Sold my 2015 Limited

[Beaumont67]

[MENTION=117936]Kennyr44[/MENTION] For that price did you not even consider a Lexus? Honestly, just wondering. I need to get my wife something this year. I'm eyeing an rx or gx right now.

tristero - don't ignore looking at the RX350 / all the bells and whistles, with superior road comfort.
- the V6-270HP (non-turbo) is a smooth & long lasting world-manufactured engine
Our son bought a new 2015 Lexus RX350, couldn't be happier.

 

[CC4R]

The Honda Pilot is another vehicle she should have looked at. More features she is looking for and far more reliable than the Jeep IMO.

 

[Kennyr44]

Hi Kenny – We just bought a new 4Runner Trail, but seriously considered a new Grand Cherokee Trailhawk. As far as amenities, general comfort and ride, the Trailhawk seemed much nicer to me and my wife. What swayed us to the 4Runner, however, is our off-road usage in trips to the mountains, which is where it really shines. And I was a little leery of the Trailhawk’s air suspension. I really didn’t think the overall reliability of the CG would be a problem, though. For what it’s worth, our 1998 Grand Cherokee (bought new) has been very reliable over the years, currently has 180,000 miles on it, and still runs like a champ. I haven’t been able to bring myself to let it go yet. Granted, the new GC’s are a completely different animal than our 1998, but I remember the 1998’s being panned for their reliability at the time.

I see that you’re a retired Volvo dealership mechanic. In 1984, I bought a new Volvo 242 GLT. At the time, Volvo’s were known for being nearly bulletproof and very reliable. Mine turned out to be the most unreliable car I’d ever owned, and I got rid of it after 50,000 miles. If you’d worked at Monarch Volvo (now McDonald), you probably would have seen it, since it seemed to be in their shop more than my garage. Luck of the draw, I guess.

Enjoy your Grand Cherokee! :hatsoff:

Yes I was at Monarch then and I raised my family working on Volvos that were always broken. This was to my advantage. We worked along side with Mazda mechanics and they had little to fix. Volvo mechanics were on the same flat rate and made way more money than Mazda techs.

 

[Kennyr44]

[MENTION=117936]Kennyr44[/MENTION] For that price did you not even consider a Lexus? Honestly, just wondering. I need to get my wife something this year. I'm eyeing an rx or gx right now.

I tried to get her interested but she doesn't like the new body style. You have to remember this was her choice after driving everything she found pleasing to her eye.

 

[Kennyr44]

After driving and riding in it for 2 days here's my early thoughts. It has good pickup and power 300 HP. The 4 runner does too with the Sprint Booster installed. I'm pretty sure this jeep will be faster in the mountains. The cabin feels tighter than the 4 Runner. I may like the 4 runner better on this one. The engine shuts off at lights (weird) but you can turn that feature off. For cool factor nothing is cooler than the 4 Runner. The turning radius in the Jeep is amazing, we all know about the 4 Runner turning radius. The Jeep is more forgiving on the concrete highways and bumps in general but nothing even close to being smooth like a car. My wife has been having fun with Lane Assist. It steers you back into the lane if you drift. The 8 inch touch screen and advanced backup camera are a big upgrade. The heated steering wheel is greatly appreciated. I really like the blind spot monitor although I need more practice with it. I haven't tried a lot of the features yet but bottom line the 4 Runner is an awesome fun capable truck admired by everyone. I don't regret buying the Jeep or selling the 4 Runner. My wife wanted it and I like it. We have to keep this one because the trade value wont support swapping out the car every year or two. I will update this thread over the months and years to come if there is any interest. You better believe that I will post any problems I have.

 

[Vinsil]

OP thanks for the update. I won't berate you on this choice at all. I actually was pushing my wife into a JGC due to the ecodiesel. We drove one. Tons of cool tech, too much for both of us but loved the pano sun roof!


But then I read the reliability and issue people had especially with the diesel. As appealing as almost and over reported 30 mpg was, we planned to keep this SUV for 10 years or more.

We had passed over the 4Runner and after all the test drives...bought one and we are happy with the simple and reliable truck it is.

It was her choice and good on you for making your wife happy. Best of luck, hope you got a good one.

I've got a 07 Ram with a Cummins and with 92k on it, been a great truck. People complain about Ram quality too and it's a solid truck. :thumb3:

 

[tysondav]

I had a 2015 Cherokee Trailhawk. It was in the shop multiple times for multiple weeks for different reasons. Traded it in for a 16 4R Trail Premium. I miss the features of the Jeep, but I am not worried about the reliability of the 4R and that matters most to me in the long run. I'm already slowly becoming used to not having a steering wheel warmer.

 

[kott3670]

I AM NOT BRAND LOYAL! (Just a disclaimer)

1st Truck- 99 Ram 2500 4X4- lots of issues 100% my fault

2nd Truck- 04 F-150 Lariat- 0 issues, crashed twice and sold for what I paid for it

3rd Car- 09 Subaru Legacy Limited Edition- SO MANY PROBLEMS!- Still loved it to death

4th Truck- 12 Chevy Silverado LT 4x4- Not a single issue, loved it

5th Truck- 15 Tacoma Sport 4X4- Loved it, everything I ever wanted, plans to keep it for a million miles

Twist story- Got married and wife (at the time) wrecked it :.(

6th SUV- 13 Grand Cherokee Limited 4X2 w/Hemi V8- Amazing jeep, more options than I could ever imagine, super comfortable, nothing like beating a Mustang GT in a race in a baby blue SUV.....

2nd Twist- Wife leave me

7th SUV- 17 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium- Really considered another jeep Grand Cherokee, same price, more options..... What it came down to was the fact that the V8 gets horrible gas mileage and when I traded in the last Jeep because of the divorce I lost $5,000.... I love both vehicles, but if you don't plan on keeping it till it falls apart you just lose so much value on Jeeps, I lost around 12,000$ in a little over a year on a USED jeep.... and that was both buying and selling it at book value- The 4Runner I will basically never be upside down on. They're both tied in my book, 4runner is better off road, Jeep is better on, what it comes down to for me is resale value. If resale value was equal I would probably get another jeep as most of my driving is on road, however styling and capability is better in the 4Runner in my opinion..... My 2 favorite vehicles.

 

[JSparky]

The Honda Pilot is another vehicle she should have looked at. More features she is looking for and far more reliable than the Jeep IMO.

Ah. Perhaps but there is no comparing a Pilot to a Grand Cherokee. I've spent time behind the wheel of both, it's not apples to apples. The Pilot is literally a bigger, taller civic and the interior is nowhere near comparable.

That said, I'm glad the the grand cherokee has blind spot monitoring cause there's no way you can see squat out of the back. I agree a Lexus would have been a good option, or stick with it for a few months till the 6th gen comes out cause that will most definitely have the added driver convenience features.. the new Tacoma has both blind spot monitoring and rear lane departure warning.

Either way the man made up his mind and hopefully they are happy. Sometimes we get so caught up in the practicality of Toyota's that we forget about the impulse of finding a vehicle on the lot with nappa-stitched leather steering wheels and all the bells and whistles one could desire. I get it, at least they didn't fall for a Rover.

 

[PaulsTrail]

Yes I was at Monarch then and I raised my family working on Volvos that were always broken. This was to my advantage. We worked along side with Mazda mechanics and they had little to fix. Volvo mechanics were on the same flat rate and made way more money than Mazda techs.

Ha, small world! My service writer at Monarch was Michael Maestes. Mine was always broken. :smash: This one look familiar?

 

[Kennyr44]

Mike Maestes was a parts man at Crest Motors on Colfax the first Volvo dealer I worked at. When I got to Monarch I recruited him over to write service. Working on those Volvos was so easy the money just fell into your pocket. Night and day compared to today's cars. The RX350 (if you like the styling) is at least 10k more loaded the same way as the JGC. And they don't discount the Lexus much. Her favorite car we drove was the Audi Q7. Pretty nice to say the least but 4cyl turbo and 63k. New Volvo XC 90 is nice but 60k also and horrible software problems on Edmunds customer reviews. One of my favorite choices besides the new Highlander (by far the best car) was the Infinity QX60. No go on that she wanted the 85k QX80 land yacht.

 

[NJ Cement TRD Pro]

Call me crazy, but my stock TRD PRo ride is way better than my previous one of 8 months...a 2011 Ford F-350 Crew Cab Long Bed. What was used strictly for towing, turned out to be a daily driver while I patiently waited for the 4runner to arrive.

Anything softer than the TRD Pro may put me to sleep...

 

[bamma]

Mike Maestes was a parts man at Crest Motors on Colfax the first Volvo dealer I worked at. When I got to Monarch I recruited him over to write service. Working on those Volvos was so easy the money just fell into your pocket. Night and day compared to today's cars. The RX350 (if you like the styling) is at least 10k more loaded the same way as the JGC. And they don't discount the Lexus much. Her favorite car we drove was the Audi Q7. Pretty nice to say the least but 4cyl turbo and 63k. New Volvo XC 90 is nice but 60k also and horrible software problems on Edmunds customer reviews. One of my favorite choices besides the new Highlander (by far the best car) was the Infinity QX60. No go on that she wanted the 85k QX80 land yacht.

Why not a Nissan Armada. The old Armada was not great, but now that Nissan started selling the Nissan Patrol in the States rebranded as the Armada, it is a nice option, and does well off-road. Prices aren't bad either, and the front end is wayyy better than the qx80, which is also a rebadged Patrol.

I think the LC is better built, but the Patrol/Armada is a great value.

 

[PaulsTrail]

Mike Maestes was a parts man at Crest Motors on Colfax the first Volvo dealer I worked at. When I got to Monarch I recruited him over to write service. Working on those Volvos was so easy the money just fell into your pocket. Night and day compared to today's cars.

Wow, that goes back a few years! Early 70’s? I always enjoyed working with Mike at Monarch. And since my Volvo had multiple intermittent problems (that usually wouldn’t show themselves when I took it in), Mike usually fixed me up with the same tech. When picking up the car, he would usually come out and tell me what he’d found and explain what he did to fix it (kind of like a doctor does after one of your relatives has been operated on). I always appreciated that. Don’t remember the tech’s name, but remember that he drove a P1800. Nice guy.

I have a coworker that bought a new XC90. He’s always singing its praises. Looks nice, but I don’t think I’d want to take up any difficult 4x4 roads.

Anyway, sorry for the thread drift. Enjoy your new Grand Cherokee!

 

[jb24dolphins]

good luck. Most who go from a toyota to a jeep come back here.

fact!

 

[JSparky]

Why not a Nissan Armada. The old Armada was not great, but now that Nissan started selling the Nissan Patrol in the States rebranded as the Armada, it is a nice option, and does well off-road. Prices aren't bad either, and the front end is wayyy better than the qx80, which is also a rebadged Patrol.

I think the LC is better built, but the Patrol/Armada is a great value.

I call them land-yachts... they're absolutely huge but I love them.

 

[Gecko]

I think many of you are forgetting that happy wife = happy life

 

[Thirty4]

I wonder how many times a blind spot monitor beeps on a trail? LOL Hmmmm

 

[whiteblazer01]

I definitely understand what OP is saying. I did a ton of research when I was in the market for a 4Runner and decided on an 07-08 Limited 4wd. Not only were the prices relatively high, but the mileage was high too—and they would sell so quickly. So I expanded my search to several hundred miles and even looked in other states. Only ones with problems were ones that the 4wd no longer worked for lack of use. But I couldn't find one. So I looked for a slightly used on (2012 or so), but they were so close to brand new price with 20-50,000 miles. So I decided on a new (at the time) 2015 4Runner. I didn't like the look of the Limted (it was too much of a "city" SUV with all the chrome and boring front end). So I wanted the Trail Premium, which was near impossible to find in stock. I found only one in all of So Cal and picked it up ($2,500 off MSRP because it was the end of the model year and the 2016s were coming out).

18 months and 44,000 miles later, I've taken this 4Runner everywhere. Off-roading in the high Sierras at 12,000ft, road trips through The deserts in Utah, the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, and even a trip to San Felipe, Mexico. The 4Runner is very comfortable and capable of all of that. And I love that I can have the back window down for my dog.

My only gripes are that I really wanted the nicety features of the Limited version (ventilated seats, smart key, push start, climate control, controlling the rear window without fighting the keyhole in the hatch).

I went for a road trip to the Sierras in a friend's 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. This definitely looked like it had more attention on features and niceties. For one, the 120V adapter was in the back seat behind the front center console and not in the very very very back. The sunroof is a full panoramic sunroof with a motorized shade and looks so so so nice! My plain on sunroof looks boring in comparison. The navigation screen is bigger and looks more advanced. The rear seats are heated. The rear hatch is motorized. They have stylish LED front running lights. So there are a few bonus things that make the Jeep look really nice. I really wish Toyota allowed non-Limited 4Runners to come with some features found in the Limited, but even then, I feel like they could throw in a lot more nice features in the vehicle. I still wouldn't trade my 4Runner for a Jeep (well, I might for a few months just to get a good comparison), but I just want some of those nice features.

 

[BigCountryT4R]

I left the Toyota family some years ago and bought a brand new grand cherokee..........NEVER AGAIN!

It was in the shop 41 non consecutive days after I hit 18k miles.
*2 Transmissions
*4 Fuel Sending Units (would just come to a slow stop on the freeway)
*2 Radios
*2 Rear Axles
*2 Front Tans-axles
*Rear Windshield wiper quit

Even the Service Manager knew I had a huge piece of crap!

Finally did a lemon law on it myself. The dealership kept calling me asking me to stop, they'd give me a new one........

When I finally got the arbitration meeting, the judge looked at the Chrysler rep and said "41 days in the shop, do you think that seems excessive?"

Chrysler rep says "yes we do"

Case closed.

Took the money I got back and bought my first 3rd gen 4Runner and drove it for 268k, not a single issue (other than regular maintenance)
Sold it for $6400 and bought a second one.

My personal theory about Chrysler vs Toyota:
Out of every 10 Toyota's you will have a solid 7 that are going to be relatively worry free, not perfect but close
Compared to:
Out of very 10 Chrysler's you "might" get 4 that will be worry free....maybe and personally I feel that's being generous

Jeep GC has drastically improved in reliability since you owned one. I wouldn't hesitate owning one of the current models today.