Time to say goodbye to my X3 ?

Again OT but -- I was not really worried about the diesel itself in the Cruze -- but the add on urea system that is US market specific -- although I have heard that everyone else will have to get it soon as well. Problems with that system have been a source of some concern in the X5 diesel community here, although now that seems to have died down a bit.
I believe the diesel JGC will be a real winner and a great "bargain" to boot. However I don't see any "wiggle room" on price until at least the first year has passed and enough are built to satisfy the early demands. During that period I would expect to see the dreaded "ADP" sticker alongside the MSRP info.

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

Getting slightly off topic here, but the Grand Cherokee is great value and there's usually incentives (albeit not at initial release of the diesel) and wiggle room on the price. I drove an Overland V8 version in Sept and for $46k sticker, you're getting Active Cruise, High Beam assistant, sat nav, and tons of other nice toys that would cost thousands extra in a comparable ML or X5. Of course, it does depend on everyone's needs, but personally I drive a lot of hwy miles in rural areas and frequently wish I had ACC and High Beam Assistant on my X3 (actually, I wish I had more power too).

Not sure which diesel the Cruze will use, but there's been diesel Cruze powertrains in Europe since inception, so it may not necessarily be a "first year" drivetrain here in the US. I know it's likely my favourite compact car in the US; the Focus has a hatch model but the interior is awful and the manual gearbox only has 5 speeds. The Cruze 6MT is one of the easiest to drive, ever, and the interior is pretty logical (to me).

I had a Cruze as a rental car last week (not a diesel). It was the best Chevy product I've driven in a long time.

Originally Posted by WJGreer

I had a Cruze as a rental car last week (not a diesel). It was the best Chevy product I've driven in a long time.

Of course, that's because it was designed by the Daewoo division and engineered largely by Opel. Americans can't build small cars in the same way Germans can't do fine wine.

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

Of course, that's because it was designed by the Daewoo division and engineered largely by Opel. Americans can't build small cars in the same way Germans can't do fine wine.

No argument.

I've driven several Grand Cherokees, too. IMO, anyone considering an X5 should cross shop one. The appeal is a little different, sure, and a lot of people will stick with the X5. But what most people need to get out of their SUV, the Jeep delivers handily at a $15,000 to $20,000 discount.

I was interested in the Jeep Cherokee until I saw this....



Pretty scary

Originally Posted by mlukas161

I was interested in the Jeep Cherokee until I saw this....



Pretty scary

I had to do a very similar maneuver in my X3 one night coming home from Jacksonville. I was headed south on a two lane road with a car coming in the northbound lane when a car came all the way into my lane from a road on the right and stopped. I had no time to brake so all I could do is swerve left around him and back into my lane before I and the the north bound car crashed head on. My X3 handled it beautifully.

Wow! Good stuff -- I like the way the T-egg and the XC90 handled that. Much better than the Jeep! Thanks -- Jeep had better get their act together or they are SOOL!

I'm keeping an eye on my wallet, but 2005 X3 with 165,000 miles on original struts and control arms.

Mostly maintenance costs (brakes, oil changes, filters etc)

Did have a gasket seal replaced due to leaking oil and learned the hard way about mechanical tensioners, cracked expansion tanks, water pumps, etc.

Overall, I can't complain overly much really. I'll push this to 200,000 miles easy with the rate this is going.

Actually, I did come across that when researching the Grand Cherokee. However, my biggest concern was the crash test results- it only had a 4 Star rating under the Euro NCAP tests and they noted that one of the seat rails nearly snapped from the force of the collision. Still, like I said.........driven under normal circumstances, it's just fine. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, accident avoidance isn't a huge thing in SC because there's no room to "avoid" something. The interstates are so poorly designed, so if you swerve, you're either going to crash into the concrete barrier (only 6' left shoulder in urban areas, which is nothing when you're travelling 75mph), or you're gonna plow into a tree (once again, no shoulder or run-off room). Low-profile tires found in European cars are problematic because of how much crap is left strewn all over the turn and travel lanes- you'll be getting a lot of punctures. And given that the pavement is so bad that grass shows between the cracks, a plush ride is preferred. Hell, there's shrubbery growing on the left shoulder on I-85 between Spartanburg and Greenville.

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

Getting slightly off topic here, but the Grand Cherokee is great value and there's usually incentives (albeit not at initial release of the diesel) and wiggle room on the price. I drove an Overland V8 version in Sept and for $46k sticker, you're getting Active Cruise, High Beam assistant, sat nav, and tons of other nice toys that would cost thousands extra in a comparable ML or X5. Of course, it does depend on everyone's needs, but personally I drive a lot of hwy miles in rural areas and frequently wish I had ACC and High Beam Assistant on my X3 (actually, I wish I had more power too).

Not sure which diesel the Cruze will use, but there's been diesel Cruze powertrains in Europe since inception, so it may not necessarily be a "first year" drivetrain here in the US. I know it's likely my favourite compact car in the US; the Focus has a hatch model but the interior is awful and the manual gearbox only has 5 speeds. The Cruze 6MT is one of the easiest to drive, ever, and the interior is pretty logical (to me).

Sorry Azn, but you couldnt pay me to buy another JGC. Especially a first year run, no matter what power plant they use. I owned a JGC 2005 for all of about 9 months before dumping it at a loss (then jumped out of the pan into the fire with the AT 07 X3, Lol).

I am sure that after that POS (05 JGC) they have taken some major strides to make changes, but no more first year runs for me. It had no power at all and guzzled gas 12mpg average. So no benefits whatsoever. Shoot even the fabric stained from a simple summer shower. My old 2000 JC was a tank.

Also the video....that is about how my 05 GJC handled. I almost rolled it one night while following my brother at posted speeds around a turn (35 mph). Traded it in 10 days later.

Anyone else notice a correlation of JEEP ==> BMW Owners?