The owner has worked for the Grand Cherokee for more than ten years

Although we like to post the best new car reviews on TFLcar.com and our various channels, some of the best stories and real experiences in the TFL community come from all of you. Example: Brent has many years of experience driving the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland.

Most Grand Cherokees only see a dirt road or occasional snowstorms, but there is a great group of people in the Jeep community to ensure that the brand's more luxurious SUVs are worthy of the name. The owner does no harm in Utah, which offers some of the most spectacular off-road opportunities.

Here is how Brent describes his lengthy, extremely thorough view of the Jeep:

Hey, just saw an episode covering the new JGC Long (link here). As the former owner of WK and the current (7 years) owner of WK2, I have extensive experience with the Grand Cherokee for the past 15 years. If you want to learn more about the outgoing model, I would be happy to participate. I don't need credit or getting paid. It's great to provide stubborn rants, show notes, or real-world off-road feedback (I am one of the few people who really take their JGC off the sidewalk). I also live in Utah and can directly participate in some of the most challenging and photogenic off-road activities in the world.

Followed by everything he likes and hates about his Grand Cherokee:

The 5.7L V8 is definitely the perfect match for this car. Its 8-speed gearbox is a massive upgrade to the [previous generation] WK. There are some terrible transmission programming quirks in WK2, but the firmware update for about a year has solved these problems.

Update: An earlier typo said that the Grand Cherokee had a 10-speed gearbox, but it was actually an 8-speed gearbox. We apologize for the mistake.

This platform is an off-road marvel. The air suspension is very compliant at standard heights. In rough places, 4 inches of lift can be obtained at the push of a button. Suspension tuning is the perfect combination of rock crawler and desert runner. However (contrary to what you said in the show), improving the air suspension will not increase the clearance of the jeep, it will only increase the approach and departure angles.

The Quadra-trac II system is excellent. The behavior is similar to locking differences. Did I mention that this thing is an off-road marvel? The turning radius is very good. In fact, it is shocking.

Looks great in Park City. It looks great in Palm Springs. It looks great in Moab. The Grand Cherokee’s seats are comfortable and the leather upholstery is also very good. The seat heating and cooling effect is very good. WK2 is the perfect size for ordinary families with 2 adults and 2 children.

Fuel economy is sufficient for a boxy SUV equipped with a V8 (if you are driving 70 miles on the highway, 20 miles/gallon; 18.5 miles/gallon @ 80 miles/hour). The traction of WK2 far exceeds that of short-wheelbase off-road vehicles. Unless your trailer is severely overloaded, you can't really tell if it's there. It has a legal universal receiver for towing and connecting baskets, bicycle racks, etc.

My Jeep Grand Cherokee has a low-resolution resistive touch screen (vomit). It was severely outdated when it was shipped in 2014. The forward collision detection was so bad, I had to turn it off permanently. Navigation is poor, and the music application in the infotainment system is brain dead. Many infotainment design choices seem to be made by drunk monkeys. As a package, the whole thing is very bad.

The interior materials are a mixture of wonderful and terrible. Beside the beautifully polished dark wood (WTF?) there are some very annoying painted plastics. Climate control is flaky at best, and the HVAC system itself is not very good (very fluctuating). In contrast, my Audi keeps the cabin temperature so perfect that you would never think of temperature.

When you are almost out of fuel, the estimated cruising range (based on fuel level) is displayed as "low cruising range". "Low range"? ? ! ? ! ? ! This means something completely different (transfer case), and the fact that *Jeep* left the design room with this flaw is totally unacceptable.

The phone ringing (used for incoming calls) is terrible, and you can’t control the volume. The choice of what to display in the digital cluster ranges from slightly useless to offensive useless. Every time you start the car, the infotainment system will show you the EULA/publish legal terms. Every time...damn...time. Voice control is terrible. When the voice control successfully makes a call, it will let you complete the voice instruction on how to hang up within 10 seconds before making the call. Again, every time...fracturing...time. The backup camera is about waist height. It would be better to be part of the third taillight assembly.

Finally, the overall visibility is not very good. A 360-degree camera system can be very useful, especially when off-road. The A-pillar is very large, blocking the sight of many drivers.

When you spend a lot of your money on a car, you want it to meet your needs. If you are researching a second-hand Jeep Grand Cherokee, hope Brent's ideas will help. Thank you for sending them our way! If you have your own ideas (and some epic photos-thanks Brent!), if you want to post them here, please send them to info@tflcar.com, or if you have a pickup story, Please send to @tfltruck.com.