crabmushrooms5

(payments + insurance + gas) < or = (what you pay in gas now)?

black label

Lol, my old Honda prelude 4 banger (bone stock) made more hp than my jeep 4 liter. Fwiw, the gas mileage wasn't that great either. You may be a bit off on your 4 cylinder knowledge.

They aren't all corollas and civics. 1st gen Honda S2000's made 240 hp from a 2.0 liter. 1st gen Subaru STi made 300 hp from a 2.5 liter (albeit with a turbocharger).

In the end it makes no sense for the op to buy a second car to "save money" on his 11 mile commute. Even in he got 40 mpg on the commuter car your talking about 1-2 gallons of gas a week or roughly 40 bucks a month. Car payments and insurance will be more than that, money will be spent not saved.

The only way your saving money on gas with that commute is with a moped or a bicycle and even those would take 6 months or so to pay off.

mr white

It's real nice to not have to worry about breaking your stuff and then fixing it same day just so you can get to work on Monday though. I had my jeep on jackstands for two weeks while I did my lift and another two weeks so I could get my axles geared. I was in no rush I have a dd. Which also gets 3x the mileage and the tires are half the price and don't wear nearly as quick. Saves me money. Also I still have something to drive in the event I need parts for the jeep while I'm working on it.

Gary Briggs

^ this is a good point, having a cheap reliable second vehicle opens up opportunities to actually wheel hard since you don't depend on said vehicle to get ya to work.

However, a second XJ as a DD makes no sense. They simply are not practical vehicles, any 4 banger import or even a 4 banger 2wd Toyota or Nissan truck makes more sense than a cherokee.

11miles is a 40 minute bicycle ride on a decent road bike, that's the cheapest option!

s1xty7

You can DD an XJ, especially with an 11 mile work trip, without too much expense or problems. I would definitely shop around though. That's a nice XJ but if you search craigslist fairly religiously and are willing to travel a bit, some really good deals can be found. I used SearchTempest and was looking up to 1000 miles away. I found my '98 Classic gunmetal pearl with 125k miles from the original owner with all documentation 400 miles away for $3850. The price was higher than some others I had seen but it was a little closer than those and in great shape so I made it happen. It may take some time but I found EXACTLY what I wanted for less than I thought I was going to end up having to pay.

As for cars, they can be great too. I have a 2004 Camry with the 2.4 4-cylinder in it that I would drive to the end of the world and back and not be concerned about it leaving me anywhere. I also drive a 1993 Miata with a 1.6 4-cylinder. Both cars get 30+ MPG which helps make up for all the gas money I spend on the Jeep with 29s. Hah!

Good luck!!

crabmushrooms5

I vote Geo Metro if you don't get the green one.

s1xty7

Haha! Well, I was looking for a very specific color with very specific options (98 or 99, 4.0, AW4, NP231, C8.25/D44, Gunmetal Pearl, close to 100k miles). This is my third XJ and its getting done right as a family/expedition vehicle. I intend to keep it until after the zombies have come and gone. I nearly bought a plane ticket down to Albuquerque (1400 miles) for one with 98k for $3500, but it sold within an hour of being posted. It didn't have the color matched bumpers anyway.

wifin

I'm on 31's 3inch lift and getting 240 out of a tank if lucky and driving highway...so how in the world did you get near 420 on 31s?? I'd like to know...

I wouldn't get another Jeep as a DD unless it was a 2wd Comanche with street tires. Other than that they all eat gas, and we as Jeep guys all love modifying them. So any Jeep I get I will probably want/end up putting more money into it.

Good luck with the buying

MoparNJeep

I don't have a lot of hills and its mostly freeway to work. You would be surprised how much your driving style can help/hurt your mileage. The green jeep sold 10min before I showed up. I found a 72 dart 4dr with a slant six for under $500 that I'm working on now. My old valiant use to get over 20mpg so I think if I strip the car real good and tune it up I'll be doing Better than my jeep. I won't ever buy a Honda or geo. Im not hurting that bad but that green jeep had everything I wanted in a xj. But it sold and I've had a bunch of these valiants and they are reliable and cheap.

JeepaholicNinja

for what its worth i drive 18 miles to work and 18 back...that said i dont work every day, but i dont think its worth getting another car just to save on gas...maybe a motorcycle as insurance, gas costs, registration, etc. are cheap and it gets good enough mpgs to actually pay for itself in under a hundred years haha

crabmushrooms5

Old school! Nice

Fred/N0AZZ

My 99 loaded and I mean loaded lots of weight in the rear 300+#'s on 33x12:50's, 4.56 gear lots of wind drag, 4 1.2" lift. Engine, exhaust stock 15.8mpg HI way using Scan Gauge along with fuel tickets and same fuel stop and refuel levels.

Here you can see what drag I have on mine regearing from the stock 3.55's to 4.56's made all the difference went from 10mpg up 5.8 mpg and lost all the up/down shifts on the highway when unnecessary.



IMHO the asking price for the other XJ is way excessive, nice yes worth it no. I might add this is NOT my DD I have several others that I drive mostly a Grand Cherokee Overland or a Town Car. The GC is has a 4.7HO motor FT4WD and only gets around 17-19mpg overall but still my choice od a DD. The Town Car will get 25mpg highway and we use it for longer trips plus the overall comfort but the GC has every option it has so room is the only advantage it has.

I guess my question would be is it worth it to you to have insurance on both and maintained, plus another payment.....only you can weight your options and answer?

black label

I'm in a similar situation as you with a 17 mile commute. I contemplated picking up a bike this summer to cut fuel costs. I was just looking at relatively small displacement, 250-450cc. I could commute for a week on about 1.5 gallons.

Really though, that's just me trying to justify and rationalize buying a motorcycle it would still take a few years before it actually "saved" me any money.

s346k

I dd my jeep 500+ miles a week. saying they are impractical is a stretch. mine gets 22+ mpg. I've left it stock for the most part, and I wouldn't trade it for a 40 mpg anything. this is mostly due to my being a car guy. however, the reliability of the jeep and knowing I can get to work no matter the weather really sold me on it. last summer was the hottest in decades and last winter was the worst we had in decades for snowfall and temperature. the jeep performed flawlessly.