller to put new MOT on it to sweet'en the deal ?