Jeep Reliability

[Boza]

Hey guys just after peoples experiences with jeep wranglers are they a good car cause my neighbour is looking into getting one for his first car prob end up spending bout 10k on one just after peoples opinions on them as i heard they are a huge pile of unreliable junk.
But please enlighten me.

[wrongwaynorris]

Jeep reliability is an oxymoron .

[chevypower]

The anti-Jeep people have no basis for that, they are very reliable and capable off-road. Wrangler's are not the best on-road, but if you want something that is fun, tough and capable, then they are hard to beat in my honest opinion. My dad's Grand Cherokee should have been broken many times according to Toyota lovers. Look, Jeeps are great. No reason to avoid them.

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

Jeep reliability is an oxymoron .

That's exactly what I'm talking about. Unsubstantiated waffle.

[FPV+fteT3]

My cherokee went all round australia the oodnadatta track, strezleki desert, finke, simpson desert etc when I sold it 330,000km serviced at usual intervals replacing parts that were normal wear and tear like brake pads, hoses only extra costs due to failure were a radiator and PS pump brilliant car IMO.

[irlewy86]

To throw a cat amongst the pigeons.....

Wasn't it the Mercedes engines that caught fire and gave Jeep the really bad rap recently.

[Raptor]

Jeeps are built, not bought ;)

[NAFairlane]

They seem to be a bit hit and miss, i have heard ppl swear by them and others will never buy another. I know a guy who bought a new 4 door wrangler and was happy as larry with it used it on and off road etc and after a while the rear doors kept randomly popping open over bumps and at freeway speeds.......turns out the chassis warped when he got snatched out of a bog hole......

[Boza]

should sell him the mrs forester

[Ben73]

It's the same as most other cars. Look after it and it will probably do you good. Treat it like **** and it will break.
All cars of all manufactures have lemons in the bunch, jeep is the same.
You may get a *******, but overall they are pretty good vehicles.

I have a Jeep now and have never had a problem apart from a loose wire for the right hand speakers.

[cycle myth]

As with any car you get good and bad ones.

...but with Jeeps the odds are a little worse.

I've never owned one but many Ford Dealers I know won't carry them in used stock.

Buyer beware.

[XR6Runner]

So basically like a Ford... You get the good ones, but also the bad. I guess that would be the same with every manufacturer. Just test drive one, pay for a proper mechanical inspection and do it the right way.

[Ben73]

I just love it how all these people who have never owned one, or maybe never even been in one, go on about how terrible they are.

I know many Jeep owners(from an Aussie Jeep Forum I am on) and 98% of them love the car and would keep buying Jeeps.

I bought my Jeep same time as my mate bought his Subaru. Both brand new, his suby has been back to the dealer 3-4 times to be fixed. I am yet to take my car back.
So there you have it, If I just look at one observation, I can say Jeeps are more reliable then Subaru's and Subaru's make unreliable cars.
But I wont say that, because all Manufactures have good and bad cars.

Even Toyota, the supposed most reliable brand ever, has had many major recalls.

[xr8-200]

An old house mate of mine had a wrangler. It was expensive to run, impractical for day to day driving and it broke down all the time....but he loved it. When it was on the road (by that I mean off road) he drove it hard and when things broke he would use it as an excuse to upgrade stuff.
If your neighbour realy wants one he should just get one. If he keeps it stock, it would be as reliable as any other car. If he gets the offroading bug things can get expensive....... a lot like performance cars I guess.

[csv8]

Dodge Nitro what a wicked looking vehicle!! takes balls to put something like that on the market!!!!

[antisocial]

No the Merc sourced Jeep engines are all Diesels.....and it was only the petrol ones that caught fire.

My Jeep (with a Merc engine) has over 75,000ks and has never caught fire, an my mates one has 195,000ks and he has not caught fire either.

Mine has had a few minor electical gremlins, electic seat control ect, but all fixed under warranty without any drama.

I have a 3L CRD Grand Cherokee and it's the best 4x4 I have owned by far, it has 510nm 160kw, tows up to 3.5t, gets about 10l/100k and came standard with pretty much the most capable 4wd system on the market (now an option) and with its front and rear diff locks will go places my previous patrols and pajeros could only deam of.

Its not as reliable as the Patrol, but has .......soul.

It is a cool car just like my old Typhoon....not a super reliable car like a Toyota, but a car you could love.

In a manly way of course.

[smoo]

I've owned a couple of XJs, and from what I've found, and a lot of other Jeep owners, is that those who give them a bad rap have little to know experience with them.
Mechanicals in the XJ/Wrangler are pretty much bullet proof. The cast iron engines will go forever, the Wrangler has stronger diffs than the Cherokees so even better. Electrics can give a few problems, my headlight switch packed up but that was about it.
I gave em death and was never left stranded, even though the last trip I did before I sold it, she boiled out the coolant half way up a west coast beach with the tide coming in. I thought bugger it and kept on driving, for about 20 mins, under hard load/soft sand. She was still as good as day one.
Every Jeep owner I've met/talked to have been more than impressed. I bought mine because they were cheap. I didn't really know what I was buying but after having two I'd have another in a heartbeat.

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by antisocial

No the Merc sourced Jeep engines are all Diesels.....and it was only the petrol ones that caught fire.

My Jeep (with a Merc engine) has over 75,000ks and has never caught fire, an my mates one has 195,000ks and he has not caught fire either.

Mine has had a few minor electical gremlins, electic seat control ect, but all fixed under warranty without any drama.

I have a 3L CRD Grand Cherokee and it's the best 4x4 I have owned by far, it has 510nm 160kw, tows up to 3.5t, gets about 10l/100k and came standard with pretty much the most capable 4wd system on the market (now an option) and with its front and rear diff locks will go places my previous patrols and pajeros could only deam of.

Its not as reliable as the Patrol, but has .......soul.

It is a cool car just like my old Typhoon....not a super reliable car like a Toyota, but a car you could love.

In a manly way of course.

Alot of Chrysler employee's point to the Daimler days as the dark ages. Kinda the same story as you get from any company that falls under the Merc umbrella at some point. The new Pentastar engines look legit and Fiat seems to be breathing some life into the old girl.

Wrangler always has and always will be a good weekend package.

[grandpa_spec_F6]

I think if you do any 4wd'ing you're gonna break stuff. I also have a mate who is pretty hardcore into it, and if something breaks, bends or otherwise fouls up, well it was rubbish to start with and needed upgrading anyways didn't it?!

Our boss has a brand new wrangler and he gives it a beating offroad, goes like the clappers and the whole thing can be taken apart. Awesome bit of kit IMO.

[chevypower]

Originally Posted by grandpa_spec_au

I think if you do any 4wd'ing you're gonna break stuff.

As with any 4x4. I told my dad to buy a Hilux for his business, and he let me take it 4 wheel driving, and i did more than enough damage to it on one trip. Don't take any new 4x4 on a serious off-road trip.

[cheap]

Wranglers are generally budget and bullet proof.

Wrangler Rubicons have the basic goodies to make a formidable 4x4 - rock crawler - go just about any where vehicle.

Jeeps are also one of the few 4x4's which still offer manual transmissions.

Jeep reliability has improved - Go the Australia Jeep forum and ask the folks over there... http://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum/.

Also go to the Land Cruiser or Discovery or Nissan forums, these vehicles have a range of interesting features (faults) and cost a heck more than Wranglers.

[Boza]

well he has his heart set on one just hope he can afford to run one on apprentice wages and living out of home

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by Balboa

well he has his heart set on one just hope he can afford to run one on apprentice wages and living out of home

They are pretty hard on the running expenses. If he's an apprentice I'd steer him clear of one for the time being.