OT: Shopping for Jeep help

["Mark Price" <mprice@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm shopping for my wife a Jeep XJ.
So, far I've done little. My question is what are the differences in the 97 ups? I know they changed over to distributerless ign, Changed the intake, ETC, But when did each change occur and what are they really worth?
  What, if any, pitfalls are in the new systems and should I avoid a certain year?
   I've found a 98 Cherokee Limted with 62K on it loaded with leather ETC; asking price is $7999. Does that sound good or bad?
It is higher then Bluebook for an indivdual seller but $2,000 less then Retail. Is any of that worth squat as far as info goes?
   Also, If anyone sees an 97 up with a 5speed within 8 hours drive of Morgantown, let me know. I'd love to find a 5speed, but the  97 ups didn't seem to get a lot of standard shifts. :[

Thanks,
Mark Price
Morgantown, WV