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“Our 1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport has now done 350,000 km....”

written by NoddyWA on 25/06/2008

Good Points
Good performance, reasonable handling, ride and surprising economy. Relatively easy to and cheap to service. Terrific in sand/beach fishing, the combo of the 4.0 litre six and the auto make it a superb off-road beast. Great towing ability. Comfortable over long distances, we've put in many 2000 plus km days in outback Australia. Basically we love it, it cuts the mustard in so many ways.

Bad Points
Limited leg room for driver, luckily I'm vertically challenged so no problem. Old styling, that non working quarter vent in the front window is an absolute pain. Little room in the back with inside spare. Limited rear seat room for passengers. Can be difficult to get parts for in rural Australia, also difficult to find Jeep dealers for special servicing needs. Crank angle sensors not keen on water.

General Comments
Our 1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport has now done 350,000 km. In that time our only major expenses have been to replace the stainless steel exhaust manifold, the steering box and front brake rotors. Apart from those items it has just been normal servicing, replacement of brake pads or shoes, etc. We have maintained a 10,000 km service interval throughout. Generally we do 3 x 10,000 km services ourselves and at each 40,000 intervals give it to an expert to check over. The transmission has been serviced each 100,000 km and still appears to be going strong. The engine is going to be replaced because while on holidays it had a thermostat jam and it got very hot before we pulled up. That was at about 300,000 km and the engine has deteriorated since. Once the new motor is in we think it will be good for another ten years, no trouble.