Interested in your opinion of a 4x4 Grand Cherokee

[holstein13]

Although I like my Ford F-150, it isn't the most comfortable car on the road for the passengers in the back and I miss having a large trunk / rear covered space for hauling stuff. I full time with my family (wife and two girls) and we always bring our four bikes.

I'm seriously considering a Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel as our next toad.

For those of you with experience, can you tell me 1) Do you like it? 2) Can I haul two or four bikes in the back if I remove the wheels? 3) Is it comfortable? 4) Is it reliable?

Any other considerations?

I'm looking at buying something at the beginning of 2017.

[dkreuzen]

holstein13 wrote:
Although I like my Ford F-150, it isn't the most comfortable car on the road for the passengers in the back and I miss having a large trunk / rear covered space for hauling stuff. I full time with my family (wife and two girls) and we always bring our four bikes.

I'm seriously considering a Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel as our next toad.

For those of you with experience, can you tell me 1) Do you like it? 2) Can I haul two or four bikes in the back if I remove the wheels? 3) Is it comfortable? 4) Is it reliable?

Any other considerations?

I'm looking at buying something at the beginning of 2017.

I have towed a 2012 and a 2014 Grand Cheorkee Overland with the Hemi. The 2012 had the 20" wheels and the front tires wore on the outer corners. The 2014 has the off-road package with 18" wheels and doesn't have the tire wear issue. Note that the 2014 factory instructions for putting the transfer case in neutral are not exactly correct, at least in the early versions. I use an RVi 2 brake system with a Roadmaster BlackHawk 2 All-Terrain tow bar. Great tow vehicle.
We really like the Grand, it's comfortable enough and I really like the adaptive cruse control and cooled seats. I guess you could get bikes in the back with the back seat down. I selected the Grand to tow because it was the only SUV that can be flat towed and has a trailer tow rating high enough so I can tow my 7000lb boat.

[time_to_go_now]

I use CR as a resource. But, there is no way they can be an expert on everything. Luxury cars to 4 wheel drive to blenders to washing machines to camera to TV's.

It is just one resource.

[map40]

Blaster Man wrote:

Bruce Brown wrote:

Blaster Man wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
..I don't have any faith in a CR reports. They seem to be biased...

The April issue of CR lists maint issues reported by owners, CR has no input other than compiling the data. Every subscriber fills out a detailed report on his/her vehicles. Don't shoot he messenger.

Sure owners report stuff, but thats a very, very, very small sampling of all owners.

Take a look at the Board sometime, it's filled with a bunch of left leaning people, and not much balance.

:B:B:B

Yes, a relatively small sample, but just because it's a small sample does not mean it is not valid. As for the board and CEO. Within the last year they got a new CEO and is much better than her predecessor, regarding the issues you noted.:B

BTW, I have had a Jeep...and will never ever have another.

Last post on this subject.

I had first hand experience with the CR group doing automotive. The were (and still are) terrible. They subjectively criticized some brands and overlooked SEVERE safety issues on others. It is beyond disagreements with their reports, I believe some of them should be held legally accountable for not testing/forging reports on some of the big Toyota recalls.
But that is just me...

[Blaster_Man]

Bruce Brown wrote:

Blaster Man wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
..I don't have any faith in a CR reports. They seem to be biased...

The April issue of CR lists maint issues reported by owners, CR has no input other than compiling the data. Every subscriber fills out a detailed report on his/her vehicles. Don't shoot he messenger.

Sure owners report stuff, but thats a very, very, very small sampling of all owners.

Take a look at the Board sometime, it's filled with a bunch of left leaning people, and not much balance.

:B:B:B

Yes, a relatively small sample, but just because it's a small sample does not mean it is not valid. As for the board and CEO. Within the last year they got a new CEO and is much better than her predecessor, regarding the issues you noted.:B

BTW, I have had a Jeep...and will never ever have another.

Last post on this subject.

[William_B]

We had 5 different year GCs that we towed with our motorhomes over the years. We loved them. They are big enough for 4 people comfortably, do amazingly well off road, tow with little issue as they are designed to tow by the manufacturer. They constantly got better with the years and our last one was a 2012 that was the best yet. We decided we wanted a pickup truck and that is the only reason we don't have one now. If we decided to get rid of the truck, a Dodge Ram by the way, we would go back to a GC in a heartbeat. JMHO

[bullydogs1]

I'll stick with my Saturn for now, although my daily driver chevy is flat towable just in case something happens to it...Jeeps do hold their resale but at one time, I had a Wrangler which rode awful and I couldn't even hear the radio..

[Kayteg1]

The Daimler assembly line in Germany has as much to do with Germans as Chinese and Mexican workers in Alabama assembly line with Americans.
The Alabama line open about 1996.
Being frequent on Mercedes forum, I meet there Jeep owners who come for repair tips when Jeep mechanics spread their hands.
Even digital technology in cars enter 3rd decade, not too many repair shops upgraded the equipment.
Anyway, the Daimler drive trains used in Jeep are bulletproof and the only problem is finding qualified service.

[map40]

One more bit of info on the GC. In the 2000's, Daimler merged with Chrysler and the first joint operation was to produce the Mercedes ML320 in the same line than the GC in the Chrysler plant in Austria.
I was part of the team that did it.
Something really strange happened. We realized that the 320 had a lot of systems copied from the GC and once we started producing the quality of the ML320 from the Chrysler plant was better than the quality of the Mercedes plant in Alabama.
You should have seen how pissed the Germans were when they found out that the crappy american plant could build the great Mercedes product better than they could!!!! It was awesome!!!!

[map40]

I have owned Jeeps, towed jeeps 4 down, built Jeeps and actually worked in the facilities that produce them in Detroit, Toledo, India, Austria, Argentina and Egypt.
Consumer reports is useless on Jeeps. They compare it with vehicles that are designed for a different customers and don't understand the design intent. For example, once I saw a Wrangler compared to a RAV 4 stating that it rode to harsh, obviously the reviewer had no idea what a Jeep Wrangler is.
As far as Range Rovers, used ones are cheaper than Jeeps because they have lower resale value. There is a reason for that, Jeeps have the best resale value in the market because they are the best in the market. In 2010 I bought a used wrangler for $20K out the door, sold it 16 months later for $20K cash. No other vehicle conserves the value as Jeep does.
As far as reliability and ease of towing, no other vehicle comes close. The GC is an excellent vehicle. Off-road capable but with all the luxury items you want.
Although i don't work for Chrysler anymore, I was also part of the design team of the latest GC and I can tell you first hand, no other 4WD vehicle comes close to it.

[Mr_Mark1]

Goldencrazy wrote:
Friends tow a new Lincoln with their 45 foot Monaco Dynasty. They love it and tows easily. I have owned about a dozen Grand Cherokee's. One for me and one for my wife. We needed them for bad roads in winter. They did the job well and nice ride. I currently tow a 2005 from time to time. They are high maintenance compared to everything else. Son has a 2015. Great ride but does have more issues than I think it should. The Lincoln just seems a better bet.

Goldencrazy, which model Lincoln are your friends towing?

I was originally looking at the Lincoln MKC (smaller SUV, Ford Escape clone), but it's not towable. The larger MKX (Ford Edge clone) is towable four wheels down.

MM.

[Goldencrazy]

Friends tow a new Lincoln with their 45 foot Monaco Dynasty. They love it and tows easily. I have owned about a dozen Grand Cherokee's. One for me and one for my wife. We needed them for bad roads in winter. They did the job well and nice ride. I currently tow a 2005 from time to time. They are high maintenance compared to everything else. Son has a 2015. Great ride but does have more issues than I think it should. The Lincoln just seems a better bet.

[Bruce_Brown]

Blaster Man wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
..I don't have any faith in a CR reports. They seem to be biased...

The April issue of CR lists maint issues reported by owners, CR has no input other than compiling the data. Every subscriber fills out a detailed report on his/her vehicles. Don't shoot he messenger.

I'm with Bill on this one. In most cases what CR recommends I find to be 180 degrees out of phase.

Sure owners report stuff, but thats a very, very, very small sampling of all owners.

They also have, IMO, a known bias, dating way back. We used to be CR subscribers. For me the last straw was when the original Taurus came out. At the time it was the highest rated car they had ever collected data on, besting the previous all-time high Toyota Supra, yet they rated it worse than average "because it's an American car".

I still will pick up their magazine from time to time and browse. A few years back they had tested tires. The winner was the current Michelin offering, that happened to be the same tire I had on my Fusion. I thought the tire bordered on being dangerous, they called it the best all-season radial ever produced.

Take a look at the Board sometime, it's filled with a bunch of left leaning people, and not much balance.

Now look at how they survey, this is almost laughable - in part;

We conduct many surveys by selecting a random sample from the millions of readers who subscribe to Consumer Reports and/or to ConsumerReports.org, who are some of the most consumer-savvy people in the nation.

So just because you subscribe makes you "consumer-savvy". Umm...OK. :h And you're only gathering information from like-minded people who belong/subscribe to your publication? Seems like it's a very skewed sample before the fist bit of data is collected.

Nope, when it comes to CR I'm not a fan - even if they say something nice about the stuff I like. :B:B:B

[Bruce_Brown]

holstein13 wrote:

Bruce Brown wrote:
I am a Ford guy, friends of ours have a GC. I'll give big credit where it's due, what a nice vehicle. Comfortable, good MPG, and they haven't had any real issues with it. They love it.

Having said that, if for any reason you'd like to stick with a truck, take a look at a new F150. I just bought a '16 Lariat, I like it better than my wife's '14 Explorer Limited. The upgrade from the last generation F150 to the current generation is amazing.

It's so interesting you mentioned this. I'm actually waiting for the 2017 Ford Raptor to come out before making this decision. The wife would really like a more off-road capable vehicle anyway and she likes the Raptor so I'll look at both early next year.

How cool would that be?

I like how you're thinking! :C

[Blaster_Man]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
..I don't have any faith in a CR reports. They seem to be biased...

The April issue of CR lists maint issues reported by owners, CR has no input other than compiling the data. Every subscriber fills out a detailed report on his/her vehicles. Don't shoot he messenger.