Time for a new DD: Newer Jeep Grand Cherokee?

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
Does any one have any opinions on the WK (2005-2010) and the WK2 (2011-present) Grand Cherokees? Years to avoid? Motors and transmissions to avoid? Any opinions appreciated.
 
My wife drives a 2008 WK. The 08+ WKs are supposedly better. We are relatively happy with it. Got a good deal on it, but it doesn't feel as solid as our Chevys. Of course, newer cars in general just feel cheaper. We drove a lot of different cars and everything feels cheap these days. My 08 Tahoe is the nicest truck I've ever owned and it is way more cheaply built than any Chevy truck I've ever owned. I think most cars are the same way. I don't have much experience with the WK2 although they do look really nice.

Our WK runs good, has the sixer. The AWD case is pretty great, love the way it did in the last winter storm, really impressed with that. Gas mileage isn't great, but drives pretty nice.
 
I had an 05 with the V6 (avatar pic). I really liked it. If I did it over, I wouldn't have lifted it or put bigger tires on it. It really drained the power.

I would consider another WK but I would keep it stock.
 
criket said:
I had an 05 with the V6 (avatar pic). I really liked it. If I did it over, I wouldn't have lifted it or put bigger tires on it. It really drained the power.

I would consider another WK but I would keep it stock.
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Would you recommend the Hemi over the v6?
 
No personal experience, but I would definitely go with a Hemi. It won't be underpowered, when driven right you'd still get great mileage, and you could do exhaust, intake, and a nice tune and have a pretty sporty SUV that was fun to drive.
 
BigClay said:
Would you recommend the Hemi over the v6?
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Yea I would recommend the V8, especially if you plan on a lift, bigger tires, heavy armor, etc. Plus with the V8 you get 3.73 gears instead of the stupid 3.07 like I had.

And the gas mileage difference is nonexistent between the V8 and V6. So even if it stayed stock, the V8 won't hurt you anymore than the V6.
 
There's also the 3.0 diesel in the 07-08, and the 2014-newer grands if you're concerned with fuel mileage.
 
My wife drives a 2014 grand with the ecodiesel. Plenty of power, and got 30 mpg to Charleston and back this summer. Currently has 25k miles on it. One trip to dealer for a check engine light. They ended up replacing the dpf and cat under warranty, but that has been only issue.
 
jeepinmatt said:
There's also the 3.0 diesel in the 07-08... grands if you're concerned with intake runner motors that fail frequently, impossible turbos to remove and poorly designed intake manifold levers.
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Fixed it for ya! External torx hell working on those things back in the day.
 
Proof!
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tw89yj said:
My wife drives a 2014 grand with the ecodiesel. Plenty of power, and got 30 mpg to Charleston and back this summer. Currently has 25k miles on it. One trip to dealer for a check engine light. They ended up replacing the dpf and cat under warranty, but that has been only issue.
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And that is what... $4,000 to do if not warranted?
 
In my personal opinion, stay away from the diesel, and stay away from the newest variant.

The diesel is costly to have repaired out of warranty, even for just an oil change. The first WK diesels required a wait time of 30min to an hour for the oil to fully reach the oil pan before starting. Granted nobody probably does that, but it is in the service info. We have had one come in under warranty for catalyst and dpf replacement also, and it also got a trans put in it o believe. I know there was a new model V6 that got a transmission, can't quite remember why though. One of the "decked out" models has been in and out several times for a headlight flicker with the HID's. The rear suspension (fully independent) looks like a nightmare to have worked on outside of warranty. Multiple recalls including stupid things like sun visor wiring and the uconnect that could be hacked. I am just not a fan.......

I would buy a WK though, with a hemi. The V6 just seems a little under powered, and at least with the V8 you could pull a trailer if you needed to. Whole working in the junkyard business, we couldn't keep the V6 engines in Stock, but hemi's would last a little while longer. The rear axle is still solid (I know independent is the wave of the future, but I still like my solid axles and full frames confound it). The overall design just seems more jeep than this fiat crap today, and they just seem better built. It seems like more time and money was spent on making a solid SUV of quality, than on making a "pretty" (insert flaming voice) jeep. The only other thing to stay away from on a WK is the air suspension. It is costly to repair and requires a dealer to be repaired, or someone with access to high dollar scan tools and dealer special tools. It has a tank that gets filled with nitrogen. But not just any nitrogen, 0.9999% pure nitrogen. Does anyone here have any idea how hard that shit is to find? Took us two weeks to find a supplier. Bought the tank for a trade in vehicle, and haven't used it since.....and that was 6 or so months ago. Add that to the costly pump, special fill tool needed, and dealer level scan tool needed to perform fill procedure.....and given everyone hates dealerships.....just stay away from the air suspension. It's neat, but not worth the costs.
 
My wife has had this '08 WK Overland for 3 years and we have really enjoyed it. The motor is the Hemi 330hp and tows 7200lbs with a 7 second 0-60. I put on a budget boost with 32"s on 20" Racelines to give it more of a stance like the new WK2's (also have the stock 18"s). I built a hidden winch mount with an 8500lb winch under the bumper, that never been used, but we don't run into too many winch situations in Charlotte lol.

I'm looking at selling it to get my wife back into a sedan, pm me if you want to discuss/see it.


image.jpg
 
Falko said:
And that is what... $4,000 to do if not warranted?
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Those are meant to be deleted and programmed away anyway. It's a diesel. :burnout:
 
We have an 09 v6 AWD. I really tried to talk her into the V8 but couldn't make it happen. I'd try and find the v8 the v6 just doesn't have any power. But, over all it has been a good SUV and we haven't had any problems. Of course she drives like a grandma and only goes 1.5 miles to work.
 
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