Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
Ha ha. totally not, but that's probably a good thing. We almost bought one before our patriot. But the deal breaker was the dealer here would not take the Harley on trade, so the dealer with a patriot would. We like the pat better for its traditional styling and more "upright" feel.
 

cnynrat

Expedition Leader
Not sure I could spend the same on a TH as many Rubicons.
See, I'd turn that around and say I couldn't spend as much as some spend on a Rubicon as I spent on our Trailhawk. Having driven both there is no doubt that the KL Trailhawk is a much better vehicle to drive on the street, which is where most of us spend the overwhelming majority of our time behind the wheel.

While the Rubicon is a very capable off road vehicle, it's also a very basic vehicle that lacks much of the current vehicle technology found in many Trailhawks. Everyone can have their own opinion about the need or the value of some of that tech, but there is no doubt it costs money to develop and to build into the car.

The KL and the JK are entirely different vehicles built for entirely different purposes. In the end it's kind of silly to compare them. In the long run Jeep will only survive if they build a variety if products that appeal to multiple market segments. Not every vehicle in their lineup can or should be a JK.
 

DallasJKU

Adventurer
See, I'd turn that around and say I couldn't spend as much as some spend on a Rubicon as I spent on our Trailhawk. Having driven both there is no doubt that the KL Trailhawk is a much better vehicle to drive on the street, which is where most of us spend the overwhelming majority of our time behind the wheel.

While the Rubicon is a very capable off road vehicle, it's also a very basic vehicle that lacks much of the current vehicle technology found in many Trailhawks. Everyone can have their own opinion about the need or the value of some of that tech, but there is no doubt it costs money to develop and to build into the car.

The KL and the JK are entirely different vehicles built for entirely different purposes. In the end it's kind of silly to compare them. In the long run Jeep will only survive if they build a variety if products that appeal to multiple market segments. Not every vehicle in their lineup can or should be a JK.

The TrailHawk looks cool. The Cherokee does not. I wish my Rubicon had less technology.
 

kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
That's not because it was a sport, it was because it was a lemon I guess, my sport is JUST as good! no noises, etc.
 

DallasJKU

Adventurer
That's not because it was a sport, it was because it was a lemon I guess, my sport is JUST as good! no noises, etc.

I wouldn't say it was a lemon. It ran great, but had 4 water pumps so I would say the water pumps were the problem. My Rubicon isn't perfect either. Not sure Jeeps can be perfect.
 
I added a few things to my TH. RRO rack and rails and a Gobi ladder

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kojackJKU

Autism Family Travellers!
I am going with the RRO on my Patriot as well. The wife looked at it and loved its low profile setup. just what we are looking for!
 
How do you like the RRO rack? Does it add to the noise level inside the vehicle?

Now it sounds like my JKU did. I don't notice it much. It is a little louder, but I am usually rocking out so I wouldn't here it much.

I have lights on the light bar. That's not bad either

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DallasJKU

Adventurer
I started to read up about these Cherokees and all I see is tranny issues. Not sure I would want to get something that has so many problems.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

cnynrat

Expedition Leader
The 9-Speed ZF transmission used in the Cherokee has had it's issues. There have been several software updates that FCA claims address the problems. From the data I've seen it seems the problems are most prevalent on the 2014 models, somewhat less so on the 2015 models. I don't think there is enough data on the 2016's to know for sure whether it's been addressed. There is no doubt there is a history of problems in this area, so be aware. Most of the complaints are things like hard shifting, lunging, warning lights in the dash, and in some cases disengagement of the transmission.

That said, if you look at the overall reliability history from the 2014 and 2015 model years the Cherokee has better reliability than the Grand Cherokee by quite a wide margin, and the reliability of the Cherokee isn't too much different than the Wrangler.

The same transmission is used in the Renegade, the Fiat 500X and the Chrysler 200.

IMO if you really want to be assured of the highest possible reliability you probably should think twice about buying a Jeep, and I say that as someone with a new Cherokee in my driveway.
 

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