[nchanin]

2011 Grand Cherokee Overland Review (UPDATED 10/5/10 w/ Problem Resolutions)

I took delivery of my 2011 Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4 with the V8 HEMI a few weeks ago and have had the chance to put about 1,000 miles on it now. I’ve often taken advantage of initial impressions on online forums, but I’ve never had the chance to give back. I know the Overland is hard to come by and there are a lot of questions about it, so here are my initial impressions:

General Design:
The interior and exterior design of the 2011 GC is exceptional. My opinion is that it’s the nicest American car currently in production. The interior is exceptional, especially at night as the entire dashboard, doors, controls, and even cup holders light up a very cool green color. The exterior has a tough, aggressive look, albeit slightly more city slicker than past models. Chrome accents and HID headlights give the car a very sharp, European look. The panoramic sunroof is great and gives the cabin a bright open feeling.

Seats:
The perforated leather seats have inverse color piping and are embossed with the Overland logo. The Overland has ventilated and heated seats. The ventilated seats work extremely well, and for a South Floridian like myself, the ventilated seats are my favorite feature. The GC’s ventilated seats have an adjustable fan speed and are better than those I’ve felt on other American cars. The back seats are heated-only and have adjustable recline. I’ve had a few tall guys in the back and they report that it is comfortable, even with the front seat back most of the way.

Dashboard:
The dashboard is covered with a soft material and has inverse accent stitching, similar to what you’d find on a Porsche or Ferrari. I’m not sure if this stitching is functional in any way, but my sense is that it’s just for show. Jeep’s decision to use real wood accents on the dash is a welcome departure from the faux wood finish that Japanese and American car makers default to. The wood accents on the dash and steering wheel (Overland only) give the car an exceptionally high-end look.

Instrumentation:
The instrumentation on the car is beautiful. There is a large analog tachometer with inset engine temperature and an analog speedometer with inset fuel gauge. The gauges light up white at night, and they are divided in the center by Jeep’s EVIC (Electronic Vehicle Information Center) where you can pull up additional data like fuel economy, pressure readings for each tire, a digital speedometer, battery and other engine temperatures and information. The EVIC is controlled by the steering wheel controls and is fairly intuitive. The only complaint I have is that many readings like fuel economy and mileage logs are too easily reset by hitting the wrong button (my experience on other cars has been that there are separate buttons for reset or you have to hold down a button for a few seconds). I like to track mileage and average economy so this small thing actually disappoints me a lot. I hope Jeep fixes this through a software update.

Fuel Economy:
I didn’t buy this car based on fuel economy ratings, but I’m happy to say that Jeep’s estimates are actually pretty accurate. This car is fast and makes me want to drive it like a sports car. If I drive the way I want – pulling out fast from lights and accelerating up highway on-ramps (about the only curves and inclines we get in South Florida) I average about 12 - 13 MPG. When I attempt to drive more conservatively, I’ve done as well as 16.6MPG for the tank. My driving is about 50% city and 50% highway (rush hour going from 35 to 75 and back), so this falls right in line with Jeep’s estimates. I noticed that the best fuel economy seems to be between 45 and 55 MPH.

Performance:
Like I said before, this car is fast. I never feel that I don’t have enough power to change lines on the highway. I also don’t feel like I need to floor it to get all the power I need. The transmission is very smooth and responds well to accelerating and decelerating in all conditions. Braking performance is sufficient and I’ve already had a few chances to do some hard braking during some of South Florida’s wet afternoons on slippery roads – the car performed well and did not skid at all. I test drove a Limited model with the V6 and although it wasn’t sluggish, the V8 makes a big difference. Some of the other threads on the forum have addressed this, but my vote is splurge for the V8 and buy a radar detector because this car is fast, smooth and quiet and you’ll be doing 90MPH without even realizing it.

Off Road:
Sorry guys. I have a Wrangler for going off-road. Though I’m tempted to test my new GC out, I can’t bring myself to risk scratching it up or breaking something quite yet.

Navigation and Entertainment:
I like the NAV system on the car, but I don’t love it. I had a Chevy Tahoe previously and I do prefer Jeep’s interface to GM’s. I have had a problem since delivery with Sirius radio going in and out quite often, and I think I have a defective antenna or the antenna is a defective design. The car has been back to the dealer for this and other issues (consolidated below), but they have not been able to fix. There are some interface flaws when playing music from the built in hard drive or connecting an iPod. Most notably is that you can’t search for music or sort by letter – this means that if I’m looking for something that starts with a “Z” I have to scroll through all the As, Bs, Cs, Ds and so on to get to it. When an iPod is connected you cannot use the iPod’s own interface. On top of this, when operating in the iPod or hard drive mode the radio is extremely slow and lags several seconds even when scrolling through menus and lists – this is a huge flaw and very frustrating when trying to get from one song to another (if someone knows a way to do this that I didn’t discover, please let me know). Navigation performance is decent and I found the NAV usually picks the same routes I would with my “local knowledge”. The Sirius traffic feature is nice, but so far I’ve found all the events have been put on too late and stay on too long – this limits my confidence in the traffic and I find myself ignoring it. The sound of the stereo in the car is very good with crisp highs and deep lows, although I think the subwoofer should have been a bit larger and more powerful. The display switches to the back up camera view when the car is put in reverse and has very helpful range markers superimposed on the video to assist you with gauging distances.

Initial Quality:
I’m a bit concerned about the initial quality of the car. While nothing absolutely critical is wrong, there are little details and defects that make me concerned about Fysler’s quality assurance (As a point of comparison, my last car was an ’07 Tahoe – among the first builds of a new design - and it arrived completely defect free. In fact, I didn’t have a single problem with it until about 50,000 miles). The car has been back to the dealer for service and after being there for 2.5 days, nothing was resolved. The dealer blames Jeep for being slow in shipping parts, but this may have just been the typical BS we’ve all come to expect from car dealers.

Defects:
1. Power lift gate did not work upon delivery. Dealer ordered new latch and then determined they needed a new motor as well. Waiting for the new motor to arrive.

RESOLUTION: Replaced latch and motor. Operating normally.

2. Steering wheel has sharp edge on top of airbag area. Dealer says this is just the design and there’s nothing they can do. I looked at other Jeeps on the lot and I agree the design of this area is not comfortable if you like to rest your hands on the wheel this way, but my car is actually worse since the plastic piece has an odd edge on it that came from the mold. Trying to get them to replace it with a new piece – we’ll see.

NOT RESOLVED: Dealer insisted this is the normal design. I looked at other WK2s on their lot and they were better than mine, but not great. I think Jeep should improve this on future versions.

3. Overhead console makes a rattling noise when accelerating or playing loud music. Dealer forgot to check this and will check it when I bring it back again.

RESOLUTION: Dealer removed and reinstalled console. Rattle gone.

4. Sirius satellite radio loses signal often. Sometimes this happens on open road, but more often it happens driving near trees, power lines, or buildings. Unfortunately for us earth dwellers, some combination of trees, power lines and buildings are a fact of life just about everywhere we go so this radio should not have a problem operating near these “obstacles.” I had Tahoe with XM for 4 years and I never once lost a signal in any of these areas. The dealer flashed the radio with new software and said this would fix the problem – it didn’t.

RESOLUTION: Dealer replaced entire Nav unit. Reception improved but is still sub par compared to other cars I own with Sirius or XM.

5. Navigation display does not automatically change from day colors to night colors ever since dealer flashed radio with new software. Will address when I bring the car back in.

RESOLUTION: Dealer replaced entire Nav Unit. Problem eliminated.

6. Rear passenger overhead handle makes a cracking noise when operated. Dealer says they’ve ordered the replacement part from Chrysler.

RESOLUTION: Dealer replaced handle. Problem eliminated.

Summary:
I love this car. In spite of some minor defects at delivery, it is exceptionally well designed and definitely raises the bar for finishing on American cars. The V8 HEMI makes this thing fast and it’s whisper quiet on the highway. As for the Overland versus the Limited or Laredo there’s not a huge difference – the Limited and Laredo both look awesome. Having said that, the Overland’s got a bunch of little things that make it really special and unique and if you measure cars more with emotion than dollars (guilty) then the Overland’s the way to go.

[oldmac1]

Thank you for your candid report. You just swayed me into keeping my 09 GC until the bugs get a chance to get resolved. I went through this with the 05 GC and sold it after a year because of issues. My 09 is great so put me down for a new one in a couple of years. Thanks again.

[AJeepZJ]

Originally Posted by nchanin

2011 Grand Cherokee Overland Review

Fuel Economy:
I didn’t buy this car based on fuel economy ratings,

lol... no one does

Nice thorough review - If I can hold out past the holidays - i will probably buy a limited next summer. I'm still trying to overlook that short bumper on the back of it... I love the front of the new GC... It's very bold looking. The back looks kinda funky, but I think I can get over that. .. I'm actually trying to buy a smaller Jeep... probably a Patriot. Something light, and easy on the road. I'm still keep'n my WK.. I would not trade/sell her to anyone

aj

[jonesark]

Originally Posted by nchanin

2011 Grand Cherokee Overland Review

I took delivery of my 2011 Grand Cherokee Overland 4x4 with the V8 HEMI a few weeks ago and have had the chance to put about 1,000 miles on it now. I’ve often taken advantage of initial impressions on online forums, but I’ve never had the chance to give back. I know the Overland is hard to come by and there are a lot of questions about it, so here are my initial impressions:

General Design:
The interior and exterior design of the 2011 GC is exceptional. My opinion is that it’s the nicest American car currently in production. The interior is exceptional, especially at night as the entire dashboard, doors, controls, and even cup holders light up a very cool green color. The exterior has a tough, aggressive look, albeit slightly more city slicker than past models. Chrome accents and HID headlights give the car a very sharp, European look. The panoramic sunroof is great and gives the cabin a bright open feeling.

Seats:
The perforated leather seats have inverse color piping and are embossed with the Overland logo. The Overland has ventilated and heated seats. The ventilated seats work extremely well, and for a South Floridian like myself, the ventilated seats are my favorite feature. The GC’s ventilated seats have an adjustable fan speed and are better than those I’ve felt on other American cars. The back seats are heated-only and have adjustable recline. I’ve had a few tall guys in the back and they report that it is comfortable, even with the front seat back most of the way.

Dashboard:
The dashboard is covered with a soft material and has inverse accent stitching, similar to what you’d find on a Porsche or Ferrari. I’m not sure if this stitching is functional in any way, but my sense is that it’s just for show. Jeep’s decision to use real wood accents on the dash is a welcome departure from the faux wood finish that Japanese and American car makers default to. The wood accents on the dash and steering wheel (Overland only) give the car an exceptionally high-end look.

Instrumentation:
The instrumentation on the car is beautiful. There is a large analog tachometer with inset engine temperature and an analog speedometer with inset fuel gauge. The gauges light up white at night, and they are divided in the center by Jeep’s EVIC (Electronic Vehicle Information Center) where you can pull up additional data like fuel economy, pressure readings for each tire, a digital speedometer, battery and other engine temperatures and information. The EVIC is controlled by the steering wheel controls and is fairly intuitive. The only complaint I have is that many readings like fuel economy and mileage logs are too easily reset by hitting the wrong button (my experience on other cars has been that there are separate buttons for reset or you have to hold down a button for a few seconds). I like to track mileage and average economy so this small thing actually disappoints me a lot. I hope Jeep fixes this through a software update.

Fuel Economy:
I didn’t buy this car based on fuel economy ratings, but I’m happy to say that Jeep’s estimates are actually pretty accurate. This car is fast and makes me want to drive it like a sports car. If I drive the way I want – pulling out fast from lights and accelerating up highway on-ramps (about the only curves and inclines we get in South Florida) I average about 12 - 13 MPG. When I attempt to drive more conservatively, I’ve done as well as 16.6MPG for the tank. My driving is about 50% city and 50% highway (rush hour going from 35 to 75 and back), so this falls right in line with Jeep’s estimates. I noticed that the best fuel economy seems to be between 45 and 55 MPH.

Performance:
Like I said before, this car is fast. I never feel that I don’t have enough power to change lines on the highway. I also don’t feel like I need to floor it to get all the power I need. The transmission is very smooth and responds well to accelerating and decelerating in all conditions. Braking performance is sufficient and I’ve already had a few chances to do some hard braking during some of South Florida’s wet afternoons on slippery roads – the car performed well and did not skid at all. I test drove a Limited model with the V6 and although it wasn’t sluggish, the V8 makes a big difference. Some of the other threads on the forum have addressed this, but my vote is splurge for the V8 and buy a radar detector because this car is fast, smooth and quiet and you’ll be doing 90MPH without even realizing it.

Off Road:
Sorry guys. I have a Wrangler for going off-road. Though I’m tempted to test my new GC out, I can’t bring myself to risk scratching it up or breaking something quite yet.

Navigation and Entertainment:
I like the NAV system on the car, but I don’t love it. I had a Chevy Tahoe previously and I do prefer Jeep’s interface to GM’s. I have had a problem since delivery with Sirius radio going in and out quite often, and I think I have a defective antenna or the antenna is a defective design. The car has been back to the dealer for this and other issues (consolidated below), but they have not been able to fix. There are some interface flaws when playing music from the built in hard drive or connecting an iPod. Most notably is that you can’t search for music or sort by letter – this means that if I’m looking for something that starts with a “Z” I have to scroll through all the As, Bs, Cs, Ds and so on to get to it. When an iPod is connected you cannot use the iPod’s own interface. On top of this, when operating in the iPod or hard drive mode the radio is extremely slow and lags several seconds even when scrolling through menus and lists – this is a huge flaw and very frustrating when trying to get from one song to another (if someone knows a way to do this that I didn’t discover, please let me know). Navigation performance is decent and I found the NAV usually picks the same routes I would with my “local knowledge”. The Sirius traffic feature is nice, but so far I’ve found all the events have been put on too late and stay on too long – this limits my confidence in the traffic and I find myself ignoring it. The sound of the stereo in the car is very good with crisp highs and deep lows, although I think the subwoofer should have been a bit larger and more powerful. The display switches to the back up camera view when the car is put in reverse and has very helpful range markers superimposed on the video to assist you with gauging distances.

Initial Quality:
I’m a bit concerned about the initial quality of the car. While nothing absolutely critical is wrong, there are little details and defects that make me concerned about Fysler’s quality assurance (As a point of comparison, my last car was an ’07 Tahoe – among the first builds of a new design - and it arrived completely defect free. In fact, I didn’t have a single problem with it until about 50,000 miles). The car has been back to the dealer for service and after being there for 2.5 days, nothing was resolved. The dealer blames Jeep for being slow in shipping parts, but this may have just been the typical BS we’ve all come to expect from car dealers.

Defects:
1. Power lift gate did not work upon delivery. Dealer ordered new latch and then determined they needed a new motor as well. Waiting for the new motor to arrive. UNRESOLVED.
2. Steering wheel has sharp edge on top of airbag area. Dealer says this is just the design and there’s nothing they can do. I looked at other Jeeps on the lot and I agree the design of this area is not comfortable if you like to rest your hands on the wheel this way, but my car is actually worse since the plastic piece has an odd edge on it that came from the mold. Trying to get them to replace it with a new piece – we’ll see. UNRESOLVED.
3. Overhead console makes a rattling noise when accelerating or playing loud music. Dealer forgot to check this and will check it when I bring it back again. UNRESOLVED.
4. Sirius satellite radio loses signal often. Sometimes this happens on open road, but more often it happens driving near trees, power lines, or buildings. Unfortunately for us earth dwellers, some combination of trees, power lines and buildings are a fact of life just about everywhere we go so this radio should not have a problem operating near these “obstacles.” I had Tahoe with XM for 4 years and I never once lost a signal in any of these areas. The dealer flashed the radio with new software and said this would fix the problem – it didn’t. UNRESOLVED.
5. Navigation display does not automatically change from day colors to night colors ever since dealer flashed radio with new software. Will address when I bring the car back in. UNRESOLVED.
6. Rear passenger overhead handle makes a cracking noise when operated. Dealer says they’ve ordered the replacement part from Chrysler. UNRESOLVED

Summary:
I love this car. In spite of some minor defects at delivery, it is exceptionally well designed and definitely raises the bar for finishing on American cars. The V8 HEMI makes this thing fast and it’s whisper quiet on the highway. As for the Overland versus the Limited or Laredo there’s not a huge difference – the Limited and Laredo both look awesome. Having said that, the Overland’s got a bunch of little things that make it really special and unique and if you measure cars more with emotion than dollars (guilty) then the Overland’s the way to go.

Great review, some of the defects make me nervous. I've bought a new truck every 3 years for the past 15 years or so and I've never had that many initial problems!!?? My current truck, 2007 toyota tundra was actually one of the first tundra's (current new model) ordered in the state of Arkansas. I've haven't had a single problem with it, ever.

I hope you get all of those issues fixed quick. I really don't know if I would have accepted the GC if the lift gate wasn't working. Too much money IMO for those type problems to be occurring.

[Snipe315]

Thank you for the write-up.

I'm also a bit un-nerved by the list of initial problems. My current vehicle, a 2005 Toyota 4Runner hasn't had a single major mechanical or electrical problem since day one. It has its share of minor issues (squeaks, rattles, etc), but nothing that has required an urgent trip to the dealership.

The only major issue it has (and the major one causing me to get rid of it) is that it stinks when driven (excessive sulfur dioxide smell).
This involves the Catalytic Converters and the exhaust and Toyotas failure to fix it is one of my primary reasons for dumping it.

[Marcus86GLHS]

non-functioning lift gate so soon? that is huge. bad news for you and i hope it isnt bad news for any of us thinking about one of these new GC's. that is a great write up you compiled, thanks for sharing.

do you have the quadra lift in your overland? if so, what is your feedback on the system?

my 2008 Hemi WK with 12,000 miles on it now has been flawless, not one problem or complaint, not a rattle or sqeak, and the power and ride are fantastic, 20-23 mpg routinely on trips to upstate NY....hard to imagine a better GC, but maybe they can pull it off.

[nchanin]

Originally Posted by Marcus86GLHS

non-functioning lift gate so soon? that is huge. bad news for you and i hope it isnt bad news for any of us thinking about one of these new GC's. that is a great write up you compiled, thanks for sharing.

do you have the quadra lift in your overland? if so, what is your feedback on the system?

my 2008 Hemi WK with 12,000 miles on it now has been flawless, not one problem or complaint, not a rattle or sqeak, and the power and ride are fantastic, 20-23 mpg routinely on trips to upstate NY....hard to imagine a better GC, but maybe they can pull it off.

No quadra-lift. I was debating waiting for it, but decided since I'm not taking it off road it would just be a gadget to play with and one more thing to break. I will keep everyone posted on the resolutions to the problems in case they are system wide.

[JoeSchmoe007]

Originally Posted by Marcus86GLHS

non-functioning lift gate so soon? that is huge. bad news for you and i hope it isnt bad news for any of us thinking about one of these new GC's. that is a great write up you compiled, thanks for sharing.

do you have the quadra lift in your overland? if so, what is your feedback on the system?

my 2008 Hemi WK with 12,000 miles on it now has been flawless, not one problem or complaint, not a rattle or sqeak, and the power and ride are fantastic, 20-23 mpg routinely on trips to upstate NY....hard to imagine a better GC, but maybe they can pull it off.

Does you 2008 have Hemi tick?

[MeanDean]

Thanks, 'nchanin', for taking the time and making the effort to write this most thorough review. It is very much appreciated.

[Marcus86GLHS]

"...Does you 2008 have Hemi tick?....."

no.

only ticks in my GC are the ones on my Lab.
:-)


So no QL standard in the Overlands? or is that just cause yours was so early?

[jonesark]

Originally Posted by Marcus86GLHS

So no QL standard in the Overlands? or is that just cause yours was so early?

That's correct....it's standard now.

[sost1sg]

Just my $.02 - I've had my 2011 Laredo for over a month now. 3,800 miles and not a single problem to report. This could just be an unfortunate, isolated issue.

[nchanin]

Originally Posted by sost1sg

Just my $.02 - I've had my 2011 Laredo for over a month now. 3,800 miles and not a single problem to report. This could just be an unfortunate, isolated issue.

Definitely hope you're right. As of now, I'm not panicked. More irritated with my dealer than with Chrysler. Also happy to hear that it's isolated to mine.

[pentastar01]

I can tell you right now your Sirius problems and the backlight problems on the NAV are for sure a radio. Chrysler doesn't make high quality radios anymore.(Or at least not until it's warranty replaced)

Glad you like it though, it is a very slick vehicle and from your report it's showing that Chrysler is starting to put some money into their vehicles again.

[nchanin]

Updated initial review with resolutions to some of the problems.