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.
take it to Galpin Jeep for an estimate to fix everything. see how it compares to the range rover
That’s a lot of sap (if that’s what caused the damage)! My only sap experience is with what ended up on the roof from hauling Christmas trees…that stuff sat there for ages, until last year when I tried a new cleaner wax that melted most of the old sap. Parking in a garage probably makes a difference in how the sap ages though.
And I agree with what others are saying about possible front end damage; that front bumper fascia is at a really weird angle.
I’m interested to see what you get for replacement tires; the last time I looked for my ’97 ZJ, I didn’t recognize any of the brands still manufacturing tires to fit the stock rims.
I would just replace the headliner. It’s annoying to do, but you have extra hands around, so it wouldn’t be too bad.
I chuckled at the “repair part of the headliner..” like what?
Are you going to use a heat gun to make the black plastic on the bumpers look like new again? I’ve always been curious on how well it would work on plastic of that vintage.
Easier to just paint, IMO. When I had one I painted the cladding with Krylon Fusion rattle can, it came out great.
I am sure your wife is thrilled.
Well, I let go of the Gold i3 to the tune of 30 big-ones and I’m letting go of the red ZJ to the tune of 1 million hours of my time back, so I’d say so.
I didn’t read all the comments, and this is probably a duplicate… but I don’t think “mint” means what you think it does!
You keep using that word, but I do not think it means what you think it does.
I think you can make that paint look a bit better with some hard-core detailing. Maybe see if an Autopian member local to you who details cars could help out?
I’d offer, but I’m on the wrong side of the country LOL.
The allure of the ZJ never gets extinguished after you have one. I lost mine in a garage fire almost 2 years ago and I bought a JKU for offroading duties, but I’m constantly looking for a 98 5.9L that I can tinker on / restore and make a sensible daily.
#SavetheZJs
Same. I sold my ZJ back in 2013 and still want another. It’s just super hard to find a decent one here in New England, I looked at a niner a few weeks ago that had rot holes in the unibody where the suspension arms mount.
Thats my problem too. Everything I’ve seen in the last few months need a full resto. I’m not opposed to working on it, but I’d like something that doesn’t have bluetooth suspension parts or was jumped over a mudhole
Exactly! I don’t even really care about the rockers, but the unibody at least needs to be solid. I’m looking towards a ZJ as an off-roading/overlanding platform, and I’d have box tube welded in place where the rockers are anyway to function as a slider. That I feel like I can learn to weld and fab on, but not structural things like the unibody “frame rails”.
David should be a judge at a Concours d’Elegance – “this thing is mint! Everyone gets a price!”
Strange, no rust, I thought David had a clause that he could only work on rusty holy grail vehicles. Maybe the tree sap stands in for the rust.
At what point are we just enabling an addiction?
David, seek help, for the sake of your family.
For all that is holy, please fellow Autopian writers, perform an intervention or exorcism, best do both, on Mr. Tracy. For the child!
I need an old priest and a young priest…
an old mechanic and a young mechanic, with a vile of Marvel Mystery Oil.
I ask this with a great deal of affection, admiration and respect…do you even look at these things before you break out your wallet? Calling that mint is like dumping washer fluid in tequila and saying it’s a mint julep.
It is solid. It needs some work, and could become a very nice ride, but mint it ain’t.
There are different levels of mint. There is mint chocolate chip, which is superior. There are mint BMW i3’s such as David’s Goldilocks and then there are “mint” Jeep’s which are graded on a dead man’s curve.
Will the Holy Grail manual transmission be making a Marvel MCU crossover event to the new Jeep?
You gotta remember DT is from the midwest. As long as there aren’t gaping rust holes in the body he’s going to consider it mint.
Fact!
You also gotta realize that a truly mint car is $5 grand. This car can become that with a bit of elbow grease.
Proposing a distinction between “True Mint” meaning basically factory condition and “Tracy Mint” meaning it’ll pass for true mint from like 20 feet
True, this car is not hopeless like some of the projects which honestly were never gonna be nice cars. This one genuinely could be nice with a little work. Which is why the price makes me think the transmission is borked, but I guess we’ll find out in a future episode!
It’s fair. Though it is HARD to kill an AW4, especially if it’s got a cooler plumbed in.
I live in Ottawa and grew up in Northwestern Ontario. I have driven cars with missing floors, cars that had substantial welding done to make the roadworthy, and cars that were more fibreglass than metal. And I don’t consider that mint.
Mint to me means basically new in appearance. Not concours level, but where you have to look hard to find the flaws. That’s why I am firm believer in coming back to a car after viewing it once. The second time is when the rose-coloured glasses come off, and the paint bubbles become apparent. And the scratches. And that little ding in the rear quarter.
Now that I think of it, that could be a good question of the day for Greater Autopia: What do you consider “mint.”
My partner has a Honda Pilot and I took a blowtorch to the faded grey-black plastic trim and it looks like new. You’ve gotta be extremely careful, but it’s cheap and easy.
I sprayed the plastic on my old WJ with Rustoeum – held up wonderfully for 6+ years and was a near perfect match.
I think this Jeep is suffering from the wrong kind of previous owner. Too many jobs done badly or not at all. And those are just the ones you’ve found.
Oh for Pete’s sake, just find a nice ten year old Toyota Highlander and you’ll be so much happier. This Jeep obsession is going to ultimately turn you into some sort of automotive Howard Hughes, minus the money and probably minus the wife one day.
I know it’s all fun in the comments, but I can’t say I like the comments about divorce.
Yes, I bought an imperfect Jeep, and it’s funny that I haven’t sold the Jeeps it’s replacing, but that’s a bit too far.
The spacing on those emblems really bothers me 🙂
J e e p
I just realized that they if desired, they could have flipped it upside down to spell
d e e r
using the J as an overlarge lower case r.
To my brain, it would be more normal with the crazy spacing if it said deer.
That boy ain’t right…
Pro tip WD-40 or a little gasoline will take that sap right off.
I just recalled dad used to use a pan of gasoline as an engine part degreaser.
I actually used Mrs. Meyers spray cleaner to get sap off one of our cars. Worked pretty well
A friend of mine once parked under a pine tree during the summer and left for 2 weeks. He paid my son many $$$ to remove the sap that coated the car. A heat gun softens it right up, a quick swipe with some alcohol on a rag and then move on to the next spot. That’s one problem solved for you for nearly free. The rest is a tangle of annoying issues that threaten to keep it janky for the rest of it’s life.
I wonder why, when one plugs the license plate into the CA smog check history, it returns ZERO results. I really hope you got a smog certificate with the purchase as is required in CA. Hopefully it was done before it was issued those new plates and within 60 days. If it was in fact a CA car it would have come with its old plates, the only reason for new ones is if it was brought into the state or had personalized ones, but if that then the seller would have sold it without plates entirely..
Under 100k miles on a 30 year old vehicle like a Jeep would certainly have me paying for a Carfax if only to make sure the mileage sort of checks out. It’s way too easy and cheap to swap a cluster with a junkyard one, especially on a car that does somewhat look like someone not 100% competent has been at it with a wrench and is then selling for what seems to be under market value based on the miles.
Best of luck, looking forward to hearing more!
It was last smogged in April of 2025, per my trip to AAA today to register it. So, while I have to get it smogged, I’m hopeful she’ll pass with flying colors given it was so recent. Worst case, it’s a tune-up and $350 CAT from RockAuto (getting a fuel injected 4.0 through CA SMOG hasn’t been an issue for me in the past).
Hey I have a trick for bird poop that works on sap. It might not work in southern California though. You need a cold night when you get up in the morning and the panels are all dewy from the metal warming up script it with a coffee filter. That moisture is coming up from the metal underneath the sap and it should come off very easily.
Touch up the paint, then hit me up. I can level out the touch up, compound, and polish the paint in a few hours.
Are you local? That sounds awesome.
Yea, throw a message up on the socal discord channel, you can find me there
Thank you!
David, take it one of those detailing and touch up wizards like the one Tyler Hoover takes his to. Those guys could bring that paint back far better than we mere mortals could. Not cheap but this car seems worth spending the money on.
I bet David has never paid to have a car detailed.
I have actually, prior to my wedding.
I understand and respect the logic of why you wanted this particular one..
…but I’m not sure it was worth it for an AW4.
I think it would be cool if you found a cheap 5.9, and did a multiple article project to upgrade the 46re to 47re/48re guts, and other mods to it.
I’ve rebuilt other transmissions, but never a one of these. I’m only suggesting it because from what I’ve read/seen on the internet, they are actually one of the easiest transmission families to rebuild..but I could be wrong.
For an offroad vehicle, reliability is #1, and the aw4 is arguably the most reliable transmission ever put in a Jeep.
The 5.9 sounds good and it’s quick-ish, but it’s not worth dealing with that Chrysler transmission.
That hole drilled in the bell housing makes me think that something with the transmission is gonna be borked, though. Probably something that you won’t figure out until you get the steering un-borked. Good luck.
I think the PO dropped a bolt when changing the crank sensor.
Automatic transmissions are the rare mechanical items that I can completely disassemble and still have no idea how they work.
I’ll be honest David, I think you overpaid.
If this were 2010, I’d agree. But a 95,000 mile ZJ with no rust and shiny paint goes for a pretty penny in 2026.