Help chose! Do-it-all vs separate off roader (LR Discovery vs Volvo XC90)

[Rahimdad]

@Shadab Khan I have no problem is sharing as that is what @Carnity is all about, sharing real life experiences. The second time I bought a Jeep Commander it was not under warranty and I was lied to that it was a GCC spec. Turned out to be a n American Spec and after only 3 days of driving the Check Engine light came on due to a common problem with the Catback exhaust for American spec which is very expensive to change. Within a year the gear had started to give issues and with all the expenses I had to sell it loosing a big amount as I cannot lie to sell my car. The person who bought the car from me bought it really cheap as I had already pointed out all the problem to him. I still had no issue with the 5.7 Hemi engine, as per my research the hemi has been there for over a century and developed and tuned over time as they used to race with these engines and use the data to maximize the enginbe potential in a safe way. Since the warranty for the vehicle is expiring, I would recommend to check with Trading Enterprise if they can extend the warranty for 2 years more, total of upto 7 years in warranty is permissible for GCC models. It is not that cheap to maintain and you will really appreciate the tonnes of money you can save by extending the Agency Warranty as I did on my first Jeep Commander.

[Brette]

@Shadab Khan I have a 2017 JGC, bought it new and love everything about it. I have always had a soft spot for Jeeps so when looking for a car, I looked for something that I can use on and off road. 

I drive about 3k km a month and enjoy every minute of it. Not sure about the older JGC but the 2017 has everything I could want. 

I am not a fan of of the computers and gizmos, never used cruise control, hill descent or any of the other driver assist features as it takes away the joy of driving. If at anytime I need it, it's there. 

Coming to the off road capabilities, I'd say it is a very capable off roader although there will be some who think otherwise. The problem that I had initially was fright, as at the back of my head I always feared flying over a dune or nose diving in a 200k+ car. Once you get over that fear and start pushing, you realize that it can hold its own out there. 

The electronics in the JGC are another issue when it comes to off road. All the safety features the car has like the ABS, ESC  and brake assist are for the tarmac and  literally hold you back in the desert as there is no way to completely switch it of on the factory set up. If you decide to use the car full time for offroading, you can install a kill switch and in the desert you can then turn off all these features completely. I have just got this done on my JGC and have only done 1 drive after that but it made a huge difference.  

Coming to the engine specs, I would not suggest the V8. In all honesty, you will barely get to use all that power on the tarmac and it will be a nightmare in sand.  The 3.6 is more than enough in my opinion. The air suspensions on the higher versions are also very problematic as they lift and go down at all the wrong time in the desert as that again is controlled by the computers and if you pull the fuse, it sits at its lowest level and is no good in the sand. 

To sum it up, if you are keen on a JGC that you can use on the dunes, go for the laredo or limited. Spend about 5k on good off-road tires, a 2 inch levelling kit and wheel spacers to balance the COG and you should be good to go. 

 

 

[sertac]

@Brette i couldn't understand why a V8 will be a nightmare in the desert? Isn't the power ratio the key for a successful off road vehicle?

[Shadab Khan]

29 minutes ago, Rahimdad said:

@Shadab KhanSince the warranty for the vehicle is expiring, I would recommend to check with Trading Enterprise if they can extend the warranty for 2 years more, total of upto 7 years in warranty is permissible for GCC models. It is not that cheap to maintain and you will really appreciate the tonnes of money you can save by extending the Agency Warranty as I did on my first Jeep Commander.

Terrific advice @Rahimdad! I will call al futtaim about the warranty.

18 minutes ago, Brette said:

@Shadab Khan I have a 2017 JGC, bought it new and love everything about it. I have always had a soft spot for Jeeps so when looking for a car, I looked for something that I can use on and off road. 

I drive about 3k km a month and enjoy every minute of it. Not sure about the older JGC but the 2017 has everything I could want. 

I am not a fan of of the computers and gizmos, never used cruise control, hill descent or any of the other driver assist features as it takes away the joy of driving. If at anytime I need it, it's there. 

Coming to the off road capabilities, I'd say it is a very capable off roader although there will be some who think otherwise. The problem that I had initially was fright, as at the back of my head I always feared flying over a dune or nose diving in a 200k+ car. Once you get over that fear and start pushing, you realize that it can hold its own out there. 

The electronics in the JGC are another issue when it comes to off road. All the safety features the car has like the ABS, ESC  and brake assist are for the tarmac and  literally hold you back in the desert as there is no way to completely switch it of on the factory set up. If you decide to use the car full time for offroading, you can install a kill switch and in the desert you can then turn off all these features completely. I have just got this done on my JGC and have only done 1 drive after that but it made a huge difference.  

Coming to the engine specs, I would not suggest the V8. In all honesty, you will barely get to use all that power on the tarmac and it will be a nightmare in sand.  The 3.6 is more than enough in my opinion. The air suspensions on the higher versions are also very problematic as they lift and go down at all the wrong time in the desert as that again is controlled by the computers and if you pull the fuse, it sits at its lowest level and is no good in the sand. 

To sum it up, if you are keen on a JGC that you can use on the dunes, go for the laredo or limited. Spend about 5k on good off-road tires, a 2 inch levelling kit and wheel spacers to balance the COG and you should be good to go. 

 

 

Hi @Brette, thanks for the response. I have the same question as sertac about your reservations against V8. Do you think it is an overkill or actually bad? I don't plan to do proper dune bashing (my reference is the tourist trips just fyi ). 

If I do end up with this particular model, I will make sure to add good off road tires and will look at options for leveling kit and wheel spacers as you suggested. Thanks a lot!

 

[Brette]

2 minutes ago, sertac said:

@Brette i couldn't understand why a V8 will be a nightmare in the desert? Isn't the power ratio the key for a successful off road vehicle?

@sertac  yes power is need but in moderation atleast for the desert. The momentum you build is better than all the power the vehicle has to offer. 

The V8 is  just too much of power that is not required in the desert. It's probably good on rock climbs but on sand, you hardly touch the accelerator and if you don't have momentum going for you it just bogs you down. 

Although Jeep puts these V8 engines on the higher variants, they don't really want you to take those cars off-road, they are more for tracks. With even today's JGC, it's only the 3.6 variants that  come with tow points and are a lot less problematic on sand. I drive with a JGC group sometimes and most of the issues we have there are the V8's whose drivers think that all that power on tap will get them through. But like anything else, if you learn to use it the right way, it's nice to have all that extra power for the 1 off case that you may need it. 

[Shadab Khan]

39 minutes ago, Chaitanya D said:

In my humble opinion it is still a lot of money for a 2nd car. Please bear in mind the additional expenses to get it serviced, replacing bushes/plates/filters .If you are not happy and just in case want to resell it, then keep in mind the depreciation again after all the expenses. Choose one which doesn't bite you too much 😜

 

Wise words @Chaitanya D! Although I am fine spending up to 100K in buying + fixing a used car assuming I can use it for the next 7 years (that's the plan at least!). I have been bitten too many times in buying very old used cars so for now I'd rather avoid the trouble  

I am now trying to find if I can extend warranty on a used car I am looking at that meets all requirements, but is nearing end of its warranty period.

[sertac]

2 minutes ago, Brette said:

@sertac  yes power is need but in moderation atleast for the desert. The momentum you build is better than all the power the vehicle has to offer. 

The V8 is  just too much of power that is not required in the desert. It's probably good on rock climbs but on sand, you hardly touch the accelerator and if you don't have momentum going for you it just bogs you down. 

Although Jeep puts these V8 engines on the higher variants, they don't really want you to take those cars off-road, they are more for tracks. With even today's JGC, it's only the 3.6 variants that  come with tow points and are a lot less problematic on sand. I drive with a JGC group sometimes and most of the issues we have there are the V8's whose drivers think that all that power on tap will get them through. But like anything else, if you learn to use it the right way, it's nice to have all that extra power for the 1 off case that you may need it. 

So as i see actually there is no down point of having V8 over a V6 as an engine. V6 is enough i agree, i am also having my WJ as 6 cylinder and my old Cherokee was also 6 cylinder.

What makes me bothered in my off road experience is when i am at Faya or pink rock watching all those V8s are reaching top flying, yes mine also reaching top of the Faya but barely. 

If i was preparing a WK2 for off roading i would go for an early model 2011-2013 it has proper tow points, easily removable bottom plastic parts on bumpers and prices came down to a very logical point. 

[Rahimdad]

@Brette I highly regard your opinion on the new JGC and am sure that you will not require the V8 power all the time as the 3.6 Pentastar seems to be the king right now. But I disagree that you need power to off-road in the rocks as there torque, grip, suspension travel and a proper roll cage is the need, You would not step hard on an accelerator in in the rocks, you would sue the torque of the vehicle to take it one step at a time. However in my experience the sand requires both torque and power, as @sertac nicely put it, on long climbs you need power after a certain level to keep going all the way to the top. I remember with my Hemi I used to make it to the top of Faya from the front face with the accelerator in 70%, now with my V6 I can be standing on the accelerator and my car will just manage 70% of Faya. Lack of power has allowed me to experiment and still rech the top from my cheat routes, however if I have that V8 power I would feel a sense of achievement to get on top from the front face.

That said, I will leave it to the person in question to decide if he wants to show-off every time or find cheat routes like me, in the end we are always on top, to me it does not matter how you reach there.

[Brette]

10 minutes ago, sertac said:

So as i see actually there is no down point of having V8 over a V6 as an engine. V6 is enough i agree, i am also having my WJ as 6 cylinder and my old Cherokee was also 6 cylinder.

What makes me bothered in my off road experience is when i am at Faya or pink rock watching all those V8s are reaching top flying, yes mine also reaching top of the Faya but barely. 

If i was preparing a WK2 for off roading i would go for an early model 2011-2013 it has proper tow points, easily removable bottom plastic parts on bumpers and prices came down to a very logical point. 

Agreed, if that's what you want to do in terms of just zipping up and down a dune, then yes a V8 would help as it has a crazy amount of power. My response was based on the requirement posted by @Shadab Khan.  Then again if you look at some of our seniors in this group, they do the same without the V8.  What each one does with their car, be it V6 or V8, a lot depends on the driver. 

 

 

6 minutes ago, Rahimdad said:

@Brette I highly regard your opinion on the new JGC and am sure that you will not require the V8 power all the time as the 3.6 Pentastar seems to be the king right now. But I disagree that you need power to off-road in the rocks as there torque, grip, suspension travel and a proper roll cage is the need, You would not step hard on an accelerator in in the rocks, you would sue the torque of the vehicle to take it one step at a time. However in my experience the sand requires both torque and power, as @sertac nicely put it, on long climbs you need power after a certain level to keep going all the way to the top. I remember with my Hemi I used to make it to the top of Faya from the front face with the accelerator in 70%, now with my V6 I can be standing on the accelerator and my car will just manage 70% of Faya. Lack of power has allowed me to experiment and still rech the top from my cheat routes, however if I have that V8 power I would feel a sense of achievement to get on top from the front face.

That said, I will leave it to the person in question to decide if he wants to show-off every time or find cheat routes like me, in the end we are always on top, to me it does not matter how you reach there.

Agree with what you said @Rahimdad about the torque. I used the wrong word there. Should have said torque in stead of power for the rock climbs. 

[sertac]

2 minutes ago, Brette said:

Agreed, if that's what you want to do in terms of just zipping up and down a dune, then yes a V8 would help as it has a crazy amount of power. My response was based on the requirement posted by @Shadab Khan.  Then again if you look at some of our seniors in this group, they do the same without the V8.  What each one does with their car, be it V6 or V8, a lot depends on the driver. 

 

 

I have been with this group at pink rock, faya and big red countless time. I never seen any of the 6 cylinder car we have touched to top of the pink rock. Best one is Gaurav`s Pajero even that one is not as good as a Hemi or 6.2 Raptor. It is not logical. We are talking about at least %60 in some cases up to %100 more power. Not everyone is beginner driving those V8 like the samples in Grand Cherokee group you have.