Yeah, that 4-cyl is a dog, but it seemed to be a pretty tough little dog. I got mine in North Carolina, took it on a loop down through Florida and back, then drove it back to Kansas loaded with crap. Needless to say I got passed by many, many, many other vehicles. But I put 40K miles on it and only replaced the radiator once after I could no longer patch a crack in the plastic cap, and I replaced the front sway bar links. That's about it.
I was also pretty impressed when a neighbor kid smacked right into the back of it when it was parked in the street one day. Pushed the Jeep up over the curb and into the driveway. His car barely limped home, two houses down. Only thing that happened to my Jeep was that it torqued the left rear wheel around so far that the tire rubbed the frame, and it just barely bent the inner axle shaft. Insurance paid for that, and there was NO other damage. My stock steel bumper beat the s@%t out of that kid's car, and I think it had a good time doing it!

 

cozUmel that's funny spike, me and my ex gf did the exact same thing...was the first time I ever drove a TJ...came home and bought one..they do have their limitations but are lots of fun too..you have to think of a Jeep as a big toy

 

x2 on that, Spike. I was looking through a Quadratec catalog the other day, and there were pages and pages of clever little storage options, containers, little nylon bags that strap around your roll bar, etc. Most of which wouldn't hold crap.
And I thought to myself, "My Disco doesn't need ANY of this stuff! Sweet!"

 

We went on a cruise (my ex wife and I) from Miami, to the Keys and then to Cozumel back to Miami.
Wanted to see the island so we rented a Jeep instead of doing the tourist thing.
It would have been fun had it not been with my ex wife.

 

Well here is why I chose it for my DD.

Jeep: 2002, 2.5L I4, 65,000 miles, lifted, oversized tires, upgeared to 4.88 (I think that is what is was upped to), 100,000 mile power train warranty (from above the 65,000 on it now), 5 year unlimited tire warranty that covers anything on the tires and I mean anything.

Disco: 1996, V8 hog, 155,000 miles, stock saggy suspension, no upgrades, overheating problem I can't seem to figure out yet, no warranty, currently getting 10 mpg, semi-decent tires with about 80% tread (not all terrain though), roughly 500 in repairs already in it and that is just the small stuff.

That is why I picked the jeep. The disco def. rides smoother but jeep is more reliable at this point. I know the disco can be reliable but it needs more work and time (something I am pressed for now). It will get there though. And when that day comes they will probably swap spots.

 

Your Disco is going to get better mpg than that lifted and geared Jeep with a 4 banger and oversized tires.

 

carnival cruise? that's what we took

 

I had a a wrangler years before I ever owned a Disco.. It was a 2000 4 banger auto. With 20k on it. In the space of 5k it went though 3 transmissions. Each covered under and replaced by the dealer warranty. I literally sold it the day I got it back from the last trans replace and never looked back.

For all the little issue I have had with my discos I still love them. course there's a huge difference... I've never paid more than 2k for my discos, the white one was 1k, so I expect to have to work on them, but even that being said the STILL ride, drive, and haul better that that jeep did.

I could hardly get all my dive equipment into the jeep. I had the hardtop, and still never felt safe enough to actually leave anything in it. (Like my camera).

 

One of the reasons I convinced myself I could handle the bad Disco mileage was because the mileage on that 4-cyl wasn't too great to begin with. I only had 31" tires, no lift and stock gearing. I stopped keeping track of my mileage in the Jeep a long time ago, but I don't think I ever saw anything over 17, which usually included a fair amount of highway driving. So I really don't think you'll see a whole lot of fuel use benefits with your Jeep, but at least you can use the cheap gas in it!

 

ngarover, 4 cylinder with an auto and hard top? did you have to get out and push it up hills? lol my 4 cylinder with manual and soft top was slow enough..I can only imagine how bad one with an auto and hard top must be