Jeep Grand Cherokee (2011 - 2020) 3.0 CRD Overland Summit 5d Auto Owner Review

The year plate selection only goes down to a 63 but I now have a 17 plate GC overland, Its an expensive model, I had previously a 2002 GC and an ML270. I have a 24 year old Elddis Superstorm twin axle, it weighs about 1. 7 tonnes with awnings, bits n bobs. I honed my caravan towing techniques and skills on those two older models. I chopped in my 3 cars and bought a new GC Overland. It goes brilliantly, and the latest enhancements give me about 25 about town then upto 34 mpg cruising 65.. With Caravan on its about 16 mpg with. The issues I have with this lady are these, the opening rear window of the Old GC was an absolute bonus, new does not have an opening rear window. The tailgate is electric, its either OPEN or SHUT, no inbetween with a bundle of timber sticking out from a tied down tailgate. Wont work. You cant set cruise to 20mph which is all over north and west london. Turbo lag using small throttle steps is a pain, she will creep along forward or backwards, but not with any lock and certainly not with the old girl hitched up.. There is no such thing as a delicate tight backwards maneuver, if there are any obstacles like kerb edges or even worse a slope. See below. You cant set the cruise below 25, many areas of london where I work the speed limits are 20. There is no provision for driving on side lamps only. front is fine, but there are many occasions where the daytime running lights at front should have similar illumination at rear. If you select LOW transmission, you can not exceed 22 MPH. My other two the Merc ML 270 and te GC 2. 7 could run at acceptable speeds of 30 - 35mph. The highway code promotes side lights. It says use headlights at night, except on a road which has lit street lighting. Those roads are generally restricted to a speed limit of 30 mph (48 km/h) unless otherwise specified. This car hasn't got them unless you are stationary. There are no rear illumination when DRL is on. Is this model actually compliant ???. The instrument cluster can't display all engine condition gauges simultaneously, so to see battery and oil you have to select manually on from the steering wheel in setup. PAIN. .. TOWING, as long as your going forwards, its a breeze, you have to use sport mode anyway, Turbo lag is an issue and the torque band starts at over 1100 rpm. So what you might ask, well if you want to reverse your van into a tight spot and need lots of wheel cracking its a bloody nightmare. The old GC and my ML could reverse maneuver on the flat at just about tickover, gentle use of the throttle would enable smooth maneuvers, now its all jerk, jump start and braking. With this new model Overland you have to build up the RPMs and you get the phenomenon called "lurch" it the torque converter bites and you get a sudden surge backwards, no matter how good and gentle your throttle control is. On a tight lock its worse still, full lock and its almost impossible. Select LOW and the diffs lock. That's no good either on a tight lock. Been back to the suppliers, have written and spoken to FCA marketing who promised to send one of their own to experience my claims, NEVER turned Up. They promised to get a person to call me back to list out my concerns. ... NEVER did. To park and store my caravan requires several maneuvers using full locks, but pushing the caravan up kerbs (twin Wheel) twice means some very brave footwork on brakes and throttle and unpleasant clunking with the tow hitch and of course to much clunk too quick also applies the caravans twin axle brakes. I disengage the anti roll back braking system. Just imagine a normal car park reversing into a space select reverse, turn hard lock you don't even need to reach the end stop and she wont move, at all. Its a sophisticated SUV, full of computers, emissions are among the lowest in its class, it gets down the road surprising quickly, its very comfy, road holding is good but I think there's too much chelsea tractor than a very useful range rover equivalent, I have only myself to blame, but all that I have found you would not be able to check on a pre purchase test drive. I am happy to talk if anyone needs a chat. If you want it for towing I would think long and hard. best Wishes Jim Butler