[ironllama]

Hi all.
This is the first new car I've ever owned. Some of the below may be normal for engines/trans that need to be broken in.

Design:
-looks are amazing. Love the new headlight design. Love the interior materials and design. The black lower half and white upper half is such a good design choice.
-very comfortable seats

Driving:
-trans is loud. Much louder than my 300's 8-speed. Growls when accelerating
-not very hard, but 'rough' shifts occasionally
-rough shifts when choosing selec-trac modes
-seems confused at times. Especially when accelerating from a stop. Upshifts then downshifts
-sluggish and loud acceleration from a stop

Randoms:
-hood doesnt close often. Have to go wiggle the hood open lever in the cabin and try, repeat until it closes. Will take it in for service if this continues past one month.
-block heater cord too short
-small cargo area

Overall, I love the design and all the extra features (courtesy LED lamps under the side mirrors - I just discovered those!). But it does not drive smoothly and I have to baby it when accelerating.

Do you think this will go away once broken in?

 

[Tyler-98-W68]

Driving:
-trans is loud. Much louder than my 300's 8-speed. Growls when accelerating
You shouldn't hear the transmission at all, not normal.
-not very hard, but 'rough' shifts occasionally
Sometimes the 4-5th shift can be abrupt (its the dog clutch shift happens around 35mph or so) a TCM update should fix this
-rough shifts when choosing selec-trac modes
Shouldn't be rough the only thing that happens is depending on the mode it will force an immediate gear change
-seems confused at times. Especially when accelerating from a stop. Upshifts then downshifts
-sluggish and loud acceleration from a stop
What engine do you have? The V6 is quiet and very smooth and was in my 2014 2016 and the newest 2021 exhibits none of the things you describe

 

[ironllama]

Thanks for the reply. I have the 3.2L engine. I think I will take it in to the dealer to see if there's an update. But it's a 2021 so you'd think it was fully updated.

 

[Mike B in OK]

I have a 2021 TH, so it is a louder vehicle, but I don’t hear my transmission. I did have some hesitation in my transmission initially during shifts, especially when accelerating hard or slowing down, but that has improved greatly. pretty much gone by 2500 miles.

i love the adaptive cruise control And the comfortable seats!

 

[Turbo2.0]

...I think I will take it in to the dealer to see if there's an update. But it's a 2021 so you'd think it was fully updated.

I doubt that the OP’s KL needs “updates”, some of these sound more like build problems. Fortunately they should be covered under warranty. I strongly recommend that he take another, similar new KL demo for a drive with the dealer/salesman who sold him his Jeep. He should compare how this other Jeep drives/sounds compared to his. Do not accept the dealer’s usual comments “they all drive/sound/smell like that.”



.

 

[sanghill]

That is what I tried to do with my new 2014 V6 TH.
Wasn't going to happen. However, the sales lady offered to drive my TH to evaluate transmission shifting.
I was with her. She drove it like she stole it and said it shifted great. I am sure she had driven lots of THs.
This was before any of the shift concern recalls and TSBs were accomplished.
At 95k miles and lots of off road destruction the transmission still works fine even with all the updates.

Can the OP get a VIP report at the Jeep dealer?
Don't know if Canadian dealers do this.
It enables the Service Advisor to know what needs to be done to this specific vehicle.

There should be a TSB for adjusting the engine hood bump stops.
Anybody know what it is?

 

[ironllama]

Thanks for the reply. I have the 3.2L engine. I think I will take it in to the dealer to see if there's an update. But it's a 2021 so you'd think it was fully updated.

That is what I tried to do with my new 2014 V6 TH.
Wasn't going to happen. However, the sales lady offered to drive my TH to evaluate transmission shifting.
I was with her. She drove it like she stole it and said it shifted great. I am sure she had driven lots of THs.
This was before any of the shift concern recalls and TSBs were accomplished.
At 95k miles and lots of off road destruction the transmission still works fine even with all the updates.

Can the OP get a VIP report at the Jeep dealer?
Don't know if Canadian dealers do this.
It enables the Service Advisor to know what needs to be done to this specific vehicle.

There should be a TSB for adjusting the engine hood bump stops.
Anybody know what it is?

Thanks for the reply. I am going to test drive another Linited and see if it has the same behaviours. I also may take it to a trans shop for a test drive to see if they think anything of it. If I take it to my sales guy he will just say it shifts fine. I may just not be used to this trans. My other one was quick, quiet and smooth. No sluggish acceleration.
Thanks for the TSB info. I willl look into that.

 

[ironllama]

Also, I forgot to mention that the steering is very stiff at time. I remember someone told me Jeeps have stiffer steering so this could be normal.

 

[Tyler-98-W68]

Why would you take it and pay for a transmission shop to look and or drive it? They aren't going to know anything about the 9 speeds in these vehicles, deal with the dealership they are the only ones that know anything about the transmission in these vehicles. Quite simply the transmission doesn't make noise and the shifts outside of sport mode should be imperceptible if its operating as intended

 

[137831]

We have 2 KL Cherokees in the house, a 2018 Overland and 2020 Limited. Both are 3.2L Jeeps.

Neither have them shift like the OP is describing or stiff at times steering (unless mine is trying to do some lane keeping and I'm trying to steer against it).

I also have a 2020 Challenger with the 8 speed and I don't see a noticeable difference in shift quality (noise and smoothness) on the Cherokee vs. the Challenger.

Stiff at times steering and the shifts you are describing are things I would be taking the vehicle back to the dealer for.

As others have posted, you need to drive another Jeep with the same engine and then yours with the service department advisor. If your Jeep is different than the one you drive, then they need to fix it. The Jeep has a warranty, that's what its for.

 

[ironllama]

Thanks all for the replies. I'm going to drive it to 1600km and see if things will improve. Already I notice a softening of the shifting. Steering still stiff. A little better pickup on the acceleration.
I may have posted my first impressions too soon?