So the quality of the Grand Cherokee hasn't impressed me at all. I've found alot of things broken already. My CRD liberty had very few issues and a nice fit and finish. The Grand cherokee is an 04, the liberty is an 05 model year with similar miles 120k vs 100k.
The GC issues I've had so far:
On the Grand cherokee the heat/AC doesn't go to floor (just stays on vent) and when on defrost half of the air vents out the vent and half the defrost. People tell me this is a common issue on the GC and the stop pins and hinges break. I had an airbag light that would come on, and go away on its own. I traced that down to a connector by the main Airbag computer in the center console. The connector was still clipped on, but there is a bit of play even when clipped in. After unplugging and plugging in the light went away and hasn't returned. Leaking thermostat housing (probably need a gasket, but that is probably normal with the higher mileage. (On the liberty I also replaced the thermostat around 100k miles). The oil pressure gauge would pulse past 1/2 (normal), then go to 1/8 and back. probably due to bad wire or sending unit i suppose. electric window don't work with the drivers door open...again probably a bad/broken wire. as I close the door, when it is nearly closed, they work again. Rear wheel seals were gone, had gear oil in the rear e-brake housing part of the rotor. Consequently, the vari lock axles were not working (limited slip). This was resolved when i did new seals, bearings and fluids. Heated seats, both drivers and passengers back and seat do not work. This may be a heated seat module that has gone out, still troubleshooting. Rear seat belt recepticle was broken. This may not have been a quality issue, but how do you accidentally break one of these if it is not cheap crappy plastic? Due to broken seatbelt housing, the rear folding seat had a rip where the metal seatbelt piece cut into the seat when folded. The rear seat motor on BOTH passenger and drivers seats is bad. Jeep only sells the whole seat track ($600). So I will have to get used ones which may fail again.
So thats it, all of this at around 6 years old. My liberty at 5 years old only needed a sensor cleanedand a thermostat. I decided to do scheduled maintenance of timing belt, waterpump, etc just because it was due, not because anything broke. No heated seat issues, no seat motor issues, no dash heat issues, no sensor/gauge issues, no seal issues, no airbag lights, no power window issues, no broken seatbelts.
So all in all, I think the liberty has far fewer quality issues. Granted it is a newer design and I think Jeeps quality has gone up lately. So be glad you have a liberty in the small stuff that counts.
I am still glad I purchased the Grand Cherokee, I will fix whatever comes up and hopefully there won't be much more to add to the list. Most of this I have already fixed or found the fix for it and just need to do it. Off road it out preforms the liberty by a long shot. The 4.7L V8 is nice and powerful. I do miss that low down endless torque of the turbo diesel, but for me the solid axle GC is still the best option.
Our Toyota Corolla XRS should be sold by friday and then all my time will go into the GC untill its ready for winter and everything fixed. After the corolla is sold and the GC it is good to go and up to my standards I will get back to working on the CRD thermostat project for you guys.
- Mark
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