99 Jeep Grand cherokee

Who knows this topic might already have been beat to death but this is my first look into this forumsection so please have patience.

Looking at cars for daily transportation and one model that has caught my attention is 99 Grand cherokee with the 4.7 V8 these can be found for sale at prices that i find reasonable.

Is there alot of problems with them?
What do i need to know when looking at them?
In short what´s the god,bad and ugly about them?

Im not a rich guy,just looking for a descent car to transport my a$$ around town and/or wherever else i find a need to go dont want to overspend on something that is crap.

the 4.7 engine is known to be very troublesome.

If you have the complete and trusted history, a 4.7 engine is not a bad engine. However, poor maintenance shortens their life dramatically.

Otherwise, the Jeep tends to be a very nice SUV.

Are you looking at a local one?

Ok that makes it altile harder,since its obviously not all that easy to know the maintainancehistory of 15 year old cars.

Have just been scaning the ads for intresting cars that are not way to far from home within a reasonable pricerange and there was a few of these that caught my attention so to speak.

Have also seen a few Dodge Durangos with 318 and 360 engines but those seem to have interiors that are much more worn compared to these jeeps and they seem to rust more within the same pricerange and milage.

I hate to buy cars.

I had a '98 GC with the 4.7. They are very nice driving for an SUV and the 4.7 is well matched for performance. As mentioned, the 4.7 seems very sensitive to maintenance with potential expensive problems if not done just right... though mine was fine.

I also had a Durango/5.9. A very nice vehicle though not quite as "sporty" to drive vs the Jeep. The 5.9's (and 5.2's) were very durable.

I did some open car trailer towing with both. The Durango did well and the Jeep OK. The short wheelbase of the Jeep really needs a WD hitch for heavier towing which I did not have.

If you want a Grand Cherokee of that period, buy one with a 4.0 engine. There were some 4.0's made for a year or so that had issues with cylinder heads. (I can't recall the exact time frame from memory.) Other than that, I believe the 4.0 is a very fine engine.

How big of a selection of Mopar SUV's do you have available to you over there?

If it were me, I'd be looking at the Durangos over the Jeep.

I was primarily looking at the 4.7´s due to the thougt that the extra torque of the V8 should be nice in a car of that size but i think i will look for a 6cylinder Jeep then(do they actualy make enough torque to be pleasent to drive in trafic?) or a Durango with a 5.2 or 5.9.

Jeeps and Durangos are not as plentifull as Volvos or german cars thats for sure but the selection of Jeeps are quite plentifull and while Durangos are not as comon as its jeep counterpart they are absolutly not rare by any means.

The main thing that has held me back from looking primarily for a Durango is that for some reason their interiors seems to be quite alot more worn down compared to jeeps with the same milage,and the rust they seem to atract is also a consideration.

Im not in a hurry over here i will have patience and wait for the right car to show up at a reasonable distance from home:)

I appreciate the advice i get here,Thanks!

Wife has 01 GC--we bought it with 60K on it--belonged to Jeep service managers wife--it is 2wd 4.7 now has 212K on it. I LOVE the 4.7--it hauls butt--I love it--never under 20MPG ( 2wd remember)
These jeeps all have same issues--window motors all puke--easy and cheap replacements out there--thermostat housings all leak but use factory thermostats that helps--biggest issue is air door hinges fail so ac and heat trouble--factory had a fix so many of them have been repaired by now--if ac and heat does not work you have to tear the dash out and it is a two day deal to fix but if they work don't worry--heated seats are all failed, solenoid pack replacement in trans is common but really easy--you can do it yourself and under $400 for fluid and all--brakes have known squishy pedal that seems to go all the way to floor--total fluid replacement helps big time--radiators are cheapo but take an act of congress to install--power steering hoses have odd ball fitting into pump and can fail--
we LOVE ours and I constantly look for one owner low mile unit to buy at any price--they are not out there--folks all drove the crud out of them
I agree--I work in an engine shop and I can rebuild a 4.0 for hundreds--easy --can do one drunk and it will be fine--4.7 comes into the shop we all cringe--if oil is changed --they are sweet--but.....

UPDATE!
Thanks for all the advice.
It took along time but we sure havent been in a rush but me and the fantastic woman i live with have looked at alot of jeeps and a few durangos over the last year(some had good servicerecords and fairly low miles but considering how trashed some interiors where we found it hard to believe those cars where taken care of in a good maner) and we finaly found a car that we both realy like and she fell for it at first sight,one that cost alitle more than we first planed on spending but it realy seems like the right car to buy.

Ended upp with a very black 4wd 2000 Durango SLT with a 360 it has some 137k miles on the clock but with an excelent interior,the whole car feels like new compared to the other jeeps and durangos we have looked at,have only driven it alitle so far but realy like it,its very comfortable and seems to runt strong,that 360 sure has alot of of idle torque. Thought im not sure why i would ever need 7 cupholders:D