EarlyJk

Had a 2000 Cherokee sport loved it, no issues at all. I bought it used with 80k on it drove it, offroaded it , sold it when it had 125k on it to buy the JK. Still miss that truck, you wont regret it if you buy one. Plus it had plenty of get up an go you will be pleasantly surprised by it.

Viking99

I'm blessed - have both a JK & an XJ. Had the JKs not been available w/ 4 doors, never would have considered buyin' one 'cause I'm more than happy with the XJ. Other posters here described the XJ as 'bulletproof', they're spot on. Can't kill that inline 6 !

ChopN

I had a 2001 XJ Sport. Until my sister rolled it. I loved that Jeep and still do. Id buy another one in a heartbeat.

Running Man

Great vehicles! I just passed on my 2000 XJ to my son when I purchased the new JK Rubicon. The 2000 - 2001 did have some advantages (i.e. simplified distributor with coil packs, latest styling, etc.), but did have a couple issues. The biggest one has to do with a "hot start" issue which results in throwing multiple misfire codes. Other than that, it has been one of my favorite vehicles I've owned.

medburd

It's a great vehicle - They had similar issues inherent to the common years - my wife & her brother both had 1988 limited's. They both needed radiator replacements - water pumps - Throttle position sensors - distributor caps - ac condensers - alternators & heater coils. The seat brackets both cracked on the driver side. (power seats in both) and the power distribution panel in the driver doors were issues. They were both ultra reliable vehicles and never gave up the reliability ghost without warnings. They were both fantastic mechanically. I would highly recommend one and still want to own one and make a toy with it...I want to put a v8 in one! They both saw 200,000 + miles and the parts all went within 10,000 miles of each other (weird) - they were both purchased @ the same time with the same exact options so my guess would be they were both built @ the same plant within the same week.

Everything I mentioned could be considered wear items on vehicles...or maybe the maintenance habits of their owners...but my wife was not the best @ it and my brother in law meticulous. They both eventually found their limits - the wife's fell to transmission woes and the other developed an electrical gremlin. with the mileage on both at those times we didn't want to put any money into them and they were sold for parts. Now if they both died @ the same time - then we would have made 1 from 2 and probably would still be in the family.

It's a sound decision as long as you choose wisely and get to know about the common years and their related issues (what to expect). Fuel injection differences - electrical differences - transmission differences - ignitions and other components. Do your research and find the right one for you... The 2 doors usually sell cheaper than the 4 doors, the manual transmissions cheaper than the automatics. The easiest way to tell a reliable vehicle is by how many are still available even though production stopped 10 years ago. They are cheap to maintain.

Good luck!

MDPJeep

my son who grew up wheeling with me, just bought an '89 XJ. Sure it has 22 years of wear on it, but everything works, no smoke, T-case is good, engine runs like new, no leaks. I really like it ! JMHO

whiteJeepjk09

I just bought a xj I love it. It has so much power compared to my two door jk

JMcD

I had two xj's. Loved them both! A 95 with a 2.5 lift and 32's. ( looked sweet) and a 99. That 99 is still here and running perfectly here in Ohio! Being in Ohio the rust is getting pretty bad but my brother in law doesn't care. Loved it since the day I gave it to him.

bmxnick7

I would look for a 97 to 99 they are the best years in my opinion. Some 00 and 01 had the bad cylinder heads that crack. The coil packs go bad. Other then that they Are the same. Sold my 98 with 250k on it with zero problems for the 150k I pit on it

Willybugman

We've had several...my son drives a '98 that we take wheel'in all the time and you can't stop it. He too drove his for school and never had any trouble. over 200K