jeep hater… 
Well, not a hater by any means. Just “disliked”. I have yet to meet a jeep with long term proven reliability equal to the better car based SUVs. The new Grands are very capable but still unproven. Owning a Jeep for some is like owning a magic logo. I have owned 4wd and AWD vehicles for over thirty years and every time I try to buy one, I try out a comparable Jeep model. The are really poorly made model (Cherokee) for model compared to others or completely out of date as far as their power trains ( compass) are concerned or way out of my price range. (grand Cherokee)
well with as many old Cherokees as I see on the road every day I just don t buy the poorly made argument. I am amazed that the interior on my 1990 Cherokee is still almost completely intact. I have never seen an interior hold up that long. no rust either. that 4.0 str 6 has a good rep too.
I also see grand Cherokees everywhere, tho I am not familiar with them, the fact that there are so many on the road says something for them.
a Cherokee is not a car, I ll give you that. that’s why I like it.
The older Cherokee (and later Liberty) was and is a unique vehicle with a simple truck based drive train and unibody construction. It didn’t have a lot of options and with the old style reliability of the straight six, it hung in there for a long time. But, being light in the rear and poorly balanced with that heavy straight six made it not a good winter car for those unfamiliar with rwd in snow and coupled with an old style 4lwd system that could not be left in gear all the time. To those familiar with trucks, it was fine. But you have to count your self as a minority when you like a truck based system in a vehicle that isn’t a truck. That’s why they don’t make them anymore. Hence my comment, poorly made. That doesn’t mean they are unreliable, it means they are poorly made for the job a lot of people bought them for. Like the Suzukis of old as well with rwd base drive trains in simple SUVs, they are not for people weaned on fwd in snow. And IMHO, they are poorly made for the task…being a functional SUV that handles well in snow, all the time for everyone.
I had a Suzuki Sidekicj for a while too. It was reliable and I lived with it as a Mud car during mud season because I also had a truck that my wife was familiar with and able to cope with on winter snow and ice. But, once we went back to AWD cars and SUVs with an AWD feature, the truck based drive system is no longer up to the task in an SUV based on a car otherwise.
suzukis sidekicks were toys.
Cherokees are beasts.
libertys had a nice name.
the Cherokee was basically unchanged for what, 17 yrs?
I think you may be mistaken as to why they don t make them anymore. the main criticism I ve heard about the new Cherokee is that they aren t the old cherokee
They don’t make them anymore ? My guess they stop selling enough as they were and couldn’t keep up with the RAvs and CRVs and the like in sales when AWD SUVs came on line. The loss of space from the straight six brought on the Liberty which differed from the old Cherokee mainly by the motor and body style. Increased space efficiency and a different motor. Otherwise, they were were pretty much the same idea.
Now, you are bordering on fighting words when you say the Suzuki Sidekick was a toy. ;() It had much better ground clearance for it’s length, better approach and departure angles and was much better protected with skid plates then any Cherokee. I mounted 235-75/ 15 tires on mine, which are much larger then standard and my neighbor’s son’ with his wrangler could not follow me through the woods, ditches and mud holes where we went off roading without getting stuck and needing his winch. I never had to use any. Mine was an animal even compared to a Wrangler and a Cherokee in standard form couldn’t hold a candle to it. That’s what it was made for in third worlds., not towing or carrying 1000 lbs. it was an off road animal. Toy my buttocks, 
The new Cherokees in my opinion are an engineering problem and coordinating everything new in a different package. I think they may come around, too late to catch RAVs and. CRVs and the like.
lol, now I know what to do when you rag on Cherokees. pick on the sidekick!
I have some good ones too. I ll save them for later
Well, the Sidekick has come and gone because it too was too poorly made for the road and highway travel, and inefficient doing it, like the old Cherokee, gas mileage wise. Now, if you want to pick on something of mine, it will have to be our 4Runner.
Just to keep you guys updated… Did a lot of test driving today. 4 Runner is near the top of her list, which surprised me. Honda Pilot is a contender as well, and the dealers are willing to move a lot on 2014 Pilot prices. Will check out the Acura tomorrow. For some reason she did not like the Highlander.
Anything you just mentioned is preferable to the Rover…
dagosa How many 1984 thru 1996 Jeep Cherokees have you owned? I have owned one. A 1991 Laredo with 4 speed automatic and “select trac”. (Quote from Edmunds) “Considered by many as the leader in the four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicle segment, Jeep offered not one but two 4WD systems for the Cherokee. “Command-Trac” was a part-time, shift-on-the-fly unit and the “Selec-Trac” system allowed the option of full-time 4WD operation.” I have never driven a Suzuki Sidekick or Samuri so I will not comment on them. I have driven a Toyota 4 Runner and Izusu Rodeo in 2WD on dry pavement and have no complaints of either one. I drove my Cherokee for 10 years and 150,000 miles with no significant problems. Maybe I got a Wednesday car. The quote of shift on the fly 4WD is a bit misleading. You could shift on the fly to 4H up to I think 45mph. 4L required a complete stop, shift transmission to neutral and then engage 4L. Front hubs auto locked. I only shifted on the fly to 4H once in a blizzard at 20mph. 4L was very capable off road. Per the manufacturer you could engage full time 4WD (AWD) and leave it there forever. I don’t know why you would want to when you could select 2WD (rear) which I used 90% of the time. The AWD also distributed power to individual wheels unlike Subaru which was front to back. I also had 4 channel ABS which was 4 wheel as opposed to the usual front or back of the time.
wesw I was also amazed by the interior durability. After 150,000 miles it was still near new with very minimal care!
Dagosa, just different opinions on snow. I’ve had snow tires and many SUVs. Going up hills on snow there’s no question 4WD can help. The bigger problem in snow is stopping, not going. Snow tires help tremendously with stopping and steering. 4WD does not. This is coming from somebody who has lived in Boulder, CO, Santa Fe, Chicago, and the mountains of Colorado. I’ve driven a lot of snow.
Ive driven my mustang GT through snow and ice. It was all over the road, but then again, nobody was out. Here in NC if we get any snow the whole city shuts DOWN. They have 1 plow for the state it seems like!
You mean the eastern part of NC. There is a lot more snow in the wast.
yeah, my mustangs were not very good in snow.
@Dario
If your wife insists on a luxo barge SUV(whether status symbol or not), look at the Escalade or Navigator. The Escalade is a blinged out Suburban and the Navigator is an Expidition I think.