Anybody on here have thoughts on the new Jeep Cherokee's?

I suppose I should contribute. I am currently 15 months in on a 36 month lease of a V6 Trailhawk. It is my daily driver, and has about 20k miles on it as of this week (yes, I am over mileage already ). Anyway, my Cherokee has a V6/Nav, but no other options. It has the standard climate control, and no tow package. Within the first DAY of my lease, the instrument cluster failed. Went back to the dealership and had to spend 8 days there awaiting a replacement. 4 months after that, the rear seat developed an insanely loud squeak, that ended up requiring a warranty rear bench replacement. Other than these two irritations, the car has been pretty good to me. I have taken it on numerous road trips, and it has proven to be supremely comfortable and reasonably efficient (21 mpg mixed, 27 mpg on trips). It is very competent in poor weather, and I actually have a set of Goodyear Duratracs waiting to get thrown onto it, which I suspect will help its capability even more.

The one major question mark with this car is, as others have mentioned, the transmission. The 9HP does NOT have a sterling reputation, and yes...my car, while not having an outright trans failure like some others, does have a JERKY 2-3 upshift and can be quite dimwitted with downshifts. Has it left me stranded? No. Will I take the chance with this thing based on my experiences once the lease is up? No.

Feel free to ask me any specific questions you may have.

Keith Tanner wrote: I own two vehicles that were so badly supported by Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/Ram that they were forced by the NHTSA to buy them back. I wouldn't trust that warranty for much more than making paper airplanes. If there's an alternative vehicle that would do what you need it to do, I would recommend you consider carefully.

This.

Thanks for all the feedback. And appreciate the hands-on experience from JAhmed. Going to go look at/sit in/test drive a bunch of SUV/CUVs at CarMax to get a feel for likes/dislikes. Will probably come back looking for some more info.

CobraSpdRH wrote: Thanks for all the feedback. And appreciate the hands-on experience from JAhmed. Going to go look at/sit in/test drive a bunch of SUV/CUVs at CarMax to get a feel for likes/dislikes. Will probably come back looking for some more info.

I'll keep an eye on your thread. As I said, if you're in the market to BUY a vehicle (not lease), I am not sure the KL Cherokee is your best bet...as far as I can tell, it still has some growing up to do. You could also click around jeepcherokeeclub.com, but the forum is mostly people whining about transmission failures.

Sounds like the Fiesta Faction.

Even conventional automatics have problems. My KJ went into limp mode when the valve body cracked shortly after I got it. The transmission pan rusted through. Then there were the ball joints. But for 8 yrs. and 72K miles it towed my track car to many places trouble free.

Did the CarMax trip and may have narrowed it down to a few contenders (they didn't have a single Cherokee, so still have to check one of those out):

• Grand Cherokee (with the 3.6L)

• Volvo XC60

• Ford Explorer Limited

Obviously these are all larger than the Cherokee, but I found examples of each for right around our price point of $20k. Also, planning to get this warranty coverage for any of the above, which is bumper to bumper up to 100k or 5 years. Any feedback on these candidates? Appreciate all the information.

You'll love the 3.6 in the GC. At least I do with it paired to the 8 speed. I'm not sure if your price point gets you into the 8 speed, however.

I seem to recall a youtube video made by some guy down in Australia. He didn't like his Jeep. He called it a lemon, man.

You'll love the 3.6 in the GC. At least I do with it paired to the 8 speed.

The 8 speed is necessary. I've driven the 3.6 with the 5 spd (and 8spd) in a Challenger and the engine can't make up for what the trans lacks. Likewise, I have a friend with a Hemi/5spd GC ('14ish?) and it doesn't feel special at all. I wouldn't be surprised if the 3.6/8spd was faster.

A coworker recently bought the trailhawk cherokee and loves it...no issues so far. We bought a 2012 wrangler arctic edition brand new, with the 3.6, and it currently has just over 80k on it and has been completely trouble free.

Unrelated but I was doing some light off-roading this evening in my 99 cherokee and I noticed it was at 179,997 miles. We bought it at 70k and it's been a great rig. I replaced the waterpump, cam position sensor, and window regulator over the years and am about to clean the neutral safety switch, but up to this point thats the only repairs it's needed.

As a Trailhawk owner...3.6 Pentastar + ZF8 in a GC gets my vote every time...

I think you guys are right, I doubt we could find the 3.6 paired to the 8 speed ZF in our price range as it appears that began in 2014. The Cherokee's all have the 9 speed, it's just a matter of finding a Limited or Trailhawk locally and within our budget (they seem to be very thin on the ground around me).

Learned that the Volvo has a big issue with oil consumption in the 6 cylinder motors, so ruled that out. Will still have to drive the Explorer, I guess they came with an EcoBoost 4 and an EcoBoost 6.

I don't think you could go wrong with an Explorer w/an Ecoboost in it.

Might be a dark horse but have you considered the Mitsubishi Outlander w/v6?:

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?endYear=2017&zip=32801&engineCode=6CLDR&maxPrice=20000&showcaseListingId=416970802&mmt=%5BMIT%5BOUTLANDER%5B%5D%5D%5B%5D%5D&modelCode1=OUTLANDER&startYear=1981&makeCode1=MIT&showcaseOwnerId=1371772&engineCodes=6CLDR&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=25&listingId=412425702&Log=0

Update: the winner seems to be a Lexus RX350 AWD. Wife liked the seating position and it felt smaller around her (compared to the Explorer and GC). Tried to make a deal with a local dealership on leap day but no dice, so found another one about 2 hours away for 1.5k less (sliding right under the original 20k budget).

Fingers crossed it checks out, but ran the VIN on Lexus Owners website and it appears to have received all scheduled dealer maintenance with the first owner from 0-50k miles (spotty on second owner to current 72k). Anything specific to check out on these? They seem pretty reliable.

Good cars. Coming from a CT200, did you consider the rx400h?

Vigo wrote: Good cars. Coming from a CT200, did you consider the rx400h?

Yes, and since my wife's commute is about 25 miles each way it weighed on our decision. She preferred the revised body style and one new enough to still get a bumper-to-bumper warranty while we pay off the loan. That would have put us in RX450h territory, which we were finding about $4-5k higher. Doing the math, she would only be saving ~$500 a month in fuel, so the 350 won out.

By the way, s/o to Mercedes of South Orlando, who quoted us a sale price and KBB trade-in via email and held up their end of the bargain 100%. Very happy, drove the car back to Clearwater last night and it is a really nice ride.

Excellent choice. Congrats on your purchase!!!

cramped interior, is all I got on the new Cherokee.

Congrats on the RX. Good vehicles.