Here’s Everything Wrong With My ‘Mint’ $1700 Jeep Grand Cherokee

Last weekend I purchased a new 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee after realizing that my 5-speed “Holy Grail” project hadn’t gone anywhere in five years and wasn’t likely to go anywhere in the next five years. This nice 1993, I figured, would replace that project and give me an opportunity to drive a ZJ now instead of sometime far in the future. There’s only one issue: There’s no chance I can drive this thing now, as it’s got some issues. Here’s what they are.

When I first saw this Jeep ZJ, I knew I was buying it. The shiny paint, the 100% rust-free body, the rare unkillable AW4 automatic, the 95,000 miles on the odometer, the low $1700 asking price — it was a no-brainer.

But despite the low miles and shiny paint, this Jeep is far from perfect. It was cheap for a reason. So let’s get into that.

The Paint Is Nice, But Far From Perfect

As beautiful as the ZJ’s paint is, it’s got sap on it, and to get the sap off a previous owner appears to have hit the paint with a green side of a Scotch-Brite pad. It’s not great.

Here’s the sap, which I’m hoping to get off with alcohol or Goo-gone (my typical hand sanitizer method did not work):

And here are scratches from failed sap removal:

I think the clear-coat swirls can be removed with buffing, but whether I plan to do that myself, I haven’t decided. There are some other scratches that I plan to improve with touch-up paint:

And the hood, while still a nice color, appears rather flat. I’m not sure there’s much clear-coat left:

Also, in the door jambs you can see some of the paint lines:

Around the handles and on the roof you can see where the new paint is peeling a bit:

The side pinstripes almost seem like they were not quite painted over?:

And here and there there appear to be some blemishes:

So it’s not immaculate paint, but it’s better than I’d expect from any non-garage-kept vehicle here in SoCal.

The Body Is Beautiful, But There Are A Few Dings

There are light dings throughout the body, with the worst being on the hatch and rear passenger’s side door.

They’re not huge and don’t bother me too much.

The Steering Makes The Jeep Undrivable

Some of you noted that, instead of driving the Jeep after buying it, I had it towed to work. The primary reasons for that: 1. I don’t know the state of the gearbox/engine fluids 2. The tires are wack and 3. The steering is horrible.

The first two are no problem, while the last makes the Jeep truly undrivable. The amount of slop in that steering is horrendous, and I’ve driven some of the jankiest Jeeps on the planet; none were this bad.

The problem, strangely enough, appears to be at the top of the steering column. Looking under the dash while Griffin turned the wheel back and forth, I noticed that the steering intermediate shaft was not turning. What’s going on? Is it the splines up top? I’m very confused.

The Interior Is…OK

One of the strangest things about this ZJ is the fact that the leather interior is completely custom. Why? Why not just snag leather seats from a junkyard ZJ?

I think the answer is that the original owner saved money by purchasing the Laredo model instead of the Limited, but they wanted leather, so they went to a shop called Classic Soft Trim in Pittsburgh, PA to get completely custom leather seats and door card inserts.

The seats are a little worn, and the driver’s one has a hole in it. My plan is to clean them up real nice and see what I think then.

I also need to replace the dome light and fix some of the headliner at the rear of the Jeep.

The Grille Is Really Janky

The front of the Jeep needs a bit of work. The lights are broken/missing, and so is the header panel. Plus, the grille is cracked and barely holding on.

I’m so confused about what’s going on at the grille. Not only is the grille cracked where it would mount to the radiator support, but the steel cooling module protectors are completely loose, and the transmission cooler normally bolted to them is also just flopping around at the front of the Jeep.

What is going on here? Why did someone break the grille and undo the bolts holding the condenser/radiator protection brackets to the radiator support crossmember?

The Underbody Is Even Jankier

Sliding underneath revealed more jank. Why did someone install the driver’s side lower control arm upside down? This is how it is supposed to look:

More importantly, why did someone drill a hole into the bell housing?!

Not to mention, the flex plate sheetmetal cover is missing; I’m assuming that’s because the flex plate bolts got loose as they do in all AW4s. Still, that doesn’t explain the hole.

Overall, I’m Hopeful

There are some other issues. The hood latch cable, for example, needs to be replaced:

And the antenna is broken:

And the badge letters are too far apart:

But the Jeep has zero rust:

And just look at that new paint shine:

I’ll fix the paint blemishes, sort the steering, replace the tires, redo the front end and underbody jankery, clean the interior, treat the exterior plastic bumpers so they look dark and new, and then get this jeep on the road. Then I’ll add my rare spare tire carrier and other fun bits from the project I’m giving up on.

It’s far from mint, but it’s better. Even if I have a bit more to do than I may have initially thought, this at least seems manageable.