2021 Jeep Cherokee Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Our opinion of the Cherokee's styling has definitely mellowed since it debuted. We’re still not sold on the very short grille opening and the swept-back headlights, but after seeing them in the flesh for seven years, the Cherokee looks better proportioned than it did when it first arrived.

Of course, its exterior has a lot to do with what trim level you choose. An entry-level Latitude with 17-inch wheels and front-wheel drive (FWD) is going to look like any one of the vehicles you could choose out of the Hertz lot. An 80th Anniversary Edition with 19-inch Granite Crystal wheels is going to look a whole lot nicer, with its painted lower body cladding instead of the cheap-looking black.

Jeep seems to consistently get more out of a roof than any other manufacturer. In the Wrangler, you have no less than three tops to choose from. The Renegade has a sliding top, plus a top with removable panels that we love. The Cherokee, meanwhile, has an optional panoramic sunroof that takes up the whole top surface.

The best thing we can say for the looks is that you won’t lose the Cherokee in a parking lot. In a tsunami of crossover SUVs, the Cherokee definite stands out and bears a striking resemblance to the larger Jeep Grand Cherokee, at least from the front.

You’re offered three engines with the Cherokee, depending which trim level you choose. The Latitude and Latitude Plus are equipped with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine making 180 horsepower.

The next up the ladder is the 3.2-liter V-6, which dramatically improves output to 271 hp. The top-shelf engine is the 2.0-liter GMET4 turbocharged four-cylinder. The turbo-four turns out 270 hp (just 1 hp less than the V-6), but develops 295 pound-feet of torque to the V-6’s 239 lb-ft (between 3,000 rpm and 4,500 rpm). That engine is optional on both the new-for-2021 Latitude Lux trim level and the Jeep Cherokee Limited.

None of these engines will offer outstanding acceleration, though. In testing with various publications, a mechanically similar 2019 Cherokee did zero to 60 mph in about 7.2 seconds with the V6 engine and about 7.4 seconds with the turbo-four. Those are okay numbers, but if you’re looking to have your hair parted every time you step on the gas, this is not the vehicle for you.

All Cherokee models are equipped with a nine-speed automatic transmission from ZF. Despite some early production issues, the nine-speed has proved itself to be a capable, fuel saving transmission with better behavior than the dreadful continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) used by most of the competition.

What about off-road capability? This is a Jeep, after all. If that's what you're looking for, The Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk model can be surprisingly adept. When the Trailhawk first came out, we were surprised to see some on the trails and shocked at how well they performed. That's thanks to features like Jeep Active Drive Lock, which provides a 56:1 crawling ratio, and a Selec-Speed Crawl Control, which helps to maintain a speed so you can focus on steering around obstacles when climbing up and down steep inclines.

What’s very important to note is that unlike the Wrangler, the Cherokee is available in FWD, in order to provide Jeep with a compelling price story, and also keep the price down for rental fleets. We can’t imagine a whole lot of FWD Cherokees get sold every year, but if you’re looking at one where the price seems too good to be true, check out the VIN and see what driveline it was equipped with.

The Cherokee fills a space in the Jeep lineup between the smaller Renegade and the larger Grand Cherokee. That also puts it in the same class as compact crossovers like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4.

Stacking up against other vehicles in the same class, the Cherokee misses the mark when it comes to utility. At 26 cubic feet with the rear seats up, and 55 cubic feet with the second-row seats folded, cargo space is at the bottom among compact SUVs. The Jeep has much less than the Mazda CX-5, Ford Escape, and Kia Sportage in both dimensions—and those vehicles aren’t terribly generous in terms of luggage space.

The Cherokee offers about 102 cubic feet of passenger volume, which is slightly smaller than the Escape, and slightly larger than the Sportage. So it's competitive in that metric, at least.

The Cherokee also some advantage in its interior layout. There’s nothing earth-shattering here, just a very simple, businesslike interior that isn’t trying to be something it’s not. The cabin doesn't strive to be luxurious, or a monument to technology. But you’ll find that the Cherokee passenger cabin is cleanly designed and absent of anything that’s going to keep your attention from the road ahead.

As we mentioned with the exterior, your satisfaction with the interior is likely going to be directly proportional to what trim level you chose. The Latitude is a monument to rubberized black plastic. The Trailhawk is much more upscale, with suede seat inserts and contrasting stitching. The Latitude Lux has perforated Nappa leather upholstery for an upscale, sporty appearance.

The Stellantis brands have—in our opinion, anyway—the best infotainment system and climate control interfaces in the industry, full stop. While rival brands make you open and close two menus just to turn the heated seats on and off (we're looking at you Subaru), the Jeep Cherokee makes them available no matter what screen you’re on. Heat and air conditioning controls are via up/down buttons and a rotary knob. Easy.

The Uconnect infotainment system is available with two screen sizes: a 7-inch touchscreen on the Latitude, Latitude Plus and Latitude LUX trims, and an 8.4-inch touchscreen on the Limited and Trailhawk. Both are well thought out, and don’t have a lot of latency issues in our experience.

The Cherokee offers both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto support—wired, though, not wireless just yet. And the Cherokee provides a 4G WiFi hotspot, and integration with Amazon Alexa. The Cherokee can be equipped with remote start, too, which surprisingly isn't offered by every manufacturer. It's a nice feature whether you live in a cold or a warm climate.

If you’ve been in one Uconnect equipped vehicle, you’ve pretty much been in them all. There’s not much variety between the one offered in the Cherokee and the one offered in the highest Ram 1500 trim. That’s a real win for the Cherokee buyer.

If Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crash test and safety ratings are your number one concern, look elsewhere. The Cherokee did not earn a Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS.

The Cherokee did earn top “Good” scores in every crashworthiness category and a G+ score ease of use of the LATCH child seat anchors. The only area where the Cherokee fell down a bit is in the headlight category. The upper trims received an “Acceptable” rating, but the rest received a “Marginal" rating, for what the agency said were inadequate right side low beam, and inadequate left side high beam lights.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) gave the 2021 Cherokee a four-star overall safety rating, with a slight demerit for front driver side crash protection.

The Cherokee does offer a lot of advanced safety features as standard equipment. Lane departure warning with lane keep assist, full-speed forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, rear cross-traffic alert and blind spot monitoring are all standard on every trim level.

However, adaptive cruise control with stop and go—one of our favorite, most useful pieces of advanced safety equipment—is only available on the Limited and Trailhawk trim levels. And it's part of an option package on the Trailhawk.

The Cherokee boasts EPA-rated fuel economy of up to 31 mpg highway, but only on models with FWD, and the optional 2.0-liter turbo engine. The all-wheel drive (AWD) Cherokee with the base 2.4-liter normally aspirated four cylinder engine provides 29 mpg highway, 21 mpg city, and 24 mpg combined.

Ratings for AWD models with the V6 are pretty grim, at 21 mpg combined if you select the Active Drive II full-time system. City mileage is 18 mpg, which you could get pretty close to with a full-size Ford F-150 pickup truck.

MSRP is about what you’d expect in this class. The entry level Latitude is $28,135 with FWD, but we expect most buyers to go for the AWD version, which starts at $29,635. That $1,500 upcharge for AWD is going to be exactly what you’ll spend to get AWD on a Ford Escape. The Subaru Forester starts at around $3,000 less than the base Cherokee, and comes standard with AWD. Meanwhile, the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 outdo The Cherokee on safety, earning IIHS Top Safety Pick+ratings.

For fans who were hoping for the second coming of the XJ Cherokee, that never happened. For those new car buyers looking for a decent all-around family hauler with a little more panache than the average crossover, the Jeep Cherokee fits the bill. But at this price point, there’s a lot of interesting competition to explore before finalizing a decision.