re: I am looking at buying a jeep and have a few questions

If you do basic maintenance and don't abuse it you won't have problems. They're known for little issues but the major things happen from abuse. I have a 2004 I found with low mileage. Only thing I've done in 2.5 years is change the oil and put tires on it. It is my daily driver. Lots of fun in the south. Topless weather for about 8 months of the year. I only use my hardtop from November to March. The only reason I put it back on last weekend is we're having a garage sale this weekend and needed the room to set up.

Mine is also a manual but I learned to drive in a manual 91 wrangler. Shifting gears is fun to me. I loved it when I was 16-18 and neither of my sisters could drive it. I still need to teach my wife how to drive this one but any time I mention it she has some excuse. A couple of years ago I was out of town with my dad at a football game and she sent me a text saying she wishes she knew how because it was a beautiful day and wanted to take our daughter riding around in it while running errands.