The Jeep Cherokee is one of Jeep’s best-selling vehicles on the market. There are a lot of reasons to like the Cherokee, but like anything else, it also has its downsides. Despite Jeep’s good reputation when it comes to reliability, this is an area where the Cherokee doesn’t do great. 

What Consumer Reports had to say

In the 2019 model year, Consumer Reports reported a lot of bad things about the Cherokee. Overall, the 2019 Cherokee had a reliability rating of just 2 out of 5. The actual percentage score that Consumer Reports gave the 2019 Cherokee was even lower. The 2019 Cherokee’s reliability score was a mere 14%. 

This was the second-worst reliability score out of the 27 similar SUVs that Consumer Reports graded. The 2019 Cherokee’s reliability score was just 1% higher than the lowest reliability score, which went to the VW Tiguan. 

There were multiple reasons why the 2019 Cherokee had such a low reliability score. The main cause, however, was due to a long history of transmission issues that had plagued the Cherokee since its 2014 model year. The severity of these issues ranged from minor to severe. Additionally, the Cherokee’s been the subject of multiple recalls, and they’ve hurt its reliability rating too.

On top of that, the Cherokee’s also had a history of issues relating to its body integrity as well as its power equipment and in-car electronics, according to Consumer Reports. While Jeep has made improvements to the reliability of these areas, that doesn’t help the reliability score as those problems may pop up again. 

Furthermore, as the 2019 model year showed, that’s exactly what’s happened with the Cherokee’s in-car electronics. The 2018 model year showed improvements in the reliability of this area, but in the 2019 model year, both Consumer Reports and owners of the Cherokee reported massive issues with the Cherokee’s in-car electronic systems. As a result, owners of the 2019 Cherokee gave its in-car electronics a 1 out of 5 rating for reliability.

What J.D. Power and Associates has to say

For reliability, J.D. Power and Associates gave the 2019 Cherokee a 75 out of 100 for reliability. When that score is turned into the star system though, the 2019 Cherokee only gets a 3 out of 5 stars for reliability. U.S. News, which uses J.D. Power and Associates for its reliability studies, says that the 3 out of 5 star rating is simply about average.

What RepairPal has to say

Overall, RepairPal is more positive about the 2019 Cherokee. RepairPal gave the 2019 Cherokee 4 out of 5 stars for reliability. This makes it the 9th most reliable SUV in its segment.

This high reliability grade is mostly due to two reasons. First, RepairPal estimated the average annual repair and maintenance cost of the 2019 Cherokee, and it was below the average cost of other cars. RepairPal says that the average owner of the 2019 Cherokee will have to pay about $521 a year for repairs and maintenance, and that’s lower than the $652 average cost. 

Secondly, RepairPal says that the average owner of the 2019 Cherokee won’t have to bring their SUV into the shop as often as the average owner of another compact SUV or car will have to. RepairPal said that the owner of the average car had to bring their car to a shop about 0.4 times a year on average, while for the 2019 Cherokee, it was just 0.19 times a year on average.

That said, RepairPal said that the chance that the 2019 Cherokee will need severe repairs is about the same as the average car. Overall, these factors helped make the 2019 Cherokee one of the most reliable SUVs in RepairPal’s eyes.