2017 Cherokee vs 2016.5 CX-5

andamanc said:
Had a 2014 Cherokee Trailhawk and loved it at first.
After many trips to the shop (air cond, elecronic parking brake freezing, and too many transmission updates to count) I traded it in on my 2016 CX-5 Touring.
I liked the Jeeps ride, interior, infotainment and of course off road capability.
The (at the time) new ZF - 9 speed transmission made for horrible driveability.
Numerous recalls could not make that thing downshift or upshift reliably
Many horror stories in the Jeep forum of owners having transmissions replaced multiple times in order to get one that shifted properly.
Each time I brought it in for tranmission complaints they said "operating as designed"
Made my extended warranty basically worthless - at least I was able to get a prorated refund on that.....
I see on carcomplaints.com that transmission issues still generate the most complaints on the 2016s.
I considered trading up to a Grand Cherokee but I believe they also started using the ZF (8 speed) in 2014 as well.
Carcomplaints also show transmission issues on the GC as the most common complaint starting in 2014.

No more FCA products for me thank you very much
Click to expand...

The ZF 8-speed and 9-speed are totally different animals. The ZF 8-speed is a conventionally designed longitudinal transmission. It is used by a lot of different manufacturers, and is pretty well regarded. The ZF 9-speed a is transverse unit that fits 9 ratios into the space of a 6-speed unit by packing two planetary gearsets on top of each other and using two dog clutches in place of multiplate friction clutches. Shifts that involve the dog clutches require feedback from the transmission to the engine to momentarily cut or increase power to try to match shaft speeds in the transmission.

Jaguar Land Rover were the first ones to market with the ZF 9-speed in 2013, followed by FCA in 2014, and Honda in 2015/2016. They all had problems with it initially. First year buyers like yourself were unfortunate guinea pigs when the transmission wasn't really ready for prime time yet. But after a couple years of further development they seem to have it sorted now. I've ridden in a 2017 Cherokee and driven a 2017 Pilot and didn't have any complaints with the transmission in either car. Also, my wife drives a 2017 Pacifica and we don't have any complaints with the transmission over 20k miles so far.

It's still a Jeep though. Even if the transmission was perfect there's still plenty to go wrong.
 
andamanc said:
Much better

CX-5
36000 miles
Broken center console latch - twice
Broken sunvisor latch - twice
All covered under warranty - guess i must have a heavy hand ;-)
Click to expand...

That or you're either Shaq or Bigfoot LOL.
 
Agree with Red, I've also heard the tranny issues we're sorted on that 9 cyl by late 16.
 
OMG the sound system in the Jeep. Don't try and tell me the Bose sucks. LOL. Jeep is awful.
The heated seats though? Wow! Get real hot real fast. Advantage Jeep on that one.
 
Just picked a friend up from the bar and took him home. Smart man.
Love or hate the infotainment, my God do I miss the Command Knob. It alone makes me hate the Jeep infotainment (I really ******* hate that word, btw). My God. I'm 6 foot, sit as far back as the seat goes and I have to reach out at arm's length to touch it. I don't agree that Mazda should lock the screen when moving however... messing with the Jeep screen, is downright ******* dangerous. Honestly. Talk about taking attention from the road. The Mazda Commander Knob, to me, is every bit as important as BSM. It is simply must have. You don't (b)need(/b) a touchscreen with this thing. Running a damn iPad in your dash to switch to XM or BT instead of a 1 second glance and a twist of the wrist where my hand naturally rests...this simpleness, this ease... this CANNOT be understated. I pity the Sport owners.
I pity you, Sport owner.
No wonder you hate your car Unobtaniun. JK.
Colorado is going to be pissed when he finally gets that Miata with The CKnob.
Next car is a Mazda or Audi because of that.
Alone.
 
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7eregrine said:
The Mazda Commander Knob... is simply must have. You don't (b)need(/b) a touchscreen with this thing.
Click to expand...

Totally agree.
Love the volume/mute down there, too.
And have no problem whatsoever with the Mazda menu system.
 
shadonoz said:
Totally agree.
Love the volume/mute down there, too.
And have no problem whatsoever with the Mazda menu system.
Click to expand...

When I have my phone hooked up via USB, I'm able to access all music file folders really easy with the commander knob.
 
I don't like the commander knob, and wouldn't use it if the screen had buttons on screen or to either side.

I've disabled the screen lock, but problem is you can't do everything with out the knob.
 
xtrailman said:
I don't like the commander knob, and wouldn't use it if the screen had buttons on screen or to either side.

I've disabled the screen lock, but problem is you can't do everything with out the knob.
Click to expand...

Opposite for me - I drove some more expensive luxury SUV - hated the touchscreen lower or no knob (usually both) - I don't think i could drive a car with touchscreen only. I love the Tesla, but watching how many touches it takes my neighbor to do things... not the easiest way to drive a car.
 
I personally prefer a touchscreen over a knob. I don't have any experience with Tesla, but the good touch screen interfaces I've used take fewer actions to do things than a menu system. I also think the basic operation of a touch screen (see icon, put finger on icon) takes my attention off the road for less time. But the downside of touchscreen interfaces is bumpy roads. When you're bouncing around it takes too much attention to aim.

What's better than both alternatives IMO is putting more infotainment controls on the steering wheel and infotainment displays in the instrument cluster. I like what Ford has done with their Sync 3 system in some of their vehicles (Explorer, Edge, Fusion, Lincoln models). There is a D-pad on the wheel that controls a TFT in the cluster which gives access to most of the things you'd want to control while moving. Between that and voice commands, there isn't much reason to use the touchscreen.
 
7eregrine said:
Colorado is going to be pissed when he finally gets that Miata with The CKnob.
Click to expand...

At this rate, probably years away, or I may look at a used older Miata. Though more and more I am loving the looks of the RF. Just not in the cards at the moment like I had originally hoped.

I will like having a commander knob if I eventually get a car with one, but it won't detract from my enjoyment of my older CX-5. I may not have a commander knob, but I do have a real handbrake and a full size armrest. Those count for something. Plus I have my gated shifter which yes I know most people don't like, but I like it. So easy to just slam it down, no damn button to fiddle with, and switch to manual mode and punch it. These things matter to me more than a commander knob.
 
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Unobtanium said:
Can you also upload music and photos to the hard drive?
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Hardrive...in the CX-5? Or are you referring to attaching an external hard drive to the CX-5? Haven't tried that.

I essentially have a samsung with an external microSD card that I add music to. If said phone is linked via USB cable the infotainment system lets me navigate through the folders. Its more precise and accurate with a commander knob. Scrolling down 20 folders and down 16 songs would be cumbersome using a touch screen. I can do the same thing with accuracy really quick while driving using the commander knob. Split second glimpses is all I need.
 
Red MC said:
I personally prefer a touchscreen over a knob. I don't have any experience with Tesla, but the good touch screen interfaces I've used take fewer actions to do things than a menu system. I also think the basic operation of a touch screen (see icon, put finger on icon) takes my attention off the road for less time. But the downside of touchscreen interfaces is bumpy roads. When you're bouncing around it takes too much attention to aim.

What's better than both alternatives IMO is putting more infotainment controls on the steering wheel and infotainment displays in the instrument cluster. I like what Ford has done with their Sync 3 system in some of their vehicles (Explorer, Edge, Fusion, Lincoln models). There is a D-pad on the wheel that controls a TFT in the cluster which gives access to most of the things you'd want to control while moving. Between that and voice commands, there isn't much reason to use the touchscreen.
Click to expand...
Maybe on another car or if you're short. The Jeep screen is just too far away to be comfortable reaching. IMO, of course.
 
I agree, if you have to sit up/stretch to reach the screen, that's definitely a bigger impact on your attention.
 
CX-5um said:
Hardrive...in the CX-5? Or are you referring to attaching an external hard drive to the CX-5? Haven't tried that.

I essentially have a samsung with an external microSD card that I add music to. If said phone is linked via USB cable the infotainment system lets me navigate through the folders. Its more precise and accurate with a commander knob. Scrolling down 20 folders and down 16 songs would be cumbersome using a touch screen. I can do the same thing with accuracy really quick while driving using the commander knob. Split second glimpses is all I need.
Click to expand...

The CX5 doesn't have a hard drive in it for data/music/pictures/etc?
 
7eregrine said:
No. No one does anymore now that we're All streaming.
Click to expand...

Streaming sucks, though. For example, I only have music for about 50-75% of my commute. It would be different if we had XM, but I think they just now are putting XM in the top of the line CX5's, and you're forced to take 19" rims and other stuff to get it.
 
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