RideLust

Yesterday I happened to be running by my local Jeep dealership when I noticed a shiny new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee sitting outside. Intrigued, I decided to flip a u-turn and see if this thing was really as nice as all the commercials and ads made it out to be. Now here’s the funny thing about advertising. When a manufacturer shows us a new vehicle they always depict it in its best light. Meaning they show it on a race track, or hammering through the woods, doing burnouts or something special. They also show the most well equipped model packages they can so as to get us into the buying mood and get us into dealerships.

Yet here, sitting before me on this big slab of concrete was not the uber 4×4 I saw in the ads, but a pretty basic, non-exciting SUV that looked as though it had been there all season. The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is an attractive machine, but in stock form it’s really not much to look at, which is a shame.

Yes... that's my thumb in the picture.

There is also the question of the price, as the sticker on this bad boy was a whopping $38,415. One reason was that this unit was equipped with the optional Laredo package, that added such things as a leather interior, super booming stereo system, dual climate controls and heated front seats amongst other things. Engine wise it was equipped with the new Pentastar V6 that churns out 290 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque, not bad, but for the money I would’ve liked to see the 5.7 in there. Like I said, in base form the new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee will do it’s job, it will get you from point A to point B and take you over the river and through the woods. Problem is, it just won’t be doing it with very much style.