
From the back, the Cherokee may as well be a Santa Fe or a CR-V, with its completely innocuous shape.


The wan look splits the headlights into two units, while the grille mutes the effect of the Cherokee's traditional seven-bar grille. Less bluff and blunt than the Liberty it replaced, the Cherokee has a distinct crossover feel in its shape, capped by a front end that's intent on decontenting the Jeep-ness of it all. Since it was new in 2014, the latest Cherokee has marked a clean break from Jeep's past. But it's just average on pavement, and while it's spacious enough, it's lacking in crash-test scores. It's one of the newest Jeeps in the lineup, and does an excellent job holding up the brand's reputation for off-road ability. The Jeep Cherokee is offered in four trim levels: Sport, Latitude, Limited, and Trailhawk.

It's a thoroughly modern family wagon, recast from its hardcore sport-utility roots into something much broader, more capable in all sorts of conditions. The name is one of the oldest applied to a modern-day SUV, but the 2017 Jeep Cherokee is no Conestoga wagon.
