Well, after a driver rearranged the front end of my 08 WK, I pulled the trigger on a 2014 WK2 Limited and have moved from the WK forum to establish a place here. First surprise is there appears to be less posts on problems which makes sense due to newer vehicles here. I do have a couple of questions;
1. The Dealer will be mailing me a new second key which was missing. Will I need to have that programmed?
2. Since the WK2 is 5 years old what are your thoughts on battery replacement both the starting and the key fob?
3. Anything else I should be thinking about? It was a Dealer Certified vehicle and is in excellent shape with 48K.

We bought our 14 at 35k and it’s been holding up well. The battery is stored under the passenger seat so it doesn’t get as bad of temperature variation we still have th factory one.

The key fobs are known to go through batteries pretty quickly, ours needs replacement about every 2 years. If the battery goes fully dead you can still start the car by pushing the push start button with the key fob so you don’t have to worry about replacing them before they die.

I know the thing I hear about the most with these cars is air ride suspension issues.

Be careful if you change your own oil do not overrighten the oil filter cap as it can break the housing and is a pain to replace

If it were me I would replace the starting battery. I replace all of my batteries (vehicles, equipment, etc.) at the end of their 5th year/season. I do that on my schedule which saves me from having to deal with it during some 0 degree morning. As for the FOB, I'll defer to others on here who have had more experience with them.


I am not overly familiar with the certification process so the only other thing I would recommend is an oil/filter change and check the other maintenance items like air and cabin filters, etc.


Good luck, I hope you enjoy your GC for years to come.

There is a "Buying used" sticky thread that outlines things to watch out for.

I changed the battery at 6 years. These are AGM type and most give no warning before they fail. The WK2 has dozens of computers and doesn't take marginal power well.

Passive entry FOBs use battery quicker than push to start FOBs. My passive entry batteries last a couple years.

The dealer (or locksmith) will have to program the replacement FOB unless you want to use something like Appcar or AlfaOBD software.

It's SUPER easy to replace the FOB batteries, have had to do it with each my mine at least once. I have a 2014 Limited as well and haven't changed the starting battery yet but will plan on it after this winter since it's going on my third year of owning it.

Another question. In the spare tire compartment next to the jack is a small white plastic, what looks like a miniature funnel. Is that used to add additives into the capless fuel fill? I know on my wifes CTS I got one of those additive bottles stuck even with the long snout.

That funnel is to add fuel when pouring from a portable fuel container (aka gas can). I suppose you could use it for fuel additives..?

I will have to look for that funnel, I didn't see one in my 2019JGC WK2 Trailhawk

Well that's a terrible way to get an upgrade by having your old vehicle damaged from a wreck, at least you are still with us. Have to say I like the styling and some of the WK2's features. I'm pretty old school, my newest vehicle is my 98 Jeep Grand Cherokee LOL. If I were to buy a new/newer vehicle I'd be torn between the Toyota Highlander and a Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk with the 5.7L V8.

As much as I hate new vehicle technology I have to say I like the WK2 style and some of the features, I think if I had the money to buy one maybe some of that other tech stuff would grow on me over time but seems like the Grand Cherokees are slowly improving on reliability at least from the posts on the forum seems to be more related to the WK, WJ, ZJ, models maybe the WK2's are just so new that they haven't started showing the horrible gremlins like the older models are. I love my ZJ but a WJ or WK2 would certainly be my choice depending on what dealer lot I happen to walk onto Jeep or Toyota LOL.

Hope you enjoy your new Jeep, many people are liking the WK2's...so that's a good sign and they're still offroad capable but at $40k+ I think I'd be keepin' mine on the road HAHA!!!

I changed my battery at 5 years (Interstate) and change my fob battery every year. I don't wait for things to quit working before I replace them. Love my 14 Grand Cherokee. Driven it around the country trouble free, but did have the water pump replaced at 49,000 so I guess I lied..lol
HT

TL;DR: Brand new Trailhawk; suspension feels worse than my 15 year old 4Runner.

Just bought a brand new 2020 JGC Trailhawk with the 5.7 Hemi and all the bells and whistles. So far I've had it for about 2 days (250 miles driven so far; car has 280 total) and i'm at a loss with how rough the suspension is.

When I first went to the dealer I knew exactly what I was going to get; sadly they didn't have the Trailhawk on the lot so I ended up test driving a 2020 Limited (or limited X) and absolutely loved it. The ride was smoother than I ever could have imaged; imperfections in the road were imperceivable, and pot holes/manholes were handled incredibly well; the salesman also remarked that if I liked that then I would love the one I picked because it was even better and smoother with the air-suspension. A little background - I've owned 4Runners my whole life, and I wanted to move into something that was more comfort oriented for longer drives deeper into the Rockies. I've also rebuilt suspension on the last couple 4Runners (240k+ miles & removed the X-REAS) so I'd like to think the suspension on a brand new JGC should be better than my shoddy non-OEM rebuilds.

When the TH arrived, I drove it quickly, and while I did notice the ride seemed stiffer than the Limited, I assumed I was just looking for issues, and chalked it up to the A/T tires. But after a couple of days I can't get passed it. It feels jarring over pot-holes and manhole covers, and god forbid there's a lip in the road, the whole front suspension pops up after that one.

Specifics:
- Suspension seems to reverberate, or "shake" over potholes and bumps (hollow sound from front PS over the big ones). And I can feel every bit of the pavement on older roads. It just downright doesn't feel tight, like the springs aren't recoiling enough to keep the wheels firmly on the ground or something. So far I think it could be:

- Engine mounts
- Struts
- Top strut mount/nut
- Any number of bushings or linkages
- Upper control arm
- Tire pressure (TPMS shows 49 psi of 51psi Max; seems high to me)

Has anyone else experienced rough ride quality on the brand new, or even last years new 2019 model Trailhawks? If this is normal, then I'll get used to it, and probably get rid of it, but I just can't believe it is. I also know nothing of this new Quadra-lift suspension system so I can't narrow down the parts of that that could cause these issues. Any thoughts, or inks to similar issues I could read, before I take it into the dealer to look at would be great. Thanks in advance.

I think the general info sticky thread has some info on QL

Have you checked tire pressure? They fill them to 40-50 psi for transport and dealers often forget to adjust them during prep

If not tire pressure or stiffer AT tires, then to me it sounds like you are driving in ORA2 level, which would be rough. ORA2 is brutal. There shouldn’t be that much difference in ride between the limited and TrailHawk at normal height unless you are using a raised level. The WK2 does not have much articulation, but that would be the same with models.
.

Tires are at 45-49 PSI (Colorado goes from 30 degrees 70 pretty quickly in the same day this time of year). What should the pressure be at? Less than 40?

Also, definitely not in OR II; or even OR I for that matter. I'm experiencing this at normal ride hight, and even after it switches to aero at highway speeds, still same rough ride.

Thats probably it, try 34 psi.

The recommended pressure is on the door jam. Tires should be around 34psi,but varies by trim, probably what the limited was set to. Its not a truck tire. Its more likely potholes would damage a passenger rated tires running 50 psi than 30. Tires may vary a couple psi with that kind of temperature range. Altitude changes may be different. Fill with nitrogen if you want a more consistent psi with temperature changes.

my '18 Trailhawk drives quite smoothly. But I have AT's on all my jeeps. I run 35psi in the stock goodyears.