Moparinsiders contributor UN4GTBL gives us his take on his own 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk after 9 months of ownership:
I can’t believe that it’s been over 9 months since I took delivery of my 2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk!
I’m just over 14,000km (8,700 miles) as I type this update, which is high mileage for me, but about average mileage in general. I averaged about 11,000km (just over 6,800 miles) a year in my Dodge Caliber, of which, I mainly credit the low mileage to my very short commute. The increase in mileage for the Cherokee is mainly because it’s a larger vehicle than my Caliber was, and so I’m able to use it more.
For instance, I was able to do the driving for our annual guys trip this past summer. It was a busy 4 days, where we covered almost 2,300km (1,429 miles). Of which, about 1,200km (726 miles) was on the first day. I was excited to take the Cherokee because it was new, and I wanted to see how it would do for fuel mileage on non-stop highway driving. It probably wasn’t the best trip to test for MPGs however, as there were 4 guys and our luggage for 3 days, with a 5th guy and his luggage for one day too. Terrain was everything from the wide open, flat interstates of upstate New York to the mountains of Vermont, and I can highly recommend Adaptive Cruise Control to anyone doing any kind of road trip. The best MPGs for the trip was on the first leg across New York state, where it got 9.3l/100km (25.3 MPG) which is better than the 9.9l/100km highway that is on my window sticker. And don’t forget that was with 4 guys and luggage, and I was not hypermiling by any extent, just driving normally, and keeping with the flow of traffic. I was rather impressed with that. You can read more about the trip here: https://moparinsiders.com/community/index.php?threads/2-300km-in-4-days.566/
My Cherokee has performed very well in day to day driving and use. It’s exactly as I thought it would be; a comfortable and capable daily driver for myself and friends. Day to day, I use Android Auto and Adaptive Cruise Control the most out of any feature I’d say. Now that the weather has gotten colder, I’ve been using the Uconnect app on my phone to remote start it from my desk at work. I’ve pulled a light utility trailer to the dump with it, which saved putting a bunch of junk inside of our vehicles, and the factory tow package made it all easy to do. I’m very happy with the power of the V6, especially since I came from a gutless four cylinder in my Caliber. Sport mode is fun to play with, but I generally just use the Auto mode, because it defaults to that mode with every startup. I really like the hands free power tailgate, which not only is a great party trick, but also very useful in daily life when you are carrying things, and is the primary way that I open the tailgate. The features included make it a great vehicle to get into every day, and I have no regrets at all about how I ordered it. I did use the auto parking feature once, just to see if it works, but I find I’m faster to get it into a parking spot, which is important when you’re holding up traffic on busy downtown streets.
Warranty:
I’ve had a couple of issues so far with it:
- The taillights on the tailgate had condensation inside of them, but they’ve been replaced under warranty and no problems since
- An OTA (Over The Air) update for my radio caused issues with the Uconnect Guardian app for a couple of weeks, and after several calls to Uconnect I finally found a person who was able to assist.
- There may be an issue with the IBS (Intelligent Battery Sensor if I remember correctly) as my ESS never functions anymore, it just says “Battery Charging” – however, that also means my ESS never kicks in, which I’m quite fine with!
- The promised Off-Road Pages have not been pushed out to my radio yet. Canadian JLs have received them, so not sure what the problem is here.
Modifications:
I can’t leave any vehicle “stock”. That has resulted in the following modifications for my Cherokee so far:
- Husky front, rear and cargo floor liners that I installed day one, and have already been successful in capturing coffee and water spills – I cannot recommend these enough
- AVS window vent guards
- Custom cut XPEL paint protection film on the entire hood, front fenders, painted front bumper areas, headlights and foglights
- Tinted front windows
- Blizzak WS-80 tires on black Replika ‘14-’18 Trailhawk style wheels
- Rally Armor front and rear mud flaps
- Wrangler JL Trail Rated fender badges (grey and red instead of chrome and red)
- Grand Cherokee Trailhawk Jeep badge for the hood (grey and red instead of just grey)
- Whispbar knock-off cross bars
- Rola roof basket with a Jeep sticker
Overall, I’ve been very happy with my purchase. My Cherokee has been an absolute pleasure to use these past 9+ months, and I suspect (and hope) it will continue that way in the future. When the Cherokee was first launched, there was some discussion around the 9-speed transmission with regards to problems that were experienced by owners. Happily however, that seems to be mostly sorted out and my transmission has been very good so far. It’s a little slow to downshift at times, and I would prefer if there was a drive mode between “Auto” and “Sport” – and rename “Auto” to something like “Eco” – but these are minor things. It’s been a great purchase, has treated me very well so far, and has been very useful!
