Death of a Cherokee (1 Viewer)

bospress.net

bospress.net

www.bospress.net
My little Jeep Cherokee and I have been through a lot since I bought it in December 2001. It was a 1999 model, so it already had 30,000 miles on it (I never buy new cars). At the time, I lived in Virginia. My wife and I had one child, a one year old (at the time).

Since then, I have put another 140,000 miles on the car without much problems. A couple accidents (one my fault and one not), but not much body damage. It hung in there.

In those 8 years, I have had 2 more children, changed jobs a few times, started a small press, sold a house in VA, bought one in Delaware.

Last week my car started overheating. I added coolant and it was fine. Today it overheated and it HAD coolant in it. I brought it to Pepboys where they decided that it was either a blown head gasket or a blown head. At best, I can pay $1,500 for the repair (if I'm lucky), and hope that the transmission does not crap out a week later. All for a car worth about $1,000...

Sadly, it is being put out to pasture. I am now looking for a new car, a little one. One that will get me around 35mpg for the 2,000 miles a month that I drive for my job.

If only I lived closer to Gerard K H Love.... He'd do me an honest.

Bill
 
when you say a new car, do you mean new-for-you or new-off-the-lot? i have a honda fit, which is a really great car for how little it is. it's officially a sub-compact, but justine and i managed to fit a dresser and two end tables in the back when we went to an antique fair. i average around 30 mpg with about 70% city driving.

sorry to hear about your car - the same thing happened to me (blown head gasket, $1500 repair on a car worth about that much)... so i went without a car for a few years, then picked up a subaru with 210,000 miles on it for pretty cheap, and then got this car when the suby crapped out.
 
+1 for the Fit.

I get about 36mpg but it's a stick and I'm usually not hauling anything but myself. When I was doing a lot of freeway driving I could get it tantalizingly close to 40mpg.

I never bought new cars either, but right before I got the the Fit I killed an Isuzu Trooper that sounded a lot like your Jeep. Once it was officially dead I bit the bullet and bought new. The Honda decision was easy since I've owned a lot of them and they have never let me down.

Fits have been around in the US for a couple years, so they are available used. I don't know if you can get a really good deal on one, as Hondas typically have a strong resale market. But even new, back in '07, mine was less than 15k.
 
i highly recommend the 2009 fit, because you can push the rear seats down without having to move the front seats forward. it's a little bigger, though, and i think the gas mileage is a couple ticks worse than the older version (which has been available in europe since 2001 as the honda jazz).

you can find used fits for around $10 to $14K, depending on how many miles they have on them.
 
well, the husband of a friend of my wife's says that we can replace the head gasket in a couple hours as a favor. He is coming over this Saturday. The gasket costs a whopping $26. If it is the whole head that is fucked, it will run me about $200. He says that it is only 2 or 3 hours, which is odd as I thought that car repair shops used a book that told them the billable hours and then they have their rate. If this is a 3 hour job, with $26 in parts and they want $1500 then there is something really wrong...

Hmmmm. I'll know more on Saturday. For $26, I cannot pass up the chance to get another year out of the Jeep...

Bill
 
also, i don't know why i said i went without a car for a few years - i meant that i went without a car for about a year.
 
bospress.net said:
............snip...
If only I lived closer to Gerard K H Love.... He'd do me an honest.
Click to expand...
I like the way you put the pressure on me. We have a Honda Civic hybrid that has about 69,000. miles on it and they are asking $13,800. for it. It will cost about $800 to ship it to Deleware maybe $1000. I would think it could sell for less than 11,800. People get excited because it has the car pool stickers on it.
My personal opinion about hybrids is they are over priced and a non hybrid that gets good mileage is a better deal. You can get a very good deal on a Pontiac Vibe right now and most domestic used car dealers will let any used domestic economy car go for cheap. (that shows our national loyalty is in the shitter) Just don't buy a green car unless you have red hair.;)

Edit: As for the repair, a 3 hour job ussually gets billed for 6 to 10 hours. Remember they are making up for their training and tools, besides the complimentary coffee and TV in the waiting room. Also my $648 fuel pump can be had for around $200.
 
bospress.net said:
The gasket costs a whopping $26. If it is the whole head that is fucked, it will run me about $200.
Click to expand...
Not to be a downer, but usually if it has overheated enough to blow the gasket you're going to have some deformation of the metal parts and the new gasket won't seal completely. But if you have someone who will pull it apart as a favor, consider yourself lucky and give it a shot.
jordan said:
i highly recommend the 2009 fit, because you can push the rear seats down without having to move the front seats forward.
Click to expand...
Depending on the position that you usually keep the front seats in, the rear seats can sometimes drop without moving the front seats. The passenger side of mine collapses without moving anything, and a lot of the time that's enough if you need to put something long in there.

Even if you do have to move a front seat they have made it easy by putting the seat adjustment latches on the top of the seats as well as underneath, where they usually are. They are amazing little cars. Deceptively small from the outside, but you can sure stuff a lot of crap into them.
 
My wife and I have a Jazz (Fit) each. Excellent little M&M of a car.

At various times I've had a wheelbarrow, a 1.7 metre desk, three small trees and dozens and dozens of stone pavers in the back.

It asks so little and gives so much.

Bukowski would agree with me and he would own a Fit. It's true.
 
official car.JPG
 
mjp said:
Not to be a downer, but usually if it has overheated enough to blow the gasket you're going to have some deformation of the metal parts and the new gasket won't seal completely.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought that too, but he says that he can put a new head on for a couple hundred if the gasket wont seal... If not, I'll suck it up and buy a car. I may have to sell some Buk to make it happen, but I need a car for work...

Bill
 
jordan said:
bottom line, my fit can beat up your fit.
Click to expand...
Tell them the truth; you saw the Fit in my driveway and were saddled with an all-consuming envy that wouldn't go away until you ponied up the dough for one of your own.

Note that the blue Fit pictured here is the newer Fit Size Queen model. For guys who have the desire to fill up all the space "back there."

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Just saying.
 
I once saw a man haul a Fit inside another Fit.

as for hondas, I drove an accord until it had 310,000 miles on it before it caught fire and burned to the ground in the middle of rush hour.

spectacular cars.
 
panamar,
Are you buying me a car or just being an asshole? I have had no payment for 4 years and had about $1500 in repairs since 2001. Not a bad record. One of the few American cars that has done me well.

If you are buying me a car, please send the funds to me at [email protected].

Thanks, brah!

Bill
 
Bill - Hope you can get another year out of that Jeep. For a vehicle that has served you so well, its tough to let go so abruptly. But if that gasket works out, you will have 12 months to make a sound decision on the next set of wheels.

Nothing is worse than "emergency" purchases when it comes to cars. Accidents and unforseen mechanical breakdowns can put you in a bad spot, and I've been there too. In the early 90's, I was driving a 1982 Olds Cutlass Ciera that rewarded my rush-to-purchase with endless torture. Choose carefully !
 
If it is dead, I may use parts of it in my books. It would be cool to remove the panels and make books out of them. If it is going to the scrap yard, then why not? Of course, I may need it as a trade in, in which case, maybe that is not a good idea to cut bits off of it...

I do know that the serpentine belt can run my press...

Maybe use the old seats as bookcloth?

Bill
 
Bopress, I feel for you. I'm in the same boat with a '89 Toyota pickup that's been getting water in the oil. My odometer died about six months ago at just over 266,000 miles so all in all it's been a good run but a blown head gasket/potential cracked head ... I'm just not sure if I should bother putting that much money into this truck.

It looks like it's decision time.

It's hard to let 'em go though--especially when they've been good to you.
 
Bill, I got rid of a Ford Aspire a couple of years ago when it got too old. But it was great while I had it. Usually got around 40mpg on the interstate. I loved that little ol' car.:(
 
We are replacing the head gasket and maybe the head. The project is on hold as we are getting a massive snowstorm. They are calling for at least 14 inches of snow. 20 inches in some areas. Not a good time to work on a car (my garage is now my press room)

Bill
 
Yeah I've been watching that storm. I have family back in VA and Conn. I kinda wish I was back there. Haven't seen snow in ages. (although, I suppose I could just go up to the mountains here in Cali. but, somehow it's not the same.)

P.S. sorry for misspelling your name back there--pre-coffee typing this morning.

zenguru said:
Bill, I got rid of a Ford Aspire a couple of years ago when it got too old. But it was great while I had it. Usually got around 40mpg on the interstate. I loved that little ol' car.:(
Click to expand...
It's always good when you find one you don't have to sink a fortune into for constant repairs. Do you remember how many miles you got out of it?
 
we now have about 2 feet of snow and they are calling for 40-50 mile an hour winds tonight. That will cause MASSIVE snowdrifts....

I love this shit.

Bill
 

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