The company car my Dad was looking to help sell on was a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee; a Limited, pretty loaded with the Chrysler 5.2 liter V8, Quadra Trac, sunroof, heated seats, pretty much the works for the time. It had about 60,000 miles and the company just wanted loan value. It could be ours for no money out of pocket, and a very good deal. I wasn’t thrilled about the V8 or the full time four wheel drive. We had some winter weather where we lived, but the year round wear and tear and gas mileage weren’t ideal, in my eyes.
This pillow effect was optional on the Grand Cherokee Limited and standard on the short-lived Grand Wagoneer.
Being a good deal, though, we went forward. It was sharp for sure; black with the gold emblems and wheels, and gray leather interior. I was attracted to the pseudo European vibe of the vehicle, especially the interior. The seats, stalk controls, and switch gear all exhibited a contemporary appearance and solidity that most American cars did not have at the time. This would be attributed to the new and short-lived Renault/Chrysler tie up and the resulting Renault influences and sourcing. My uncle had a Jeep Comanche and a Renault Alliance, and the Grand Cherokee seemed like a grown up big brother to both.
It was in showroom condition, maintained very well, with new tires. After the deal was done, we hit the road a few weeks later for a last pre-baby trip to the beach. My first car loan, the nicest car I had bought for myself for sure, lovely wife, first baby on the way, and we had bought our first home after renting for a couple of years. Life was coming up roses…until a few exits later.
The Jeep started running rough, so we pulled off. And it died. Dead as a doornail, it would crank and crank but never start. Was I out of gas? No, we just filled up. I don’t know that we even had a cell phone at the time. I remember using a “bag phone” in the Buick but it wasn’t something I carried with me everywhere I went.
After waiting a few minutes, it started, but it would not idle. You had to keep your foot on the gas a little at idle to keep from stalling. We made it a few more miles to a small Jeep dealer I knew to be up the road. We pulled in about closing time, naturally, but they instantly knew the problem. Carbon buildup in the throttle body, or something to that effect. They dumped some fuel additive into the tank and sprayed a bunch more in the intake and the car started, ran, and idled like new. They told me it would recur unless I used Sea Foam in the tank every so often. I added Sea Foam every 4th tank or so after that and it never happened again.
From that experience, I became a Sea Foam devotee. I buy it in gallon cans now, and add it to all my higher mileage cars, my boat, lawn equipment, you name it.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. What a ride…nice CD stereo, my first heated seats, and a crude trip computer that was quite impressive twenty years ago. I don’t remember a keyless entry remote, so maybe that wasn’t yet standard.
The Jeep never needed much. Just oil changes and tires. It ate the brand new tires at an alarming rate, I guess that all wheel drive I was concerned about. Gas mileage was horrible, but that was to be expected. I slid off a snowy road and sheared the passenger door mirror clean off on a road sign, but somehow caused no paint damage. A new painted one was hundreds more than a black plastic one for a Laredo version, they were both power controlled and heated. Since the car was black, I went with the Laredo version and it looked fine.
The hatch handle never worked right; you had to force it up to open the hatch. And you had to slam the rear hatch hard to get it to shut the first time. The paint had already chipped around the handle from all the rough use.
The front fog lights looked added on but they were factory. They started rusting soon after our purchase. The factory hitch receiver always looked rusty and cruddy. I tried to keep it scraped and sprayed painted black, but it didn’t last long.
My wife was driving the Buick and I was driving the Jeep. But the decision to keep the Buick came back to haunt us sooner rather than later. It developed a short or some electrical gremlin that drained the battery without warning. Many attempts to find the fault were made, including searching for a shorted wire and replacing the alternator. But after stranding my pregnant wife a couple of times, it couldn’t be trusted for her. And she didn’t want me driving it on the long and sometimes isolated routes I was covering for work.
Baby on the way, new house, my first car loan, and now I need to buy another car? Bad timing. We had talked about my wife not going back to work right away after the baby, too, so that would make things tighter. We had gotten a good deal on the Jeep, so that helped. I needed another something “adult”, good for a child car seat, presentable, but not flashy. Comfortable and quiet would be nice, but it didn’t need to be as well equipped as the Jeep. I needed another Buick, basically. And the SUV phase/interest/boom was picking up speed. It was a good body style for a young family.
But Buick didn’t make the Rainier yet. Ford Explorers were all the rage and nobody would dicker on them. A friend had the new “rounded” Chevy Blazer, but it seemed a little meh to me….a new Grand Cherokee was out of the question, price wise. The small, older Cherokee was too small for us, and pricey too. In the 1990’s, that didn’t leave a whole lot of other options.
As for the Jeep, we kept it until 2000 or so, when another COAL you’ll read about came along. We took the Jeep over 100,000 miles, and sold it to my wife’s elderly aunt and uncle. They had a 1984 Jeep Wagoneer (the baby one) that was on it’s last legs. It was their “winter car” and the Jeep would be perfect for them: 4WD but nice and new enough to be their everyday car too.
She was elderly, but still worked every day as a bookkeeper for a family lumber yard. The Jeep got regular use, at at about 180,000 miles she gave it to a new 16 year old driver on the other side of the family. I saw him and the Jeep every now and then after that; it had gotten pretty rusty around the front wheel openings and the rockers. It had been hit a time or two at the lumber yard too in their congested parking lot.
The last time I saw it was when I ran into him (and the Jeep) at a local shopping center. He told me it had turned 200,000 miles a while back. Not long after that, I heard “the engine blew”. And that was the end of the Jeep. I’m never sure what is meant by “the engine blew”. I guess the head gasket goes? Maybe it can mean a lot of different things to different people.
What was your first “nice” used car?
You were lucky to have your father help you locate great deals on good used cars. I am betting that he helped finding a replacement for the Buick too.
Love the photo of an original Levittown (Long Island NY) cape home.
My first wife and I looked into living there in the late 1960’s because it was close to my employer Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, but the prices were too high.
Read the first sentence.
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The ’94 with its plastic cladding, looks good on a black vehicle. but, bad IMHO, on any other color. Always thought it gave off a boat looking vibe. Had a plain jane ’90 Cherokee XJ Loved it! One of the best 4wd vehicles ever owned! Unfortunately, engine developed a bad LOUD ticking noise that $425 worth of engine work did NOT cure. And the only straight 6 motor that would work in it was from another 1990. This was in 2002. Never did find a decent replacement, and traded it in.
Debbie Downer, here. Your experience with that era’s Grand Cherokee was different from mine! I got a ’98 with 45K miles on it in 2002 and had if for 6 years. Similarly optioned to yours, in a great deep blue with a “purple haze” overtone. Developed transfer case problems before 100K along with water leaks that would prevent it from starting in the rain… mucho $$ and service time never cured them. Glad your time with your jeep was happier.
A couple of “touchstones” in this story that were familiar to me.
In the 90s I worked for a privately owned telephone company. As “prize” for being an employee of the month, I received a bag phone. I’ve seen 1 in a movie once or twice, but never saw anyone use 1 in real life and never had anyone say they owned one. I always felt it was more trouble than it was worth.
I was starting to have problems with a VERY high mileage Civic a few years ago and thought I would try Seafoam. (I had heard of it on another website and thought it was worth trying.) It didn’t help, and when my mechanic saw what I did when I took the car to see if he could get it to run….he told me in no uncertain terms to never use Seafoam again.
You have to give the folks responsible their due, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is one of those few vehicles that has improved generation after generation.
My very first cell phone – eons ago – was one of the bag models. Got it for a penny + whatever the contract was in those days. Rarely used it, since it was bought for emergencies only, but I remember it had great reception and connectivity. Better than many of my later phones, in fact. It’s still in the house somewhere; I should bring it out to amaze the neighborhood kids. “Back in MY day, we made calls on *this*!”
How were you using the Seafoam? Adding it to the engine oil, or to the fuel?
I used to borrow a 94 just like yours from a friend for its hitch. I was surprised at how nice the interior was… Esp for a Chrysler product which I had come to know as having horrible interiors in the 90″ s and 2000″ s.
My first “nice” used car would have to be a 1976 Chevy Malibu Classic – blue, 4 door, 305 V8, stacked headlights that was my Grandpas. He was getting on in years and didn’t drive any more so he sold it to me for a good price. Shortly thereafter my wife caught the edge of the garage door opening backing out ( think big 5 mph chrome bumpers) and damaged the wall and cement blocks below it. The bumper was unfazed.
The first “nice” used car was for me, a 1970 Toyota Corona, bought in1972 shortly after I (foolishly) got married at 19 years old. Red, 4 door 4 speed stick. My pride and joy. However, Toyota of that era was definitely NOT the long termed quality vehicles they are now. 2 years later, while rabbit hunting (Hey, I grew up in rural western Pa.!) I drove the car into a field on a trail. Nothing extreme. When I got out on the highway, the car drove like a drunken crab! The ass end was not inline with the front end. Seems the rear shackle on the right hand leaf spring had poked through the frame. I did eventually find a weld shop that repaired it. But welder told me the the other shackle was looking like it was ready to go as well. Traded it in on a Plymouth Duster. Haven’t owned a Toyota since. But my parents where fans for many years, without issues.
As many probably know, my mom owned a then-new navy blue 1994 Grand Cherokee Laredo from 1994-1999. It was the most present car in all of my childhood memories, and in hindsight I really loved it. Her second generation 1999 Grand Cherokee Laredo, no so much.
I used to live next door to a fellow who purchased a new 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. He had it for about three years before he traded in on a brand new Toyota 4 Runner. His Jeep had a lot of issues that were typical of Chrysler’s substandard quality control and design. Before I moved away my neighbor was still driving that same 4 Runner 15 years later. He said he’d never own a Jeep again.
Dude, the phones ringing.
I know, Donny.
(Plays in my head every time I see a bag phone)
In 1995 I decided I “needed” a 4wd SUV (I actually had some good reasons) and really wanted a Grand Cherokee. I drove two … both 4.0 Laredos, one a used (1993?) one with a 5 speed stick, the other brand new at a dealer. I also test drove a 5 speed Land Rover Discovery, but ended up buying a 2 year old FZJ80 Land Cruiser. Probably a smart decision, but now I wonder how it would have been to own a rare 5 speed GC. A few years later I rented the last year of the original (ZJ?) GC for some fairly long trips in upstate New York and New England; I found it cramped compared to the Toyota, and surprisingly harsh on some washboard Vermont back roads, but with very satisfying acceleration, handling and gas mileage, again compared to the Toyota. In my partially-educated opinion, the first generation GC’s are really excellent vehicles that will be car-show collectibles in another decade. Now if I could just find a nice ’93 5 speed …
Welll…not quite exactly. Your ’94 Grand Chicory had an Acustar steering column, same as almost all Chrysler Corp cars and trucks starting in ’90. Same steering wheel, horn switches, cruise control switch, easily-yanked-and-hacked ignition switch, and multifunction switch (turn signals, wipers, hazard flashers, headlamp high/low beam selector) as a dowdy ’90 Plymouth Stundunce or frumpy ’92 Dodge Die-Nasty. That multifunction switch, by the way, was made for Chrysler by Lucas. Yes, that Lucas.
We got one of the very first Grand Cherokees sold in this area. It got a lot of attention from other drivers before they became as common as Camrys are now. Ours was silver with cloth interior. First thing I did was add heavy grey denim seat covers, as we had a dog that had bearlike claws and they did a great job keeping the seats intact, the seats looked great 8 years later when we traded it in. We really only had a few problems with it, the first one was the rear drum brake shoes disintegrated and the dealer put some new type of shoes in it, totally solving the problem. The next thing was about 2 years after we got it, when it lost the A/C charge when the condenser broke. This would happen again and again, always either on the hottest day of summer, or as soon as we left on a trip. Chrysler always covered it, so it wasn’t all that big a deal. One dealer in Columbus felt bad for us and gave us brand new 1997 GC Limited to use for the day while they fixed it, all we had to do was buy some gas for it. And the third issue was about a year or so before we traded it in, it got the “death shake” that the dealer(s) couldn’t fix. I finally had to go in and just have them replace the steering stabilizer, which fixed it, even though the service manager insisted the original was ok. As soon as I took it out of the service area, I drove it over some rough pavement, went back to the service write up, and gave the service manager a thumbs up. After I figured it out, they replaced a ton of them. We never had any drivetrain issues at all, the 4.0 was a noisy rock, and the thing ran and ran. We put new tires on soon after the “death shake” was resolved and they were vastly superior in all ways than the OE tires, especially on wet pavement. I hated the new GC we traded it for and 18 months after we bought it, it was gone, replaced by the 2000 GMC Sierra 4×4.
I borrowed one of these to pull a trailer with a piece of rented equipment on it, but that was my only brush with one of these. I never liked the looks of these as much as I liked the XJ Cherokee or the Explorer, but they were certainly popular.
My first “nice” used car was the 77 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham I got from my mother in 1985. She had bought it used around 1982 when it was a really clean trade-in during the era of high gas prices and low Chrysler values. It was still very presentable when I traded it for my first new car several months later.
Mine was a 1984 Buick Century Limited 2-dr. that my parents bought me in 1986 for college (yes I was a brat LOL). It was black with a black top and red cloth interior. I thought I was the coolest driving that car! And my friends did, too. The sad part was that I babied that car and it was such a lemon. The 3.0 V-6 was an absolute nightmare of an engine – it needed to be rebuilt three times in 60,000 miles! GM was even called in to help on the last two rebuilds and paid for half of the repairs. I loved the way that car drove. It just felt right – not too big, comfortable, handled great and got decent gas mileage too. Years later and several cars later I decided I would look for another one – but this time I would get one with the awesome 3.8 SFI V-6. Ironically, my neighbors were selling one – an ’87 – white, with the ‘T” package and blue cloth Limited interior. That was one of my all time favorite cars. It was bullet-proof, fast, comfortable, luxurious yet sporty at the same time. I think Buick had finally gotten it right by ’87 as that car went well over 200k with nary a glitch. A few years in a model can make a huge difference, can’t they? (Sounds like a great topic for a write-up!)
I still drive a 93 Grand Cherokee Limited as a daily driver. Black, 4.0, a lot of options and very reliable. 220.000 miles.
Your devoted belief appears to be based on a misunderstanding of what caused your Jeep’s won’t-idle problem (either that or the dealership told you a fib). There was no “carbon buildup in the throttle body”. Dirty throttle bodies are a real thing; it’s good preventive maintenance to spray clean the throttle body periodically. What builds up is not carbon, it’s residue from the minute amount of fuel vapour and the small amount of crankcase fumes in the intake manifold after engine shutdown. They condense on the coolest parts of the intake tract, which are (natch) at the upstream end: the throttle body.
Engine idle speed is controlled by what Chrysler at that time called an AIS motor (Automatic Idle Speed), and is now known by its industrywide standard designation IAC (Idle Air Controller). It’s a stepper motor with a pintle that extends into a cylinder in the throttle body. As the motor operates, the pintle is extended or retracted, controlling the amount of air flowing into a port in the throttle body throat ahead of the throttle plate, through that pintle-and-cylinder, and out of a throttle body throat port behind the throttle plate, which closes completely at idle.
What actually happened to your Jeep was enough condensate gum finally accumulated in this idle air passage that either not enough air could get through to run the engine, or the AIS pintle was stuck in a position admitting insufficient air for the engine to idle. In extreme cases, it’s necessary to remove the AIS motor and manually clean the pintle and cylinder, but in most cases revving the engine while shooting a good brand of spray air intake cleaner into the idle air intake port does a quick and easy job of it.
There was no reason or need to pour Sea Foam or anything else into the fuel tank, and there was no benefit from it—the injectors are well downstream of the throttle body—and there was and is no way Sea Foam or any other fuel tank additive can prevent, treat, or cure throttle body gum.
You’re probably not doing any particular harm to your cars, boats, mowers, etc by dosing them with Sea Foam, but neither are you doing them any particular good.