I was gonna buy a 97 Grand Cherokee with 75k miles from a guy I work with, but I had it inspected and it needs a new front axle, and front stabilizer to pass inspection. Also, the transfer case is leaking, and it's sometimes slow to start and needs to crank a few times till it goes ( I think it's an electrical thing). My mechanic stopped looking after that since he already found things to stop it from passing. There's another one (98 5.9L with 91k) near me on autotrader that already passed inspection, so I just need to know how is reliability with jeeps, mainly 97 and 98 Grand Cherokee's?

well dont really know much about the 5.9 other than it was offered in the last model year of the ZJ and it is said to be a great motor in the lightweight unibody. I've heard lots of complaints about gas mileage though. Some as low as 10mpg, but those are only word of mouth not hard evdience. As you probably already know, it is the same motor as in Dodge Ram trucks and Dakota/Durango R/T's. My dad had two dodge trucks with the 5.9, 1 was a 97 and the other a 98 and he had no problems at all with them. Granted they were brand new. If i had the cash, i'd drop it right down and buy the 5.9 just because they are really rare and the last year of the great ZJ. But be sure and check it all out and do your homework. Find out if anything is rebuilt and if it has any documentation of problems. Good luck..

I just bought a white GC 5.9 (with 91k on it, oddly enough) and had my mechanic check it out 'cause I was concerned about the high mileage and the fantastic deal I negotiated ($8500). Everything checked out fine, so it looks like I got a nice car for a great price. As an added benefit, I got a 1 year/15,000 mile powertrain warranty from Chrysler. I think it really helped that I walked into the dealership on 12/30 and told them I was willing to buy a car THAT DAY if the price was right. I had the keys by 8PM that evening :cheers:. As far as mileage, I'm getting about 15 as long as I take it easy. I think it would be easy to get 10....

BTW- I found the 5.9 in Wilmington, De. by searching the internet and ended up buying it for $4400 less than the NADA value. I'm still pinching myself! :bigthumb:

That sounds like a real dream come true!