Should it stay or should it go

[emac]

i faced a similar decision back in '2003, my xj was./is a gas guzzler, i went to trade on a mazda6 and the dealer wasn't interested in my jeep so i kept it.

over the years its been an awesome car, not without faults thou, but it has never stoped or let me down, never needed towing.

its towed a heavy 23 foot boat with stern drive, been up the beach to double island point many times, been all over the quarry at Ormeau, done all the tracks in the original "dirty weekend in SE queensland"

ive got a 2.5 inch lift and 31 inch tyres re gears to 4.10 its had just about everything done to it that can be done, but the short block has never been touched (excluding fixing leaks) early in my ownership i swapped out all the sensors just in case, and kept all the old ones as spares (never needed them)

the transfer case has never been touched and the auto only died because i crushed a cooler line and didn't realise it.it still ran for about 5 years before it died

new hood lining new front leather new carpets

new suspension and Bilstein shocks, 2.5 inch exhaust and extractors
the list goes on and on

owned nearly 26 years, personally as the old sticker goes "Jeeps are built not bought"

that said personally i would not own a diesel, as much as i like the torque, they are in my opinion to much work.

for me having an economical daily driver is a must, then you can take you time and play with your jeep.

today the XJ only sees a couple of 1000ks per year i have a WK2 V6 petrol as my daily driver

(and as for the XJ it will never be sold)

anyway just my thoughts you have to do what's best for you.

as others have said, and older simpler vehicle will be heavy on fuel and come with its own problems, and a newer car will be more complex

so hard choice to make, in your case i would look at a WG with the trusty 4.0 6 petrol, and take your time to mod it to your taste, and put up with the petrol cost off set by lower purchasing cost

again just my thoughts, others will surly disagree, and that i respect

edit good luck with your new ride, gees that's a truck to drive yikes

[JoergM]

Originally Posted by emac

i faced a similar decision back in '2003, my xj was./is a gas guzzler, i went to trade on a mazda6 and the dealer wasn't interested in my jeep so i kept it.

over the years its been an awesome car, not without faults thou, but it has never stoped or let me down, never needed towing.

its towed a heavy 23 foot boat with stern drive, been up the beach to double island point many times, been all over the quarry at Ormeau, done all the tracks in the original "dirty weekend in SE queensland"

ive got a 2.5 inch lift and 31 inch tyres re gears to 4.10 its had just about everything done to it that can be done, but the short block has never been touched (excluding fixing leaks) early in my ownership i swapped out all the sensors just in case, and kept all the old ones as spares (never needed them)

the transfer case has never been touched and the auto only died because i crushed a cooler line and didn't realise it.it still ran for about 5 years before it died

new hood lining new front leather new carpets

new suspension and Bilstein shocks, 2.5 inch exhaust and extractors
the list goes on and on

owned nearly 26 years, personally as the old sticker goes "Jeeps are built not bought"

that said personally i would not own a diesel, as much as i like the torque, they are in my opinion to much work.

for me having an economical daily driver is a must, then you can take you time and play with your jeep.

today the XJ only sees a couple of 1000ks per year i have a WK2 V6 petrol as my daily driver

(and as for the XJ it will never be sold)

anyway just my thoughts you have to do what's best for you.

as others have said, and older simpler vehicle will be heavy on fuel and come with its own problems, and a newer car will be more complex

so hard choice to make, in your case i would look at a WG with the trusty 4.0 6 petrol, and take your time to mod it to your taste, and put up with the petrol cost off set by lower purchasing cost

again just my thoughts, others will surly disagree, and that i respect

edit good luck with your new ride, gees that's a truck to drive yikes

Thanks for your input. I guess I would not give an XJ away either. I just like he body style of this car. With diesel I would really say it depends. My old Mercedes Benz is so simple that even a monkey could fix it. I guess the Defender is not more complex but I will find out sooner or later.

The complexity on Diesels comes with the newer years when there was too much computer electronics involved. You can certainly tweak them too but thats not really what I am looking for. Reliability is more important to me at the moment.