I traded my 370Z for a Grand Heep Cherokee some time ago, and everyone said I had left a POS for a worse POS. I argued. I debated. But in the end? I was wrong. My Heep Grand Cherokee was the biggest piece of shit I've EVER owned or even heard of. In the 1 year and 3 months I owned it...
-N23 disabled my 4WD low
-Transmission leaked and was taken out, seal replaced, and still leaked.
-Sunroof guide broke
-Both front control arm bushings rotted out and had to be replaced
-Random body parts fell or flopped loose when I took it through touchless carwash
-Satellite radio randomly lost signal
-Transmission had very annoying tq converter shudder
-Steering always felt like the diff was locking up on tight corners like in a parking lot
-Water pump went bad (again...it was changed 8K miles before I bought it...)
-Annoying whining (very loud, as in, wake the neighbors) when I cranked it on cold days, even after replacing the belt.
-Randomly stalled once, and would run rough at idle sometimes. New plugs, PCV, air filter, etc. Nothing helped.
-Random SES light was the last straw, and I traded it in rather than chase that down and take the transmission out AGAIN!
Long story short? You were right...I was wrong. Fuck Jeep. Fuck Mercedes. Fuck Fiat. Fuck all that shit. NEVER will I own any of it again. EVER!!!!
That said, I had to replace it. I knew I wanted something with a reputation for reliability, and the AWD of the Jeep really did come through for me in my first snow. Loved AWD! Also, I needed ground clearance. Basically, I was stuck in the SUV platform due to lifestyle choices (living in the mountains). Also, when I build my house, work will be a 40 mile commute (round trip) 3x a week. So fuel efficiency was becoming an issue in my mind.
I ended up with a 2015 Mazda CX5 2.5L AWD with 27k on the odo and got rid of my 2010 Grand Heep Cherokee 5.7 Limited with 92k on the odo. Why? Well, it has NAV, it has amazing seats, and driving it is like driving a sedan, yet it will hold about 90% of what my Jeep would, and has the highest safety ratings possible from all the testing organizations. Consumer Reports ranked it highly, and the handling...THE HANDLING! I have never driven an SUV that handled like this thing. It is quite fun in the mountains. Now, the 4-popper is a bit slow compared to my HEMI, but amazingly it gets 100% of its max torque at 3200ish rpm (all 185# of it...) which is pretty impressive to me, and the 6 speed SkyDriv or whatever clutch auto is amazing. Still, it IS slower than the Jeep, by my stop-watch taking 15 seconds from 0-80, compared to my Jeep on my stop watch taking 10.
So the trade?
I get 30+ mpg on the highway, and around 24-26mpg on my daily commute. It also takes regular instead of midgrade
To put that in perspective, that's the ammo and cost of my VTAC Nightfighter course later this year in fuel-savings per year, alone! Daily driving, it feels motivated enough.
The only negative I've found is it's a little "softer" in appearance than I prefer, but lets face it, I've owned some badass machines, my C6 Z06 being a personal pinnacle, and what I really need is an economical, effective, reliable form of transportation that will last me 8-12 years and allow me to focus on building a house in a year or two instead of worrying about paying for the POS's repairs, or monstrous gas bills, etc. that will also handle the winter in the mountains. I think this CX5 will be a winner. I sure hope so!
Gone and hopefully soon forgotten!