1998 Jeep Wrangler

What can I say about the Wrangler? It’s a rough, rugged off-roader, a Jeep all the way! Want a quiet ride? Get a Lexus. Want something to smooth all the road's imperfections? Get a Lincoln. Want to impress your friends with the latest technology? Get a Prius. Are you looking for a vehicle that will take you anywhere you point it and be a blast every step of the way? Get a Jeep Wrangler. There really aren’t any terrible issues that are common to these vehicles that I need to warn you about. I have had to replace the crankshaft position sensor on these Jeeps (and all others for that matter) on a relatively normal basis. This will set you back about $100 for the automatic equipped Jeeps and about $150 for the manual transmission equipped Jeeps.

Since there aren’t a lot of common problems with these Jeeps that are manufactured in to warn you about I’ll point things out to look for. These Jeeps are normally purchased by young guys and are not normally given a pampered life. You will at least see more aggressive tires mounted if not lift kits, mud tires, winches and the like. Now I’ve owned about 14 Jeeps in my life so let me tell you, avoid buying an already built Jeep for a few reasons. If you buy a lifted Jeep there are a few things to be aware of. If the lift wasn’t done properly you may have alignment issues, driveshaft vibrations issues, tire wear issues or simply improperly installed components. You may find a Jeep with some intake or exhaust mods done for more power. You may be buying somebody else’s headache. I’d recommend buying an unmolested Jeep, maybe with more aggressive tires installed and make your mods from there. Start visiting the trillions of Jeep message boards to get some views on what lift kit fits your needs and budget, find out what intake mods work well with what exhaust mods and so on. I would also strongly recommend going off-road in stock form for a while to learn your limits because trust me, YOUR limits will be much lower than your Jeeps limits and this way you will be less prone to get into big trouble.

All is not roses though. If you are looking at a 4.0L powered Jeep look at the rear of the oil pan, if there’s oil deduct about $550 for a rear-main oil seal leak. Look at the transfer case where the rear driveshaft comes out. If there is oil there, deduct $100, do the same thing if you see oil at either axle where the driveshaft goes in. Other than that, these are great vehicles that are reliable and fun to drive.