- Big Body, Smallish Interior
- Inconvenienced Convenience Features
- Controls Only for the Familiar
- Dial D for Drive, But Don’t Be in a Hurry
- That Said… It’s Pretty Nice Inside
jeep grand-cherokee-l Full Overview
The 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L is the first-ever three-row Grand Cherokee, and like its equally new two-row counterpart, it blends sharp good looks with a vastly upgraded interior. So, how does it measure up as a bigger, more-seat-ier Grand Cherokee? While the cabin presents well at first glance, there are some issues with its roominess and the way Jeep designed some of the switchgear. Let us explain.
Big Body, Smallish Interior
For a vehicle that looks so large on the outside, the Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited isn’t as spacious as some of its competitors. The driver’s seating position, even at its lowest setting and not stretching out the arms of a 6-foot-plus person, is solid, but the way Jeep angles the pedals nearly vertically leaves the driver’s foot feeling like it needs to be bent backwards to manipulate the throttle. That’s not very comfortable, and it’s a shame given how supportive and comfortable the seats feel . Anyone taller than 6 feet who sits in the second row will have as much knee room as one does on a cheap airliner—meaning not much. If someone equally tall is seated in front of you, kiss your knee room goodbye. Foot room under the front seats is great, while headroom in the second row is also decent.
How about the third-row seating? Yeah, forget it for anyone taller than 5 feet. The room in the L’s third row is clearly geared toward children. With those seats in use, the storage area behind them isn’t horrible like it can be in some three-row vehicles; obviously, folding the rear seats expands the cargo hold nicely.
The power liftgate controls are another bugaboo of the way-back space. When you need to close the liftgate, you’ll find the control isn’t placed as conveniently as it is on other SUVs. Instead of placing the button on the liftgate itself, close to the grab handle. Jeep installs the button on the left side of the cargo opening, by the quarter panel. If you had groceries or just some tall bags on that side of the trunk, you could easily cover up the button. One upside to this arrangement, once you get used to looking for the button there, is that it’s an easier reach for smaller users than it would be if it were on the end of a long, open liftgate.
Inconvenienced Convenience Features
A few of the Grand Cherokee L’s other conveniences aren’t very convenient to use, either. For starters, the button layout on the steering wheel puts the innermost buttons very far from the steering wheel rim. Even for those with slightly larger mitts, it’s a struggle for your thumbs to reach them without repositioning your hands while driving. The stalks also barely reach the tips of your fingers if you’re holding the steering wheel normally at a 9 and 3 position.
There are also two cruise control buttons, one for the regular, old-fashioned cruise control that stays at a fixed speed, and another for the adaptive, radar-monitored version that can slow and speed the car to maintain a set velocity. On one hand, it’s nice that both buttons are presented rather than using one button and requiring the driver to press and hold it to switch between fixed and adaptive settings; on the other hand, the two buttons look virtually the same. (Hint: The adaptive control is the one between the follow distance adjustments.) It’s also easy to accidentally disable the radar cruise system, as there isn’t any tactile difference between that button and the surrounding ones for adjusting the gap distance.
While the placement of the lane keep, auto stop-start, parking, and other features along the top of the dashboard above the touchscreen initially comes off as a good idea, they are hard to read as they nearly blend into the surrounding trim. Light shining directly on the top of the dashboard reflects off these buttons, too, making them even harder to read.
Controls Only for the Familiar
Both the instrument cluster and the infotainment screens also suffer from some usability issues, so we suggest consulting the owner’s manual for a full rundown on their capabilities and how to use them. One standout? It is wholly not obvious how one changes settings on the digital driver’s display, and even swapping from a digital speedometer layout to an analog-mimicking layout isn’t easy to figure out without paying absolute attention to the dashboard. (One must press a button on the left steering wheel spoke that calls up alternative menu items, then you must scroll between them. In short, it’s not easy to do while stationary, let alone when driving.)
Even the climate control buttons aren’t terribly intuitive, as it takes a moment to realize the fan speed rocker switch is in between the heating and cooling switches for the driver and passenger sides, and all of those are stuffed between two round knobs that are actually audio controls (volume on the left, tuning on the right). Worse, this mixture of HVAC and audio controls lives on a dark panel that’s set low on the center stack in the touchscreen’s shadow. There is a learning curve, to say the least.
As for that touchscreen, we wish the speed limit indicator were larger and easier to spot in the navigation map, and if you plan on towing and wouldn’t mind seeing some auxiliary gauges like your transmission temperature, they’re buried in the “off-road menu.” That wording isn’t exactly what comes to mind when you’re looking for that kind of towing-related info. Otherwise, the display’s latest Uconnect software is as intuitive as previous versions, all of which were among the most straightforward of their ilk.
Dial D for Drive, But Don’t Be in a Hurry
One safety-related issue we take with the Jeep is the use of a dial without a clear enough lockout for reverse. It’s far too easy to turn all the way to park or reverse by accident when noodling around at low speeds during, say, during a parking maneuver, so long as your foot is on the brake (as it likely will be if you’re parking). The notches are just subtle enough that you don’t realize you’ve gone too far—or not far enough—until it’s too late. There were times during the photoshoot for this Grand Cherokee L when we weren’t sure whether we had set it in park until we didn’t feel the Jeep moving. That’s not confidence inspiring; there needs to be either better defined notching or a stricter lockout that requires the vehicle be completely stopped, not just the brake pressed, to access reverse, along with some sort of audible alert when you put it in reverse.
That Said… It’s Pretty Nice Inside
Other than those user experience issues, most of the materials inside the Jeep’s interior are nice. Plastic parts don’t feel like plastic, and the leather looks and feels great to the touch. What doesn’t feel as nice is the fake wood trim, which feels like smooth, cheap plastic despite looking like it has a nice texture. The leather-wrapped steering wheel, while a bit bulky, still feels right in your hands and the proper three-and-nine position is easy to hold, but any hand position feels comfortable if you don’t need to reach for any of the steering wheel controls. The seats keep you from sliding around during hard driving despite, you know, this not being a sports car.
While the Jeep is satisfying to drive and great looking inside and out, we wish some of its features were easier to use and that its control layout prioritized quick manipulation over style.
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Keyword: 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Interior Review: Luxurious, Not Quite User-Friendly