Hi, I was watching your new video on small trucks and I came across this 1990 Comanche with 193,000 miles on it.
2 Wheel Dr., automatic asking $2100
What do you think? Are they reliable and are parts readily available? It's a private sale, any common issues to be aware of? Thanks, keep making the great videos!
Are they reliable and are parts readily available?
They were reliable in 1990. This is 35 years later so all bets are off.
Since the Commanche is basically a pickup version of the very popular Jeep Cherokee and millions of the latter were sold from 1984-2001 parts are generally available. However some items may be difficult to find.
any common issues to be aware of?
Six cylinder or four cylinder? Will you be working on it yourself or will you need to take it to a mechanic every time it needs attention?
At that age everything has to be treated as suspect. How the truck has been treated and maintained over the decades is going to be more important than how reliable it was when new. Also you have to be concerned about rust if the truck has spent any time on salted winter roads during its life.
Be sure to have a good mechanic check any used vehicle out before purchase. However these days it may be difficult to find a mechanic who will work on pre-OBD2 vehicles. (Another consideration if you won't be working on it yourself.)
You may also want to check out a forum devoted to the Jeep Cherokee for more details, such as:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/
Also since that is a "Renix" Jeep (Renault/Bendix fuel injection and engine management system) this site is a valuable resource if you decide to buy it:
https://cruiser54.com/?page_id=75
@chucktobias thanks, yes lots of good things to think about. I was planning on working on it myself, it's a six cylinder. I haven't gone to look at it yet, but surprisingly little to no rust from the pictures. Just looking for a little runabout or dump runs etc.
Check carefully underneath. If the uniframe is rotted out it's a junker. If you take it for a test drive take some bumps with it. It has a solid axle front end (a beam axle in 2WD models) and is prone to "death wobble" when suspension parts are worn, particularly the track bar.