Land Cruiser vs. Cherokee Sport (1 Viewer)

[kbahus]

I am about to pull the trigger on a Land Cruiser and have found a few locally on craigslist that look appealing (93+ vintage). They all have about 200k on the clock and priced about the same. During my searches I have crossed quite a few Cherokee's with way lower mileage for the similar or even less money. Now don't get me wrong, I really like the idea of a big tank that is unstoppable but dollar for dollar am I missing out on anything that the Cherokee has to offer? I know some of you have owned a Jeep and a Land Cruiser and can make a comment or two. Yes I have read the faq and have been lurking this forum for some time. The truck will be used for daily driving when when the BMW is unavail, ski trips, and towing a small boat on occasion. I might get into 4-wheeling as well but at this point have zero experience.

 

[Bikeman]

The heep is a disposable vehicle with a weak drivetrain except the motor. Wear the unibody out and swap parts to another one.

It may not matter if you won't wheel it, just blend in with all the kids driving the Heeps.

 

[retrofive]

Buy the LC and don't look back

 

[Tofudebeest]

You can't compare the two vehicles. The superficial resemblance (if you are legally blind or squinting and from 500 feet away) is the only thing similar.

One is a truck, the other sorta looks like a truck. The Jeep has a purpose, and can be quite satisfactory for many people and their needs, but it is not in the same class as a Cruiser. The Rover line is, but is so horrendous, quality and dependability-wise (except the Defender series), they too are not comparable.

 

[kbahus]

Yeah that is kind of what I figured. They seem kind of "light duty".

 

[rain76king]

i was a cherokee guy, only upside is the parts are cheap and the aftermarket parts support is much greater than the 80 series.

 

[guerasfj60]

You can't compare the two vehicles.
One is a truck, the other sorta looks like a truck. The Jeep has a purpose, and can be quite satisfactory for many people and their needs, but it is not in the same class as a Cruiser.

2x. I used to miss my Jeep Country until I owed a LC. Same Highways and dirt roads, same use, LC all the way.

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! BTDT. Here's a couple of Landcruiser terms that are NOT in the Jeep dictionary:
Durability, Longevity, Survivability. The Jeep is a 1/4 ton rig, the 80 series is a 3/4 ton rig.
'Nuff said. John

 

[Tyler93]

I've owned 2 cherokee's. Never held on to them long. The cherokee's are peppy with the 4.0 and a stick shift. I do miss that, and still long for that pep. The build quality is substantially different between the two vehicles. In my mind the cherokee has only one thing going for it: Stick shift availability. I had far too many mechanical failures with my jeeps to be truly happy with them.

 

[abrumley]

I had a Cherokee for awhile and a Rover i spent alot of time in both of them the Jeep is ok but not well built the dana 35's are weak and the uni body is stupid. My rover looked kinda cool but was a giant hunk of **** I sold it with 45K on it and it had been in the shop ten times. My LX as of yet has the best build quality i've ever seen. Wish i had bought it ten years ago.

 

[land crush]

Ever seen a Cherokee with 300,000 miles.Look under the Cherokee then look under the Land Cruiser!!(Enough said)

 

[JEH97LX]

I bought my LC to replace a totaled Toyota Avalon. I was open to Jeeps and others, but two things sold me on the landcruiser.

First, my 1997 Avalon I owned for almost 10 years/120k miles. In that time, other than maintenance, I replaced a worn serpentine belt, a brake pedal switch, and worn struts. Everything else worked great unlike all the Chevy's and Ford's I used at work, where a year old truck is having its torque converter replaced on warranty or the window mechanism breaks, the radio doesn't work, the door handle comes off, etc...

Second, lots of other people had similar experiences with the reliable quality of Toyota.

I have no regrets after a year and a half of ownership. If you decide to do serious wheeling later, the land cruiser is easily modded up to the task. There really is no better base vehicle to work from.

One caveat, parts are not cheap and if you don't do the work yourself, maintenance can be expensive (birfs). If you like turning a wrench and are prepared to pay a bit to baseline your cruiser, more power to ya. The advantage with a jeep is there are a lot more experienced mechanics.

 

[kbahus]

Thanks for all of the helpful input. Hopefully I can start looking at some tomorrow if all goes to plan. I can't decide if I want to shell out the cash for a newer 96/97 model or stick with the older 93ish style. One plus is I am a European car mechanic so fixing my own stuff is no problem. I am sure I will have some quick learning to do with a truck like this though.

 

[3sacrwd]

I wonder if you posted the same question the other way around on the Heep forum, what would they say negative about the Landcruiser.....Too big, too heavy duty, too durable....not sure. Test drive a Landcruiser and go the the mall. Park alongside the other 1000 Jeeps and compare. Now look for another Landcruiser...you may find one or two....These vehicles are alot more rare than Jeeps. Parts are more expensive, but we Have CDan to help with that. Since you are a mechanic already, you will not have much of a problem learning the systems of a cruiser. Good luck.

 

[DiscoveredLC]

I had a Rover for the last 7 years. It was my first truck, and I built it up to take me anywhere i wanted to go. I got so sick of working on the damn thing all the time that I finally sold it (i put about 25k into it) and bought the 96 80 I have now. No regrets at all.

Heeps, don't need to get started on those cause its all been said in this thread. Not even worth debating over which is a better rig.

 

[Muleysam]

One of the work trucks we have is a cherokee. I don't like it because I hit my head on the roof on all the bumps. I am only 6 feet tall.

 

[js93cruiser]

cherokees are alright the dana 35 is garbage, the dana 30 is alright..... normally what happens is after wheeling them the unibody starts to tweak, the doors dont close right it starts creaking etc...the only two things bulletproof about the cherokees are the motor and tranny... (aw4) only because its made by asin...lol buy the iron pig and never look back

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Cherokees are for people who never owned a Land Cruiser

 

[95Fantasma80]

lol... There not even on the same level...

 

[malottki]

How about how comfortable these trucks are. I am 6'3 280 lbs. Its great when you can go on vacation a 1000 miles away with a 6 year old 2 100+lb dogs and all of luggage inside the truck and still be comfortable.

Hands down this IS the best mid size suv out there. And for the prices these things are, its a good buy.

Good luck.