Your Opinion/Suggestion is Needed (Auto Related) (1 Viewer)

[Brian Mansure]

I may have the opportunity to "trade" vehicles with my brother and need some opinions on the matter.

I currently own and drive a 1993 Plymouth Voyager SE minivan which has the Mitsubishi 3.0 V6 engine and about 86,530 miles on it. The van has been using/leaking a fair amount of oil (about 1/2 quart every month or so), the timing belt and water pump are due to be replaced anytime now and the transmission is always suspect on these minivans. For now, the ride is quite comfortable and when I hit the gas the van takes off with little hesitation so the engine's power seems fine. Our family just got back a few weeks ago from a Jersey Shore trip and the van preformed well.
My main concern is that repairing any one of the near future mechanical problems will probably cost more than the van is worth as a trade-in. I understand that any high mileage vehicle runs the risk of needing costly repairs but I believe our minivan has the potential to exceed costly and lean more toward exuberant costs to fix.

My brother knows of my minivan worries and has suggested trading vehicles. His wife is going to buy a new car in the next few weeks and my brother said that the trade-in value of their Jeep Cherokee is about the same as our minivan so they would be willing to swap vehicles. I really appreciated the thought that they even considered doing that for us but I'm just not sure on what to do.
I don't even know all the particulars of the Jeep Cherokee but I think the Jeep is an early 1990's base model with about 115,000 miles on it. He said it is leaking a tiny amount of oil and he just replaced the water pump on it a month ago. He also mentioned that at the last State inspection the one garage would not pass the Cherokee because some oil was leaking onto the engine manifold which according to them was hazardous. He took it right up the road to another ASE certified garage and they had no problems at all passing the Cherokee for inspection. It could mean that each garage/mechanic has different practices and standards but it is worth noting when considering trading our vehicles. Other than what I just mentioned the Cherokee has been owned by my sister-in-laws family since it was new and well-maintained.
There are a couple different PROs and CONs to this that I can think of but what would you suggest?

I appreciate your opinions and responses.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Carl Miller]

Car stuff aside, I'm not sure it's wise to "do business" with family.

Unless the tranny has been replaced on the Cherokee, I figure there's a blown tranny in your not so distant future with either car. I'm amazed your Mitsubitchy tranny has lasted this long....That's what did my 93 Duster (same engine) after blowing twice under 50K miles.

I don't know, I'm not sure I'd trade for a vehicle that has 30k more miles on it...Unless it was a Honda

 

[DaveGTP]

If the minivan is developing problems, and you can tell it is, and the Jeep only has a problem that 1 mechanic has verified, I would say go for whichever vehicle is better NOW.


In my experience for about a year or so writing up repos and off-lease vehicles at an auto auction: a 90's Jeep of any mileage is a better gamble than a 90's minivan. I saw a lot of failed trannys, screwed up sounding engines, etc in minivans of any brand. I can't say I experienced a lot of bad Jeep Cherokees. They seemed like reliable vehicles even at high miles. There's not many mini-vans that are dependable at high mileage.

My theory is that minivans have the tiny V6 engines to haul so much more mass - a lot of work on a small v6. Maybe a Jeep owner could speak up with some input - I've always been a car guy myself.

 

[Todd Hochard]

That Jeep Cherokee is likely the 4.0l inline-6, and perhaps is the best design AMC ever created. It is a bulletproof piece, if taken care of. 250K+ miles are doable without rebuild.

If it's not a 4.0l, forget everything I said.

I'd probably go for the Cherokee.

 

[Brian Mansure]

Thanks for the opinions.

I have to find out a bunch more about the Cherokee berfore seriously considering a swap more seriously.

Brian

 

[Greg_R]

Unless the tranny has been replaced on the Cherokee, I figure there's a blown tranny in your not so distant future with either car.

Agreed. The Voyager's have had horrible transmissions for years. Between the two that we owned we replaced the transmission 5 times (AAMCO warranty covered the 2nd and 3rd replacements).

 

[Chris Hovanic]

A Cherokee is considerably smaller than a Mini-Van. Can you do with out the extra space.

Our agency uses Cherokees and has had few problems. All are the 4.0l inline-6 and maintained extreamly well.

Since you know the history of the vehicle it makes the decision process a little easier. If you did not know the history, I would not exchange one headache for another. Do they drive the "you know what" out of their cars?

Just make sure you dont take it out on your brother when 2 weeks after you take ownership something goes wrong (hopefully that would not happen).

Good luck

Good luck

 

[Brian Mansure]

Yeah I know what you mean about "doing buisness" with family.

My brother actually mentioned already that he would feel like crap if the Cherokee died after he gave it to us.
I told him we'd never hold it against him but it is yet another thing to consider.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

Brian

 

[Tommy Ceez]

Have you checked kbb.com for the actual resale values?

 

[Brian Mansure]

Yup, checked KBB, edmunds and the black book value.

The average for the minivan was less than 2,000 and the Cherokee could get an average of closer to 3,000.

When my brother first thought of swapping vehicles he only went to KBB to look at the trade-in values. KBB can sometimes have generous numbers, so I've always checked the three different sources above for a more accurate trade-in value.

I think with a potential $1,000 difference in trade-in value my brother will probably just keep the Cherokee and use that as the trade-in on their new vehicle. He was originally thinking the trade-in value was only a couple hundred in difference.

It was nice my brother thought of us but I think it will work out for everyone better this way.

Thanks again too all that have replied.

Brian

 

[Philip_G]

Brian, you might check NADA as well if you haven't, around here anyway all the dealers go by NADA.