Explorer vs Grand Cherokee

[Die Blaue Ziege]

I think the time has come for my wife to get a car that she wants..... And the two choices she has decided she may want are two vehicles that I have a hard time wanting to purchase. She want either a ford explorer, or a grand cherokee. In my mind both of these are two of the worst vehicles she could have chosen from two brands that I have loved. I loved my xj, I love my tj, but when I think of grand Cherokee a I think of nothing but the problem riddled wj's. And for the ford exploder...... It's an exploder! So my question to you all, have these two suv's gotten a bad wrap, or are they as problem riddled as I have heard? Btw she is wanting 2011 or newer wk2 Grand Cherokee, or a 2011 or newer explorer. It's for a daily driver, no real off roading, maybe some dirt trails on weekends.

 

[moab_cj5]

My last 3 company cars have been Explorers. I've had good luck with them. I owned a 2016 Sport for a while. That was a fun car! I ended up trading it on a truck because I have vehicle ADD and wanted a truck, but had a blast in that car.

If I was looking for an 8 passenger car, I'd absolutely buy another Explorer.

 

[RockChucker]

If you get a WK2, get a '14 or newer. That is the year they started putting in the 8 speed trans. We bought a '14 WK2 about 6 months ago, and it is nothing like the standard Jeep quality. FCA made some quality changes in a big way. It's a pretty impressive vehicle.

 

[Greg]

If you get a WK2, get a '14 or newer. That is the year they started putting in the 8 speed trans. We bought a '14 WK2 about 6 months ago, and it is nothing like the standard Jeep quality. FCA made some quality changes in a big way. It's a pretty impressive vehicle.

@Hicwas pretty impressed with his 8 speed WK2 as well, IIRC.

 

[haulinshine]

the '11 and newer explorers are pretty solid, the "Exploder" is the RBV from the 90's and they had a whole slew of issues due to ford sitting on its heels in the 90's with the rest of the big 3. either of the engines in the '11+ explorers are pretty solid, the small ecoboost get pretty good mpg and the 3.5 isn't a slouch so I would say that the vehicle itself is pretty good. I can't say much on the WK2 other than I would avoid the diesel in them if you run across it I've seen and heard a lot of horror stories.

 

[Tonkaman]

Explorer all day long. They are sweet!