Jeep Cherokee (XJ)

Start with what the Jeep Cherokee (XJ) is: a 2-door Sport utility vehicle / SUV / 4-door SUV with Petrol engine, built from 1983 to 2001, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Dick Teague.

How it came about

The Jeep Cherokee (XJ) is a sport utility vehicle developed by American Motors Corporation (AMC) and marketed across a single generation by Jeep in the United States from 1983 (model year 1984) through 2001, and globally through 2014. It was available in two- or four-door, five-passenger, front-engine, rear- or four-wheel drive configurations. Sharing the name of the original, full-size Cherokee SJ model, the 1984 XJ Cherokee was Jeep's first all-new design since the 1963 SJ Wagoneer, as well as the first American off-road vehicle built with fully integrated body-and-frame (unibody) design, and formed the mechanical basis for the Jeep Comanche (MJ) pickup truck (1986–1992).

Jeep marketed XJs as Sportwagons, a precursor to the modern sport utility vehicle (SUV) before that term was used. The XJ is credited for spawning competitors, as other automakers noticed the design cannibalizing sales from regular cars, supplanting the role of the station wagon and transforming the vehicle type "from truck to limousine in the eyes of countless suburban owners," though GM had also launched road-biased, RWD and 4WD compact SUVs, the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer and GMC S-15 Jimmy, one year earlier, initially available in two-door form only. The 2007 book Jeep Off-Road called the XJ a "significant link in the evolution of the 4x4." In 2011, Kiplinger magazine selected the XJ as one of the "cars that refuse to die." Automotive journalist Robert Cumberford, writing for Automobile, called the Jeep XJ one of the 20 greatest cars of all time — for its design, and "possibly the best SUV shape of all ti

The hardware

The engine is Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 3357 lb. Drive goes through a 4-speed Aisin AX-4 manual / 5-speed Aisin AX-5 manual / 5-speed Peugeot BA-10/5 manual / 5-speed Aisin Aisin AX15 transmission / AX-15 manual / 5-speed New Venture Gear / NVG New V. The wheelbase is 101.4 in / 98.4 in (Beijing BJ2021/7250). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Family and rivals

In the Jeep line-up the Jeep Cherokee (XJ) has a clear place: it replaced the Jeep Cherokee (SJ) (Cherokee) / Jeep Wagoneer (SJ) (Wagoneer); it handed the line to the Jeep Liberty (KJ) (Cherokee) / Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) / Jeep Grand Wagoneer Limited (ZJ) (Wagoneer Limited); the factory was Toledo, Ohio. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Toyota 4Runner, the Fiat Uno, the Peugeot 205. Its Jeep stablemates include the Jeep Wrangler (JK) and the Jeep Wrangler (TJ).

Owning one today

Buying one now means $10,200–$32,900 for a typical example, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $3,107–$10,650 a year. Insurance sits around $1,120–$2,140 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.