I'll likely be selling my '04 Forester XT soon. Unfortunately for you, it's current suspension is of the lowering kind, not the lifting kind. I still have the stock sus though.

We're even kind of local...

 

Depending if my 2.5rs sells, I may be interested.

 

 

I've owned several Jeeps; a 99 Cherokee and an '08 Wrangler Unlimited, and they both were really largely trouble free aside from routine maintenance. My sister just bought a Grand Cherokee and it's seriously a beautiful truck, it's been trouble free since they purchased it maybe a year ago. I'd own one for sure.

However, in my capacity as a car dealer I also have access to all the cars that come through the lot, and one in particular really "worked" for me. It was an '07-'08 (I think) FJ Cruiser, which I grant you was far from stock with a subframe lift, wheels, tires and suspension, but was all original under the hood and I LOVED that thing. I don't think I've ever been more sluggish in my efforts to turn a car than I was with the FJ, and came close to just keeping it many times.

Drive an FJ before you buy anything. They're nice.

 

Interesting, we've got some friends that bought a Grand Cherokee maybe 16 months ago and their experience has been the exact opposite. It's been in the shop at least half a dozen times, for pretty serious repairs.

They got the Grand Cherokee over the Honda Pilot because the Jeep had keyless entry. Now they have to deal with sh*tty gas mileage, poor reliability, lower resale, etc. etc. all because the wife had to have keyless entry...

I'm just not sold on Chrysler products at all

 

I have had a 2002 Jeep Liberty with 190k+ miles as my winter/range vehicle. Yes, I have both a SUV and a car...

That said, it has been largely trouble free and I bought it new. Yes it has started to rust but it lives outside and I only have washed it once or twice a year in the past five. The only things I have done are AC clutch, trans oil pan, and regular oil and filter changes for engine, diff, etc.

As an auto mechanic friend says - They're all beaters. You buy a used car you roll the dice. In my experience parts are reasonable versus other makes. The only inconvenience is when they break down in the winter because in the summer theoretically you have the Miata to use while you get it back up and running.

I have heard good things about the newest body style Grand Cherokees (pentastar generation) but then I only know people who have JUST gotten them. They are too new for my poor friends to own yet.