Exactly, it's a different niche. Not a Jeep competitor! Doesn't mean it's bad!
Purchased a 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee
- Thread starter MuzzleFlash40
- Start date
I'm in the stick with the tried and true camp. Or give the new model about two years to see what bugs it may or may not have, and if they get ironed out or not. Since I'm not quite ready to replace a vehicle yet due to the CV19 slowdown, the new GC we wanted will get pushed to MY 2023 now. The good news for my wife and I is we can wait.
My wife has a 2020 V6 GC pretty impressive IMO.
Trouble free early production 2018 JL Wranger Rubicon here. 40k miles. We've got probably 20 of them (JL's) now in our Jeep clubs, and we flog them pretty hard. Nobody's had any significant issues and each absolutely loves his/her Jeep.
Don't let fear/worry cheat you out of the fun you'd have in it.
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Just a note on Pentastar lifter failures. There are over 12,000,000 Pentastars on the road. If a very small percentage had a lifter failure, most mechanics would say they've seen it and you'd hear a lot about it on the internet. Perspective. 12 million. That's A LOT OF ENGINES.
I'm in 2 Jeep clubs with literally almost 200 Pentastars in JK's and JL's between them. Not a signle one has said they've had a lifter failure. The only 2 guys that had a major Pentastar problem were one with a 2012 that had one of the faulty heads. They gave him a new engine under an extended 100k warranty. The other had his son drive it through water up to the window sill and POP! Hydrolock. Somehow that guy thinks it was the Pentastar's fault. Nobody can convince him that they were not meant to power a submarine.
I'm in 2 Jeep clubs with literally almost 200 Pentastars in JK's and JL's between them. Not a signle one has said they've had a lifter failure. The only 2 guys that had a major Pentastar problem were one with a 2012 that had one of the faulty heads. They gave him a new engine under an extended 100k warranty. The other had his son drive it through water up to the window sill and POP! Hydrolock. Somehow that guy thinks it was the Pentastar's fault. Nobody can convince him that they were not meant to power a submarine.
I have been so curious about the new 2021 Grand Cherokee. Is it everything you expected, or more, in this new model? Anything you have to say about it I'm interested in reading.
It looks very nice!
Hi Overkill.
I genuinely hope i am wrong too.
I am concerned that Jeeps of the future will just become rebadged Fiats and loose their indivuality as a Brand. Look at the Renegade, it's nothing more than a Fiat 500x. Just euro trash rebadged.
Annnnnddddd this is why I buy Japanese vehicles, lol! Wow!
Toyota Landcruiser/Lexus LX are the correlation for this thread. These are absolute offroad monsters with real body-on-frame construction, locking center diff, 2 speed transfer cases, and multiple settings for the above (rock, mud, etc). Let me know when America makes an offroad vehicle as capable and long lasting as the LC / LX, eh? There are others, but Americans don't have much apetite for them, so the UK soaks up the market mostly. America gets shafted on a LOT of cool stuff, like the 4v 6 cylinder turbo engines Ford puts out in AUS, real Landrovers, on and on.
Since I do none of the above with mine (except fishing and unpaved roads, but not really anything too crazy), Mazda was my answer since I don't need the towing/hauling and would rather the on-road performance.
That said, construction/corporate probably gets fleet deals and economically a cheap vehicle that's used up at 100K miles isn't a bad way to go. Dump 'em and replace at fleet prices.
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I should probably let go of some of the fear of buying something reliable and be more focused on what I'd enjoy the most. Growing up in the 80's my first car was a 1985 Dodge Daytona. What a POS. When I was 19 or so I bought my first Toyota. From then on there was no looking back. Japanese reliability stayed with me for years. My dad had a 2001 Wrangler Sport with the 4.0. No issues. If I were to buy a Jeep product I'd go for the V6.
I think this reason is why some of the older offroad vehicles are so popular. When *actually* going offroad, the newer electronics in most 4x4s are a vulnerability. That isn't to say they will fail, they are in fact very reliable considering the complexity, but anyone who has been offroad and where it gets dirty and wet knows that the more potential you have for electronics to get wet, the more issues you can have. My TJ has about 3 wiring harnesses total.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
My 4 wheeler is reasonably complex all things considering but I've not had any issues with its reliability seriously working it offroad. On the other hand my old Suzuki would conk out whenever it caught a whiff of water, which I've tried to track down since I've given it to my son and it's pretty basic with about the only electronics on it being electronic ignition.
You bring up good points, which I wasn't even thinking of. I just don't like the look of the knob shift selector in the Ram PU at all. Flame suit on!! FTR it's still my favorite of the full size pick ups though.
Knob is love, knob is life!
For real though, I hate the t-handle shifter... I’d rather have a column shifter!
Previously my wife had a 2014 4cyl Accord, Japanese if I'm not mistaken. Was using oil by 30k miles, starter replaced at around 45k miles, battery within first year, front end paint sand blasted within 2 years. Big disappointment, never again.
The key thing to realize, is that ANY manufacturer can make a lemon. Sometimes problems with a specific vehicle only exist for a model year or two, before the manufacturer identifies and fixes the issue going forward. Usually the truly bad vehicles can be identified through a little research.
