Faults:

The car had been going beautifully, but, we were cruising along the highway and the coolant light came on. We put in 2 litres of water and then drove 60 km home.

Next morning there was oil all over the left side of the engine, and oil in the coolant, although the temperature gauge and oil gauge were showing normal.

Next morning, started it up and it had a knock in the motor. At this stage we don't know where the problem is, seems to be more at the top of the motor not down below. Any suggestions? Why didn't the oil or temperature gauge change?

It has had every service, has never used oil or water in the time we have had it, it towed our caravan beautifully, and have never had any trouble until now.

Faults:

Had to replace the driver's side tail light; the reverse circuit burned out. Found an inexpensive one at an auto recyclers.

Head gasket blew at 202,000KM.

General Comments:

After reading some of the reviews, and all things considered, I've been fairly happy with my Jeep.

I paid $7600 CDN for it last year (thought I would pick up something reasonable during the recession) to replace my 1992 Cherokee Limited. I bought that one a year old with 28,000 KMS and gave it to my nephew (going in for auto mechanics at college) at 550,000 KMS!!! It was going to need some repairs, and at its age, with the driving I do, I decided a newer car was in order.

The ride, and all other features have been fantastic. There are some usual Jeep squeaks and rattles from time to time, and the lack of a glove box lock is annoying. I don't think the engine was maintained by the previous owner, as the first oil change we did, the dipstick had sludge on it. The dealer said he changed the oil before we picked it up? Who knows?

When I was driving last January in -18C weather, the truck overheated. I was able to get back on the road again, and when I got home, it overheated again. The mechanic said it was low on coolant (no leaks however), and was fine until last August on a 30C day when it overheated.

I found out the had gasket was blown and the head was cracked. The motor shop said it was probably done back in January and not diagnosed properly at the time. Instead of spending $7000 on a Mopar rebuild from the dealer, I had a $3000.00 complete motor with 60K put in (decent warranty on it too). No problems since. Just impressed that it ran that long, used no oil, and didn't constantly use coolant between January and August. I commute 105KM to work and back every day.

I know some of these 4.7L engines have issues, but I don't think this can be blamed on Chrysler, but myself for not checking out the full service history of the Jeep, and the possibly lack of care the previous owner's fault. Otherwise, so far so good. The only thing I miss is the leather seats on my Limited. I would buy another though!