2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited review

After floundering for a few years with a spread of outdated product, Jeep is back in the game with the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L. First coming solely in seven-seat behemoth-spec, the range will soon expand to include a five-seat version later this year.

The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee range is made up of three variants and begins at $82,250 (plus on-road costs) and stretches north to a whopping $115,450 (plus ORCs) for the flagship grade. This new pricing sets it among some lofty competition such as the Genesis GV80, Lexus RX, and Volvo XC90.

By Jeep’s own positioning as well, it should be competing alongside these luxury brands. This large SUV is a step up on its predecessor with premium appointments and seven seats, according to the brand.

Our colleague Sam Purcell spent time behind the wheel of the top-spec Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve and had mixed feelings. We’ve picked the mid-spec Grand Cherokee L Limited to find out whether the buying is better.

It costs $87,950 plus on-road costs as a base, before adding the $4250 Vision Group package that brings a large sunroof, rear passenger monitoring interior camera, and head-up display. Standard-fit equipment boasts include leather-trimmed seats, heated second row seats, 20-inch two-tone wheels, nine-speaker Alpine sound system, and driver’s seat memory.

There is a sole powertrain fitted throughout the range – a naturally aspirated 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 engine that sends 210kW/344Nm to all four wheels.

Jeep achieved considerable success with the preceding Grand Cherokee generation – until it didn’t – so the question on my mind is whether Jeep can do it again with this new one.

From looks alone, the new-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee's interior appears much nicer than the outgoing one. The entire dash interface incorporates a much more tech-oriented outlay and materials presentation is a considered step up.

It’s not just how it looks either – there’s a suite of kit included with the Limited specification that suitably matches its mid-spec positioning. Up-spec Capri leather covers the seats, there’s a larger 10.1-inch touchscreen (over 8.4-inch base-spec), and a nine-speaker Alpine-branded sound system. This is in addition to standard kit such as wireless phone charging, heated first and second row seats and steering wheel, and a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster.

It's once you get closer to the interior panels and inlays that some of the shine wears off, leaving some surfaces feeling overly plasticky and below expectation. The wood-design inlays have a particular hollow feeling, and the door cards don’t exactly shout 'premium' to me.

Additionally, our test car was 4500km old and the piano-black trims of the centre console were already beginning to scratch up a storm. On the other hand, pieces such as the gear selector feel built to the car’s price.

Conversely, the rear seats feel surprisingly nice in terms of fit and finish, whereas other carmakers might skimp on some of the nicer-touch materials. There’s a great amount of light let in by the optional sunroof, which helps lift the overall cabin ambience.

Space-wise, there is acres of room in both the first and second rows. The driver up front is afforded a commanding view over that gargantuan bonnet, and there’s a huge amount of room behind for passengers. There’s also a good amount of adjustability, whereby the seats can recline and slide on rails. They neatly fold out of the way to allow comfortable ingress to the third row.

The two rearmost passengers are served well by a pair of comfortable seats that can fit kids and adults. You get more room in the back of this car compared to a Toyota Kluger, at least in my experience. 

To cater to the seven passengers, Jeep provides an array of charging ports – USB-A and -C options in the first, second and third rows.

There are some useability quirks and issues that cropped up over a week with this car that left me scratching my head.

First of all, why you wouldn’t include a surround-view 360-degree camera with such a large – and high-spec – car is beyond me. It’s a glaringly obvious omission on the spec sheet that should have made the spec list at this price point.

Speaking of equipment lists, it would have been nice to get tilt-down mirrors when reversing to minimise the chance of kerbed wheels.

With the third row of seats in use, the Grand Cherokee fits 487L (as a seven-seater) and grows to 1328L when you fold the third row down into the floor, though Jeep uses the more generous SAE 'wet' measurement standard, compared to the VDA measurements used by many rivals.

It gets a powered boot, but the button to activate it is weirdly placed inside the boot rather than the boot door itself. I’ve not seen that before, and it’s not the most convenient placing, though for the vertically challenged, it's easier to reach – though also easier to get caught in the path of the closing tailgate.

Singling out the things I love, I was a huge fan of the door-close experience, which sounds incredibly premium and reassuring. There’s also a handy “FamCam” system, as part of the optional Vision Group package, that displays a direct camera feed to the second and third rows to keep an eye on restless passengers.

The Limited specification gets a 10.1-inch infotainment screen running Jeep’s latest Uconnect 5 software. This is paired with a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, plus a head-up display projected onto the windscreen.

The infotainment screen can run all manner of cool screens and graphics to show you the status of things like the four-wheel-drive system, steering, and gauges – it’s a neat throwback to Jeep’s utilitarian heritage.

More handily these days, Jeep offers an array of neat displays for things like settings and maps. Navigating between the various menus is simple thanks to shortcuts at the bottom of the screen, but isn’t the fastest to respond.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available for those who prefer those systems, though I had some trouble with the former. There were two instances where the system completely dropped out and wouldn’t display again, even after deleting and re-pairing my phone. It eventually figured itself out, but there was no obvious problem as to why it broke in the first place, which was odd.

The Alpine sound system deserves a call-out with its sonorous, booming bass level and a high clarity at the top end too. The reverse camera is also very clear and provides a crisp glance at what’s behind the car.

The new generation Jeep Grand Cherokee L has not been crash tested by local authority, ANCAP, at the time of this review.

However, it has picked up a swathe of safety features over its predecessor including autonomous emergency braking (with pedestrian detection and cyclist detection), traffic sign recognition, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, driver monitoring and tyre pressure monitoring.

It also gets adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go functionality.

I noticed instances where the lane-departure warning missed the mark, thinking I’d crossed lane markings when I didn’t. It alerts you to this with a loud persistent five-second beep, which is particularly embarrassing if you’ve got passengers. Colleagues have driven the Grand Cherokee and noticed the same occurrence, so it wasn’t a once-off.

Jeep’s move north in price ($87,950 plus ORCs) has set it against some premium nameplates such as the Lexus RX350 L Luxury ($85,704 before ORCs), Volvo XC90 Momentum ($88,490 plus ORCs), and Land Rover Defender 110 P300 ($84,346 before ORCs).

This is new territory for Jeep, which might cause some prospective buyers to look sideways to see what else they could have for near-on $100K.

Jeep offers a five-year/100,000km warranty for its Grand Cherokee L customers, and provides lifetime roadside assistance as long as you service within Jeep’s service network.

It also offers capped-price servicing that costs $399 for each of the first five services. Jeep recommends these services take place every 12 months or 12,000km, whichever occurs first.

We inquired about how much insurance will cost for the Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited and received a $2127 quote, based on a comparative quote for a 35 year old male driver, living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

In terms of fuel use, the Grand Cherokee L is a thirsty beast, no thanks to a lack of frugal engine technology such as turbocharging. Against Jeep’s own 10.6L/100km combined fuel claim, we recorded a 14.7L/100km rating, though our week on test favoured suburban driving.

All variants of the Jeep Grand Cherokee L in Australia feature a naturally aspirated 3.6-litre V6 engine that powers all four wheels. This powertrain is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission that can be managed by paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel.

Outputs of 210kW/344Nm don’t leap off the paper suggesting anything special, especially with regard to the lethargic torque figure. This is reflected with the Grand Cherokee’s 2813kg braked towing capacity, which is down on its predecessor’s 3500kg maximum. In fairness, that figure is achieved using the old 5.7-litre V8 and 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engines, but those engines aren’t offered with this new generation.

The engine simply doesn’t feel comfortable lugging the Grand Cherokee L’s 2190kg (tare) heft around, and it sounds quite loud doing it. It’s a shame this engine has made the cut into this otherwise technologically adept successor.

The eight-speed automatic transmission is responsive to throttle inputs and doesn’t labour over gearshifts like the big lazy American it looks like. You can change the car’s character using a switch beside the gear selector that includes off-road modes. This specification doesn’t come with low-range gearing or height-adjustable suspension, which leaves the top-spec Summit Reserve grade as the better option for off-roading.

In addition to the engine noise permeating the cabin, there is some road noise to contend with, making you wonder whether you’ve left a window cracked accidentally.

Ride control is firmer than you’d expect from a large American-built SUV, with rigid spring rates that translate through some hard-edged road imperfections. It remains comfortable over the vast majority of surfaces and undulations, though lacks some refinement over things like train tracks and smaller bumps.

For such a long 5204mm body, the Grand Cherokee is a bit of a handful to manoeuvre in built-up areas. It requires concentration to park and scoot by other cars when in tight confines, and the hefty steering quality doesn’t do a lot to help.

Jeep’s move upmarket with this new-generation Grand Cherokee L sets it as a comfortable car in isolation thanks to a tech-laden cabin and spacious interior, but with the price charged, it becomes more difficult to justify.

It lacks the bits that made it so popular a decade ago, such as an affordable price tag and choice of engine, while a lack of off-road equipment for lower-specified variants is missed. The engine is thirsty and underpowered for such a large car, and should have been relegated to the previous generation.

There are still things to like about the Grand Cherokee L Limited, such as the incredible space on offer and luxurious touches – these aspects go to its positioning as a great family tourer and something impressive to park in the driveway. But for just over $100K, it becomes harder to ignore omissions such as a lack of soft-touch materials up front, and the absence of a 360-degree camera.

Sure, there are areas of the Grand Cherokee L that should be recognised as a huge step up over its predecessor. But it feels like Jeep hasn’t stood up to notice the company it now competes with, and how polished you must be to win buyers at this price point.