WOW, Wow

he, he Now that I have your attention :o)

maybe I'm just very excitable, maybe a little nieve, but I've just replaced my aging subaru wagon (which I thought I'd never give up! 5 stars easy!) with a 90 cherokee laredo. At first glance, it's got high miles, about 135k, and terrible paint, bad clearcoat in that year, and did I mention bad paint? Really, that's about all that I've found wrong!

This is the first Jeep I've ever owned. I've had a few friends who have owned the wrangler, and i've heard all the horror stories about break dowms and bad handling adn the stuff, but something told me to take a cherokee for a drive. SOLD!

I tell ya, I've owned a few trucks, some 4x4's some not, but this thing is built STRONG. the doors are very solid, the hood is heavy and stiff, the dash...go ahead and pound on that dash, not a squeak. I'm really impressed with the integrity of this vehical, I really feel like I can go anywhere I want in any weather, and best of all, it reall does drive like a car! Sure, you get the wishy-washy truck feel, but hold that wheel strait over ANY obstruction in the roadway and it cruises on tride and true. I've owned a 90 pathfinder, and a 94 Explorer, and I would recomend this over both of those equally equiped vehicals, just based on the way it drives and feels.

The straight 6 (I-6) 4.0 engine is NOT the "high output" version, but none the less, it is VERY responsive at all speeds. The mileage is pretty good at about 20 mpg highway, 15 city. I really don't understand the other opinions saying the jeep is cumbersome in city traffic...I don't know if I would feel better driving anything else in Seattle traffic. The steering is crisp and clean, the power is there for the asking, and if you have to dodge a road closure, you can reach down for the 4X4 lever. Did you know that the Jeep offers a 4X4 selection that allows you to drive on DRY pavement in 4x4. Try that with any other 4x4 vehical, you'll spend a couple thousand fixing the transfer case. The owners manual plainly says you could drive all the time in 4x4 if you wanted. That's a real relief in snowy weather, were the road is poking through the snow in places, you wont have to jump out of your truck and switch the front-end in and out of 4x4 according to the road conditions.

If you're looking for an all around vehical, I'd recomend this jeep in a heart beat, expecially if you're a weekend warrior like me :0)

Another thing... I have 3 kids, and I'm at a real dillema when it comes to seating capacity for everyone, but I've found the solution! They make a removeable seat for 2 more people that fits in the cargo area. There you go, just like a suburban, but better gas mileage, and ease to drive. Did I mention the cost savings?!

Go ahead, buy one. Buy a cheap one with high miles (they're good for about 300k you know.) You'll never go back to normal, boring, sedans or minivans!