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US News SUV Rankings: Affordable Compact SUVs

12K views 41 replies 17 participants last post by  Journeyman 
#1 ·
They have the Cherokee rated #1 in a field of 23.:)
Notable too is that the overall score it is quite far ahead of the second place finishing 2014 Subaru Forester (9.5 to 8.8).:blush:
"The 2014 Jeep Cherokee ranks 1 out of 23 Affordable Compact SUVs. This ranking is based on our analysis of published reviews and test drives of the Jeep Cherokee, as well as reliability and safety data."

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/Affordable-Compact-SUVs/
 
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#4 ·
Reliability is probably the one thing holding me back from being decisive about going with the JC. I got burned in 1999 buying the first of the line for VW Jettas. Over $3000 in *non-maintenance* repairs in the first three years, and not covered by warranty. The warranty items were in addition. I chose VW that year because all the interior finishes were so much nicer than Honda and Toyota but they'd saved costs on things you couldn't see when buying a car. I'd been warned never to buy the first of a car and ignored the warning with many a headache following, and with Jeep's not-good history in this department (at least compared with boring Honda and Toyota), it's hard to feel peaceful going forward. I *should* wait a year :-(
 
#12 · (Edited)
This will be my first American car as well. The thing about foreign cars is the expense in maintaining them. (Obviously, if they need less maintenance than an American car, it comes out in the wash, but...( I have heard it is much cheaper to repair an American car, on average than say a German car. For example, the VW dealer just told me that for my '03 Jetta, you HAVE to replace the rotors if you want to replace the brake pads. Really? REALLY? "Why?" I asked. "Because it's a German car". WTF? Whatever. It' s probably not the smartest move to get this very, very cool 2014 Jeep Cherokee Limited in its maiden year, but I'm doing it.

I do agree that the perception is that Japanese cars (especially) are way more reliable than American cars. But I also think American cars have changed a lot in the last 5 years.
 
#15 ·
IMO I have went through vehicles consistently. 04 Jetta gli are lower control arms, the exhaust set up fell off at a light and traded it out in 6 months. Had my 07 Subaru legacy for 3 years, had a snow storm (read blizzard) and had the awd and transmission go south with 52k miles on it- the problem? Electronics no longer were "talking"- fix 2k because it wasn't covered under the "power train" warranty. Traded out to my 10 compass sport and I loved her til my trailhawk pulled up next to it. :) jeep has been the first make I've stuck with. :)
 
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#23 ·
I want to buy this car, but somewhere in this forum is a poll that says about 20% of cherokee owners are having transmission issues. This is Six weeks out. I'm now seeing trailhawks and cherokee's piling up on the lot. They know what we want, but have they delivered it???? I'm waiting to hear, if Chrysler is once again releasing a "beta" vehicle I want to know.
 
#25 ·
And yet my dealer has sold 23 Cherokees starting way back in September and has not had one of them come back for any reason other than the one who's driver hit a deer. Most dealer's in Michigan can not keep Cherokees in stock and have used up all of their allocations ordering them. You are forgetting you have an unusual mix of people here that are bothered by things, both real and imagined, that most people wouldn't be. You also need to remember that a good portion of the US is under a winter storm and that has slowed sales of all vehicles considerably. Looking out my window, absolutely nothing is moving today here in Fenton, Michigan. When/if the Cherokee wins the Truck of the Year award at the International Auto Show in Detroit in mid January, I think you will see sales jump dramatically. *** FYI, Chrysler is so backed up with orders for the Cherokee at Toledo North that that they have authorized overtime between Christmas and New Years for any employee there who wants to work to try and fill some of those. Your theory on unsold Cherokees backing up doesn't hold water. If unsold Cherokees are backed up it is just at your location and not indicative of the rest of the country. I have heard stories here in Michigan of dealer's trading as far as 500 miles away just to get their hands on a Cherokee.
 
#26 ·
Macfan, that's true they had been moving very fast, but one of my local dealers has 12 trail hawks on the ground. Some of the others in the area have had the same couple of trailhawks sitting for a week or two. While that's not completely unheard of, it's definitely slowing down in the North East. Anyway, it's good to see they're moving elsewhere. If CR gives a good report on their test vehicles I'll be at the dealership within days.
 
#27 ·
It would be shocking if their review/road test report will be anything but mostly positive given what the other automotive journalists have said, and what they indicated in their first drive video. Yeah, they will point out the numb steering and that it's not quite as sporty a drive versus some of the competition given the extra weight, but that should not be a surprise to anyone.

It will not be on their recommended list yet given the lack of repair history at this time. Unfortunately we will have to wait until next year after they do the next survey to see if it's problem free or problem prone. Let's hope and pray the reports of transmission problems at such low mileage are not an indication of what's to come. I was warned repeatedly not to buy a first year vehicle like this, especially given Chrysler's long history of problems with new vehicle introductions, but I do like the truck and decided to take the risk.
 
#32 ·
I purchased my 2002 Liberty as a brand new model in the fall of 2001 basically because of its 5000# towing capacity, and have never regretted it. One of my former associates also purchased a 2002 Liberty and also loved it. He subsequently purchased a 2004 Liberty, and within 3 months was wishing he had his 2002 back. Waiting for later models does not always mean they will be better!

Statistics - don't always believe what is presented. Case study :- It is an accepted fact that 40% of all fatal accidents are caused by impaired drivers. If this is so, then 60% of all fatal accidents are caused by unimpaired drivers. It would therefore seem that your chances of being in a fatal accident would be better if you were impaired than if you were not impaired. STATISTICS CAN BE DECEIVING!
 
#35 ·
There are 600 or so members here, and the vast majority of them don't seem to be participants on a regular basis. If 20-30 of them are having problems, that's 3-5%, which is substantial given that everyone has had their truck only a short time. But again, hopefully for everyone's sake this is no more than an early issue that will quickly be resolved. My trans is fine thus far, except every once in a while I get the indecisive 1-2 shift that others have mentioned.
 
#37 ·
Statistics is a game that you can play.

There are many people out there who are satisfied by the performance of their vehicle and do not bother joining a online forum like this one. However, for people whose vehicle has malfunctions, they tend to actively seek information everywhere both online and offline from the dealership. Therefore, it is expected to have a larger fraction of the forum participants to report problems compared to the total sample of average Cherokee owners.

Let me give you an example. One of our friends on this forum has reported that his wife's Cherokee got hit-and-run. We have 623 members as of this morning on this forum. Does that mean a typical Cherokee owner has a 1/623 chance to get hit-and-run? Obviously not!

Coming back to the issue of reliability, I think we need more time to get the real picture.
 
#39 ·
Another thing to remember is that more often than not, outside of enthusiasts, it's people who are having issues that join forums. Mostly to try and get answers/suggestions for whats happening. Rarely will people seek out a forum just to rave about their car that is working just as intended.
 
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#41 ·
As the OP I started this thread because I was happy to see the Cherokee rated as #1 in a field of 23 SUV's. I hope the Cherokee turns out to be reliable. CR has both the Patriot and Compass at half orange (above average reliability).
 
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