D4 or Grand Cherokee?

Couple of guys at work with GCs ... both bought new and one just over a year old now but was moved on at the 8th month mark. The slightly older one has had no significant issues the newer of the two had nothing but problems.....constant limp mode being the most telling. This car was never off-road and was never intended to be driven off-road....the owner just liked the look and possibly the hype. He recently bought a Merc sedan as a replacement. He had serious trouble getting rid of the Jeep .... trade-in price was abysmal and it took forever to sell privately.


I sat on Moreton Island a couple of months ago, next to my campfire, reading the Cars Guide from one of the weekend newspapers. They had an article on what to buy and not to, in regards to second hand cars. The Jeep GC featured highly as a buyer beware. Apparently fixed issues are not always 'fixed' and whilst there are definitely reports of very happy owners that have had few or no issues, there have been a litany of serious issues with the latest models which seriously affect the re-sale value. Customer service did not rate highly across the board either. I've never actually been in one but had heard that the new GC is very well appointed and well finished ..... even read on this forum that a member thought the internal finish was rated as better than a D4 .... so I was a bit surprised to read (in Cars Guide) that finish quality was an area of concern too. Maybe the interiors don't age well?


With a bit of shopping around at the right time of the year, you could pick up an SDV6 (with a few extras) at just under $10K more than the bells and whistles Jeep.

I to went down the GC v D4 comparison path. I to looked at the 30k difference in price and all the extras you get in a Overland v a HSE D4. Several things stopped me buying the Jeep even though the Jeep had every extra standard.

In no particular order;

Internal size, roughly same as a RRS.
Only five seater, again because lack of room.
Lack of aftermarket off road accessories.
Could only get a very small accessory fuel tank, again no room.
Towing, with anything over a 150kg ball weight you need a WDH even with the air suspended models.
A new flash Overland didn't drive quite as nice in back to back comparisons even with my D3.
A coil sprung entry level GC drives like a Yank car of old, wanders and wobbles all over the place, Drives terribly.
Internal fit out quality was at best average.
All the reports on lack off reliability. It seams Jeep have taken up where LR left off in this department.


Why I again brought another Disco, again in no particular order.

Can't beat the internal storage size, especially for camping.
Seven comfortable seats in a roomy cabin.
No WDH for towing. Disco's tow large weights extremely well and safely.
Plenty of off roading accessories, meaning people actually go seriously off road in D3/4's.
Ability to fit a 100 litre accessory fuel tank for long distance touring.
Known and proven off road ability.
Better to drive, handles better in my opinion.
Nicer internal finish.
Greatly improved reliability LR has achieved with the D4.

A new Overland at the price is a good thing if you are into all the extras, but the design disadvantages in my opinion out weigh the added on baubles.

For 65k you will get a very good condition low k HSE if you shop around, yes it will be a six speed but so what.
The 3L has all the torque you need to drive comfortably and tow a 3.5 ton boat or van as if it isn't there even with a six speed.
Regarding the MY2013 being better off road than the earlier models, I'm sure it is in the right hands, but you have to be on the limit to see any tangible differences and in that kind of seriously rough terrain you need rock sliders, bull bars, Llams kit and serious off road tyres etc or you are more than likely going to damage your new pride in joy no matter what model your driving.
In another words for 99% of off road driving any D4 will be more than adequate even without the optional E-diff, which by the way a Overland comes standard with.

As for baubles, I brought a V8 D4 secondhand, it comes with baubles that a Overland would die for, as time goes on about the only extras I use on a regular basis and really appreciate that a base model HSE doesn't have standard is the up rated stereo and the centre console fridge, just about everything else is window dressing, nice to have but nothing I couldn't do without, which would be the same for many of the baubles on the Overland, though a Overland doesn't come with a Fridge and the stereo is not as good even though on paper it should be.

Its simple really, drive both back to back, think about each models strengths and weaknesses and decide for yourself. Good luck with what ever decision you make.

TerryO, not sure how much you have driven a coil sprung JGC, but I find your comments "wanders and wobbles all over the place" misleading to others
Have had my coil sprung (with self levelling rear shocks) JGC Limited for over 12 months now and covered over 40K Klm's. I tow every other day and can't rate it high enough. I was recently towing our 2.7 ton boat and my sons mate commented "you wouldn't know that we were towing a boat". BTW - All non air suspension JGC's have self levelling rear shocks.

For $64K on the road, I have a diesel JGC Limited with Nappa leather interior with heated & cooled electronic seats with memory, panoramic roof, auto dip headlights, auto wipers, full navigation systems, Harmon Kardon stereo system, trailer sway control etc etc etc, the list goes on.

Just arrived in Sydney from the Mornington Peninsula on one tank of fuel. That's just over 1000 Klm's with 150 Klm's left in the 93 Lt tank. Not bad considering I am fully loaded with air conditioning on and sitting on 115 Kph.

And yes, you can get heaps of accessories for the JGC. No less than the D4. Possibly more, and within 1/2 hour from me.

Not saying that one vehicle is better than the other, just stating a few facts that others either don't know about or only "hear about" from others.

Would I have another D4.......absolutely. Can I justify the $30K plus difference in purchase price....no! Not for me anyway. Others may justify the cost extra but not me for my usage.

Cheers, Craig

Hi Craig, that is excellent that you have had a good experience with your GC.

Personally I can only go from my own experiences, the coiler I drove was only six months old with very few k's and was being driven as a company car by the bloke who first got me into LR's and it did wobble and wander along the country road I drove it on compared to my D3 which I had just driven there. Even he said it's no Disco to drive but was within his company car price cap. I have driven about six air suspended GC's and I liked them much more than the coiler.

As for accessories, when I was seriously looking at them there was only one allow bar that was connected under the front of the vehicle. If a old lady had lent on it it would have pushed back against the car. I just checked and yes there is now a decent ARB winch bar, but on their website there is little else.

Thanks for bringing up about the accessories that brings me to another reason that I had forgotten about why I discounted the GC originally, it's carrying capacity.
It seams on the Summit anyway the carrying capacity has gone up and down a bit over the years and according to Redbook the 2015 model is about 620kg which roughly 120 kg less than a 2015 HSE D4. That is a lot if you are looking at adding a steel bar, winch, long range tank, second spare wheel and carrier, second battery, 40 litre (full) fridge and roughly 300 kg of ball weight which is roughly the spec tow vehicle I would want to have for decent long distance outback touring towing a 3 plus ton van.

Plus what a pain in the arse to have a air suspended tug and then need to use a WDH, as Jeep say you must if you are towing a decent sized van.

There may now be many of the same accessories but I have not seen a twin wheel carrier for a GC, nor a decent sized long range tank and the boot is that small that a 40 litre fridge would take up most of the available space, from memory the spare is carried in the floor of the boot so if needed then you have to empty the back of the vehicle to get to it. But if there is all of the main touring off road accessories many do like to fit for touring then the load capacity of the GC lets you down. So yes there may well be more accessories than when I originally looked but not enough to make it a comparible long distance tourer compared to either a D3 or D4.

Shame really because I was seriously looking at buying one but gave up after comparing the pluses and minuses of both vehicles.

Hi TerryO, Don't want to bang on or keep this thread going unnecessarily, however mine does ride well and definitely doesn't wobble or wander. I assume that the air suspension GC rides better, but then again any air suspension vehicle will ride better than coils.
The air was a $2,500.00 option that I decided I didn't need, given that the rear shocks on the coiler were self levelling. For just on $1,000.00 I can get an OME 2 1/2" lift kit if I decide to go down that path later.


Re: Accessories - ECB make an alloy winch bar for the GC. There are 3 other companies that make steel winch bars including TJM as a new addition.
The GC has a 93.5 Lt standard fuel tank against the D4's 82.3 Lt. I believe that you can get a 100 Lt auxiliary tank for the D4, whereas the GC is limited to 75 Lt......as far as I know. In standard form, the GC has 11.2 Lt extra fill capacity, but with auxiliary tanks the D4 has a 13.8 Lt advantage. As far as range, I believe that you will get better Lt per 100Klm's from the GC, towing or not, so as far as range is concerned, the two are pretty much the same.
There are quite a few companies now doing a vast range of accessories for the GC including sliders, bash plates, wheel carriers etc etc. Two of the main ones are Uneek4X4, and Murchison Products.
I have had a ECU remap done by a local company that specialize in that area, as well as a professional 3" aftermarket mandrel bent stainless steel exhaust system, all for less than $1,900.00. I now have 220 Kw and 670 Nm.


Can't comment on the weights etc as it is an area that I don't know enough about.


There are ways of getting to the spare without unloading the vehicle.


As previously mentioned, I would definitely buy another Disco, but (strictly for my use) cannot warrant the $30K plus premium.


Cheers, Craig

Forgot to mention the 18" wheels that come standard on the base range GC and can be ordered from new on any of the range.
Have even seen them on ebay for $100.00 each.


Cheers, Craig

Banging on is fine Craig, that is what forums are meant for and because we are having a in depth discussion back and forth I have learnt a number of things that I didn't know about the GC previously. So all is good.

Isn't the JGC more of a competitor for the Prado and Pajero while the D4 is really a rival for the Landcruiser?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by DiscoMick

Isn't the JGC more of a competitor for the Prado and Pajero while the D4 is really a rival for the Landcruiser?

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All depends how you wish to categorise them
If it's towing capacity, then the D4, GC & Cruiser are the only ones that have a 3500 kg tow capacity

If it's power & torque, then the above 3 are on their own again.

If it's size, the GC is closer to the Prado and Pajero than the Landcruiser

Cheers, Craig

I have just sold my 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland and I am the proud owner of a Disco MY16. The Jeep is a great car with great value for money and plenty of torque. I don't have a bad word to say about the engine, electronics etc. The fuel consumption was phenomenal and you can play in sports mode all day and still be under 10lts per 100k's.

I changed because of one reason. I am married with 3 boys who are 13, 11 & 9. We are adventurous types and the boot of the Jeep just didnt cut it on so many occasions. The leg room in the 2nd row compromises the boot space and are in the Jeep.

We have only had the Disco for 2 months and it suits our lifestyle more and we ae much happier with it. If you have less kids and less gear the Jeep is a cheaper option with all of the trimmings. Ignore the lemon claims. All cars have issues for various reasons.

Good luck and stay chasing the fresh air!