Our '04 Jeep Liberty has 170,000 miles on it with just basic maintenance. We love driving it. The Jeep Cherokee is a beautiful vehicle - not Jeep-like. This took the place of the Liberty. (This is different from the Grand Cherokee).
We've gotten so much enjoyment from our Jeep during our travels. We've done trails at Moab and Silverton, CO and traveled in groups with other 4x4 owners. We put bigger tires on it and had it lifted and it went wherever the others went.
If you don't intend to go off-road, there's no reason to buy a Jeep.
Our new vehicle is a Chevy Equinox. Even though it's more luxury than our Jeep, it's definitely not as fun!