To everyone actually considering buying a Jeep I suggest watching this video review, it may help you make an informed decision. Now that being said, I would not dare to say that all Jeeps are bad. In fact, there is a lot to love about a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
These cars are absolutely awesome in the snow and off-road, however if you do plan on going off-road I would like to strongly suggest opting for the models with locking differential. Don’t just assume because it is a 4×4 Jeep it will have a diff lock as standard it certainly does not but for light to moderate off-roading it does not really matter that much. For most Jeep owners such as myself the most off-roading we do is when we jump a curve to do an illegal u-tern to avoid the rush-hour traffic. Not to say I have ever done that myself but just hypothetically speaking lets just say it serves me well in those types of situations.
Besides it’s great off-road handling characteristics the fit and finish on the car is very good especially when you take under account that it is an American built vehicle. The interior is well appointed with nice control quality materials and an overall European car essence not found in many other domestic vehicles.
I also want to mention that I got my Jeep new for under 30k, which is a bargain price within this SUV market. So I think the car is competitively priced and is overall a good value per dollar, especially when referring to the lower level trim models like the Laredo with a 3.6L V6.
That said you do get the sense that it is a somewhat unrefined American vehicle when you actually get behind the wheel. The first thing you will notice is that god-awful automatic transmission. I am fully aware of the fact the vehicle reviewed in this video comes with the older generation 5 speed automatic, however I did test drive the new 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee which comes with the 9 speed automatic and sadly I have no good news to report. Bottom line those automatic transmissions are very dimwitted, especially at low speed. Often times the vehicle may shift gear abruptly and for no apparent reason. This is more evident when the vehicle is traveling under 20 miles per hour. You can really notice the transmission struggling to make a decision what gear to go into especially when you are crawling along in rush-hour traffic. The gear changes become abrupt and bit jerky at times and may contribute to overall poor throttle response when accelerating from a slow rate of speed. You do not have to be an automotive expert to notice this issue. In fact this is so noticeable my wife even complained about it.
The next issue on our list of complaints is the fact that the vehicle does not have a right hand steering column switch; meaning most of the functions are operated from the left hand switch. For instance, if you wanted to tern on the windshield wipers you would have to do it from the left hand column switch. On most Japanese and some American vehicles the left steering column switch is mainly reserved for operating the vehicles headlights. So if you are used to driving a car with steering wheel column switches on both sides of the steering wheel this Jeep setup can take a while to get used to. I still sometimes mistakenly switch on the windshield wipers, but I guess this is not something to cry about.
One of the other things that really grinds my gears about this car and something that most people may not notice and for that reason I left it out of the video is “Orange Peal”. For those of you that know the definition of “Orange Peal” let me tell you that this can have noticeable orange peal more so than any other similar color new vehicle I have ever purchased. If you do not know the definition of this term I will save you the hassle of goggling it. Check out Wikipedia’s definition of orange peal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_peel_(effect) and you will get the idea.
As per other annoyances with the vehicle that has to be the constant recalls. I cannot really categorize this as a problem, but if you value your time I think you will agree with me when I say “taking the car to the dealer for recall services is not exactly my idea of productive use of my valuable time”.
Finally one of the most alarming issues I have reported has to do with the vehicles handling characteristics during extreme evasive maneuvering. As I said in my video the vehicle features a nice confortable ride, an adequate but somewhat vague steering feel but one of the vehicles biggest flaw comes when you have to make an abrupt steering correction. If you ever had to swerve while traveling at a good clip to avoid an obstacle on the road then you will understand what I am talking about. Granted, I first noticed this problem when I was being foolish, trying to see how hard I can push the car into an abrupt turn. I am aware of the fact that this issue can cost someone their life. In abrupt cornering situation the vehicles handling becomes unpredictable and in some instances feels like it is about to rollover. Don’t just take my word for it check out this independent vehicle “moose test”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaYFLb8WMGM
In conclusion, I just want to say the car comes with its share of issues however, it is also important to recognize the positive aspects and evaluate the vehicle based on all of the pros and cons.
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