Faults:

Since the day I bought it, I noticed a whining noise from the rear. My mechanic looked at it and replaced all of the bearings and such and told me there was nothing wrong. The whining is quieter now, but still exists. From other reviews I have noticed that it's "just a Jeep thing".

I also have a shifting problem. The tranny won't shift from 2nd to 3rd unless I significantly let up off the gas. If you just keep pushing the RPMs, it will eventually start reving the engine and lurching. I still haven't found a remedy. Does anyone have a suggestion on what could be the problem?

General Comments:

My Jeep is very comfortable. It came with many options including Infinity Sound, power seats, windows, and locks, the temp/mileage gage up top, wood trim and CD/cassette player. I can pretty much go anywhere, which is nice living in the mountains. However, I feel I may grow out of it soon. My boyfriend is 6'5". Plus, children hopefully will someday be in the picture. I will then be needing something bigger.

If I could go back to the buying process of this vehicle, I would definately go for the V8 engine. Currently I am getting an average of 18 MPG which is OK, but since the V8 doesn't get too much less, I would go for that better power. With my tranny problem, my Jeep doesn't take long passes too well and I usually have to slow down substantially.

Faults:

The Rear Differential started to make a high pitch noise at about 1500 miles. The differential was rebuilt under warranty. This included pinion bearings, axial bearings and seals.

The power steering pump started to make a noise at about 3,00 miles. This was said to be 'normal' and would not be covered by warranty. My older Jeep Limited has made no such noise in it's 2 years of driving.

The Front brake rotor became warped at about 10,000 miles (this car is used mostly for driving around town at low speeds and the brakes are not stressed). This was replaced under warranty.

At 25,000 miles the differential again made a noise, but the Jeep dealer silently refused to work on it. I say 'silent' because while they did not say they refused, even a call to Chrysler could not get it actually worked on. At 32,000 miles the noise became pronounced. A second Jeep dealer said 'yes' it is bad, but now out-of-warranty. I pulled the differential cover and discovered some rather large chunks of metal, etc. So, I replaced bearings seals etc. at home.

Today the Jeep is again in the shop for a defective ignition switch and leaking transmission cooling hoses.

If the Jeep dealer had his way I would also have axial boots, front differential oil seals and a couple of other things fixed, but I am holding at the items I asked for.

General Comments:

Along the way, 'Country-Wide' in Southern California, where I purchased the Jeep showed that the copy of the extended service agreement I paid for was 'crossed-out' and therefor I never paid for it. Well, that is a classic rip-off I should have double-checked for.

The fact is: my first, older, Jeep Cherokee Limited is an an excellent and reliable car. If not for the older Jeep's reliability I would have doubt that any Jeep was reliable based upon the Grand Cherokee.

If you see my above rating you will note the Grand is a comfortable Jeep, the gas mileage is fine, the steering is improved in it's performance compared to the older Limited. The Brakes work better. In many aspects the Grand is an improvement.

As for the differential problems. Well, if Jeep had installed a 2 cent magnet to hold any metal that accidentally worked into the oil then I suspect the differential would never have failed twice. Today it has magnet installed, by me.

In general, yes I expect I will buy another Jeep. But, if it starts-out like the last one, it will be my last Jeep.

Thank you.

Jay Waas.