At some point in the past I was toying with idea of Cherokee around the same year, having old inline-six 4.0 liter engine.
After looking to number of them, I decided I need to reassess my plans, as Jeep seem not to be stellar in reliability, especially at such an old age.
I ended up buying a 2006 Nissan Pathfinder, for the price quite close you want to pay for 1998 Jeep…
Condition-wise, I was able to find a one in much better condition and with much less problems I would see need an immediate fix… at least in what I’ve seen of Cherokes I was looking at.
I would say, 1998 is way too old to pay so much $$ for this trouble.
Go find something newer and for more reasonable price?