Jeep Grand Cherokee-The great off-roader

Author's Rating:

Pros: V8 Engine, Smooth Handling, Excellent Off Road Vehicle

Cons: Small Back Seat

The Bottom Line: 
Pick this vehicle for it's towing and off-road capabilities. Skip it if you have a large family to fit into the vehicle.

Author's Review
We just recently returned from a month long trip visiting some friends in Chicago, and while we were there, we had the privilege of driving our friends' Jeep Grand Cherokee around. He owns the Limited 4dr SUV 4WD model. This is a review on what I thought about the vehicle and some input on what he thinks about the vehicle too.

Pricing:
Bought brand new, our friend paid a little over $35,000. The vehicle now has about 20,000 miles on it, it is in excellent condition, and has a few more add on features that did not come standard. According to Edmunds True Market Value Pricing, you should expect to pay about $30,000 if you bought it from a dealer or $28,500 from a private party. According to Kelly’s Blue Book this vehicle should be priced around $28,800 at a dealer.

Comfort:
There are 5 seats available in this mid-sized SUV and well, the best that I can say for this vehicle is the front 2 seats are pretty comfortable. The windows are tinted just enough so when you come out to your car that has been sitting in the sun for hours, the seats aren’t hot a sticky (unless the sun is coming through the front windshield, which is not tinted). The back bench seat isn’t very comfortable at all. We had our daughter riding with us, and we stuck her car seat in the middle of the back seat. I am a very small, short female, and even I felt cramped in the back of the vehicle. There is about 60 inches from door to door in the back seat, so you figure if your car seat takes up about 25 inches, there isn’t much space left. The legroom is about 35 inches, unless of course you are in the car with some tall people who push their seats way back, then you only have about 10 inches of legroom. The front seats have a nice feature with heat available to both seats. Great for those long trips.

Engine:
You can stay with the standard 4.7 Liter V8 Engine or choose to upgrade to the 5.7 Liter(Hemi) V8. Our friends model has the 4.7 Liter. The 4.7 isn't without lots of power. Our friend said that he is glad he didn't fork over the extra money for the Hemi.

Gas Mileage:
The gas tank holds about 20 gallons. The vehicle should be getting about 15 mpg city and 20 mpg highway, but according to our friend, it only gets about 13 city and 17 highway. Take note that he lives in Chicago and there is a lot of traffic.

Safety:
According to the experts, this vehicle gets 5 out of 5 stars in all of the crash test areas (passenger, driver, side impact front, side impact back). The rollover rating is 4 out of 5 stars. Data is from the NHTSA.

The Ride:
The Jeep Grand Cherokee rides really smooth for an SUV. I have ridden in my share of SUV’s and this is one of the best. You don’t feel all the little bumps that you encounter on the road.

Towing:
This SUV can tow up to 7200 lbs. Our friend towed his 2000 pound jet ski all around the country last summer and he said that he had no problems that one might encounter when towing a trailer. In other words, even though he was towing a heavy piece of metal, he didn’t feel like he lost a lot of power. Thanks to the V8 engine I am sure.

Off-Road:
This vehicle has come through with flying colors in this category. In fact I think that it is probably the greatest thing about Jeep's (their off road performance). We have taken this SUV out on many occasions in the mountains through the snow, dirt and mud. We never got stuck, no matter how hard we tried.

Lowdown:
All in all, the Jeep Wrangler handles like a dream. I never imagined that an SUV would corner so well. Even while driving in the rain, I never felt like we were going to tip over or lose control. If you are considering buying the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee and you don’t have a large family or child with a car seat, this might be a great vehicle for you. The ride is smooth, the V8 engine is great to have in a midsize SUV, and the off-roading capabilities are unmatched. If however you are wanting a midsize SUV with a larger back seat and cargo area, I would recommend the Toyota 4Runner.