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Hoping you folks can help with some dependability question I have been wondering about for some time now:
As a long time Ameriican car supporter/owner, I never owned a Jeep. I have been having a hankering to change that, and have been seriously been checking out the Cherokee. But as luck would have it, just a few months ago I seen a reliability poll on TV, with the Cherokee coming in first as the worst in reliability. When I searched issues of the vehicle on the net, I read that there has been some problems with the transmission that the dealers seemed to not be able to correct. Also acceleration issues.
Are there any inherited problems like this or others? Maybe certain models/years to avoid?
Of all the similar small SUV's I checked out (not test driving yet), I liked the Cherokee the best. But i have to check out the quality as I can't afford a big mistake.
I see a lot of new vehicles with problems. I think its simply because electronics fail. Especially mass produced ones. New cars have too much electronics for me. That's why I will never own a vehicle newer than 98
Like said which body style or years cherokees are they talking about?We have a lot of members with xjs 200k miles and still rolling and some in the 300k.I have read about one guy that bought his xj new and had 500k on it and still going.But you gotta remember a xj is 15 years old at its youngest so owning something that old can have problems just depends how well its been taken care of over the years.I daily drive a 95 f250 its beat up ugly and high mileage but the thing won't die.But i have always own older stuff for that reason easy and cheap to fix and everything on it is simple not much to go wrong.
A quick perusal of the KL forum shows that a lot of owners are having transmission issues. Some large issues, other just mildly annoying but the number of people reporting problems seems abnormally high. There is a class action lawsuit against Chrysler/Fiat for the 2014 KL specific to transmission problems (Civil Action No. 15-5056 (FLW) (DEA) Stacy Oquendo et al vs. Chrysler Group, LLC). Cars dot com reviewed the 2014 KL (4 cyl. Limited 4x4) and had several major issues with both the transmission and engine. "In our 14,000 mile test we had the oil changed twice although one of those oil changes was a result of having the whole engine replaced."
If you want a brand new jeep i would pass on all of them but the wrangler.The best suv out new would be something import like a toyota or maybe nissan.
I see a lot of new vehicles with problems. I think its simply because electronics fail. Especially mass produced ones. New cars have too much electronics for me. That's why I will never own a vehicle newer than 98
That's a really silly/arbitrary place to draw a line: 98.
Electronics are not inherently unreliable. Even your 92 has loads of electronics--OBDI computer control, electronic TC lockup, electronic transmission speed sensor, electronic speedometer/odometer, electronic TPS and IAC, electronic NSS, O2 sensor feeding data into air:fuel mix, computer controlled timing, and a load more sensors all working in tandem to make your vehicle run correctly.
Similarly, lack of electronics does not make a car more reliable. First gen RX7's have no electronics and are so unreliable that they're only still around because of their fan base's efforts to keep them around. Chevrolet's 2300 4 cyl used in the early-mid 70's Vegas was a "simple," mechanical setup that was trash, too.
Basically: don't oversimplify things. The KL isn't a good vehicle, but that's due to a lot more than just "kids and their darned complicated electronic gizmos." Manufacturers have been making bad models since automobiles were born, and there will always be more bad cars to be made in the future. Likewise, we're not done hitting home runs either.
Last edited by mschi772; Dec 24, 2015 at 08:43 AM.
Should have mentioned. I'm looking to buy new or last year leftover. Is there a separate thread/forum for new models?
Funny. I joined one forum for my 10 year old Equinox and I pretty much was told hit the road as everyone had a new model.
Two different fire hazards, the second of which is caused by water. A Jeep that can't handle water?
The KL is based on the same platform as the Dodge Dart. It's meant to be a low-cost throwaway SUV/minivan replacement for young families who will finance it and expect to trade it for a new vehicle in 3-4 years. The president of Jeep was on television a while back defending it, saying that it wasn't for the enthusiast, but to bring new buyers to the Jeep brand through its styling. He basically implied that if you want a real Jeep, you need to buy a Wrangler.
Should have mentioned. I'm looking to buy new or last year leftover. Is there a separate thread/forum for new models?
Funny. I joined one forum for my 10 year old Equinox and I pretty much was told hit the road as everyone had a new model.
I see a lot of new vehicles with problems. I think its simply because electronics fail. Especially mass produced ones. New cars have too much electronics for me. That's why I will never own a vehicle newer than 98
hell, had a 2001 toyota echo with 180,000 miles on it when i sold it. never any issues other then a muffler and a hub bearing. other then that just routine maintenance..
2007 toyota yaris with 150,000 miles when i gave it to my son. no problems at all. just a muffler and routine maintenance along the way. did the clutch at 150,000.
just sold out 2007 camry at 105,000. no issues with that either. it was a great car. only routine maintenance there too.
new cars are way more reliable in most cases then older stuff. ofcourse there is an exception to every rule though..
I hate to say it but only thing new american i would buy would be a ford truck.A car or suv i would buy something import over anything american right now.
This idea that special consideration needs to be made for "American driving styles" is BS. KL owners on foreign forums (lol) are experiencing the exact same problems.
Is it just a coincidence that JLR (Jaguar-Land Rover Group) has recalled 36,500 Land Rover Evoques (world-wide) over complaints of "...poor gear shift quality, increased transmission noise and the inability to select drive when the vehicle is restarted under certain conditions"? Of course the Land Rover Evoque uses the same ZF 9-speed that the KL uses. I perused several UK Evoque forums and found hundreds of owners complaining about getting "Transmission Fault" warnings along with abnormal, even dangerous transmission behavior. This screen shot is from one of those sites, The Evoque Owner's Club UK. Note the volume of posts in the transmission thread compared to all other issues...
In virtually every case the owner was told they just needed a software update but that never seemed to permanently resolve the issues. Sound familiar? Perhaps they need to make adjustments for UK driving style, too. Oh! And Asia, they're complaining as well.
It should be noted that this transmission is used in dozens of cars including all automatic Maseratis, North American Porsches, Acura TLX and MDXs, European Honda Pilot and CR-V. The vast majority have been complaint free but there have been transmission related recalls for Jeep, Land Rover, and the Acura TLX. Despite being a German company, all ZF9HP transmissions are manufactured in Greenville, SC and Tipton County, IN.
Cherokee Dependability
