2001 Grand Cherokee

[dodge man]

I just looked at a used 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 155,000 miles on it. Its got a 4.0l (I think) in line 6. The body and the interior are what I would say is excellent condition for the number of miles. It looks like everything on it leaks, but they are what I would call minor leaks. It needs front brakes, but the rears are good. Shocks and struts look O.K. He started it, and it started up well, but had some kind of engine noise, probably lifters. The tapping faded with higher rpms and it seemed like it was quieting down after it ran a couple of minutes. I didn't drive it, it would be the first vehicle for my 15 year old daughter. If my daughter and wife seem interested I'll take it for a drive. I'm just trying to get some feelers for how good of a vehicle they are. I like the price, 5k will probably buy it, but I don't like the miles.

 

[mikehaugen]

without recent research, I would say 5k is a little high, not sure though. The 4.0's were ok motors from what I hear, but if you are looking at other similar vehicles, avoid the 3.7's at all costs. 155k miles is not that bad really for an 11 year old vehicle, but that is me that tinkers with cars and am reasonable knowledgeable, not sure how great it would be for a teenage daughter, especially with winter approaching and you won't have time to really get a feel for it. Also, how's the tires? That could be a deal breaker at that pricepoint.

 

[brin]

I just looked at a used 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 155,000 miles on it. Its got a 4.0l (I think) in line 6. The body and the interior are what I would say is excellent condition for the number of miles. It looks like everything on it leaks, but they are what I would call minor leaks. It needs front brakes, but the rears are good. Shocks and struts look O.K. He started it, and it started up well, but had some kind of engine noise, probably lifters. The tapping faded with higher rpms and it seemed like it was quieting down after it ran a couple of minutes. I didn't drive it, it would be the first vehicle for my 15 year old daughter. If my daughter and wife seem interested I'll take it for a drive. I'm just trying to get some feelers for how good of a vehicle they are. I like the price, 5k will probably buy it, but I don't like the miles.

I drive a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Limited which I bought new and I just had it in to the dealer for service on the AC...as I was talking with the service manager he told me I would be hard pressed to find one like mine with less than 200K miles on it...He said, and I quote ...if you take care of them they run forever with very little problems...Mine only has 83K miles...He said I should be good to 500K if I keep taking care of it...I love it and my wife drives a 2006 Grand Cherokee...we are Jeep folks...I don't think the price is too high...mine has a very small leak on the seal between the trans and engine and the dealer said let it go...not a big deal...

One more thing...be sure and drive it before you buy it ...they are very quick..be sure and floor it off the line and you will see what I mean...also punch it out at about 40 MPH or so and you will see the power the 6 cyl has...it may be more than you want your daughter to have...or you may want to caution her...they are fast.

 

[dodge man]

She won't have her license for several more months, next Septemember to be exact. The tires are O.K., but not great, some kind of off brand name, maybe 40% left.

 

[brin]

She won't have her license for several more months, next Septemember to be exact. The tires are O.K., but not great, some kind of off brand name, maybe 40% left.

I have some off brand tires on mine..my granddaughter is 15 and has her learners license...she has driven mine and does fine..As far as my feeling about Jeeps...I feel safe when I know my family is in one...vs. a small car...

 

[v8only]

I am a Jeep man but only of the ones with the 4.0L. They are built proof as long as the maintenance on them is good they are known to last well over 250XXX miles, they do leak its just the nature of them, the valve cover, oil gasket, oil filter housing and possibly the rear main seal. Once these are fixed they will not leak again for many years of use. THe transmission is a 42re which isnt the strongest transmission but again if maintained it will last.

They are a strong vehicle and it will take care of you if you take care of it. Now keep in mind normal items such as the starter, brakes, alternator may start to go on it with that mileage. good luck

 

[G3033H]

I bought a 2001 for my grandaughter 3-4 yrs ago and she's had good luck with it some tires brakes, the normal stuff but now with about 150-160000 miles it might be worth about $3,500 or so check cars.com and kbb.com for prices

 

[Diamondpilot]

Tough to best that but the price seems high. Check it close for rust all over, especially around the wheel wells and gas tank area.

Have a couple of family members with them and tough to kill. Mpg is not the best but they are simple to work on.

Chris

 

[Clint S]

Yea, 5 k for car with engine noise is high even if it does go away, what happens if it does not go away a few months later. My current car has been going strong for 2 years with a lifer noise at start up that goes away after a mile, but do you want to take that chance. 4.0 is a bit underpowered and the mileage will suck, but a decent truck overall

 

[Kioti guy]

I have had two of the 4.0 liter grand cherokee's, a 1996 grand Laredo and a 1998 grand limited. The 96 just went to the wrecker last week with 450,000 kms on it. The motor had a bad enough lifter tick that it almost sounded like a diesel at start-up.but the noise never seemed to make any difference in the performance and never caused any problems in the 200,000 kms that I drove it.
The 98 that I have has approximately 250,000 k on it and it also to a lesser extent has the same tick. I wouldn't be worried at all about buying another in the future.
In my experience the worst problems with the jeeps have been electrical gremlins( interior lights,auto headlights,rear wipers..etc) mechanically the only recurring problems that I have had are u-joints,cv joints(on the 96) and parking brakes(poor design) . After the second time replacing the u-joints I purchased lifetime warranty parts and never had a problem again,live and learn.
The only other thing to watch on the grand cherokee's is the body's , I have found them to rust badly under the plastic cladding ,my 96 actually looked fine with no noticeable rust until I started to dismantle it for parts, then I found that it was completely rusted out under the front and rear bumper covers and the rockers were rusted out under the body side molding, just something to watch for........Craig

 

[kensnelling]

First question I have is, is it 2wd of 4wd?

I personally wouldn"t be afraid of the mileage if it has regulas maintenance, our 1998 has 297.000 miles on it and is still going strong. We run 5W30 synthetic and change oil and filter every 3000 miles. Still holds good oil pressure.

The 4.0 L is a good torque engine and will return good mileage. Ours has part time 4wd and gets 18 mpg in the city and 22 on the highway. With 2wd figure a smidge more. with fulltime 4wd figure less.

On the brakes, figure up to $200 dollars depending on if you need rotors or just pads. Also, there are 2 different brake systems, so you'll need to know if you have composite stamped steel/cast iron rotors, or only cast iron rotors.

Ours does have a light lifter tap since about 200k, hasn't gotten any better, hasn't gotten worse. It's a light enough tap my wife can't even hear it.

3 common problems:
Window regulators
CV joint boots (if equipped that way)
If it has ATC it is not uncommon for the doors inside the heater/ac housing to break.
(I know I referenced a 1998 model about engine miles, but these are common problems on the '99-'04 WJ Grand Cherokees. The electrical problems another poster mentioned on the earlier ZJ Grand Cherokee models
are not an issue on the WJ series.)

Price, depends. The one thing I can't factor in is the engine noise as I can't hear it. So the prices I'm going to tell you from around here are for average condition and won't reflect possible engine problems.

2001 GC Limited with 4.0, quadratrac, atc 155k $4500-5000
2001 GC Limited with 4.0, 2wd, atc 155k $3000-3500
2001 GC Larado with 4.0, selecttrac 155k $4000-4500
2001 GC Larado with 4.0 2wd 155k $2500-3000

Note, those aren't necessarily prices I would pay myself. Some options are worth less to me (such as a moon roof, ATC, or full time 4wd), and other options are worth more to me (Overland/Trailrated package, no leather, part time 4wd). Also I'd pay a LOT less down here for one from your area as you guys use more salt in the winter than we do, and the bodies are generally not as nice as the local ones.

Didn't mean for this to be so long, but if you have any questions I'd be more than happy to help.

Ken

 

[farmall 55a case]

I've had two wranglers with the 4.0 one tough motor. They both ticked! My buddy's. Dose too? I've always heard it referred to as the 4 o tick!

 

[Degolyerent]

I just looked at a used 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee with 155,000 miles on it. Its got a 4.0l (I think) in line 6. The body and the interior are what I would say is excellent condition for the number of miles. It looks like everything on it leaks, but they are what I would call minor leaks. It needs front brakes, but the rears are good. Shocks and struts look O.K. He started it, and it started up well,& but had some kind of engine noise, probably lifters. The tapping faded with higher rpms and it seemed like it was quieting down after it ran a couple of minutes. I didn't drive it, it would be the first vehicle for my 15 year old daughter. If my daughter and wife seem interested I'll take it for a drive. I'm just trying to get some feelers for how good of a vehicle they are. I like the price, 5k will probably buy it, but I don't like the miles.

I have an older Jeep Wrangler that has had that same noise for 3 years and I tried a lot of different things but to no avail, it never caused a problem and from all the reading I did, (which was tons) it is the nature of the beast. I did a engine vac job on a Toyota pickup and it did so well that I decided to do it to the Jeep also and it got rid of most all of the noise. I used seafoam thru the brake booster vaccum line.

 

[SPMMD]

I have owned for myself a Cherokee pioneer with the manual transmission(Olympic edition), a Cherokee sport '95, Grand Cherokee limited v8, as well as 4.0l, a grand Cherokee TSI, and currently a Cherokee limited 2001. Only one of these vehicles had a v8, which gave at best 16 mpg. The straight 6 4.0l HO engines were all great, I never had an engine, or transmission problem. Brakes were frequent and expensive in the V8, but cheap and easy in the 4.0l straight 6's.

Just like you, when my daughters came of driving age, I chose jeep grand Cherokees for their safety, dependability and reasonable mileage. Parts are available everywhere, cheap, and anyone can fix these! And of yes, each of my oldest 2 daughters totaled each of their grand Cherokees!!! But thank god (and Chrysler), they weren't hurt. Had they been in smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles, I shudder to think of what could have happened! After being totaled, the local jeep guys bought the weeks from me for $350-500!!!!.

My used grand Cherokees were all purchased for between $3,000-3500 with 97k to 120k miles and have been good cars, and protected my daughters as I hoped. From your description of the vehicle you are looking at, it sounds way too expensive for the mileage and condition. You may be surprised how many really great condition keeps are around for much better prices and with much better mileage than what you described!!!! But yes, I think one in good condition makes an excellent choice for a first car for a new driver. In fact my 13 year old is already asking if she will inherit her older sisters, or when we will begin shopping for hers!!!!!!

 

[SPMMD]

PS, this was my oldest daughters '99 after she decided to suddenly make a U-turn across Grandin rd in Roanoke (5 lanes) after missing her turn and was broadsided by a car parts delivery truck at 40 MPH. Luckily no injuries!!!! After being checked out, she was fine, the jeep drive able, she drove the 600 miles home in this jeep the following week!!!!

 

[dodge man]

Thanks for all the replies. It helps. I'm not sure yet what we are going to buy her, but we have found a couple of them. The one I looked at was cloth seats, no moon roof, and part time 4 wheel drive. They are asking $5900, and it book out at $5000. They had it inspected, and they said it needed a upper torque arm, or something like that.

 

[SPMMD]

Knowing these vehicles and the experience I have had buying them, I know you can do much better. All of mine had leather or combination leather and vinyl interiors, air conditioning that worked, and all were set up for towing with class III hitches. If you really like the cloth interior 2001 buy it, but I would be hard pressed to pay more than $ 3k. You are much better off without a sunroof, they in time leak or jam. The only jeep I owned with cloth interior was my '97 sport which I bought new, just in time for my wife to break her water in it on our way to our third daughter's delivery!!!! Nope, don't think I could own a cloth interior again!