my parents have a 97 (with the 4.0) and about 200,000 miles (road miles) and they have had very little problems. It needed some AC work and it got a rebuilt tranny last month (probably not the same one as the 5.2) but overall it has been a very reliable vehicle.
that being said, my dad complains the 5.2 in his dakota is a gas hog, but he puts a lot of road miles on that too,

Josh


80 CJ-7.
It runs