2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee L Awarded IIHS Top Safety Pick+
It took Jeep nearly three decades to get around to adding a third row of seating to the Grand Cherokee. Judged against that timeline, reassurance that the seven occupants are safe in a crash came quickly: The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has announced that both the 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Cherokee L earn its highest safety rating, Top Safety Pick+.
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IIHS rates vehicles on a scale of good, acceptable, marginal or poor. It scores other factors affecting safety on a scale of superior, advanced or basic. To qualify for Top Safety Pick+ honors, a vehicle has to earn good ratings in three different frontal crash tests and a side impact evaluation. The vehicle’s standard headlights across all trims must rate acceptable or good, and a crash-avoidance system that ranks as advanced or superior in day and nighttime tests must be available.
Both Grand Cherokees aced the crash tests, and their standard crash-prevention systems earned an advanced rating in the daytime pedestrian test and a superior in the nighttime evaluation.
Blinded by the Light
Notably, the award applies only to Grand Cherokees built after March 2023 and Grand Cherokee Ls built after May 2023. In previous testing, a Grand Cherokee earned a poor rating in the updated side impact test when a piece of metal punctured the fuel tank. Jeep has since modified the structure of the vehicles to rectify that problem. Similarly, the headlights on earlier Grand Cherokee Ls earned poor ratings due to low beams that generated excessive glare; a modification to the reflectors remedied that issue.
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