for 2019, jeep has updated the cherokee suv significantly for the first time since it returned to the market in 2014. some of the changes are pretty obvious, some less so. i'll give you the highlights of what is, overall, a very strong model, but with a shortcoming that might be a deal-breaker depending on what you can tolerate and what you're willing to spend.
the most noticeable change is the front-end redesign — among other things, the cascading waterfall grille. originally, the hood was more sharply creased and the grille would start on the horizontal, then flow over like water; now, it's contained down low, more like other jeeps.
but the biggest change is that the daytime running lights and headlights are now reoriented. when it came out in 2014, the cherokee was and remained the only jeep that separated the daytime running light up top and the headlight down near the middle of the front end behind a frosted lens — so during the daytime, you might not even know that was a headlight. this was a polarizing design, and not polarizing like automakers call their ugly stuff polarizing — some people really did like it, thus the poles. i liked it the way it was and thought it made the cherokee unique; that was good. but jeep has decided to go a little bit more like all of the other jeeps in the lineup, bringing the headlight up to meet the daytime running light for a more conventional look.
i'm not sure it was a great move, not just because i liked it the way it was, but because it almost seems like jeep fixed it. i see a big slab of bumper that looks like something else used to be there and then they changed it. maybe it's just me.
... or is it? watch the video above and decide, as well as to get the rest of my review and driving impressions of the 2019 jeep cherokee (along with that potential deal-breaker you'll wanna know about).
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