Grand Cherokee Reliability?

Westtown Willy

TJ dummy
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My son bought the below Jeep about a year & a half ago & he's getting antsy that he oughta get rid of it before it starts causing him trouble but I know nothing about them so I'm not sure what to tell him, I've owned exactly one Jeep product in my life & it's my TJ.

2014 Grand Cherokee Altitude Sport AWD (there's no 2 or 4 wheel drive selection, just full time AWD as I understand it)
3.6L v6
8 speed automatic
65,000 miles


His concerns are reliability and also mileage, so he's considering an Accord or the like to resolve those issues.

My gut is to tell him to keep this thing because it's a known quantity (zero issues thus far) plus the market is terrible right now for finding a decent used Honda so I'm not sure how to advise him; any input about the long term prospects for this Jeep & its reliability would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Yeah, agree….concern would be what will he find to replace it and what will the cost be. But also hear used cars are getting high dollar so might make out on the sale to cover the new one. Can’t hep with reliability, good luck.
 
The 3.6 and 8 speed have proven to be pretty reliable. That said, if he's thinking about getting something else, now would be the time to unload the Jeep. It has low miles and everything is working. I've had several Honda's, including one now, and they are about as reliable as they come. In the long run, the Honda will be simpler to maintain, likely cheaper to insure, and will get considerably better mileage. On the other hand, the GC is more complex and, when something breaks, it will be expensive to fix. I definitely agree on the swap costs, but that will likely be a trade one for another deal.
 
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Not much help but my dad has a 2016 GC ecodiesel with 70k on it the only issue was the main window buttons on the driver's side had to be replaced. It was about $50 part that took about 5 min to replace.

65k is nothing for those engines.

Looking on cars.com I found the highest mileage GC with a V6, no accidents, dealer maintained, and a free carfax. You guys can look through the report or use this method to see if they have issues as they age.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/811bc1bb-d883-41c5-ae7f-f6d051d32901/
 
Everything I've heard about the Pentastar engine has been pretty good. There's issues with all newer modern cars once you have problems, but as long as you can get a rebuilt engine (I think Jasper does the 3.6) and poor mileage isn't a big deal, I'd probably keep it, but he might be able to step into an Accord and have money leftover.

I think most people have 0 issues with these drivetrains until at least around 160k mi and probably just fine into 200k depending on your driving and maintenance. Flush transmission fluids early and often, these million speed transmissions do a BUNCH of shifting to handle the small engines in front of them and break down the fluid early enough to cause damage to the transmissions that won't be an issue until after the warranty has run out.

Also if you're not keeping stuff for the long haul, it's easier for buyers to get financing for vehicles under 100k mi on the odometer.
 
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Our 2.4 has been pretty trouble free for 93k miles. Only issues so far have been the active grill shutter assembly--a couple of the fins popped loose when my wife rear ended (more like a tap) someone, and again on a very windy day. And the oil pressure sensor went out at 80k.
 
I have a buddy with a WK2, and its been pretty good to him. He has considerably more mileage too...something 150 -175 thousand. He's had some electrical problems. Rear tail lights, and something to do with the ignition switch and alternator.

If he wants a smaller, more fuel efficient car, you can't beat the honda. The jeep is probably going to be a good vehicle for him though...
 
I have a 2015 3.6 Overland in addition to the Wrangler. I've had it for 4 year and put 40k miles on it (total of 72k). It has been extremely reliable. Only issue was the radiator around 55k miles which seems to be a common failure. I do have Lifetime Maxcare in case the air suspension decides to pop.

I plan to keep it a while.
 
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That 3.6 and 8 speed was pretty common I think for Dodge/Jeep, so it would actually be high on my list to drive into the ground, but Honda has good stuff too. There's lots of good stuff out there in general, but it's a good sign when a bunch of models have the same drivetrain.
 
I have a 2016 GC 3.6 that my wife drives. It has been very reliable in the 1.5 years that we have owned it. We bought it with around 45k and its around 60-65k now. The only issues we have had is a bad Tire Pressure Monitor Sensor. We service it regularly and have an extended warranty on it, which covered the TPMS. I love that thing for road trips.

In reference to him selling his. I think that is a very tempting offer. Ours on KBB is worth about as much as we bought it for (really crazy market right now). He could easily make some money by finding something smaller. Have him really shop around and trade in/ sell when he finds something he likes. Like someone else said, you wont have a hard time selling a low mileage Grand Cherokee 4WD.
 
thanks all, just got back from a day of looking at & test driving a bunch of Accords & one Camry. I'm a huge Honda fan myself, have had four over the course of my life & they've been hands down the most trouble free vehicles I've owned.

Problem in 2021 is that translates into huge prices no matter their age, condition or mileage, everything out there is priced so damn high. I get the supply/demand thing so it is what it is but damn it makes it hard for a young guy like my son to make a move.

A year and a half ago when he was in the market I urged him to go Honda but he insisted on the Jeep, but the thrill is gone & it took him all that time to come to the realization that the Honda is more practical & economical for his stage in life so his old man isn't as dumb as he looks.

Ironically as we talked all day about it & saw what we saw I now find myself leaning towards him keeping the Jeep since its the devil we know & other than crappy mileage there's really no reason to offload it, particularly when you've got to get clubbed like a baby seal on the purchase end & they also want to bang you on the trade.

I'm really happy to hear what sounds like some pretty good reports above, that'll ease the decision should he keep it.

Thanks again
 
I have done some new car shopping lately and I think I need to write a book called No Cars for Old Men...it's so funny how I'm getting to the late 30's and I'm parroting everything I heard from people of my current age when I was young.

Also I work with older guys and they seem to love the vehicles they had when they were in high school and I kinda feel the same way about vehicles that we had about the same time frame. Of course we all mostly agree on the new fangled contraptions of today.
 
We've had our 2014 GC with a Hemi for 7 years / 55k miles. It has 88K on it now, and we've only done regular maintenance and a water pump under extended warranty around 70k miles. We've been thinking of getting rid of it as well, but my wife loves it, and trying to find something else for a reasonable cost is far and few between.

One of our sons has a JKU with the Pentastar that has the common valve ticking, which is supposedly rocker arms.