Dont, the validity of that report depends on the data they looked at. A knowleagble report will separate the Cherokee and the Grand Cherokee (the data the telegraph comments on doesnt so its flawed straight off). They are significantly different. I dont know for sure but I dont think they even come from the same production line.
Then when you look at Grand Cherokees they need splitting down by age and engine. Generally pre 1999 seems to have had more problems. I dont know what date the swap over was but the old diesel (3 litre?) was not errr....much loved, some of the petrol engines i am told are problematic. The intro of the merc 2.7 tdi changed some of that. Thats why I jumped in when I spotted mine for sale. To date it hasnt disappointed.
Parkers give one run of grand cherokee 4 stars out of 5 for reliability
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/jeep/grand-cherokee-1999.aspx
and the Terranos many of you are happily running 3 1/2 stars
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/nissan/terrano-1993.aspx
How do you interpret that :thumbs
The warranty direct data used points more towards repeated occurences of warranty funded repairs on a model so lets take the Terrano MAF. Its a minor irritation rather then a major problem but if every one that conked out was claimed under warranty from them the terrano would get a massive hit and look very bad whilst the fact of the matter is thats not correct.
Dont forget as well the data is collated from warranty direct. Therefore theres no data from main dealers and retailers who underwrite their own cars or use someone like Olympic warranties. or even more so someone like me who haggles a deal and doesnt boter with a warranty (sale of goods act covers most points anyway)
On my car theyve had problems with servos sticking on the climate control. That would be a mega claim. However the reason is labour. Wheras I'm not bothered sitting all saturday taking the dash to bits and fitting a £50 servo, at a dealer that would cost you nigh on £800
so for me again its a pain but not a big problem.
As far as Jeep build quality goes, (style is purely taste, one mans meat is anothers poison) it is excellent on the 02 one I have. On an "engineering" type assesment of the build , everything works, nothings rotted or dropped off that I can find.
On a nice note, its the first car of this age I've had with no rattles and squeaks. It realy is that well screwed together.
I'll admit, I'm pleasantly surprised