SECOND WIND
He is no fanatical supporter of any brand – he has, after all, owned several vehicles over the years – but his Jeep Grand Cherokee has his heart, says Berno Punt from Grabouw in the Western Cape.
This is my third Jeep. The first was a 2003 Grand Cherokee 4.7 HO, but I sold it because of its high petrol consumption. After that I owned a number of other vehicles, including a Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan X-Trail and a Kia Sportage, but the Grand Cherokee stood out for me.
Then I bought another Jeep, this time a 4.0 Grand Cherokee, also in the WJ series. Unfortunately, it struggled to tow my Sprite Swing. I then sold the 4 ℓ petrol and started looking for a 3 ℓ turbodiesel in the WK series. I finally found one on Gumtree and got it from a guy in Simon’s
Town. The car smoked a bit, but its R65 000 price tag convinced me to take a chance on it.
The opulence you get, the leather seats... it has everything you need. The paint was still good – sure, it had some scratches, but overall it was a bargain.
Interior and future plans
The cups of the interior door handles are perishing and I’m looking for someone with a 3D printer who can print new ones for me. Other than that, everything still looks good.
This is not my daily driver: I also have a farm bakkie I use for
work, and my wife, Liezel, drives a Mercedes-Benz C180.
She likes her Merc and sometimes we argue about what we’ll be driving on the weekend – but the Jeep usually wins out, because that’s the only chance I get to drive it. In the year and a half I have had it, I have only put 8 000 km on the clocks.
Liezel and I and our two sons, Adriaan (13) and Heinrich (10) often visit my father in De Kelders where I drive on Die Plaat. We’ve been to Hartenbos, up the West Coast and gone snow-watching in Ceres, but due to lockdown, we haven’t been farther up the East Coast than Mossel Bay with my Jeep. I’m planning a trip through Namibia, though, as Liezel has not visited there yet.
As far as conversions go, I’m going to keep my Jeep stock standard. No roof racks, mud tyres or anything butch like that.
Power delivery
My Jeep had a microchip when I bought it, but I removed it immediately, because I feel the 3 ℓ turbodiesel has enough power for my needs.
At first my Jeep felt a bit sluggish, though, and after a fruitless search I took it to L&M
Automotive in Stellenbosch. They examined the air intakes and discovered that the swirl flaps were stuck. These valves lower pollution, but also inhibit performance, especially when stuck. The mechanic removed them, as well as the catalytic converter, and after rewriting the software in the engine’s electronic control unit (ECU), my Jeep pulls like a beast!
Wear and tear
The smoke I noticed at the start are a result of the high-pressure diesel injectors failing. I have replaced three of them so far and there are three more to go, but they cost a staggering R9 500 each and have to be ordered from Germany.
The front suspension and transverse axles need adjustment, but it is an old vehicle and therefore not unexpected – it has a permanent four-wheel drive, after all, which puts extra strain on the front suspension in particular.
I also replaced the bushes in the front diff and the airconditioning pump. Besides the purchase price, I spent a total of R35 000 on my Jeep.
Here’s the thing with a secondhand vehicle: you must accept that there will be costs to get it up to standard or to fix something. Since I paid so little, I didn’t mind spending money and improving the vehicle with each new part.
It is not at all an exotic vehicle and parts are relatively easily available from Jeep agents.
Scrap yards also have many Jeep parts and I find all kinds of plastic panels and so on there. I really never struggle to get my hands on parts.
Of course, it helps to join a Facebook group for Jeep owners and the Jeep forum on 4x4community.co.za for advice.