A while back I asked for advice for a large comfortable car for around £5K. Well my requirements remained; large, wafty, auto etc. but the budget I was looking to spend was significantly less.
Any new car had to be the complete opposite to my Z4M (which remains). Having started and done a few weeks commuting across London I came to the further conclusion that I needed something I didn't care too much about if it got knocked by some crazy cyclist and something I didn't mind leaving in the street overnight. The start of using a car to commute also reinforced the fact that I needed some big lazy auto for stress free commuting to deal with the constant stop/start and onslaught of speed bumps and pot holes.
Now an S-Class would have been my prefered option, but I needed to keep an eye on running costs other than fuel. After some research I felt an old (pre-2000) Jeep Cherokee would be perfect. Old school 4 litre inline six that has been around donkey's years and any electrical gremlins I could forgive. For a while I watched the market to see what they went for, took the odd few at dealers out for test drives and eventually I took a gamble and bought this off eBay
So 1997 Jeep Cherokee 4L limited. 126K miles, full service history with 13 stamps in the book. Owned by the same family for the last 8 years (with invoices to prove) who covered 100K of those miles on the motorway by the looks of it. One owner before that. All old MOTs, tax discs and bills for a bit of re-assurance. MOT and a bit of tax left. Equipment includes electric windows, remote central locking, trip computer, electric seats, digital compass, air-con, cruise control, radio cassette, old school electric aerial, plastic fantastic interior with faux-wood and big soft armchairs for seats. Everything I've played with thus far works a treat.
I've done about 200 miles in it since getting it on Saturday. So far, so good and exactly what I want. Heavily assisted light steering, easy to use auto box, pretty quiet inside at speed which was a surprise and enough poke to not be embarassing to drive. Round town it is smooth over the bumps and the auto box makes the constant trafic lights less stressful. Averaging 15mpg around town which I was prepared for as it is not far off what I've always been used to since I started driving thirsty cars 8 years ago. Plus fuel isn't actually my problem in the main.
If it lasts me a year I'll be pleased so finger's crossed.
Any new car had to be the complete opposite to my Z4M (which remains). Having started and done a few weeks commuting across London I came to the further conclusion that I needed something I didn't care too much about if it got knocked by some crazy cyclist and something I didn't mind leaving in the street overnight. The start of using a car to commute also reinforced the fact that I needed some big lazy auto for stress free commuting to deal with the constant stop/start and onslaught of speed bumps and pot holes.
Now an S-Class would have been my prefered option, but I needed to keep an eye on running costs other than fuel. After some research I felt an old (pre-2000) Jeep Cherokee would be perfect. Old school 4 litre inline six that has been around donkey's years and any electrical gremlins I could forgive. For a while I watched the market to see what they went for, took the odd few at dealers out for test drives and eventually I took a gamble and bought this off eBay
So 1997 Jeep Cherokee 4L limited. 126K miles, full service history with 13 stamps in the book. Owned by the same family for the last 8 years (with invoices to prove) who covered 100K of those miles on the motorway by the looks of it. One owner before that. All old MOTs, tax discs and bills for a bit of re-assurance. MOT and a bit of tax left. Equipment includes electric windows, remote central locking, trip computer, electric seats, digital compass, air-con, cruise control, radio cassette, old school electric aerial, plastic fantastic interior with faux-wood and big soft armchairs for seats. Everything I've played with thus far works a treat.
I've done about 200 miles in it since getting it on Saturday. So far, so good and exactly what I want. Heavily assisted light steering, easy to use auto box, pretty quiet inside at speed which was a surprise and enough poke to not be embarassing to drive. Round town it is smooth over the bumps and the auto box makes the constant trafic lights less stressful. Averaging 15mpg around town which I was prepared for as it is not far off what I've always been used to since I started driving thirsty cars 8 years ago. Plus fuel isn't actually my problem in the main.
If it lasts me a year I'll be pleased so finger's crossed.
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