Impressed with the Grand Cherokee and Pentastar V6

[IndyIan]

Old news to some, but my sister in law rented one to visit us and we took it for a spin. Very tight interior, its got the title for the least rattles on my rough gravel driveway of any car I've been in. It did lift a rear wheel turning up the trail to the top of my hill which the Tracker will articulate for, so I can see why its not the off-roader it used to be, but it has very little body roll on the road.
Good acceleration from the motor once it spun up a bit and it was very smooth right to its redline. Also it was a smooth fast shifting transmission, the 5 speeds seemed to be well selected as well.
A good amount of space behind the back seats too, so I think it'd make a good family hauler and light tow vehicle. $38k up here for the base model is a bit rich considering you can get that motor for $19k in a Grand Caravan, so I bet the dealers have lots and lots of bargaining room even with the base Grand Cherokee.
I will definitely consider a used one when the time comes.

 

[newtoncd8]

I recently traded my 2011 A4 for a 2012 JGC with the Pentastar. I am really impressed with the JGC.

 

[DemoFly]

The pentastar is a great engine. I'm looking at buying 2013 Ram 1500 which will have a pentastar and an 8-speed transmission.

 

[cbear]

Drove a new Durango with that motor. Overall a very nice package. I think the Durango now is an extended GC.

 

[kkreit01]

We love ours thus far. You can get a nicely-equipped Laredo for low $30K. The Laredo X gets close to $40K and over -- or very close to Limited prices. They are still very capable off road. Check out the youtube vids.

 

[cptbarkey]

way too expensive, price/value is just not there.

 

[kkreit01]

^ Explain. What's cheaper/better in this segment? A base Laredo starts at 27.4K/$29.4K for 2wd/4x4. Those are nicely-equipped. A base Explorer starts at 29.1K/$31.1K for 2wd/4wd. That will get you steel wheels, and nice hubcaps on the Explorer (but an extra seat). IMO, it's tough to find a better value. They are often highly discounted as well ($5-6K off is common on the mid-high range models).

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01
^ Explain. What's cheaper/better in this segment? A base Laredo starts at 27.4K/$29.4K for 2wd/4x4. Those are nicely-equipped. A base Explorer starts at 29.1K/$31.1K for 2wd/4wd. That will get you steel wheels, and nice hubcaps on the Explorer (but an extra seat). IMO, it's tough to find a better value. They are often highly discounted as well ($5-6K off is common on the mid-high range models).


not going to bother. spending 30 grand on a vehicle alone just makes me ill. enjoy your ride though.

 

[kkreit01]

Originally Posted By: cptbarkey
Originally Posted By: kkreit01
^ Explain. What's cheaper/better in this segment? A base Laredo starts at 27.4K/$29.4K for 2wd/4x4. Those are nicely-equipped. A base Explorer starts at 29.1K/$31.1K for 2wd/4wd. That will get you steel wheels, and nice hubcaps on the Explorer (but an extra seat). IMO, it's tough to find a better value. They are often highly discounted as well ($5-6K off is common on the mid-high range models).


not going to bother. spending 30 grand on a vehicle alone just makes me ill. enjoy your ride though.


I tend to agree, and spending ~$25K on a loaded Focus, Dart, etc.; or over $20K on a loaded Fiesta makes me even more ill. Not long ago, these (types) of cars could be had for $13K.

 

[Spazdog]

The one improvement they could have made from the Mercedes Benz platform? Moving the battery.

I did an install on an ML350 the other day. One of the wires I needed was under the front passenger seat (at the Signal Acquisition Module) and right there was the battery.
That's fine as long as there is enough power to move the seat forward when your battery dies, but what if your battery is totally dead? You have to use your old battery to jumpstart your new battery so you can change your old battery.

It is vented to the outside with a little vinyl tube, but I still wonder how long before someone stuffs the cheapest group 24 they can buy, it outgasses, they light a cigarette and BOOM!

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^That has already happened in the Chrysler community. Only once that I know of, but any battery explosion is a bad thing!

 

[rszappa1]

Hope that you Pentastar has the new head on it... Many v6 backlog at dealers waiting for the new head and thye are having a few issues with the new head also. I was ready to purchase a Challenger with the v6 but after reading about problems with this engine decided to wait till the bugs are out of it...

 

[kkreit01]

The "head issue" affects 0.5% of Pentastars. Mine made it past the 12,000 death milestone the other day

. It hasn't blown yet. It still could....fingers are crossed.

 

[rszappa1]

This is eye opening on Chrysler....... http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71955&page=4

 

[rszappa1]

Actually when you click the link start at page one. Some interesting reading about problems with the v6..... and they continue...

 

[SteveSRT8]

A failure rate of .5% is probably better than many other engines!

The overwhelming majority of these motors are running well, getting incredible mileage and performance in many different platforms.

Much ado over something that wouldn't even be public knowledge 10 years ago.

 

[rszappa1]

It is hard to believe that it is only .5%. 13 pages of posts and even with the new head they are still having problems..... I sure am glad I did not purchase a Challenger with that engine.... at least for right now...

 

[jigen]

Can these problems affect all Pentastars, or just in certain vehicles?

 

[rszappa1]

All of the 3.6 engines and they are used in all of there products...... Cyrysler put all there marbles in only one v6 engine....

 

[rshaw125]

Maybe another disaster engine like the 2.7 for Chrysler?