I am looking for a cheap mid-size 4x4 for weekend duty ($5k or less). Primary use will be hauling mountain bikes, fly fishing trips, and home depot runs so that I dont get my daily driver dirty. I need to be able to squeeze 3 kids in the back and still have some cargo space for gear but I dont want a full size vehicle.

I like the styling of the XJ the best but they seem to be more expensive than some of the other options. Any $5k Cherokee looks fairly beat up while $3k Montero's and Troopers look like they are in good shape (I havent actually inspected any in person yet).

I would love to hear your opinions on these as well as any other suggestions you may have.

I should add that in a perfect wold I would get an FJZ80, but I am really trying to hold to a $5k budget.

My dad had a Trooper as a DD, the 3.2 was powerful and the 4x4 worked well. It started to develop engine issues at around 200k though. He was meticulous about maintenance but when he sold it, it had 2 dead cylinders.

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I should add that in a perfect wold I would get an FJZ80, but I am really trying to hold to a $5k budget.

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FZJ80 FTW.

You can find them for 5000....

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I should add that in a perfect wold I would get an FJZ80, but I am really trying to hold to a $5k budget.

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FZJ80 FTW.

You can find them for 5000....

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Bought mine under 5K.


But I am probably upto 2k in catching up on PM.

ORV!

ZJ or WJ too.


They can be had with the same I-6, a little more room, and they ride a bit better than the XJ. Still solid axles with plenty of drive train choices. Plus, probably a little cheaper than the XJ.

The autoclimate control has blend door issues with the higher end WJs that you need to watch out for. But there are a ton of these on the road still. Sometimes I still wish I had my 2002 WJ. That was an entertaining vehicle.

agreed, a ZJ or WJ will give you a lot more comfort, and you can get a V8 if you want a little more grunt

I love my '97 2door XJ, but it is pretty no-nonsense design from a materials and size perspective. I had a '99 WJ in hs/college and loved it.

I had an '89 4-door XJ in hs. It was an awesome first car.

What about a AWD CRV or Subaru Outback

Monteros are good rides. Older Nissan pathfinders and 4-runners as well. I got my 4x4 manual xterra for $4000 cash in 2012 and put 65,000 miles on it so far and it just turned 200k and is still running great. It does well off-road, but could use a bit more power. I'm going to redo the exhaust with headers and such in a few months and see if I can help it some.

Are you still located in ATL?

Thanks for the responses. I guess I need to keep looking at land cruisers, but everything I have seen the less than 5k had serious problems (rust etc.)

I didn't realize that grand cherokees were that cheap. That is a good option.

Xterra is another good option that I haven't given much thought to yet.

I do live in the ATL area.

I bought a 96 FJ80 for $3500 two years ago, factory lockers and ARB front bumper w/winch and sliders already installed. I've put another $2500 into it in 2 years to repair parking brake issues, get A/C running, and other miscellaneous stuff. It does have rust but it's not visible and I don't care much since it's a weekend toy and as long as it runs I'm good. It's difficult to find a decent 4x4 under $5K that wont need some kind of work, but I would say FJ80's can be more of a money pit than some American mass produced truck like an old Tahoe.

Just drove on a 700 mile round trip to Padre Island National Seashore, did great.

Late 90's Cherokee with the straight 6 are a good option.

This one looks decent - https://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/cto/5707319714.html - offer $5K.

He has the service manuals which are worth a couple hundred themselves and makes me think he takes care of the truck. Ask what he's done to it service wise and see if he's owned it a while.

Based on the phone number on the ad I found out the Land Cruiser owner builds custom homes, this truck would be a target if I was still looking. Good luck!

I have contacted him. The center diff is locked up. He does have maintenance records going back to ~130k miles.

Are they a viscous coupler when unlocked, or just an open diff? If VC then there could be a reason the CDL is stuck on

I loved Troopers. About as aerodynamic as a brick. The 3.5 was a solid engine. Makes me miss my Rodeo terribly.

And dammit, now you've got me wasting time looking for a 4x4 instead of working.

"Locked up" reads as seized/broken but a center dif lock upgrade is a common aftermarket mod on the FJ80 and I was curious what he meant. Is it not driveable as is? Go to ih8mud.com and search the 80 series forum for common fixes if it has seized somehow.

Upon graduation from A&M I leased a brand new (sounds like a new grad mistake) 1996 Trooper with manual transmission, it was a fun vehicle. I dig SUV's with a manual transmission since they are so rare, even back then. The Trooper never let me down and I took it on some logging roads in the Ozarks for fun, as much fun as you can have when you lease it anyway. I got it right after they had the consumer reports rollover finding and the lease deal was pretty solid as sales had been affected. Got rid of it at the end of the lease because I always want to move on to something new, but I could have kept it a long time. I enjoyed the manual transmission 2nd gen Xterra I had later a bit more than the Trooper, but similar idea.

Completely agree.

He is telling me that he will have the center diff fixed before selling it, but he also says that the rear locker may or may not work. I am going to monitor this one, he is supposed to get back to me when he has the diff sorted out.

If it has full factory lockers then he has it at a good price given year, condition, and miles. My rear locker isn't working but I'll never need it. To fix them it can be a good internal cleaning to full replacement of the assembly ($600 or so?). If it isn't hugely rusted I'd bet it's the position sensor, electrical connection, or needing an internal rebuild of the locker actuator.

To tag along with complete idiot, it could be as simple as a bad position sensor preventing the rear locker.

My cruiser was on mall and vacation duty for a family for years. The factory electric lockers rely on the center diff locking before either the front or rear lockers are allowed to lock. So from the factory when you put the transfer case in low it automatically should lockup the center diff. If they don't get put into low often enough the position switches can stop working. But it can be as simple of a fix as just driving it around in low on gravel for a while.

Either way from the ad it looks like a decent deal. Also join ih8mud. They have the answers to all your questions.

Update?

No real update yet. That FJZ80 you linked sold.

In typical fashion I found an LX450 over my budget that I like, it has an OME lift w/ 285's, ARB front bumper and 4x4labs rear bumper. When I showed it to the wife for approval to increase my budget she started questioning the need to get anything at all. I went from having the green light to possibly screwing myself by trying to raise the budget. I am delicately walking a fine line right now trying to figure out if I have approval or not...

Sorry you missed on the one - but there are always more to discover provided you have the patience and OCD to keep looking.

Two ways to look at the expense - first is obviously the purchase price, no doubt. But a second way to look at it is value retention - if a great deal, or near bottom of depreciation curve, you can recover your money if needed. FJ80's, especially those that are rust free and clean body, are still in high demand and I suspect they'll stay that way. They sell. "Wife, this is an important financial decision, I agree, and it's very important we don't lose money. I've done a lot of research and determined that I could sell this truck in two years for exactly what I am paying now, if we had to sell. It's like putting cash under the pillow."

http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/5682159548.html