Great pickup w/ the V8, ergonomics are good. Steering wheel controls for stereo are great. Good storage space.

None so far

I'm a big fan of German engineering (my other car is a Porsche and my wife drives an Audi), but needed something to tow my track car with and to use in winter. BMW and MB don't make anything that fits the bill, so I started looking at domestic stuff.

My priorities were: adequate towing capacity, ergonomics, 4WD and luxury. I looked at the Explorer XLT (which felt cheap and rode horribly), the Nissan Pathfinder (not enough towing capacity and too much money for what you get), the Dodge Durango (great towing capacity but not so great in the luxury area) and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

I'm really very happy so far with the Jeep. It has proven to be quite comfortable on long trips and pulls well with the V8. I haven't needed the 4WD yet but expect it to work well for me in winter and on occasional off-road adventures.

The leather seats are comfy but the leather itself is of a lower quality than I would like. The stereo sounds surprisingly good, it rides pretty well and functions smoothly. For the price I can't think of a better SUV.

That being said, I'll probably opt for a Yukon Denali, a Yukon XL Denali or their Chevrolet equivalent next time. They offer a lot more towing capacity and more amenities (although the price is higher).

It's not that the Jeep is bad, in fact I'm extremely happy with it so far, but that the GM offerings fit my usage better.

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First SUV

It looks good inside and out, decent stereo, great off-road ability. I'm pleased with the handling on the interstate.

Well, the first thing was the rear-end. It made a crazy noise when we would come to a stop after driving about 50 miles. Took it to the dealer, thank God it was still under waranty, no problems with it since. Now the air conditioner has failed. The hoses that run from the compressor to the dryer have rusted and leaked out all the freon. I've never seen this in any car much less one that is only 3 years old. And of course the waranty is long gone, so I'm waiting for a figure on that. This scares the @#%! out of me because I really do like my jeep. We are at this time thinking of trading, but I've got my fingers crossed that we don't.

I would recommend it, but only for the looks. Its really sad when you buy a car on payments and have to make major repairs which are two the three times your monthly payment. With this SUV, buy the extended warranty. If anyone else has had a simular problem with the air conditioning system please email me at jeauxandric@hotmail.com.

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Had a friend with a S10 Blazer, wouldn't own one. I do like the 4runners.

Looks,Power,Ergonomics

Driveshaft slipage when turning left, seems like a universal problem with V8Quadradrive

So far so good, reviews leave me pondering future...

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1st SUV

Its compact exterior design really helps to ease my precious garage space. It is actually much shorter than my Nissan Maxima which is not a big car either. However, its interior is actually more spacious for my family with two teenage sons than either a regular sedan or other SUV that I used to own before. I also really appreciate its design compared to my other SUV or other sedans. Whoever designed it did a wonderful job. I can feel the warmth heart and inviting philosophy of the designer. Frankly saying, there are a very few cars or SUVs that actually give me such a nice and comforting feeling. For example, German cars are not so much comforting as Jeep Grand Cherokee. Rather they constantly ask the driver to drive harder and harder. My preliminary analysis is as following, Jeep has been around a long time and it reached its maturity (or actually gone beyond already while showing its aging). However, it is somewhat honest about its origin and the later transformation to Grand Cherokee while communicating its somewhat attractive quirkiness with me. I guess the closest thing is the quirkiness of British Sports car that seems the jewel of those creatures. Copying or recreating such subtle feelings with a modern computer based engineering seems impossible yet.
Smoother ride that my other SUV that I used to own.
Believe of not, Grand Cherokee is one of the few that still use a non-independent front suspension design. I doubt its effectiveness before I bought mine, but it seems working fine. However, it gives a distinctive advantage over "modern independent suspension design". The solid axial design can guarantees its ground clearance regardless of terrain under the front axial.
Gas milage is not so bad compared with my old minivan. I use my Grand Cherokee for commuting in Boston area and I am getting 20+ MPG, which is actually better than my old minivan or my other SUV. Finally, here is my humble opinion about a gas milage. There are two important factors -- one is an automobile itself, and the other is how aggressive the driver is. If a Grand Cherokee is driven aggressively, then it will not get 20+ MPG. At least my Grand Cherokee does not beg my aggressive driving unlike my other German car which has a much smaller high revolving engine. After all my Grand Cherokee is neither a sports car or a high performance sedan.

Fit and finish is one of the worst automobiles that I have ever owned. However, it has never forced me to take it back to deliver for repair for the last two and half years. In this regards, it is actually one of the best that I have ever owned. To be fair with my Grand Cherokee, it have never met my standard. For example, it is not idling smoothly and often hard to start engine and various noise from the engine bay. I am still doubting of its f mechanical reliability.

My Grand Cherokee is not a truck or a truck derivative. Believe or not, this factor makes difference to my ownership experience compared with my other SUV which has a truck origin. Please listen (or try to feel) your SUV what it says to you. At least my Grand Cherokee gives me really warmth and honest feeling to me. However, its poor fits and finish always bother me. Frankly saying that my Grand Cherokee could be my best SUV only if it is built by a manufacturer who can do better job than Chrysler.

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Grand Cherokee is simply much better than my other SUV that has a truck origin.

Looks great. Leather seats are nice quality and very comfortable. Plenty of power with the V8. Good ride and handling.

Reliability! It is unbelievable that a supposed luxury vehicle could make more clunking sounds than the 1987 Honda Prelude that it replaced.

What an absolute hunk of junk. Funny how clunk, hunk, and junk all rhyme. This is the first North American vehicle that I have purchased. Never again. Tried out the Lexus RX300 and the Toyota 4-Runner.

Great ride, lovely leather seats that clean up well after kids.
Good Stability and traction.
Heated seats and individual driver profiles for seats, mirrors and radio settings is addictive. I couldn't go back to a car that didn't have it.

My jeep suffers from the after-stop-drivetrain-clunk syndrome.
My heated seat on the passenger side stopped working right after the warranty expired - i had a 3 yr one.
All the stripping around the moon roof is coming off.
All the molding around the doors is coming off.
The carpet got wet once, and I have to constantly clean and deodorize it to keep it from smelling like a hockey player after a long game.
The full size tire in the back limits the amount of stuff you can put there. (big problem)

I've had this car since 1996 - the longest I've ever owned a vehicle without getting tired of it. I love the classic look, and let's be honest here, jeep set the standard for suv. Bought it on the recommendation of my then boyfriend who also was a test driver for a large tire company.

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We also own a chevy Tahoe. It's great. I can load anything in it. It's also a good value and is very reliable. It's also extremely comfortable and has a great ride. I've had it for over a year and haven't had any problems with it at all !!

Very powerful. Looks great. Lots of room inside(with spare removed) to load up with bikes etc.. Good on snow and wet.

Really poor braking, rotors are far to small and tend to warp.
Too front heavy. Serious understeer when roads are wet. It's almost impossible to do a sharp u-turn, the truck wants to go straight. Gas guzzler to the extreme..12 miles per gallon. Rattles and sqeaks galore.
Jeep is not know for its tight fit and finish. Wears out tires due to all the torque on the rear wheels.

Overall a good truck. Much better than my Land Rover. As mentioned above I have found the brakes to be very poorly designed. The truck nose dives and tends to shake under heavy braking. Far to much weight on front suspension.
Had to put on slotted rotors to prevent warping due to exccesive heat build up during braking. Goes through pads and rotors like their goin out of style. It is good truck in poor weather and off roading. Tonnes of power. Off the line it will beat a BMW 540i no kidding...! Lots of torque.
Slowing down is much harder. Handles well at high speed, very predictable.
This truck however nice is no engineering masterpiece. Very primitive engine. If it was designed by BMW with same engine it would have 700 horse power. Two valve per cylinder, push rods, no variable valve timing etc...
The truck has gotten the worst gas milage I have ever experienced. I expected poor gas milage when buying a 5.9l engine but not 12mpg or worse.
I might as well take the blame for partially destroying the earth by owning the truck and wasting that much fossel fuel. I am now the owner of a BMW 530i that gets 22mpg and is much..much more fun to drive.

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Land Rover Discovery and Toyota 4runner. Puts the Land rover to shame. Far more reliable. I actually prefer ther 4runner over the Jeep for everyday use.

Looks, reliability, traction in snow.

Choppy ride

$23,000. I bought one of the left-over 98s when the 99s had come out. Having had bad luck with first year new designs, I thought I would rather take my chances with a design that had been out for 5 years. I have not been disappointed, although the rear wheel bearings had to be replaced at 25,000 miles under warranty. I now have 40,000 miles on the Jeep plus another 4-5000 being towed behind my motor home. It was great to have in the Baja, and we use it extensively here in Oregon to drive over the Cascades to skiing near Bend, Oregon. I opted for the Select-shift so that I did not have to drive in FWD all of the time, but I can if I want to do so. I like the heated mirrors, but I should not have left out the electric seats.

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2 old Wagoneers, 89 S10 Blazer, 81 Bronco, 93 GC Limited, 96 GC Laredo V8; this is the low-end of Laredos, but I purposely bought it that way, and it compares well with the other SUVs I've owned.

- Awesome V-8, faster 0-60 than most sports sedans!
- Luxury leather interior on Ltd.
- Brakes are outstanding, better braking than a subcompact!
- Handling very carlike, outclasses Ford, good cornering.
- Interior controls have good feel.
- Steering wheel CD/radio controls are outstanding.

Do buy if you want a *fast* SUV with amazing handling - this is a drivers car.

- A/C not as efficient as Japanese cars.
- Ride noisier than a luxury car at 65mph.
- Slight drivetrain clunk after stopping (design fault with most JGCs).
- Automatic gearbox not especially smooth.
- Get around 14-15mpg on a freeway/traffic commute (V8).

These are all relatively minor.

Don't buy if you want Mercedes like quiet ride or wanted Honda reliability. When comparing pricing with other models you may want to price in the extended warranty to the JGC's price to account for reliability issues mentioned by others.

PRE APRIL 99 BUILDS CAN BE LEMONS: (I believe the build date is on the driver's door sill) It appears that Chrysler noticed many defects in the initial runs of the new design JGC. Many of the issues appeared to be ironed out by April 99. I have a June 99 build which is definitely not a lemon. It does not pull to the right, has outstanding breaking and in general I am not yet unhappy with it's service record. Drivers switching from Hondas/other reliable makes may not match expectations.

Within the last 18 months, 16k miles experienced the following:
- power steering line blew because of contact with steering rack & pinion unit (car undrivable, had to be towed in)
- driver's electric window stopped working (dealership reports this is a very common problem)

Recommend that you get a manufacturers warranty (bargain - you should get them at least 25% below asking price on warrantty) to overcome the chances of getting a lemon.

Overall terrific drivers car - handling, acceleration(V8), braking are top of class. Get the V8 which is easily worth the money, gets almost the same mpg as the V6 but is more fun to drive. Ltd makes interior like a "limo", but it's still an SUV so there are a few harsh edges.

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GMC Envoy - very plasticky interior, NOT a luxury SUV. No comparison.
Ford Explorer - handles luck a truck, JGC handles more like a car.
Toyota 4Runner - get a V8 JGC and watch them go by in the rear view mirror. 4Runner has more trunk space but is underpowered.

good traction in snow, rain, or mud. looks are good. comfortable ride.
the grand cherokee offers a lot of room for all your buddies to pile in and head for the hill.

very top heavy, easy to tip. recently, i was coming down the hill when the front passanger side tire poped causing the jeep to do a 180 and come to a halt only to slowly tip over to rest on its top. it SUCKED!!!

over all it's a good ride, very tough and ruged and looks cool w/ 2"lift and 32" tires. for the price i paid it's a good way to the hill. i would recommend the grand cherokee for someone looking for an affortable luxury suv.

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chevy suberbun