[dexter]

hey guys, after attending the L.A. auto show and briefly looking over the jeep display, i have to say i was flat out blown away by the new jeep cherokee! it has such presence! An SUV, and an american one at that, thats saying something IMO. I had a 2002 jeep grand cherokee limited 4x4 V8. and i loved it. though at 100k miles it started to fall apart. nothing major like the motor or tranny, but just little things left and right. anyways after seeing the new cherokee at the auto show it prompted me to make a visit to my local jeep dealer. they had quite a few new cherokees, but none with every option i wanted on one car (go figure) anyways i'm looking into to purchasing a 2011 overland edition with the 5.7 liter V8 and 4x4 with air suspension. basically fully loaded. they did have an overland there in a kind of darker red color which i could overlook for the sole purpose of a test drive. i love the aggressive looks and proportions of the car. the interior surpassed my expectations 100%. it looks much better in person than in photos. the overland edition (which is their premium model for the cherokee), that i looked at had everything! beautiful black nappa perforated front, and back seats, that are both heated and cooled. the seats had a nice gray piping along the edges like a range rover. the front seats had adequate support for long trips to the mountains, and were ever so soft to the touch. the cushioning was a little on the firm side, but i prefer that personally, coming from multiple BMW's. another big plus, was the back seats reclined as well, and they reclined more than enough. the wood trim, though not my favorite color had a vibrant hue to it, and a lot of depth to the grain. even the door panels, arm rests, center console etc. were wrapped in the nappa leather. everything you touched in the car just felt pleasant. the dash is wrapped in leather and has a nice stitching pattern to it. the navigation screen has a garmin based software which is very user friendly, though the unit itself is not as integrated into the dash as i would prefer. the car is also equipped with bluetooth, back up camera, park assist, and blind spot detection which is nice. the sound system was impressive as well. a 10 speaker alpine system, with a subwoofer integrated tastefully into the cargo area.high, high's and low low's it was very well balanced with all 505 watts. the steering wheel is nice and thick, like an M3 or something lol. and the top portion is woodgrain, and is heated as well. a very cool feature i found on the car, is the "select-terrain" knob, kind of like the idrive knob, but for different settings for road conditions such as mud/sand, snow, sport etc. and on the right side of the knob is a couple buttons that control the air suspension. should you find yourself off-roading, you can raise the car about 2.5" above the standard setting. and can lower the car 1.5" from the standard setting. i thought this was a very nice feature. sport mode is my favorite because it lowers the car about a half inch from standard and applies i believe 90% of the power to the rear wheels. with 360hp and 390lbs. of torque on tap to the rear wheels, that 10% up front is just enough to pull you out of the hole and keep you from laying a good portion of your tire on the tarmac. at 4400lbs. it's lighter than its predecessor by about 400lbs. i believe. which makes for a more seat of the pants feeling to me. the car just felt great. so smooth and comfortable. soo...un-american lol. jeep really out did themselves with this car, and finally taking a step in the right direction to giving american cars a better image. anyways i could go on further but this is a bmw forum.

the question i have is, has anybody else driven one, or purchased one? i would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this car, perhaps somethings i havn't noticed that could be potentially irritating, or problematic?

thanks for reading my rant guys!

-Derek

[krnboy817]

great looking suv... but would you still even after the vid???

[TK-421]

Holy huge paragraph batman

[BobsM3Coupe]

Back in 2000, I got a new GC Limited V8 and I enjoyed the vehicle for the 6 years I owned it. The new one looks great. I haven't seen one up close yet but if I were to get one, I would wait for the 5.7L to come with a 6 speed auto. The auto trans in the 2011 is basically the same unit since 1999. Since the 2011 weighs so much, even with the 5.7 engine, the thing is a bit of a dog and really slurps the fuel. The 6 speed would help the performance and fuel economy. So I'm hoping the 2012 will offer the 6 speed auto, then I will take a serious look at it. Plus it will give Jeep a year to get some of the bugs out of the new vehicle.

[dexter]

Originally Posted by BobsM3Coupe

Back in 2000, I got a new GC Limited V8 and I enjoyed the vehicle for the 6 years I owned it. The new one looks great. I haven't seen one up close yet but if I were to get one, I would wait for the 5.7L to come with a 6 speed auto. The auto trans in the 2011 is basically the same unit since 1999. Since the 2011 weighs so much, even with the 5.7 engine, the thing is a bit of a dog and really slurps the fuel. The 6 speed would help the performance and fuel economy. So I'm hoping the 2012 will offer the 6 speed auto, then I will take a serious look at it. Plus it will give Jeep a year to get some of the bugs out of the new vehicle.

On the limited and overland with V8 you get a "multispeed" transmission as they call it for some reason. And it actually has six forward gears. It has 5 plus a highway overdrive. So it actually is a six speed

[TunedM2C]

I like them and plan to test drive one soon. I'm also considering this or the Ford Edge Sport for the wife's CRV replacement.

Also can't wait for this bad boy to come out.

[mtla4]

I would wait for the srt8 because regular GC have crap resale value. They're nice probably drive nice but geeez talk about depreciation.

[flyinb501]

Sounds real nice!

More paragraphs next time though please haha.

[Sniz]

yup id look at one for sure.

[Seminole]

I sat in one at the Miami Autoshow and was really impressed. Probably the vehicle that impressed me the most out of the entire show. They had an off road course set up outside with different obstacles and the GC performed amazing. I'm seriously considering one for my next car now.

[PeteW84]

The SRT looks pretty promising..

[AlpineG05]

i just picked up a jeep srt8. cpo 2008 fully loaded 23,000 miles for 36,999

[E60orBust]

Wait for the 8-speed auto. I have a 2005 JGC and have modded it down to 6.0 to 60MPH while keeping it naturally aspirated. Trade off is 13MPG average. Its worth it for the exhaust note when I floor it, but having an 8Speed auto would help a lot for spreading out the transmission load.

As far as overland vs SRT8. Do you want to haul stuff or haul @ss? Answering that will tell you overland or wait for the SRT8. It should share the same engine as the new challenger, 6.4L V8 with about 470HP depending on how they tweak the ECU.

[freshwhite335]

I have an 06 Overland and love it. I did just have to dump $1000 in to it because some of the electronics went [it has 44k on it].

The Jeep is my sisters car and we went and drove the new Overland GC and I loved it. SO much better handling than the one we have. My only complaint, which someone already brought up, is that it's really low on power. My sister's Overland feels fast for an SUV and the new GC just feels like a heavy car with an underpowered engine. The new dual exhaust is great though, sounds great.

[Cdnrockies]

Worst company ever.

I'd part out any Dodge even if given to me for free. The one company that absolutely and undoubtably didn't deserve one cent of gov't money to stay alive.

[Stephen5242]

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Worst company ever.

I'd part out any Dodge even if given to me for free. The one company that absolutely and undoubtably didn't deserve one cent of gov't money to stay alive.

You sound hesitant, are you sure you don't like Chrysler/Jeep?

I looked at the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee and believe me it is nothing like the previous model. Very luxurious! I would, however, wait a year for the 8 speed transmission and let them get any first year bugs worked out.

[Imperator]

Originally Posted by Cdnrockies

Worst company ever.

I'd part out any Dodge even if given to me for free. The one company that absolutely and undoubtably didn't deserve one cent of gov't money to stay alive.

Sure, they didn't deserve a cent.. not after Daimler sucked the life out of them, drained its cash and left it bleeding with outdated parts-bin platforms. Along comes Cerberus who thought they had something, but do you think a private equity investment firm wanted anything to do with the troubled manufacturer? They dumped CC to the Government leveraging Chrysler Financial in the process.

I somewhat expected you to be better-educated on this, but with an IS-F in your stable, it's evident you don't really care about cars either.



And sign me up for a HEMI WK2 Overland as soon as it gets the 8-speed auto.

[Stephen5242]

I hope the SRT-8 version looks like this:

[Stephen5242]

Originally Posted by krnboy817

great looking suv... but would you still even after the vid???

$hit happens everywhere!

BMW employees steal 4 million dollars worth of gear

http://autodebut.com/2010/bmw-employ...worth-of-gear/


"A group of 18 employees have been caught stealing from the BMW assembly line in Munich, Germany totaling a sum of $4,000,000 in parts. If that’s not interesting enough then how about this. They’ve been doing it for years.

The employees would call in fake quality control checks, stop the whole assembly process, and make off with the goods and then sell them in various markets. Interior seating was the most popular and highest-yielding product that was stolen and sold.

BMW’s very own internal investigators figured this out, but it wasn’t until the thieves made off with $4,000,000. Three employees are currently in custody."

[Stephen5242]

Originally Posted by GhostRideTheWhip

Honestly, too expensive for what they are. Look into a Cayanne or Tourag. Both very well built and off road vehicles.

Are you talking about the JGC or the SRT version? The 2011 JGC is nothing like the previous one and in Canada it is 30-40K less than the X5. 50K vs 80-90K. I personal don't need the performance of the SRT or a Cayanne.

[Stephen5242]

Originally Posted by GhostRideTheWhip

The JGC Limited V8. Way too overpriced. My 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee is amazing. The 2011 Grand Cherokee V8 Limited is overpriced in my opinion.

It looks like the 2011 JGC may not be for you then. You may see better pricing in a year (with deals) or so as it is selling like hot cakes right now, since it is so new and the reviews are so good. Remember the first one to own one pays for that privilege.

[mmm def]

Originally Posted by Alpine 335i

i just picked up a jeep srt8. cpo 2008 fully loaded 23,000 miles for 36,999

Weren't they $41k new? That sure held it's value!