Daily Driver Dilemma

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Decently considering a 2019-2021 Grand Cherokee.

I am not a huge fan of the modern Fiat stuff but for the money it's hard to argue and the platform is pretty well proven. My only real concern is electrical issues.

I don't need a vehicle this big but I won't buy a 180hp suv and I feel like the smaller suv's are throw away after 6 years.
 
Sounds like your budget got substantially bigger then $10K

Avoid ANYTHING with an aftermarket remote start or alarm

Yeah. I mean I can go buy a new one I just didn’t want to…. Can get into a certified use for sub $30k easy.


Yes, won’t consider anything like that.
 
Our new 05 Forester was fully maintained and cared for and jumped thru it's ass at 58,000 miles. The 04 TJ that replaced it in 2011 had 63,000 miles and has been flawless for 12 years and an additional 82,000 miles , ( 4.0 , 5 spd. , D-44 3.73 ) . No More Subaru kool-aid for us !

I consider them to be like the big three in the 80s for reliability. Fun if you don't mind wrenching on them
 
Decently considering a 2019-2021 Grand Cherokee.

I am not a huge fan of the modern Fiat stuff but for the money it's hard to argue and the platform is pretty well proven. My only real concern is electrical issues.

I don't need a vehicle this big but I won't buy a 180hp suv and I feel like the smaller suv's are throw away after 6 years.

My father had a 2013 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 5.7L that he put 200k on without much issue, and now has a 2020 GC Trailhawk 5.7L with about 50k miles on it. They have been pretty solid, I do all the maintenance. For the money I don't think they are a bad choice, and probably one of the only newer Jeeps I would consider. The smaller SUVs from Jeep are not good at all.
 
My father had a 2013 Grand Cherokee Trailhawk 5.7L that he put 200k on without much issue, and now has a 2020 GC Trailhawk 5.7L with about 50k miles on it. They have been pretty solid, I do all the maintenance. For the money I don't think they are a bad choice, and probably one of the only newer Jeeps I would consider. The smaller SUVs from Jeep are not good at all.

Thank you, good to hear some first hand experience. The reality is that for the same year and mileage, I can buy a 4wd Grand Cherokee or a 150hp fwd Honda Civic for almost the same money. Now the Civic will almost guaranteed outlast the Jeep, but I also want awd/4wd as I have not went to work due to fwd before.....
 
Thank you, good to hear some first hand experience. The reality is that for the same year and mileage, I can buy a 4wd Grand Cherokee or a 150hp fwd Honda Civic for almost the same money.

what year and mileage is that??

I think the Civics start in the $23.5K range
$37K is the lowest Ive seen for a GC 4wd

Thats a ~50% price change
Fwiw I drove my wifes 9th gen Accord FWD one year for work all over Chicago and Rockford thru our crazy winters and I had no issues. She drove it the other 7 years from new. I had a 12th F150 4x4 on reserve at home but never needed it

That car made it from 0 to 102,000 miles without anything failing except a single $40 bumper sensor for the airbag collision deployment, then we traded it in. Hell even the front brakes made it to 89,000 miles, that blew my mind. Honda makes a damn good vehicle
 
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what year and mileage is that??

I think the Civics start in the $23.5K range
$37K is the lowest Ive seen for a GC 4wd

Thats a ~50% price change
Fwiw I drove my wifes 9th gen Accord FWD one year for work all over Chicago and Rockford thru our crazy winters and I had no issues. She drove it the other 7 years from new. I had a 12th F150 4x4 on reserve at home but never needed it

That car made it from 0 to 102,000 miles without anything failing except a single $40 bumper sensor for the airbag collision deployment, then we traded it in. Hell even the front brakes made it to 89,000 miles, that blew my mind. Honda makes a damn good vehicle

It’s about a 10% price difference 2020 with 30k miles.


I know all about driving fwd cars in snow. I’ve done it the last 8 years with no issues other than when we got 10+” overnight and crews couldn’t keep up. Where it won’t work is my brother’s and buddy’s driveway. Can’t be done when it snows bad and/or ices.
 
Good or bad it's looking like I am headed to NY this week to look at a '07 4runner that allegedly (and looks like it from photos) never seen snow or salt.
 
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Well 7 hours from home I saw an underside that wasn’t as perfectly rust free as I had hoped. It is however more solid than 99% within 12 hours I would put money on.

A lot of oil spraying and I think I’ll get years out of this.
 
We’re back….

My wife is taking a new position which will roughly 3-4x her commute. With this, I would like her to have something new/almost new (don’t try to tell me they are less reliable I already know and don’t need the negativity…. 🤣).

AWD required.

Currently:
Duramax: 12k miles per year
4Runner: 12kmiles per year
LJ: 2k miles per year
Yukon: Torque converter has decided its time to go.

While her work commute is vastly increasing I don’t anticipate the total vehicle mileage increasing much more than 5k miles per year.

In a complete wild turn of events I am considering offing all 4, but at a minimum 3/4.

What has me stuck is I absolutely want a truck, as much as I like the ability to tow, I do not need a 3/4 ton.

I also need a vehicle that can tow a 2,000lb camper cross country and on trails/passes in Colorado/ETC (I expect needing good ground clearance and a minimum of 32” tires)

The 4Runner I bought last year is likely good for this. While it has 242k miles, I’ve only narrowed down a few items that need replaced and I think it may well be as reliable as a new car.


As stupid as it sounds, the one trip that is dictating the off-road requirements I treat as non negotiable.
 
Sounds like you need a half ton or even a small truck like a Chevy Colorado (3500 - 7700 tow capacity). I have a Ram 1500, but sounds like any half ton would work for you. For the Ram, still some decent deals on the leftover '24's since the '25 has been out for a few months now. Not AWD, but they do have 4Auto which would be similar.

If you really want AWD, the selection is much better if you don't need to tow.
 
Sound to me like you really need two different vehicles instead of trying to locate a magical unicorn to fill a does-it-all scenario.

As stupid as it sounds, the one trip that is dictating the off-road requirements I treat as non negotiable.

If it's one trip, just rent a vehicle. If it's just one trip, once a year, just rent a vehicle. Hell of a lot cheaper and more practical than buying something that's good at neither off-roading nor daily commuting, but trying to force it to do both.
 
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Sound to me like you really need two different vehicles instead of trying to locate a magical unicorn to fill a does-it-all scenario.



If it's one trip, just rent a vehicle. If it's just one trip, once a year, just rent a vehicle. Hell of a lot cheaper and more practical than buying something that's good at neither off-roading nor daily commuting, but trying to force it to do both.

Sounds like my advice for the yearly RV trippers.
 
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Sounds like you need a half ton or even a small truck like a Chevy Colorado (3500 - 7700 tow capacity). I have a Ram 1500, but sounds like any half ton would work for you. For the Ram, still some decent deals on the leftover '24's since the '25 has been out for a few months now. Not AWD, but they do have 4Auto which would be similar.

If you really want AWD, the selection is much better if you don't need to tow.

I did mean 4WD. A Colorado/Tacoma is a consideration. Really I just need a half ton and figure something else out for a trip vehicle.

Sound to me like you really need two different vehicles instead of trying to locate a magical unicorn to fill a does-it-all scenario.



If it's one trip, just rent a vehicle. If it's just one trip, once a year, just rent a vehicle. Hell of a lot cheaper and more practical than buying something that's good at neither off-roading nor daily commuting, but trying to force it to do both.

Lets not use logic and reason, we’re Jeep owners. Ideally having a 3rd car as a fun/offroad/trip vehicle would be ideal (I know not financially logical). I do have the LJ but I don’t know that I see it ever being cross country comfortable. Perhaps it could…. Really the 4Runner should easily make this trip.
 
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