1998 Jeep Cherokee

4.0L 242Cu. In. l6 GAS OHV Naturally Aspirated

Manual

1J4FJ68S7WL210709

Clear

Gasoline

I have always owned 2-seater sports cars as my daily driver. When I sought out a 2nd car in 1998, I wanted something with room for luggage, and a few friends, and I bought this superb Jeep, brand new, off the Normandin Chrysler/Jeep dealer's lot here in Silicon Valley. Not much room in a Lotus Esprit for more than the wife and a suitcase. Jeep to the rescue! It's been a great partnership, this is a superb vehicle! If you know the model line, you probably know that the 1998 model year is desirable for various reasons. The Jeep has 107,745 miles, which is quite low for this model year. Getting ready to move from California to Florida and don't want to take the Jeep with me, so here's a chance to own a top condition 1-owner, very rare Jeep. Only 3% of this Jeep model manufactured in 1998 had this configuration: - 4wd - 4 liter engine - 5 speed manual The only non-stock items on this vehicle include a somewhat expensive "gell" battery ($140) put in a couple years ago, and the original tires have been replaced; plenty of tread left on the current tires. Also, I'm a landlord and have a heavy set of keys (keys to unlock the main entry door of the various properties I manage). This wore out the ignition switch -- the weight of my keys. So about 5000 miles ago I had a new ignition installed and the dealer told me not to have a heavy set of keys like that putting too much weight on the ignition. Thus the ignition key is different from the key for all the door locks. I know it's possible to re-key the ignition to match, but I haven't gotten around to do it. The tires have plenty of tread left. A brand new serpentine belt on the engine was just installed and the oil was changed recenlty. I took it in to the shop and had the tires rotated recently. And it just passed California Smog check. - Never driven in snow. - Not smoked in -- ever. - Didn't use the 4wd much. No need to, Silicon Valley weather is fantastic. - Never been off-road. The Jeep is 100% stock. The factory original paint, which the dealer said is called "Gunmetal Gray", is in excellent condition (see the photos) The body is in amazingly good condition. That being said, it is not perfect, there are a couple minor scratches (right side) that are pretty hard to see, and couple very small shallow dings on the hood that are pretty hard to see also. Just want to be clear, the photos show the body and paint in excellent condition, but it's not concourse (not show-car quality but close). The interior panels have some scratches here and there as shown in the photo and the headliner has a couple small dings (size of the eraser end of a pencil), but it's 99% fine. Because I'm a property manager I hauled sheetrock and wood studs on the roof now and then and there are minor scratches in the paint and slight roof dip on the top in the rear, but you cannot see them unless you get up on a ladder. Also, every so often the left turn signal doesn't catch, it has to be selected again. Every other electrical aspect of this vehicle works 100% fine. It's probably a dirty contact on the turn signal switch, after all it *does* work, simply takes a couple of touches on the turn signal lever sometimes. There is an indentation on the left rear rubber of the bumper; probably a parking lot tap in the Home Depot parking lot? I'm not sure. Barely noticeable due to the black color of the bumper. This Jeep was driven exclusively in Silicon Valley (which is about 1 hour south of San Francisco). There's virtually zero rust on the underside (see the photos). The nice thing about living in Silicon Valley is there are 301 days of warm sunshine every year -- great climate. This location is at least 40 miles from the coast so we do not have salty air in Silicon Valley. You will not find a more perfectly preserved rust-free vehicle -- the climate is very gentle on autos here. When I got underneath to take the photos for the ad, I'm pretty certain I saw undercoating. I did not order this vehicle, I bought it off the Normandin Jeep dealer lot, so I'm not sure if undercoating came stock. Normandin Jeep ordered this vehicle "fully loaded" so maybe the undercoating was part of it? Not sure. Also, this Jeep was garaged most of its life. The shifting is good. The clutch is good. Air conditioning works fine. Heater works fine. The master vehicle controls on the driver door panel work fine. Each of the 4 doors' power window switch work well. Power door locks work. Rear window defroster and rear windshield wiper work. Stereo works fine. Have not used the cassette player that came stock in a while, worked fine the last time I used it. The tilt steering wheel works good. Brakes are good. The 4-wheel-drive works fine. Power steering works fine. I drove this as a *car*, and not a 4wd off-road-capable vehicle. So to assess the condition, you should imagine this Jeep as being used as a passenger car only. In my mind, compared to what it is capable of, this Jeep has had an easy life. HERE'S A LIST OF THIS JEEP'S ATTRIBUTES -- ALL CAME AS ORIGINAL, AS I BOUGHT IT, FROM THE FACTORY: - POWER STEERING - POWER WINDOWS - 4 WHEEL DRIVE - 4 LITER ENGINE - 5 SPEED MANUAL TRANSMISSION - POWER DOOR LOCKS - POWER MIRRORS - CRUISE CONTROL - CHILD SAFETY LOCK FEATURE - REAR SEAT FOLDS FORWARD TO PROVIDE LOTS OF ROOM IN THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE - FACTORY INSTALLED AM/FM STEREO/CASSETTE PLAYER - FOG LIGHTS - TILT STEERING WHEEL - AIR CONDITIONING - POWER BRAKES - ROOF LUGGAGE RACK - DARK TINTED "PRIVACY GLASS" WINDOWS - REAR WINDOW DEFROSTER - REAR WINDOW WIPER - TWO REMOTE-ENTRY KEY FOBS - ORIGINAL OWNER'S MANUAL The vehicle's title is in my name, as is the registration. The registration is current, and active. Due to the rarity of the 4wd/5 speed manual version of the 1998 model, it's my thinking that these "3%-ers" are going to increase in value. In addition to the very low number produced (only 3% in this configuration), they're also extremely hard to find in this condition and one-owner, so bid to win! Thanks. Shipping is the responsibility of the buyer. $250 good-faith deposit via Paypal at close of auction; payment in full by 4 days after the auction by cash, or by P2P, or by wire transfer *only*. "What is P2P?" you ask? It's a cool *free* Paypal service that they offer to banks and credit unions. You can instantly pay from your bank to anyone with a Paypal email address. IT'S FREE! I prefer this method because of that. I've paid for several vehicles over the years. The P2P service has been around for a while, so ask your bank or credit union if they have it -- they most likely do. Please contact me right after the auction via email to get the post-sales ball rolling -- thanks and happy bidding!