2016 Cherokee Rental - Ask me anything/Oppo review Part 1

"JRapp: now as good as new again" (jrapp) 12/06/2016 at 12:49 • Filed to: None

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So I took my MDX in to get a dent repaired from when a coworker backed into it, and got a rental. It’s a 2016 Cherokee Limited 4x4, with a totally gutless 4-banger. Anything anyone wants to know?

So far I’ve driven it from the rental place to work, and first impressions are as follows, in no particular order.

The 2.4L(?) is gutless, though I did find the Sport setting after I parked, so that my improve things a bit.

The automatic parking brake when you shift into park is annoying, good thing you can turn that off.

The steering wheel doesn’t telescope out far enough, and the adjustment is manual not electric.

For a car with 7k miles, the leather has seen better days, though it is a rental so that’s to be expected.

It feels much smaller and lower than my ‘07 MDX.

The infotainment is actually pretty decent with a fairly large LCD screen, though I’m not a fan of hiding things like seat heaters in the menus in there and not actual buttons.

A heated steering wheel is kind of nice.

Pandora streaming works well, though I think it’s adding stations into my list that I don’t have on the app.

iHeartRadio app is useless, as it only has US stations, no international stations show up. Needs TuneIn Radio instead, though that’s not really the fault of the car.

Bluetooth phone connectivity works as one would expect for calls. It seems to do A2DP, though I’ve yet to try that out.

The brown color is actually decent on it, better than most. It looks a bit darker than on the picture above.

Cup-holder placement is a bit strange. It’s too far back to comfortably use.

Anyways, I’ve yet to really drive it any further than from the rental lot to work during morning rush hour, so I can’t say how it feels to drive. So far though it’s an acceptable rental, though if I were to buy one, it would need a beefier engine.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 12:52

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Why would someone buy one?

Tapas > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/06/2016 at 12:55

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I’ve driven the base and riden in the higher end ones. Tbh, it beats me.

Phatboyphil > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 12:57

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How does it do offroad? I think as long as you got the insurance you’ll be fine :)

JRapp: now as good as new again > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 12/06/2016 at 12:58

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Can’t say one should quite yet. I have a buddy who has one too, so I could ask him, though given his car history before this one (90s Chevy Lumina, ~00 Hyundai Accident, ~06 Hyundai Tucson), his opinions on cars are not to be taken seriously.

I mean in theory though, this one should be at least a semi-capable mini SUV. It has settings for sand, snow/ice, and has stuff like hill start assist, so it should do ok for light off road use. And the creature comforts seem ok as well.

JRapp: now as good as new again > Phatboyphil 12/06/2016 at 13:03

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It should do ok for light off-road use, but I wouldn’t want to try anything serious with it. Your average logging road should be fine, but anything beyond that, probably not advisable. The ground-clearance isn’t terribly great. I may or may not get a chance to try any of that out, depends on how long the shop takes with my MDX.

Dasupersprint - base trim is enough > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 13:05

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I had a FWD one this summer in Maui and I liked it! Wait, there’s a sport mode?

JRapp: now as good as new again > Dasupersprint - base trim is enough 12/06/2016 at 13:09

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It maybe be a 4WD only thing. There’s a dial:

Oh, and it’s Maui. You’ll like anything there. Hell, I have pleasant memories of the mini-van I had in Maui and I know I can’t actually like the mini-van.

Steve in Manhattan > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 13:10

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Did a blind person design the front end?

JRapp: now as good as new again > Steve in Manhattan 12/06/2016 at 13:16

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As a matter of fact, yes, it seems. It was designed by Greg Howell, who is also the Exterior Design Chief at RAM trucks. Judging by huge lettering on the tailgate of those things, he is in fact blind.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 13:33

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“Does it blend?”

JRapp: now as good as new again > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 12/06/2016 at 13:40

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It blends into the urban scenery very well. A little too well. It’s a generic looking brownish CUV and those are dime a dozen. There’s not much to set this one apart from the rest of them.

itschrome > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 13:51

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Why does every one care how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a wood chick could in fact chick wood, yet no one ever seems to be concerned weither the woodchuck would want to chuck wood if in fact a woodchuck could chuck wood. do you think the woodchuck has a right to an opinion on the subjest of weither or not it would even want to chcuk wood? do you agree that prehaps we are forcing a role of tge poor wood chuck and we might want to take their feelings into consideration?

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 13:54

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Another (more serious): What do you think of the headlights? This is the only car I know of in the US with Citroen-style thin signal indicator/DRL modules above the actual headlight modules.

Justin Hughes > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 14:17

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Does it rally?

JRapp: now as good as new again > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 12/06/2016 at 14:19

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It’s hard to see them from inside the car. I’m pretty indifferent about them actually. I guess in the dark it does make the car stand out a bit more, and blend in a little less.

JRapp: now as good as new again > itschrome 12/06/2016 at 14:24

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Because. No. No.

JRapp: now as good as new again > Justin Hughes 12/06/2016 at 14:27

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That’s the Grand Cherokee. The Ignoble Cherokee is unlikely to rally, especially with the 4-banger that’s in this one.

Edit: Actually I guess that’s the Compass? Either way, my reason stands.

Justin Hughes > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 15:03

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Yep, it’s a Compass, and I rallied it . It was the only place the Compass was any good. You never know - Toyota dominated NASA Rally Sport this year with a RAV4 - a FWD model, even.

Svart Smart, traded in his Smart > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 15:22

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How is the transmission?

JRapp: now as good as new again > Justin Hughes 12/06/2016 at 15:29

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Reading that gives me hope that using the tiptronic may make this into a somewhat drivable vehicle. It seems to have the same 2.4L, and the Compass and Cherokee seem to be roughly the same size. With the Cherokee being maybe ever so slightly slimmer. The Cherokee is also built on the same platform as the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200, so it’s even more of a “car”, so in theory it should handle ok on a rally stage. Still though the 184 ponies seem to be rather asthmatic, or that could be transmission too.

JRapp: now as good as new again > Svart Smart, traded in his Smart 12/06/2016 at 15:35

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I’ve only driven it from the rental lot to work so far, so about 10 miles total, but it feels about average for sitting in traffic. It’s a bit weird seeing only PRND without the L or S though. But it does have tiptronic, and it does sort of work. I’ll have to do some more driving to give a true opinion on that though. So stay tuned.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 16:23

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Have you looked for the battery yet? ;)

Also, that infotainment system? 3 years...then needs replacing. Everyone I know. I got over 5 from mine, a veritable eternity.

JRapp: now as good as new again > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! 12/06/2016 at 16:54

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Hmm... I’ll have to do that when I get home. I’m assuming it’s a “fun” location?

And yea, can’t really get a feel for longevity with rentals. So far, with 7k on the car, it all still seems to work.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > JRapp: now as good as new again 12/06/2016 at 18:25

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Some Jeep products have it positioned under the passenger seat. Not sure on the newer Cherokee.

JRapp: now as good as new again > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! 12/06/2016 at 19:42

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Looks to be under the hood on this one maybe: