KevinMD

2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited with Luxury II package
SRAR or SFAR
RWD
17/25 MPG
3.6L V6
8 speed automatic with paddle shifters
290 HP
24.6 gallon fuel tank
36.3 cubic feet cargo space
68.3 cubic feet with rear seats down
Rear cargo cover
8.4" touchscreen with built in NAV
AM/FM with USB, AUX, and Bluetooth
1 year of SXM
9 speaker with subwoofer
506 Watt amplifier
8 way power driver and passenger seat
Power driver and passenger lumbar support
Heated and cooled front seats
Heated rear seats
Heated steering wheel
Rear view camera with rear parking sensors
Rear power lift gate door
Panoramic Sunroof
Power tilt and telescoping steering wheel
110V AC plug

Pros
Great engine and great MPG
Large and easy to use touchscreen
Loaded with features
Great handling and comfortable ride

Cons
Annoying E-shifter

Summary: Such incredible luxury. One of the best cars in the rental fleet.



Despite the rumors, I am glad to announce that National is still ordering the GC with the luxury II package. It is easy to distinguish as it has the panoramic sunroof. The luxury II package also adds cooled front seats, 9 speaker system with 500+ watts of power, power tilt and telescoping steering wheel.

The GC comes with a standard 3.6L V6 with 290 horses. There is an optional 5.7L Hemi that can be ordered. The V6 is E85 capable, so there will be flex fuel badging on the rear. The V6 does have great power, and is sufficient power for most rentals. It easily achieves the advertised 25mpg highway. If you put the car in eco mode, it can easily achieve another 2mpg at highway speeds.



The GC comes with an amazing 8.4 inch touchscreen. It is very easy to navigate, and most functions are handled through it. There are only a few HVAC/ radio controls on the center console, leaving for a very uncluttered look. There is built in NAV as well. Each screen is easy to navigate and very straightforward. Another nice benefit to the large touchscreen is the view when backing up. There is no squinting to see what is behind the vehicle.

The GC comes with the standard inputs minus the CD player. There are nine total speakers including a subwoofer that puts our an amazing 500+ watts of power. It is a great sounding system with a powerful and clear sound with pumping bass.



There are not many negatives that I can think of with this car. I am not a fan of the e-shifter. It is easy to overshoot the gear you are looking for. I would rather have the new rotating knob that is found on many Chrysler products. The ride can be a tad bouncy at times, but that is expected for a car that has off road in its design. With three in the back, there is a lack of cup holders.

The GC is one of the best cars for a road trip. With 25 mpg on the highway and a fuel tank of almost 25 gallons, gives an effective range of over 600 miles. The seats are relatively comfortable and supportive, though a bit on the firm side. Both front seats are heated, cooled, and are full power with power lumbar support. The rear seats can recline and are heated. There is a 110V AC plug for the rear passenger as well as 2x USB charging stations for the rear passengers. There is ample cargo room, and an included cargo cover. If the GC is just not large enough for your needs, the Dodge Durango Limited comes with the exact same features and has a 3rd row.

piper28

I'm guessing they've avoided the rotary dial to shift because there's probably a way to have it limit the gear that the vehicle is in. Not sure they could really provide enough options on a rotary dial to do it - especially in a way to make it usable enough for someone off-roading to deal with. Not entirely sure how they're doing it on the e-shifter version because that came in after my 2013. I'm sure it's doable though, because that's a fairly important feature for anything with any serious off-road capability.

Gotta admit, I didn't like the e-shift when I had it in a charger though.

blufish312

Still my favorite car to get on the ES. Only had luck getting it once, so far.

seawolf

Got it twice this year so far. Nice car.

IsleOfMan

I'll go strait to ES when I see a GC, even on PCAR or LCAR res... 300c is one of the few PCARs I'll take over a GC, and not if I have golf clubs with me. The only LCAR I can imagine I'd take over a GC is a CTS, but I haven't seen a new one in the wild yet.

injustifiiable

Had a '14 Limited II with almost 26K miles a couple weeks back. I was upgraded from a midsize res at my local station by the manager. Nice guy who usually tries to give me the best he has.

It was one of the best rentals I've had so far though - it had everything...including HID's, factory NAV, panoramic sunroof and working SXM.

Window sticker was in the glove box with the registration paperwork...with Limited trim and Luxury II Group it runs about $44K.

piper28

Picked up one of these yesterday. I own a 2013 Grand Cherokee Limited with the Lux II package, so it's an interesting comparison for me. 2013 was the model right before they did the minor refresh. I've actually been considering trading my in sometime in the next year and getting a 2016 model.

Only driven it a little so far, and there are some things that I like and a few that I'm finding a mildly annoying.

Likes:
That new touch-screen on the center stack is really nice. So much sharper than the last generation's.
The 8 speed automatic. Seems to be noticeably smoother than my 5 speed, and my initial guess is that it's going to be a couple mpg better than what I get.

annoyances:
I think it's the plastic covering the gauges that's causing this, but the gauge display does not play well with polarized sunglasses. I'm getting some definitely bands of color-shifting caused by them. That's very poor planning on Jeep's part, and you'd have though they'd have caught that
Not completely thrilled with my speedometer choices. I find the analog view to be less than perfect for reading (the blacked-out needle look where all you really see is the orange tip I just find makes it hard to spot). The digital one is ok, but what I'd really kinda like is the analog one with the digital in the middle space (which I can do with my model).
I have not found a way to make the map view come up as the default when you turn the car on. My jeep stays on the screen you were on when you turned it off, this one seems to like to go back to a default start screen (might have been the radio view? can't remember off the top of my head). Couldn't find a setting to control this, and I have to admit, I think I'd get fairly irritated if I had to switch to the map every time I start the car (I always leave the map up on my own GC).

I do tend to think the the GC Limited is a really good car. It does come in a little more than the Ford Edge Titanium, but I honestly think you get a more upscale car. The interior to me borders on a luxury car, but the car has the go-anywhere capability that I like. The car's capable enough that I'd chicken out before I reach the limit of what it can do (and I've certainly reached that point in the past). It's a true SUV that rides a lot better than most other true suv's out there (given that it's unibody and not body on frame).

They're still putting that god-awful Latitude Tour tire on these though. Tremendous disservice to owners, and it's got to be one of the tire's I've ever driven through a winter on. I haven't had a chance to do any serious off-roading in mine, but I'm guessing they're not real great for that either.

dtremit

I'm going to be contrarian -- I think the Explorer Limited has a nicer interior than the GC, at least at rental trim levels. The details on things like the seats and door trim panels seem better thought out, to me. (Obviously something like the Overland or Summit may be nicer, but I've never seen one of those on rental lots.)

Unfortunately this is unavoidable with LCDs -- polarizers are a fundamental part of how LCDs operate. If your sunglasses have polarizers that align with the LCD, you'll see it clearly; rotate them 90 degrees, and the display will black out.

piper28

It's not completely unavoidable. I've seen lcd screens that don't seem to have polarizing issues, although I'm honestly not sure how they do them. But sunglasses generally are vertically polarized, so car manufacturers should be able to align their screens so they work properly. I've honestly never really had a problem with screens in cars before. And as I mentioned, I think in this case it's not the screen itself causing the issue, but the curved plastic covering over the gauges.

LuigiB21

Just to share my experience: I picked up a Grand Cherokee earlier today and the first thing I did was see how the instrument cluster looked with my polarized sunglasses (Ray-ban Predator II) and during my drive I didn't notice any issues whatsoever. Hoping it remains that way! ^

Schweden

Great review!

It's interesting to see that the National Jeep GCs are better equipped than the Hertz ones as they have parking sensors and navigation. It's my favourite rental SUV behind the '15 GMC Yukon.

zerolife

I agree the Ford Explorer Limited has a more luxury interior. As someone who used to hate the Ford Explorer, it's a hard choice for me. I recently got the new 2016 edition and found it to be totally different than the 2014 I last rented, definitive at the same league as the GC now. What I do like about the GC is the panoramic roof. Some of the Ford Explorer also has it but it's two glass panels vs one big panel. However GC is the better size for most uses and I believe also has better fuel efficiency.

IsleOfMan

I agree the Explorer is getting better in terms of interior trim, but I'll still take the GC if for no other reason than that I hate the Sony/MS MyTouch/Sync 3 infotainment system and playing roulette on whether the SD card will be present. Also, I prefer the size of the GC unless I actually need the 3rd Row or notably more luggage space (at which point I'd probably take a Tahoe if available). I drive an '06 Mercury Mountaineer Luxury at home, so no brand/badge hate here... just that I still like the finish materials of the GC better, prefer Uconnect, and prefer the size of the GC unless I specifically need the added space.

Bolley

It should also be noted that the 2016 Jeep GC also has a traditional shifter now; it might be in response to the complaints that the shifter is confusing to use.

kxc262

I am in a 16 Grand Cherokee Limited. It is very nice and I can also confirm that it has the traditional shifter. I just wish it had BLIS, but I can live without that.

Overall very nice ride. Panoramic sunroof is very big, just like the 300C that I recently had as well. Also equipped with auto-start stop.

It was a tough decision between a Durango Limited, Explorer, or GC Limited when I picked it up, but had to go with the GC since that car only had 500 miles.