Overview & Reviews

If you're thinking about purchasing a vehicle rugged enough to finesse rocky trails, chances are, one make comes to mind: Jeep. This specialty automotive manufacturer has a long history of producing trucks and SUVs capable of off-highway adventures — so much so that the term jeep is used by many to refer to all SUVs, whether the vehicle in question is a true Jeep or not.

Jeep took root in WWII as the name of the now-iconic four-wheel-drive military vehicle produced by Willys-Overland and Ford for the U.S. Army. The name's origin is somewhat of a mystery; popular belief is that it morphed from "GP," or "general purpose," though others have suggested that it was a nickname derived from a character featured in the Popeye comic strip of the time.

The mid-1940s saw the introduction of the first civilian Jeep, the CJ-2A. It offered many features not available on military versions, such as a tailgate, an external fuel cap and a side-mounted spare tire, and was targeted mainly toward farmers and construction workers.

Civilian Jeeps caught on with the public, and by the 1950s, new models such as the CJ-3B and the CJ-5 had been introduced. The CJ-5 had the longest production run of any Jeep vehicle, continuing for 30 years after its introduction in the early '50s. The company changed owners during this decade as Willys-Overland was sold to Kaiser in 1953.

Jeep broke new ground in the 1960s with the debut of its Wagoneer. Geared toward active families, this early SUV was the first four-wheel-drive vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission. A new "Dauntless" V6 became available as an option on the CJ-5 and CJ-6 in 1965. This was the first time that a Jeep CJ could be equipped with a V6. Packing 155 horses, the engine's horsepower almost doubled that offered by the standard four-cylinder.

By the 1970s, Jeep had changed ownership yet again, with the purchase of Kaiser-Jeep by American Motors Corporation. New models like the CJ-7 and the Scrambler were rolled out. Additionally, the company unveiled some new technology with the introduction of the world's first automatic full-time four-wheel-drive system. Dubbed Quadra-Trac, it was available in the CJ-7 as well as in full-size Jeep trucks and wagons. During this decade, Jeep's fortunes soared as four-wheel-drive vehicles became increasingly popular with large sections of American buyers.

The 1980s saw the introduction of the Cherokee and Wrangler. The Cherokee was one of the first of the new breed of SUVs — high-riding midsize wagons that skyrocketed in popularity as the decade progressed. The Wrangler replaced the CJ series in 1987 and offered the raw functionality of the CJ along with more comfort features. That year also saw the purchase of American Motors by Chrysler, with the Jeep brand becoming part of Chrysler's Jeep/Eagle division. One of Jeep's most popular models, the Grand Cherokee, debuted for 1993. This handsome, midsize SUV offered considerably more comfort and luxury than the smaller Cherokee while still providing stout off-road capability.

Jeep fell under the umbrella of DaimlerChrysler after Chrysler and Daimler-Benz merged in 1998. This partnership resulted in a few new models, such as the Liberty and Compass, though none were able to attain great sales success. In 2007, Daimler sold the Chrysler Group to a private equity firm. It is now under control of Fiat.

More recently, the company has added a couple of enticing models to its lineup (including a four-door version of the Wrangler and the pavement-scorching Grand Cherokee SRT8) and made substantial performance and quality improvements under the hoods and within the cabins. As such, we expect Jeep will not only maintain a loyal group of customers but will also bring new fans into the fold.

User Reviews:

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  Jeep Liberty a real lemon - 2002 Jeep Liberty
  By premiepower - November 5 - 7:40 am

  My Liberty is 4 years old. We have had nothing but problems. No A/C since July, a condenser problem. Rear differential seal leak, transfer case leak, window regulator went bad, tail light filled up with water and shorted out the electrical system, 2 ball joint recall notices. And the gas mileage? On a good day, 18mpg. NEVER AGAIN. Im going for Kia or Hyundai next vehicle. My 12 year old Honda Civic with 125,000 is a more reliable vehicle.

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  Overland - Interior - HORRIBLE - 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee
  By Brian Vostrez - October 28 - 3:23 am

  This is a buyer beware situation. The leather dash on the Overland Jeeps is horrible and has been for multiple years. I own a 2013 Overland and the dash is completely coming undone. If you are out of base warranty, the extended coverage (even the best one) will not cover this repair. The cost to fix this is right at $1,900.00.

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  worthless investment - 2007 Jeep Compass
  By Paul - October 16 - 6:23 pm

  Jeep billed this little jewel as a great buy. I feel that I have been cheated. The fuel economy is what attracted me to this vehicle initially. After I bought it I quickly found out that the posted MPG were very WRONG. Then, within one month of purchasing the vehicle, the manufacturer posts new fuel economy numbers for the stupid thing. Guess what...they were lower than originally posted. Their response to my complaint, "Sorry.". Never again.

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  1999 Lemon Jeep - 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee
  By Erik - October 9 - 4:53 am

  Poorly built Jeep. Had to bring to dealer over 12 times in past 3 years for numerous problems or recalls. Major problems with rear differential.

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  Poor Transmission on 3.0 liter CRD - 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee
  By Darryn - October 5 - 8:50 pm

  We purchased our 3.0 liter Turbo Diesel CRD 10 months a go. The vehicle is right hand drive and purchased brand new in New Zealand. We returned the car after 5000 Km for the following- whining noise coming from rear Differential, this has since been repaired and just recently been replaced with a new diff that I believe has come from a Russian second world war truck, as it certainly sounds like one, in other words no solution. This has been exasperated by a poor transmission, poor shifting quality - delays in up shift, and a clunking jerky down shift from second to first in slow stopping conditions, we have a new transmission on the way out from the States, poor plastics and seats.

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  NO MORE MOPAR! - 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee
  By irishred - October 5 - 5:33 am

  This is the 2nd Jeep vehicle I had purchased and the last! The first had a defect in the head from the manufacturer and this one had a a constant vibration coming from the transmission. No help from Chrysler for either. NO MORE MOPAR!

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  Beauty is only skin deep - 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee
  By Problems galore - September 30 - 10:00 am

  Although this SUV is nice looking with off-road capability, buyer beware that it will likely leave you stranded on the side of the road at some point. Thats what happended to me and I regret not paying closer attention to its reliability reviews. Purchased brand new, Ive had the vehicle for less than 1.5 years and found many quality concerns: overheated engine, repeatedly detaching door panel, leaks in engine and transmission, faulty gas cap... Just about every section has had some sort of problem requiring multiple trips to dealer.

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  Worst car Ive driven in years - 2016 Jeep Compass
  By Eric - September 29 - 8:08 am

  This vehicle is ridiculously underpowered and poor on gas. The seats are not comfortable at all. No lumbar support and headrest is way too far back from your head. On normal highway driving the engine revs past 6000 rpm to try to keep up with 65 mph traffic.

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  A Story of Disillusionment - 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee
  By suvs_ftw - September 24 - 4:55 pm

  Spec-wise and value-wise I was really looking forward to the 2011 Grand Cherokee Overland as a replacement to my 2000 Grand Cherokee Limited. Instead, I was REALLY disappointed at the dealership today when I saw it and drove it! I was horrified to see that the wonderful Inferno Red finish was trimmed all the way around in cheap black plastic, ugh. A $46K vehicle trimmed in black plastic, who the $%^& in the design shop thought THAT was a good idea ?! I thought maybe it could be redeemed with a test drive of its 5.7L Hemi-V8 though. Yet again I was horrified. This behemoth with a 360hp/390lb-ft powerhouse felt so sluggish it felt like a small V6 with bad turbo lag, awful, just awful.

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  Very disappointing - 2008 Jeep Wrangler
  By cameronghanson - September 21 - 8:49 pm

  I had sold my 2007 Range Rover to get something "American Made". Unfortunately, all my fears about doing this were realized. Within weeks of getting the Jeep, I found my car in the dealer almost on a weekly basis. One part, the parking brake, failed 4 times. This car is fine for what it is built for...off roading in extreme conditions. Its amazing to me that this car is STILL 2 wheel drive, which the majority of the time, is extremely inconvenient. If in 4wheel drive, it has considerable power hop when turning, cant exceed more 55mph. Very disappointing car.