JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE 4X4 REVIEW

My car

Had a problem with my ankle so looked for an auto diesel. As I have to cross the peak district I wanted something reliable and tough. Looked around found BMW X5 - engine was too noisy, ride was too hard, loved the gizmo's but they came at a heavy price. Tried a VW Touareg. Got as far as starting it up - bag of spanners.

Tried the Overland, what a revelation. Power was amazing, very comfy, economy has been 30mpg on the nail and lots of kit.

Only problem so far has been the pressure sensors on the tyre valves. 2 of them corroded out and were dangerous. As the car was only just 1 month out of warranty, dealer paid most of the cost.

During the January "Ice Age", when snow and ice covered everything the car did not skid once. The car has now picked up the nickname of the "Goat". In fact with 2 sets of elderly neighbours loaded into the car, it was used as an emergency shopping vehicle.

As my wife has a Cherokee it is interesting to compare the amazing Quadra drive with the Cherokee's traditional 4*4 system - it is light years ahead. Coming out of a junction I watched a Range Rover Sport snake sideways across the road. The "Goat" merely turned and followed. Not the slightest twitch - amazing and VERY, VERY safe.

So far the car has been brilliant, so much car for so little money.

Buy it!

My car

My Grand Cherokee is now 2 and a half years old and has covered 74,000 faultless miles. This is my second one and I have been so impressed with this one, I will be replacing it with another when the time comes around. Very comfortable, loaded with kit (Especially the overland), and handles well in my opinion. Granted its no sports car, but I've certainly never felt that I wish it was better. Great engine (3.0 Mercedes Diesel) and very reliable it would seem!! (74K Faultless!) Deserves higer ratings from whatCar. I would choose one over the default discovery hands down. The jeep also doesnt suffer from the Snob image that BMW's and others seem to suffer from.

I would highly reccomend the Grand Cherokee! One happy customer :)

My car

The road tests don't show that this is a really good tow car for big loads - It really tows over 3 tons effortlessly. It is the best tow car for stability I've had since the good old Isuzu Trooper - only much more powerful and comfortable.

I don't understand the test comments on cornering - it is less of a yachting experience than a Range Rover at almost half the price.

It is also quicker on all acceleration tests than all the diesel opposition especially the 2.7 Disco slugs and absolutely leaves shoguns for dead. So, it uses slightly more fuel than the previous 5 cylinder model? In the real world, Shoguns and Discos use more fuel trying to keep up.

yes the inside is plasticy - but mud wipes off very well. I don't buy a 4x4 for any pose value and if I didn't need to tow a 3 tonne loaded horse trailer, go off-road or do both at once; I would buy a Mercedes C320 and enjoy the same engine in a vehicle made to go fast round corners.

bad points? too easy to switch lights off completely when dipping main beam, needs pockets behind both front seats and generally more passenger storage pockets/bins.

My car

I just bought the 3.0 crd auto with 30000 m on it .it looks and drive very nice indeed. much much better than the frontera i had , i hop it will gose well with me as i have had very bad luck with the frontera although it was almost new a lot of things went wrong please wish me luck ,