At $5,500, Is This 1993 Jeep Cherokee Rough And Ready To Find A New Home?

Today's Nice Price or No Dice Cherokee may not be "the Jeep that won the war," but it looks like it's survived some battles. The result is a truck that's a little rough around the edges, but should be solid in the center. Let's see if it's in any shape to make its asking price feel like a deal.

In real estate, the commonly accepted mantra is "location, location, location." That can also be a guiding principle in the practice of purchasing vehicles, as location can inform the likely condition. Sunny, brutally hot climates can wreak havoc on paint and upholstery, not to mention overtaxing A/C components and thus wearing them out. In snowy regions, rust is often the biggest risk when considering an automotive purchase. To that point, a great swath of the nation's center has been dubbed the "Rust Belt," where vehicles live short, hard lives and buyers need to beware.

The 2001 Volkswagen Cabrio GLX we considered on Monday came to us from Minneapolis, Minnesota, a salter state. Its seller boasted that it had "almost no rust"; however, what exactly that meant was left to conjecture. As a result, many of you took issue with the car's $8,000 asking price, as the consensus was that any VW of this era asking so much would need to be 100% rust-free. Naturally, that affected the voting, which saw the Cabrio crumble in a 73% 'No Dice' loss.

Happily, today's 1993 Jeep Cherokee Sport is reported by its seller to be rust-free. It's also unencumbered with any bodywork cutting, or so says the ad. That's all good, as this Cherokee is a unibody design, one of the first 4X4s offered without a stout but heavy ladder frame.

Its design makes the Cherokee hundreds of pounds lighter than its competition, an important factor as AMC and Renault–under whose partnership the Cherokee was developed–wanted the wagon to be marketable in Europe as well as the U.S.

To that end, the Cherokee was made available, even in the U.S., with a Renault-built diesel engine and front seats featuring the same space- and weight-saving single-rail design as the contemporary Renault 9/Alliance. Other engines offered in the XJ Cherokee included a 2.5-liter four-cylinder and a 2.8-liter V6 purchased from Chevrolet. The best engine to be found under the Cherokee's hood, though, is AMC's 4.0-liter straight-six. Luckily, this truck is so imbued.

AMC/Renault, and then later Chrysler, built the XJ generation of Cherokee from 1984 through 2001. The 4.0 six arrived for the 1987 model year, and stuck around until the end of the production run. While earlier models offered lower output, this model year saw the engine make a full 190 horsepower and an even more impressive 225 pound-feet of torque. Setting all those ponies free is a five-speed manual gearbox and Jeep's Command-Trac four-wheel-drive turning live axles at both ends.

According to the ad, over $12,000 was invested in the truck at 161,261 miles. What all that entailed goes unexplained, but the seller promises that receipts for the work will be provided in the sale, so documentation does exist. There are now 168,575 on the ol' ticker, so that work is likely still fairly fresh. Per the ad description, the truck "Runs & drives very well." There also doesn't seem to be any pressing needs mechanically.

Some of the money invested in the Jeep might have gone into the three-inch lift kit that let's the truck stand tall before the man. Whether that's an Old Man Emu kit or not isn't divulged, but there is an "EMU" decal on the hatch that might provide a clue.

The lift puts some perspective on the truck's other aspects, including what appears to be decent-enough paint, a capacious roof rack, and, on a less positive note, a front bumper that may have accidentally offended Mike Tyson.

Craigslist

The interior shows remarkably little wear and tear for the truck's age and mileage. Yes, the dashboard looks cheap as heck, and ergonomics were never on the Cherokee's calling card, but it at least looks clean and admirably stock save for what looks to be a mike mount for a CB radio screwed to the dash. Back in the load area, a rubber tray keeps things tidy, and the move to an external spare (apparently not included) opens up the space. Manual crank windows and locks simplify the ownership experience. According to the seller, the A/C works but requires frequent refrigerant top-offs. A clean title, however, ensures that the next owner will keep their cool when transferring ownership.

It's getting harder and harder to find these early-generation Cherokees in unmolested shape these days. Finding one with the drivetrain this one has is even rarer, even if the truck overall is a bit bruised and battered. What might something as arguably unique as this Jeep reasonably go for?

The seller asks $5,500 or "a Gen2 LoMi Chevy Volt as part trade plus cash." I'm not sure if that means trading a Volt and giving the Jeep owner cash, or the other way around, but I don't think any of us has a Chevy hybrid burning a hole in our pocket, so let's stick with the all-cash option. Where do you stand on this Cherokee, as it's presented in its ad, and that $5,500 price tag? Does that seem fair, given the truck's reasonably unmolested status? Or do the cons outweigh the pros for that price?

You decide!

Seattle, Washington, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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