Good value 4x4s

[Coolbanana]

jamiebae said:

Personally, I think the Cherokee in general feels cheap and nasty but that's just my opinion and others may like it!

It's isn't any cheaper or nastier than the X-Trail or Vitara of the same age. It isn't comparable to the Germans of course. The current crop of Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee are light years away from those earlier vehicles and can actually compete against much more refined competition but the earlier models were definitely not trying to compete against more luxury Marques.

I've always found Jeep's to represent good value overall and wished I'd bought a 2006 Cherokee instead of my 2006 X-Trail (which I'm now getting rid of next Tuesday).

[jamiebae]

Coolbanana said:

It's isn't any cheaper or nastier than the X-Trail or Vitara of the same age. It isn't comparable to the Germans of course. The current crop of Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee are light years away from those earlier vehicles and can actually compete against much more refined competition but the earlier models were definitely not trying to compete against more luxury Marques.

I've always found Jeep's to represent good value overall and wished I'd bought a 2006 Cherokee instead of my 2006 X-Trail (which I'm now getting rid of next Tuesday).

The Vitara is not a nice car either, but was a lot cheaper when new. The X-Trail is a much nicer proposition than the Jeep for me though, the interior is nicer, it's better put together and is much more refined. Certainly, it's not as good off road or at towing but as a car there's no contest. Having done a few long journeys in a 2010 diesel Cherokee I'd genuinely rather have been in my late 90s Honda CRV or Subaru Forester.

As I said, that's just my opinion, and having seen a few Cherokee diesels in workshops with totally destroyed top ends (cam belt tensioner failures) probably affects my view on them too.

[Coolbanana]

jamiebae said:

Having done a few long journeys in a 2010 diesel Cherokee I'd genuinely rather have been in my late 90s Honda CRV or Subaru Forester.

Have a go in the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee - amazing how far they have come nowadays and they are finally going after the European market in earnest. I've had a LR Discovery 4 and two Range Rovers (2011 RRE and 2010 RRS) and was about to buy a 2012 full fat Range Rover but ordered a new J GC Summit instead as it is a genuinely good vehicle in every respect. I've always liked Jeep's but not over any of the LR products - this new one has changed my views in that it can compete favourably and so I'm giving it a go for something different to my previous 4x4's.

The new Cherokee is also a nice drive albeit the styling is not for everyone - myself included.

[jamiebae]

I'm sure the 2014 model is totally different, but it's aimed at a completely different market to the last model. It's based on an FWD Fiat Group platform, and runs a Fiat Multijet diesel and the old model was a separate chassis N/S mounted engined proper 4x4.

Also, I agree, the new one doesn't look great... I've seen a couple of them on the road and they don't look any better in the flesh than they do in the photos sadly!

Anyway, thread hijack over - OP, either buy a Cherokee or don't, depending on who you listen to

[MX51ROD]

Fuel consumption seems to be an issue in the later posts
Well a Tiguan doing this for 60 miles from south London to fleet in Hampshire


Did This



Not bad eh

[imagineifyeswill]

Most small 4x4s suv,s have very little space in the back for child seats, most large 4x4s will struggle to better 28mpg on diesel. I had a low mileage 4.0l Jeep Grand Cherokee,lovely vehicle 20mpg on a run, around town 4-5. The Dodge Nitro is aterrible vehicle.

[Marko10010]

What is so bad about the dodge nitro? Anybody have much experience of them?

[Spanglepants]

I was considering a Grand Cherokee diesel ( early 2000s model) as my next car but Autotrader listed them as £485 tax per year - give that a miss then.

[sawman]

I ran a V6 petrol nitro in canada for a year, it was fine, tbh. Its not a drivers car, but then you wouldnt expect it to be. It is closely related to the KK cherokee, except that it doesnt have the same sophistication in the 4x4 gubbins - it is mainly RWD but you can switch 4x4 on manually, but only at speeds up to 30 (i think) on packed icey roads with regular tyres I never had any significant traction issues

The diesel option is pretty poor, and I dont think the manual transmission is the slickest in the world - ours was auto and again fine.

[ChocolateFrog]

Coolbanana said:

Have a go in the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee - amazing how far they have come nowadays and they are finally going after the European market in earnest. I've had a LR Discovery 4 and two Range Rovers (2011 RRE and 2010 RRS) and was about to buy a 2012 full fat Range Rover but ordered a new J GC Summit instead as it is a genuinely good vehicle in every respect. I've always liked Jeep's but not over any of the LR products - this new one has changed my views in that it can compete favourably and so I'm giving it a go for something different to my previous 4x4's.

The new Cherokee is also a nice drive albeit the styling is not for everyone - myself included.

Just don't attempt the moose test in one, ;-)

[rallycross]

peterbredde said:

Hyundai Santa Fe? My wife's has been faultless and the interior space is massive, especially the boot.

These are a good suggestion the new shape from 2006 diesel is within budget they look quite nice / modern and are well built the ones we had were diesel auto approx 90k miles and no major issues, check all the electrics work, engine is a noisy thing with not much power but gives great mpg.

[jfbrin]

We have had the santa fe for the wife for nearly 6 years. The auto is ponderous on the shifts and hit economy. We had it remapped which really did a good job. Mpg went from 30 average to 33/34 (measured). More if you are steady on the motorway. 7 seats very handy for multi kid runs or 7 people to the restaurant but I would not be comfortable using them on the motorway as there is nothing behind them in the event of a rear shunt.
No engine trouble of note and wife loves it. Stick a roof box on it and she will accommodate most holiday adventures!
Hope to get the new shape next as that looks a step up in refinement.
I would go for the manual though for the better economy and the CDX or CDX+ for the extras

[Phateuk]

Spanglepants said:

I was considering a Grand Cherokee diesel ( early 2000s model) as my next car but Autotrader listed them as £485 tax per year - give that a miss then.

That tax band didn't come into play until 2005/06 time so won't be accurate. Prior to that the year the highest rate is circa £290. I think most 55 plate cars and some 06 will call into the lower limit tax band.