Our 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport
Mrs. Mile discovered our 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport while on a walk through a neighborhood near our home. It was parked in a front yard with a For Sale sign in the windshield. She liked it well enough to send me a couple of pictures. In our 16 years of marriage (at the time), I can’t recall her ever sending me a picture of a car she liked. A couple days later I took that same walk with her and took a closer look. It looked pretty good, so I called the number and set up a meeting with the seller.
A couple days later we met with the seller and took it for a test drive. I was impressed by the condition it was in, the low mileage (about 109K), and the folder of receipts he had for it. One of the receipts showed that the lift, wheels and tires were all new and installed by Les Schwab only 18k miles ago. He told me he was selling it because it had an overheating problem. I noticed a few other small issues as well, the steering was a little loose, the front bumper was slightly bent, and the airbag light was on. Overall, the Jeep was in very good shape and had obviously been well cared for. We told the seller we would think about it and get back to him. The next day we made him an offer and took it home.
Over the next couple of months I fixed the steering (a bad joint on the track bar), air bag issue (a faulty connection in the steering wheel), the bent bumper (I was able to straighten it out), and the overheating issue. Turns out it had a cracked cylinder head and probably had for many years. Looking back at the service history there were many notes about it being low on coolant and the heater not blowing hot air. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t driven more and why it was in such nice shape when we got it. I ordered a new head (improved casting to eliminate the potential for cracking) and installed it myself. I have been doing all my own vehicle maintenance and repairs since before I got my license at 16, so this wasn’t new to me.
We thought about selling our Cherokee a few times since nice ones do go for $10k to $15k since it’s not exactly fuel efficient, but we liked it too much to get rid of it. The closest we came was back in March of 2022. I found a yellow 2001 Jeep Wrangler that I really wanted, and the seller expressed interest in our Cherokee. Ultimately, he backed out of the trade, and we happily kept it.
Since then, we haven’t done much to the Cherokee. I replaced the CD player with a new one and I installed a new radiator about a month ago. Really, we have just driven and enjoyed it.
Early one morning about a month ago I was on my way to work when another driver tried to turn left in front of me. I had a green light and was traveling at 45 mph or so. It happened so fast, I don’t think 2 seconds passed between the time I recognized what was happening, mashed the brakes, and then hit the other vehicle. It was the most violent accident I’ve ever been involved it. Every air bag on both vehicles deployed and both vehicles appear to be a total loss. While both myself and the other driver are basically OK (both sore and I broke my right thumb), I am very upset about the loss of our Jeep. I took a number of pictures at the scene.
Working with the insurance companies after the accident was frustrating, but they ultimately assigned fault to the other driver and make us a fair offer for our ruined Cherokee. The buy-back price was very reasonable, so we decided to keep it. This Jeep will never drive again, but most of the running gear is still in good shape (and low mileage – 117k) and we plan to swap it all into our 1995 Jeep Wrangler (YJ) – The Miles We Drove. Check back for updates on that project.
