I bought  2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport from my roommate who was moving out of town for 500 bucks. He said it needed major work and turns out it does.  I  drove it to a Jeep dealership and it needs a new engine and a new radiator from a major coolant leak possibly from a blow head gasket They said it would cost 4,000 dollars to repair including parts and labor.  Plus it could use new tires to pass inspection and new brakes and that is another 1,000.
   I dont have 4,000 bucks to throw into it but I could manage 2,000- 2,500 could I repair this for 2,500?? Or should I just scrap it?  

4x4? Body, interior shape? 2dr or 4dr? Auto or manual? 4cyl or 6cyl?  

Toss some photos up to help us decide. Condition of interior, does the AC work, Sport model or strippy model, 4-banger or six, etc.

Figure you can buy a decent running '97-'99 XJ for under $4K and that rules out having it fixed at the dealership. Yank a used radiator from the boneyard out of a '97-up XJ. The engine is the coil-on-plug if it's the 4.0L. You can get a long block out of a wrecked '00-up TJ for probably $1,000 or so. If it's an earlier engine you may run into smog issues. If you can swap the parts yourself, I think you can get the used engine, radiator, and some decent craigslist tires (figure $400/set with rims for some take-offs) and I think you could swing it for $2K.

Used radiator - $100 max
Used long block - $1,000-$1,500
Used tires/wheels - $400 max
Brakes (pads, shoes, rotors, turn drums) - $200
Manifold, water pump, oil pan, etc gaskets - $150  

for sure...

If you don't have a host for pics e-mail or text them from your cell to....

mudb8-.93690@uploads.photobucket.com

I'll post em for ya.  

Yeah, Mudb8 is really good at posting just look at this nice rack he gave me! about as nice as my wifes! lol...

But seriosly you have a good platform to work with and should be that hard to find what you need.and if the body or interior doesnt matter to you then you have more $ to play w/the engine...  

lmao...  

hahahah
Thanks for all the input. I don't have a picture of it and it is still at the mechanic so I could have one in a couple days.

The specs

2000 Dark Blue Jeep Cherokee Sport
AC works
after market sun roof installed
6cyl 4dr
automatic 4x4
interior is average
needs new speakers
and a back windows don't work(could just be fuses didn't  check)
Nice 5 spoke factory rims

needs a front right panel; and new bumper/grill set up as well as one right rear flair  

here's a pic I have in one of the albums...

I can see it now! a stroker motor,
4.5" lift, 32" bfg's..... or just get plain crazy, like the white one!



 

Use Mud's pictures to help market the potential of your's and see if you can turn a quick 500.  

Hey I had a gun metal blue one like the one in the pic! but wished it looked like the white one too.probablt still have it if it did!  

Do you want to make it a daily driver?Or just a trail rig.  

The guy doesn't want to build it. He wants to know about fix'n it.

Sell it to someone who does want to build it, and make $500 bucks.  

don't sell it dig, dig, dig and you can find a motor to put
in. Thats what I did found a wrecked jeep, wasn't that bad of shape paid 800.00 dollars for the whole thing and swapped the motors in my driveway took 16 hrs total. 2 engines pulled one put back 16 hours, being able to drive my XJ again... priceless.  

Hey man brakes are easy to do, parts are around $150.00. As the engine goes if the bottom end is ok pull the heads off your self and take them to a machine shop and if they are not to warped they can machine them level I would think that would cost about $200.00 as I had an older monte carlo w/383 I got the heads ported and polished w/ larger valves for $500.00. If you dont know how to do this stuff pick up the work book for your jeep, and grt dirty. If this is your first jeep keep it they are strong running trucks, YOU WILL CATCH THE JEEP BUG IF YOU KEEP IT!

Good luck, ps where do you live I live in Huntly IL if you live close I would be more then happy to help a fellow jeeper.  

Hey man brakes are easy to do, parts are around $150.00. As the engine goes if the bottom end is ok pull the heads off your self and take them to a machine shop and if they are not to warped they can machine them level I would think that would cost about $200.00 as I had an older monte carlo w/383 I got the heads ported and polished w/ larger valves for $500.00. If you dont know how to do this stuff pick up the work book for your jeep, and grt dirty. If this is your first jeep keep it they are strong running trucks, YOU WILL CATCH THE JEEP BUG IF YOU KEEP IT!

Good luck, ps where do you live I live in Huntly IL if you live close I would be more then happy to help a fellow jeeper.As far as your tires from what I can see in the picture they dont seem to bad.