I love Grand Cherokee. It is a true 4 x 4 off roader with Quadra Drive - the most sofisticated 4 wheel drive system out there. It is very powerful with its V8 HO engine. All the creature features you could ask for. Easy to drive, comfortable, auto everything. Reliable, never let me down. And then it is the best looking car on the road when driving around town.
The Grand Cherokee sounds really American, but in truth, Jeep has done its best to mask the Americanness. It feels European - which is a compliment - and looks European. And to be honest, it needs to, because it's up against 4x4s like the Range Rover and BMW X5.
Driving the Grand Cherokee is really rather good. It's comfortable without being sickly and firm but without being uncomfortable. When you need to push it round a bend you don't feel like you're going to die. It feels competent and capable.
Inside is slightly less successful. The sat-nav is quite poor and the seats don't hold you in like they should. The wood and leather is quite nice but it is nowhere near as good as a Range Rover.
I'd say buy a second hand model if you want one, as then you'll miss all the depreceiation. And go for a diesel!
In all fairness I won't lie about this, I am literally lucky to get 20 miles a gallon out of my Jeep Grand Cherokee 6.1 V8 SRT, but actually, for an enormous 6 litre bad boy like this, it's pretty good. That is actually quite hard to say! 20mpg is good! It is though for a 6 litre, and anyway the Grand Cherokee has just got so much to recommend it. Fortunately I'm able to claim back most of my mileage with work, which is actually one of the reasons I got it, and I reckon I'd have to move on if I lost that job, which I might, hmm...
Anyway for now, the Jeep Grand Cherokee is a fantastic machine. Sit in it, you're above everyone. Start the engine, it beats everyone's. Drive it, you'll trump any pansy pretender 4x4. Accelerate from a standstill, you'll literally beat a Ferarri. That was one of the things that also sold me on it, nought to sixty in FIVE SECONDS!!! Saying that, you would need to be careful if all you've ever driven is a tiny car. The power would be pretty immense and you might stack the car before you know what's happened.
I should also say, I had been after one of these for a long time after driving a friend's one, and it did take me a good few months to find one, there don't seem to be many around.
In terms of size and everything, the storage spaces up front are good, and the boot is a fine size. I get lots of merchandise in there, I once had a complete dining table and five chairs in there (they did sort of fit together ok-ish in the back, but still, enormous). The only sort of let down is the back seats. We mostly only have the kids back there, but when I was driving some mates to a stag do in London they started to feel it back there, and we had to stop off a few times for them to stretch out.
I don't honestly get off road with my Grand Cherokee much, but I've driven across the odd field and it's handled that just fine. Ah, tell a lie, I once had an off road experience, albeit by accident, during an excursion. Basically it involved getting us through a little river, which I thought was shallower than it was! The Grand Cherokee reared its head, cleared its throat and climbed out of it though, no problem.
The whole JEEP range is a bit like a cut-price list of what Land Rover offer. The Grand Cherokee is basically a cheap Range Rover but without the luxury, performance or desirability. I bought one because I had a bit of a cut price job and wanted something that would gain a bit of respect on the road and make the neighbours jealous. It didn't work.
I was happy until I realised the Grand Cherokee isn't really made very well, it doesn't really ride all that well and it doesn't really leave the Planet Earth feeling that fresh. MPG is an issue, the looks are now very dated and the whole concept that Jeep had with the GC is now becoming a little one dimensional.
It's not that it's a bad car; it'll take loads of luggage, it has lots of leather and wood, but it's more a combination of things that makes you realise this isn't really a quality product. If you want a cheap 4x4, buy a second hand Range Rover and enjoy your life. Leave the Jeep for someone else. Trust me.