After Another Round of Repairs, Our 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Trailhawk Is Finally Back to Normal (We Hope)
To say that owning our long-term 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Trailhawk hasn’t been a great experience would be a monumental understatement. Things started off so well, too, with a chance to explore high-tech features like its night vision camera system and integrated Amazon Fire TV rear-seat entertainment. And then we decided to do what, honestly, most owners of a Trailhawk version of a Jeep Grand Cherokee should feel comfortable doing: We took it off-road.
Related: 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe: What Makes a Trailhawk a Trailhawk?
Our Jeep Jamboree excursion — in the summer of 2023 — kicked off a nearly yearlong saga of repair after repair after repair. The first episode kept the Trailhawk out of service for roughly half a year as we negotiated multiple dealership visits, parts delays and more — and when we finally got the Jeep back in our hands, it was pulling to the right, to the point that drivers had to turn the wheel 5 to 10 degrees to the left to keep the SUV tracking straight. After already spending months languishing in dealership service departments, the Jeep was headed back there.
Getting Things Back on Track
What we were experiencing in our Jeep is annoying, unsafe and usually indicative of a bad wheel alignment, but when we took it back into a dealership the alignment wasn’t, well, out of alignment. Some owners might choose to live with the aggravation of holding the steering wheel to the left a bit to go straight, especially if they don’t have the luxury of being able to drive something else while their car is in for service. We do have that luxury, however, so we attempted to address it.
A new dealership first diagnosed the problem as bad motor mounts, and if you’re wondering why motor mounts would cause the Jeep to pull to the right, so were we. After another lengthy delay for parts, the work started nearly a month later. The good news: Replacing the motor mounts made the plug-in hybrid 4xe’s transition from electric-only to gas-engine-supported operation far smoother; we had just assumed the rough and unrefined transition that we’d experienced since taking delivery of the Jeep was normal. The bad news: It still pulled to the right.
We brought the Jeep back to the dealership and this time took the service technician along for a ride to demonstrate what was happening. The new diagnosis: The engine cradle was out of alignment. It’s worth noting that this part had been replaced previously when we discovered it was damaged following our Jeep Jamboree off-road experience. We left the Jeep at the dealer and crossed our fingers and toes. While the Trailhawk was there, we also had a suspension-related recall addressed.
When we picked up our Trailhawk a week later and took it for a drive, it tracked straight! After almost a year of issues, it finally drove like new again (and possibly for the first time, given the motor mount replacement).
Everything was repaired under warranty, but this service saga dragged on for 40 days, leading many on staff to wonder if the Jeep had now been sitting in service departments for longer than it had been on the road.
Cost of Ownership, Fuel Economy So Far
After logging a mere 6,257 miles, we’ve spent $1,393.37 on mostly premium fuel and at least $9.38 on charging. We say “at least” because we’ve only been able to track specific costs for 30% of our Jeep’s charging sessions (tracking home-charging costs, especially on Level 1 service, can be difficult). Since our latest round of repairs was thankfully covered by warranty, our overall repair costs remain at $7,267.10. The total cost to own the Trailhawk since paying $43,267 plus our Ford Maverick trade-in: at least $8,669.85.
The Jeep’s fuel economy is averaging around 20 mpg, and with charging and brake regeneration, 49 miles of every tank has on average been on all-electric power. We’ve seen a few 400-plus-mile tanks before filling up, but we haven’t really approached the EPA’s estimated 470 miles of total range, nor have we had many tank averages lately that come close to the Jeep’s 23 mpg combined rating; hopefully regaining the ability to drive straight will help bump up our fuel economy.
More From Cars.com:
- We Broke Our Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Trailhawk Off-Roading, and It Cost $7,000 to Fix
- How Much Electric Range Does the Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Have in Colder Weather?
- Here Are the Recalls for Our Long-Term 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe (So Far)
- 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe Amazon Fire TV: How Well Does It Work?
- How Long Does It Take to Charge a 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe?
Now What?
Now, we try to drive it ‘til the wheels fall off (metaphorically, we hope). Our one-year mileage record for a long-term test car was 22,000 miles in our 2016 Volvo XC90. At nearly the year mark of our Grand Cherokee ownership, we were at a little over 6,000 miles. It will be nice to get some longer trips logged to see how the 4xe’s real-world fuel economy compares with its EPA ratings.
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