26th Sep 2006, 12:28
I owned a Jeep Liberty Limited, which a glass company damaged while replacing the windshield.
They rented me a "similar" vehicle for the week while it was repaired. The choice they gave me was a Nissan Xterra or the CR-V. Because I heard so many good things about the CR-V, I chose the Honda.
I couldn't wait to get out of the Honda & back into my Jeep.
7th Oct 2006, 13:30
I have the 2006 Grand Cherokee Limited with the 5.7L Hemi engine. The WK class is new for the 2005 and later model years.
I find it has an excellent ride, especially when compared to a Ford Explorer and several other SUVs in it's class. Only the VW Toureg had better on-road handling. The JGC is much more car-like on-road than any other Jeep I've owned. I've driven it on wet pavement (right after it starts raining) and the traction control kept it completely under control with no wheel slip or swerving, even when MASHING the pedal from a stop. But then again most new SUVs have this same sort of control.
Yeah, cloth interiors suck. If you don't get them treated right from the start or get covers for them there's nothing you can do to prevent staining. This is true for nearly everyone's cloth (not vinyl) seats. I'd never recommend the cloth interior on any vehicle.
I've got the leather interior and I've had it get rained on quite heavily (forgot to close the window) and it cleaned up good as new. I may live to regret getting the light khaki tan color given my track record on spilling coffee...
I'd question just how poorly that rental was previously treated to have it act up like that. I don't think I'd ever make quality statements about a vehicle by judging what a rental vehicle looked like (unless I was among the first of it's drivers). I'd be doubly skeptical of how a 4WD vehicle had been treated in a mountainous region. I likewise would never judge a vehicle's long-term durability based on a rental being beat up. People *abuse* rental cars, almost for fun. No vehicle owned by someone responsible is ever going to fail like an abused rental would.
I've driven the Honda CR-V and there's no comparison. The Honda's a fine vehicle. But in comparison to a JGC I found it has considerably less power, much cheaper quality interior feel and poorer road handling. So did the wife.
I've demoed several JCG this past week during my search for a new vehicle and none exhibited any sort of fit and finish troubles. I did find the V6 to be underpowered, it had to really wind up the revs to get things going and tended to downshift a lot. I would not recommend the V6 engine choice. The 4.7L V8 is a very good engine choice. I got the 5.7L hemi simply because that was present on the one I got the best deal on. With the Hemi engine it's fast, scary fast. You step on that gas and, boom, you're off the line pretty darn quick. If you don't need or want the added power I think the 4.7L would be acceptable to most people.
As for cargo space, I found it equal to other SUVs in it's class. No worse, no better. You have to move up to something like an Explorer to get better storage. And since the wife complained the Explorer "drives like a bus" after having demoed some JGCs and a Toureg that nixed it. I do recall the Xterra having more cubby-hole spaces, but I dislike it's handling and interior.
So no, it's not as fuel efficient as smaller SUVs. It's on-par with others in it's weight/power class (and it beats my old Bronco hands-down). It's a very comfortable SUV with car-like on-road handling, and Jeep's heritage for off-road handling.
27th Oct 2006, 13:27
Actually Jeep Used Round headlights all through the 60's and 70's under the name "grand wagoneer" when they reached the 80's the switched to rectangular, then switched to the name Grand Cherokee and kept the shape until 2005 and switched back to round.
4th Jan 2007, 12:28
I had a malfunctioning power window. It was fixed under warranty, but I expect it will be a recurring problem due to poor quality and design (the plastic parts are actually too weak for the electrical window motor to which they're coupled). Fuel economy has also been disappointing.
25th Sep 2006, 22:29
Interesting comments. The poster who commented on the Jeep's lousy ride and terrible fit and finish hit the nail on the head. I traded in my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee for a 2006 Honda Pilot late last year and I haven't looked back. The quality can't be compared between the two; I've got a nicer ride that will hold its value and the difference in mileage has been an added benefit as gas prices rose.
Buy what you want, but do some comparing. As far as I'm concerned, my Jeep versus my Honda was not even close.
To the poster who rented a CR-V, it's pretty unique that you managed to even get one. Rental companies typically use the cheaper vehicles in their class; hence, compact SUV rentals are typically Ford Escapes and Chev Blazers. Jeep Cherokees are pretty typical for larger SUV rentals.