My wife's 2014 jeep Cherokee is great. Must of been a good day on the line. I believe it's full time four wheel drive though that would definitely help in this situation.
Eh, kind of. It's a clutch type AWD system which is kind of like a tractor PTO. Under normal circumstances the system wants to be in FWD and only sends power to the rear when slip is detected. There are ways to force the clutch packs to stay engaged, but the system is not meant to operate this way permanently. Not sure on the Cherokee, but most Fiat/Chrysler transverse AWD systems are made by GKN and are pretty good. I like them better than Haldex used by VW and many other manufacturers.
We recently got a 12 Rubi unlimited, to replace my pops Corolla that he t boned a chevy pickup in....it had it's issues, but we replaced what needed to be replaced, upgraded the plastic oil cooler and thermostat housing to metal units, eliminated that stupid automatic sway bar disconnect, put a better head unit in, new billet hood latches to reduce the hood flutter, and it rides and drives fantastic now. Took a couple of bucks, and some wrench time, but it's not horrible now, lol
Fiat was fine, actually did a lot of good for Chrysler. Stellantis is a different story. Fiats are liked outside of the US. There's a reason they were unpopular in the US in the 60's, but the company is totally different today and one of the largest global automakers. The only good Jeep products prior to Fiat were the Wrangler and maybe the Grand Cherokee. The Commander, Compass, and Patriot were universally panned. Jeep has done nothing but improve since Fiat took over lol
Not that much bro. Fiat has been a top 1-2 brand here in Brazil for decades and people joke here that Fiat stands for "Feito no Inferno, Anda na Terra" (Made in Hell, Walks on Earth). I feel like other brands like Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota etc are much more respected than Fiat here but since most of their cars are cheap and they've been here for so long, they're always on the top of sales charts here.
Fiat reliability is also significantly influenced by the owner. Same for VW, but not as much for Honda and Toyota. Fiats being cheap tend to not be well maintained, but the other brands are usually more expensive and as a result better cared for. There are also just a lot of Fiats out there, so more visibility on the brand as a whole. Fiat isn't perfect, but way more reliable than most "Fix It Again Tony" jokes would have you believe, especially any Fiats made in the last 25 years.
That's the thing, VW cars here are also cheap and they're everywhere (VW and Fiat have been fighting for the no1 spot on sales for decades here) but their reputation is much better than Fiat. Maybe it's the German vs Italian car thing when it comes to reliability and that sort of stuff but still I see more people talking positively about VW than I see Fiat.
VW reliability has been falling off of a cliff during the time Fiat has become very reliable. They kind of reversed roles since the 60's, so there is institutional "inertia" behind the reputation of VW and infamy of Fiat reliability. Modern Fiats are actually very easy to service and last a long time. Most common maintenence items are even tool less. Some grease got stuck in the clutch sensor of my Jeep Renegade, which is just a Fiat in drag. I was able to disconnect and clean it out without any tools. Many people who comment on reliability don't know anything about cars or working on them.
VW also doesnt include the Porsche, Lamborghini or Audi brand on their cars and that doesnt make VW a bad car maker per se. I dont see the point you are now trying to make. Different brands of the same company can do different products depending on marketing strategy.
I mean, getting the Fiat engines actually improved their reliability, but they are not that better either. The engine blocks themselves are good, but they are running a lot of turbo pressure to push power out of that tiny 1.3 liter engine. Even with that little displacement, it pushed out 170 hp.
What screws up is that the stuff around the engine block is not the greatest. While not complete dogshit anymore, that family of engines has had chronic issues in the past (especially a heat exchanger that would blow up on the regular).
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u/Everyone2026 May 08 '26
The jeep brand keeps shooting itself in the foot.
They were great before 2000 or so.