2015 Jeep Cherokee Review
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You are going to get noticed in the new Jeep Cherokee. It’s designed to polarise opinion - so you’re either going to love it or hate it. There’s not much in between. The Jeep Cherokee's doors shut like bank vaults. And then you’re heading off down the road … the ride quality is excellent. It’s nice and quiet inside the cabin. There’s plenty of premium materials that have been used inside the cockpit. You could be mistaken for thinking The Jeep Cherokee is actually a much more expensive SUV. The new Jeep Cherokee proves that Jeep is on the fast track. Maybe it’s not quite there yet, but it’s certainly trending in the right direction. There are four models in the range - Sport, Longitude, Limited and Trailhawk. Jeep Cherokee Sport is pretty much a price leader - with a recommended retail of $33,500. Jeep Cherokee Longitude is $39 grand, and that’s all-wheel drive (but no low range). Jeep Cherokee Longitude and Cherokee Sport both ride on 17-inch alloys and have five-inch centre displays and reversing cameras standard. Longitude adds climate control, auto wipers, auto headlamps and a power tailgate. Another five grand will get you into the petrol Jeep Cherokee Limited, for a total of $44k - plus on-road costs. Also all-wheel drive (no low range). Moderate off-road ability, dirt roads, fun at the beach, towing - all good. Limited gets a bigger 7-inch centre display, bi-xenon lamps, nine-speaker Alpine audio, leather, 18-inch alloys, and some other premium inclusions. Here’s where it gets curly - the diesel is only available in the Jeep Cherokee Limited. The outputs really aren’t that staggering - 125kW and 350Nm from 2.0 litres. And the Jeep Cherokee diesel is - amazingly - another five grand over the price of the petrol. That’s a lot to fork out for an engine - but you also get low range. So really, you’re getting an engine and a more advanced driveline. You’re looking at $49 grand plus on-road costs for the Jeep Cherokee Limited diesel. The one I want is the Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk - but I want it with the diesel, which I can’t have. Because they don’t do that. Pity. Rock crawling program built into the drive system, back to 17-inch alloys (with more sidewall, for better off-road compliance) and an improved approach angle thanks to the different lower front bumper design. And the red recovery points - gotta love them. Trailhawk is $1500 less than the diesel Jeep Cherokee Limited.
Comments
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Just Empty Every Pocket
Just Expect Expensive Parts -
Yeah I have a 2004 Grand Cherokee- stay away from them, full of problems. Oil leaks, ball joints, windows, climate control, electrical, and now transmission. The 4.0 inline six is bulletproof, just leaks oil.
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to bad FCA makes shit boxs
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9 speed piece of shit vehicle
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Owning a new vehicle is for the wealthy, not just because of the purchase price but also because of the terrible reliability.
I've read how those new auto
transmissions with more gears are having a lot of failures in virtually all automakers and are terribly expensive to replace.
I blame my parents for not being wealthy.
For now, I'll stick with my '96 Buick century with 101,000 original miles and its front end looks a bit like a eagle just like the new jeep! -
Didn't this thing kill that star trek kid?
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The new cherokee, over designed and under powered. Weighs more, hauls less, less torque, less steal, and zero offroading capability. . . Oh how I miss the old 4.0 beasts of yesteryear. Good video though.
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The Jeep is nothing more than a 4x4 Fiat. It's a piece of shit.
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Had a Jeep Cherokee KL Diesel for 6 months. Electronic gremlins, interior pieces lose, transmission issues, two snapped alternator belts. The car was involved in an accident and was written off. I'm still getting recall letters from FCA! Now driving a Santa Fe Highlander for 18 months and had the GPS/Radio unit replaced, part of the tailgate replaced and now have a faulty transmission. The Santa Fe is often praised highly, but I wouldn't purchase another one, as the quality of the car is not as good as they make it out to be. The interior quality should be much better for a car at $50K+ (AUS)
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I drove 50k in Trailhawk in two years. I did long road trips across California, Nevada, Arizona (Grand Canyon, Death Valley) twice. I have done off-roading in Death Valley, Oceano Dunes, Hollister Park, Tahoe and few smaller ones.
Maybe I'm lucky but I haven't been in a service other than for scheduled service and oil change.
Not a single time have I experienced any issues with the car.
Yes, 9-speed transmission is not the best ever. First of it can hunt for the gears and second 9th gear is useless because the only time I'm able to get it to switch to it is above 90mph (145km/h). However tranny aside the engine is good, the interior is very functional with very good materials and the off-road capabilities of Trailhawk are amazing. With 4-low and aggressive AT Destination tires (stock) this thing can crawl over anything. Sure, the 8.7in (22cm) ground clearance is not going to win any 4x4 contests but it's more then adequate for fun off-roading for 99% of people. Add to this skid plates protecting your bottom and it's really hard to beat this package.
The best part this Jeep is it does 19-22mpg (12.5-10.5 l/100km)in the city, depending on your driving style, and 25-30mpg (9.5 - 7.5 l/100km) on the highway. I have a led foot and drive 80-90mph and I still do 25mpg on the highway. When I put this on cruise control at 70mph I did 30mpg. Really? In over 4000lbs car that is 4x4 capable, with 4-low and diff lock. I think it's very good result. And when you floor it it will still do 0-60mph in less than 8 seconds thus outrunning most of SUVs in this class. Not bad at all.
I have friends with much less off-road capable Japanese cars with anemic engines that barely can touch 10s 0-60mph let alone do 8s and they are doing the same or worse on fuel efficiency.
The car is very comfortable and quiet. You hear very little wind noise or road noise (which is surprising considering off-road biased tires) even at 80mph. Doing a long road trips in it is just great.
So depending what you need from the car your milage my vary when choosing from competition SUVs. If you buy it as a daily commuter and grocery car than sure something like Hyundai Santa Fe, CRV will probably be better choice. However if you want a car that you can do a long trips to remote destination that will include fair bit of off-roading than Trailhawk wins hand's down with Rav4s and Santa Fe's of the world.
And the final word. If you decide to get new Cherokee seriously go for the Trailhawk. This is by far the best looking of the bunch it's also best equipped and most fun to drive.
Frankly I think that regular versions just look quite unimpressive if not outright ugly. There are seemingly few little changes to bumpers, lift, wheels but they render Trailhawk looking like a completely different car.
And under no circumstances choose the pathetic 2.4l engine...3.2V6 is the way to go with Trailhawk. -
Love jeep
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Our personal experience of owning Trailhawk : its a piece of crap. The reason we bought it back in July 2016 because it's 4WD but it fails to deliver. We live in hilly area and it struggles. Gear change is so damn poor, makes clunky noise, loose power during the roundabout take off and uphill roads; and sometimes when we hit the break it actually accelerated for a second! Been in and out to service center and they couldnt find out whats wrong with the transmission. what they did just reset the program (5 times!) and it has caused the fuel consumption to 15 ltr (way more than the advertisement). One day, my husband already put the gear on Parking mode but the car didnt recognise it and it didnt turn off. So it had to be towed away and off the road for a week. And another bad experience was when we did our regular service, they found out that there was a crack in our steering rack. WTF! Again, the car was off the road for 3 weeks! This car has so many problems and all of these happened within 1 year of use! Sent letter to Australia headquarter and the dealer, and no response at all. We feel so unsafe in this car, i guess they will only start paying attention until someone is dead!! Save your money and maintain your blood pressure, if you're thinking to buy Jeep, better spend your money somewhere else!
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you insist Santa Fe is the industries best SUV, a "benchmark" as you said in your video - I say you are in error but please explain anyway without your overdosing on your emotions
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benchmarking is comparing the Jeep to the vehicle industries best - Hyundai Santa Fe = industries best? on objective criteria? don't think so
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for me the volume was intuitive but I've driven some other cars that already had this feature for years hymm lets see, Mitsubishi, eclipse, pajero, outlander,
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We are still driving a 2007 Jeep GC with the MB 3.0L CRD. As much as I love diesels, not sure I would spend that much on a diesel again, as that MB CRD has been a nightmare over the years even with modification and tuning to bypass design flaws. Now the damn oil cooler is leaking...and where is that? wedged in the V of the cylinders...ofc.
Does this smaller 2.0 diesel require any additives or crazy stuff like that? -
Jeep is capturing people's hearts w their cars, nicely appointed and very capable, fun rides and from what I've seen their dependability is improving .. The Wrangler actually has a good track record on reliability
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However, a good review
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How does he not know the volume n skipping functions r behind the wheel? Jeep has been doing that forever
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Are you serious?? Owners Manual is your way to get the most out of any car. Chrysler products follow the track and volume control behind the steering wheel. If you are the Auto Expert you claim, an owners manual read is not a bad idea. Here you will find maintenance information, capacities and other specifics. I agree with on the Diesel. Jeep and SUVs in general are the ultimate with Diesels. Power density, and efficiency are amazing. I am in the U.S.A. Interesting your model is called "Longitude" as we call it Latitude here. I enjoyed your review though. By the way I own a 2014 Jeep Latitude, and as much as I love it, reliability is not stellar. I may go with the Kia Sorento, or Mazda CX-5 next time. But really, don't make owners manuals a downer as they are the bibles to getting the most out of your vehicle. This coming from a non Auto Expert. Just an Auto enthusiast. Cheers.
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