USED Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 (05 - 10)

My car

Yes, I bought the 5.7 petrol model, but i did manage to get it at just about half price brand new from the dealer as nobody would buy it. This car lives in rural France most of its life and is perfect for this environment. The half price saving will go a long way to offset the amount of petrol i now have to buy. The car will do about 250 miles on 60-65 litres of petrol, which i think is not too bad. This car is full of dogs and fishing gear and the interior is well up to the task as it is not too complicated to clean. On the road, the performance is simply astonishing for such a large car, overtaking is a breeze as the car is still in second gear at over 80mph. I plan to keep this car and convert it to lpg as it is about 40p a litre in France and this would make a very frugal run around. To sum up, the cost of purchase plus the conversion comes in at below 20K, when compared against the high twenties for a CRD (without sat nav as standard). This is a very overlooked model in the Jeep range. However i would not like to run one in the stop-start traffic in England as i think you would be lucky to get 150 miles out of a tank!!! This model has now been discontinued in England but is still available to purchase here in France, tells you something about the political status of the large 4X4 in England...

My car

There are very few cars that can pull a big horsebox trailer weighing more than 3tons. It is a superb tow vehicle with, lots of power & very easy to reverse.

Superb engine and transmission. Its ability to go over our Scottish countryside and not get stuck is outstanding. Consumption is about 22-23 mpg. Long run about 26.

It is often critiscised for not being as big as the opposition. I am an OAP and only need 2 seats, occasionally 4 but never 7! I also wanted something that was comfortable & quiet and easy to get in and out of. It scores well on all counts.

I am old fashioned & rather like its dashboard and interior. Climate control is great - I never need alter it from Auto.

Sat Nav is fun but difficult to set as few people I know have street numbers and I cannot find destinations easily!

I have only had it for 7000 miles but I too have had slight problems with the electrics. Dead flat battery one morning. Suddenly locked itself, with the keys in the ignition, as I was standing beside it.

Service & rescue from Border cars in Dumfries 1st class. (The same person also owns one of the better eating establishments in this part of the world and gives promotional rates for car purchasers!!)

I am very pleased with both car and agent. The discount off the vehicle made even the cheapest Land Rover products look expensive.

As somebody who used to own a pair of Bristols, it is feels rather similar - old fashioned, comfortable and goes like s*** off a shovel.

My car

I bought a used Limited CRD at just over a year old with sat-nav and a sunroof. I'm very pleased with it.

It's a good looking car, it's comfortable, has lots of standard kit, is good value (not over-imposing or pretentious) and has excellent towing and off road ability unlike some of the 'Pretenders'.

The drive is very good for a real 4x4 and it has a gem of an engine courtesy of Mercedes. It's the same engine as the ML320 CDI, and it eturns an average of 28mpg.

I took the family to Croatia and back on holiday and it proved faultless. I saw some wonderful sights off-road and I am still amazed at what it can do.

If you want a 'Gucci' interior and no ability then look at the 'pretenders'. I looked at the Land Rover Discovery 3 but it was just too ugly, unreliable and expensive for a car with a Peugeot engine. The Range Rover is different, but so is the price tag.

My car

I know I've only owned this car for 15 days, but I am like a kid when Christmas comes early. Why didn’t I buy one of these before?

Well I can more or less answer that one: I’ve held back until now. Not that the petrols are a problem - they’re not, they’re bulletproof. Here in grossly overtaxed Britain, though, we don’t have a choice - fuel economy decides which model you go for.

Why did I wait? Well, because Jeep’s amalgamation with Chrysler into the Daimler-Benz family. This means Chrysler/Jeep can avail themselves of the best-in-class 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel engine.

This engine and gearbox were made for each other and are absolute gems. If you don’t keep an eye on the rev counter, you won’t notice the changes, so smooth is the operation.

The pleasurable qualities don’t stop there. The electronically controlled suspension is also a gem, whether on badly pitted surfaces or the smoothest of roads. In fact, you could be forgiven for mistakenly thinking you are travelling in a limo instead of a 4x4, so good is the suspension.

THe car is whisper-quiet inside and outside while stationary - if it didn’t have the 'CRD' badge on the rear , hardly anyone can tell it’s a diesel. Oh and the Boston sound system is to die for also. The build quality is now up there with the best of them.

I could elaborate but I'm out of characters.