It’s been well publicized that the 2014-2018 Jeep Cherokee’s styling has been pretty controversial. Some grew to like it, others never did. At the very least, the styling didn’t fail to be a conversation piece. Jeep decided to do something about. And it came in the form of the 2019 Jeep Cherokee. A simple styling refresh? Not quite. In terms of importance, this refresh is about as significant as the 2014 Durango refresh. Adding some new features, tweaking the styling (inside and out), and making a few chassis and powertrain improvements (in the case of the Cherokee, by adding the 2.0 Liter Turbo into the mix). During my time at the 2018 Denver Autoshow, I got to see what this update was all about. Here’s what I thought…
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The presentation vehicle we had did have some panel gaps.
Normally, I try to look for panel gaps in all vehicles. To compare them to what are perceived to be “quality” brands and those that aren’t. Unfortunately, I forgot to do this at the Denver Autoshow at that time… except for when it came to the Jeep Cherokee.
The panel gaps between the hood and the front fenders weren’t bad (uneven, but minor). This wasn’t the gap that I initially noticed though. The gap I noticed first was a panel gap between the driver’s side rear-passenger door and the wheel arch molding. If the hood-to-front fender gap was minor. This was… noticeable. Even from a distance (which I was given that I sitting in on a presentation). It’s not something I expect to see on other Cherokees, but it was surprising nonetheless.
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The styling is much improved.
Many people grew to really like the previous Cherokee’s styling. It was different (and it’s now being copied by Hyundai with the Kona). While not totally uncontroversial, the clear favorite of the Cherokee models was the TrailHawk. With it’s apocalyptic, “day will never come” front end, the TrailHawk was the most liked of all the Cherokees.
That’s all changed. With this new front end, all Cherokees are appealing (some are still going to draw more customers of course). Even in person, this is a really good looking car. Despite its less polarizing (but still distinctive) design. Funnily enough, the TrailHawk has been toned down a bit. If there was one thing the pre-refresh TrailHawk had going for it, was its “world ending” looks. While the new TrailHawk is still a very good looking vehicle indeed, the old one had a mystique to it that has been lost a bit with this new version.
Moving to the inside of the vehicle, it should look and feel very familiar to anyone who had the previous Cherokee. However, nicer touches can be found in this Cherokee than in previous ones.
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The 2.0 Liter does not come with the mild-hybrid setup the JL Wrangler has.
“Why not? It’s the same engine in both cars right?” Indeed it is. The difference is in vehicle packaging. The mild-hybrid system simply doesn’t fit in the Cherokee (as FCA likely didn’t design the Cherokee to have the 2.0 liter with a mild-hybrid system when they starting developing the Cherokee). If you’ve read the new 5-Year plan though, you’ll have noticed we’re supposed to get a new Cherokee sometime in the 2020s. With that in mind, the next-gen Cherokee should very likely have a mild-hybrid powertrain.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on the 2019 Jeep Cherokee. See you in the next post.
All Photo Credit: FCA.