The Jeep Cherokee is a type of SUV known for being good at driving off-road and being practical for everyday use. It has been around for a long time and has changed a lot over the years.
A CVT transmission is a special kind of automatic transmission that doesn't have fixed gears like regular ones. It helps the car accelerate smoothly and can save on gas.
A turbocharged engine has a special device that helps it produce more power by pushing extra air into the engine. This makes the car go faster without needing a bigger engine.
Stellantis is a big car company that owns several car brands, including Jeep. It was created when two companies, Fiat Chrysler and PSA Group, combined.
The Jeep Wrangler 4xe is a version of the Wrangler that uses both electricity and gasoline to run, making it more efficient and environmentally friendly.
Toyota is a car brand from Japan that makes many popular and reliable cars. People who drive Toyotas often continue to buy them because they trust the brand.
Brand loyalty means that people keep buying the same brand of products because they like them and trust them. For example, someone who loves their Toyota may keep buying Toyotas in the future.
Porsche is a luxury car brand from Germany that makes high-performance sports cars. They are known for their speed and sleek design, and many people are loyal to the brand.
The rust belt is an area in the U.S. where many cars can rust easily because of the salt used on roads in winter. This makes it important to check for rust on older cars.
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is a new electric car that looks different from regular cars. It has a lot of technology inside and is designed to be eco-friendly, competing with other electric cars like the Tesla Model 3.
The 2013 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid is a car that uses both gas and electricity to drive, helping it save on fuel. It's a comfortable sedan that's good for people who want to be more environmentally friendly.
Range is how far an electric car can drive before the battery runs out of power. It's important to know so you can plan your trips without running out of battery.
Two-wheel drive means that only two of the car's wheels get power from the engine. This can make the car lighter and more fuel-efficient, but it might not handle as well in bad weather compared to four-wheel drive.
Four-wheel drive means that all four wheels of the car get power from the engine. This helps the car grip the road better, especially in snow or off-road conditions.
A lithium-ion battery is a type of battery that can be recharged and is often used in things like smartphones and electric cars. They are popular because they are light and can store a lot of energy.
Diesel is a type of fuel used in some cars and trucks. Diesel engines are usually more efficient and can run longer on less fuel, but they can be tough to start when it's really cold outside.
Preheating means warming up the car's battery and inside before you start driving. This is especially helpful in winter to make sure the car runs better and goes further on a charge.
The Audi R8 is a fancy sports car known for being very fast and stylish. It's designed for people who love high-performance driving and want a car that stands out.
A V10 engine has ten cylinders arranged in a V shape, which helps it produce a lot of power. It's often used in fast cars to make them go really quickly.
The Mazda MX-5, or Miata, is a small sports car that has two seats and a convertible roof. It's known for being fun to drive and is popular among people who enjoy driving with the top down, especially on nice days.
LIVE
He is Robin Leach. He is Jada Markin. This is Car Keys.
Well, good morning a good day to this edition of Car Keys with Jada Markin and Robin Leach and
We have a number of topics that I think we're going to cover in this
Show you're going to be listening to or you're listening to and the first one
It is a topic that I have quite a bit of interest in because I own
I'm responsible for four Jeep Cherokees
Currently existing in my family
and
They went out of production in the last
iteration of them in
2023-24 and they have now finally
Revealed in the form of a delivery of a new Jeep Cherokee
2026 model year, I believe
Which is I have been to my dealer to see
personally, but not to be able to drive and I think I
had earlier read a
article in Motor Trend magazine who was not particularly
Impressed by the new version of the Cherokee and it's got me thinking
I wasn't going to be impressed by the new version of the Jeep Cherokee
But I will say that visually on the floor on the floor of the
showroom that it was quite a nice looking vehicle both inside and out
It is larger than the current crop of
Cherokees that I am very familiar with
It does not have the same drivetrain. I'm not sure what that's going to do
I think I came away thinking it will probably sell well for those people who want to have a
a Cherokee version of the Jeep lineup and
Probably will never use it off-road, which is where I think the
New Cherokee might not be as
Adaptable to off-roading as what I think the existing my crop of Cherokees is first of all it comes with a lot of
new
technical equipment and
Technology that was not available in the old version
That is probably a good thing and a bad thing depending on who you are and what your knowledge base is and what you like about
The existing Jeep Cherokees versus what you may like about or not like about the new one
The engine and drivetrain is markedly different than the old
Line of Jeep Cherokees in that there is no longer a multi-speed
Transmission at least currently available in the new ones. It is using a CVT transmission, which
Jay will comment more on later on I think which is a basically a
Speed what is it? It's it doesn't have any
Individual speeds at least in the planetary hearing system of the old transitions
Sometimes they can make them feel like they have different hearings in them as Subaru can and theirs
But it also comes with a one engine. It's a turbocharged
four-cylinder
Engine with lower horsepower than the turbocharged
Engines in the past generation
But it's also a hybridized as well and the good news about it is if you look at the sticker
And we'll get to that in a minute the sticker rating for
MPGs on this new Cherokee are between 35 and 39 miles per gallon
depending on the way of the way you it's driven
back to that
comment about
Sticker
Miles for gallon figures, which is on many new cars. It's not all new cars that are produced
That they tells the potential buyer that it's going to get a city rating a
Highway rating and sometimes a combined rating of what you could get
If you were to drive the car in the most economical mode that you could possibly imagine doing
those
Figures alone are often inaccurate in real life use of vehicles because you have
Conditions in which you park vehicles and leave the engines running or you have vehicles that you start up in the morning
remotely from your kitchen window and
Let them run 10 minutes to warm up the interior so you're comfortable when you get in
both
Things which diminish the actual miles per gallon rating that you'll get pertainful fuel if you were to
Be compulsively
Keeping notes about that kind of thing and I'm one of those people. Let me get back to that cheap Cherokee
Right for a second. What in the world would you would make you?
leap over the
Snowbank and want to buy another cheap Cherokee
Versus what well, that's my question. So how does it compare to everything else on the market to me?
It just looks like another bland
Generic
SUV that can be compared to everything else out there
Question it's that question is probably applicable to almost any car that you might have been driving prior to a new version of that car coming out
I am
I am highly
favorable towards my
Edition of the Cherokees. I think they are they have been perfect for me and from the 2014
Which is the first time I ever bought a Jeep to the current
latest model which is the
2020 and I do not have newer versions, but I have four versions in between those two year
Brackets and so I don't drive all four of these are members of my family that drive two of the four and I drive two of the four
So one at a time. I presume I only one at a time. Yes
But I absolutely love the existing the older version of the Jeep Cherokees from a number of factors
I think we know that. Yes, and the new one is maybe we can
The new one is going to be equally acceptable to the
Probably the normal Jeep fire, which I may not be
Who does not much use it much more than liking Jeeps in general
To do their daily driving throughout the life of their car ownership
And I think the new Jeep Turkey is going to be very fine for probably
Maybe 90% of the people who buy them and the 10% that don't like them will be somebody like me that decides
They don't want a CVV transmission because I don't think it's going to be as functionally
Efficient and capable in maybe some off-road conditions that I might
Want to use my Jeep for which I've done with the
How do you see the future of the Jeep brand in the whole
Stellantis line up big mess that I see. I mean, they just they just took a 26 billion dollar
Deduction in the last quarter of 2025 what well on the like a lot of like a few other manufacturers to compensate for
their errors in
judging
A
Electrification yes
I don't see it as a problem
If I think they've changed we I think we mentioned this in a recent show that they are they have eliminated the plug-in hybrid
lineup of all the Jeep models
From the Wrangler Forexie to the grand charity
Versions of those cars which used a combination of plug-in capability battery and transmission and gasoline engines
They're going to stick with hybrid stuff. This new Jeep is a hybrid Jeep. It does not require a plug-in
It's mileage rating on the sticker is
Extraordinarily attractive for people who look at that kind of thing for an SUV type of vehicle
SUVs are not normally I think before the hybrids came out and Toyota is one and Honda is another one
So why would somebody buy a Jeep Cherokee versus a Toyota?
Because they like their previous Jeep if they own them to want to keep stay with Jeep
I don't think anybody who buys a Toyota or is run driving a Toyota is going to necessarily change
To a Jeep for example
So you're just like to change models because they like to drive different cars between their leases or their ownership of past
So you think brand loyalty is still a thing
I think brand loyalty is probably a good thing
for stillness as well as it certainly is in the Hondas and the
Toyotas and the Hyundai's and the Kia's and the Porsches and you know the normal lineup
Yeah, but the Toyota what's the name of the little?
SUV is the best-selling car in the world. So, you know trying to retain the customer base makes a
Lot of sense same thing with the Honda CRV. Those are vehicles that sell in in mass numbers
Cherokee has not sold in mass numbers compared to
These vehicles so now how do you gain new customers? And I don't think that the Jeep
Chair no gain new customers very easily. I would agree with you what you're summarizing and implying by that comment
If you've got an excellent product out there, and you've got users who who recognize that they are driving something of
Considerable level excellence for them and they're satisfied with they're gonna stick with it
But I know people who lease one brand of cars for lease and then they want to go try something else
Just because they want to have something different to drive for the next lease term
I
Think Subaru's are excellent, but I'm bored with Subaru's visually and I haven't a desire
My family owned the Subaru probably 50 years ago when they were little boxcars
much less another big big boxcars, yeah, exactly and
They were very popular because they were then at that time
They were functionally adequate for many many people they last a long time. Well, they rusted out a lot and
You still do that. I don't think the new ones rust out. I don't think I
You know, I'm very impressed with the Jeep so far
I don't have any signs on my 2014 Jeep and we live in a rust belt
For vehicle usage as you know with the salt and then winter weather, but there is no body
degradation of my 2014 Jeep now having a hundred and thirty thousand miles on it and going strong
Conversely to the old Subaru's and the tin boxes that were sometimes they were claimed to be made out of recycled steel
I don't know
But we were digressing from the Jeep comment, but I'm almost through with it. I think the Jeep is gonna sell
I don't think it's gonna sell in record numbers or over the old one
but I think it'll make keep some Jeep loyalists in Jeeps and
Lose some Jeep loyalists and they're gonna lose me because I don't have any interest. No, I haven't driven it yet
It's bigger than my current Jeep and my current Jeep is a perfect size for me
I don't need it, but I do know for an example that one person who had a Jeep Cherokee
Purchased it and found out they couldn't put a wheelchair behind the rear seat and
Because it was too large. They couldn't close the rear
liftgate
When they had a wheelchair
Folded wheelchair in back for somebody who needed to use that the new Jeep is gonna take care of that like people
you know have two pairs sets of golf clubs and a Porsche or a
Front-engine car or electric car and the trunks have diminished in size and some and aren't big enough to hold
You know a set one set or two sets of golf clubs, you know that those are the those are those people are minuscule in numbers
They're not gonna buy a particular vehicle for that kind of thing
But that's the way we all choose vehicles, you know, we have more fabulous vehicles to choose
going forward when we want to change cars or and so
Speaking of that, I was I was you know looking reading about industry news and and where the big three if they still exist are going and how
China is taking over a good chunk of markets everywhere including China now has 10% of the European market, which is
Should be an eye-opener
The locals. Yes. Yeah
Where was I going with us? I'm not sure but you are straight way into
Subjects that we can continue on so continue. Well, I I just
Yeah, I wanted to talk about a car that I actually drove in the last week and you know that yes, you do and it's not a brand-new car
It's been on the market for a few years
and and I always saw it when it came out as the the competitor to
Tesla threes and wise and that is the Ionic five by Hyundai
which
Robin you being a Hyundai
Sam, yeah
Yeah, I'm surprised that you haven't have you even driven one an Ionic five driven one
Okay, they've been out for four. I own a
2013 Hyundai hybrid Sonata, which I plan on keeping
Yeah, we know that
Ionic five for a second. Yeah, this is a fully electric car. There's been around for a while
and
It it I think it has a pretty cool boxy look. It's categorized as an SUV
But it kind of looks like a hatchback to me
And when you sit in the car it has this it has first of all it looks well finished
It looks a little more polished than a than a than a Tesla from the inside
While re while retaining that modern look and big screens in front of you, but the big screens kind of give you
Pretty conventional information and there are still buttons in the car
But the driving experience is just I thought was fabulous
I I did about a little over a hundred miles
round trip on
Secondary roads the car is like all electric cars is fast. It's comfortable. It's quiet
it does everything well and I just thought it was just a great all-around car and they do sell in pretty good numbers and
it is still
Hyundai's
Number one, I think number one selling electric vehicle
range for those
Ionic parts
No, no, no, I think they start in the low 40s
Okay, and and you have you know, you have two-wheel drive versions. So you have four-wheel drive versions
They don't have exceptional range, right?
They I think the maximum range is around
280 miles and if we get stuck with that 300 miles
Range in mind they fall a little bit short
I had an 80% charge, you know a normal everyday 80% charge when I started my journey in the car
And I had like 210 mile range. I think which was plenty to do what I had to do
and
and yeah, it just it just
It's a it's a great all-around car
And I think people who are looking electric cars should still put it on or close to the top of their list
Okay, let's let but anyway enough about the ionic five, okay
Let's let's let's keep on the electric car top. Oh, I know where I was going
I hold on let's talk about it in based on
brutal weather conditions at the northwest corner and has
Just experienced as this show is being done
With the fact that we had temperatures sub zero
recently in the mornings and
Not only did they do the effect electric car ranges, which you can tell it's more about in 30 seconds or so
but they also
affect
quality of quality level of batteries condition level of batteries because I
had a vehicle that failed to start at the minus six
Temperature that should have started easily and failed to start and I attributed to the age of the battery
Which didn't didn't not show that it was going to fail in a minus six condition, which happened very recently
and
required a jump start with
Tables no less as opposed to jump packs, which I have discovered are very
prone to not working because of lithium-ion battery
Power packs that do not apparently work well in cold weather
starting really truly dead or low level of
Non-functioning non-starting functioning batteries. How old was your battery?
The one that failed is in a four-year-old Jeep charity. Hey, there's no battery that came with it
And it just did not start the battery level was at 11.2 volts
Which was below the starting level which I have deemed is got to be 11.8 volts or better
To actually get the engine to crank when you push the start button
So let me tell you something my 11 year old Volkswagen still has its original battery
It's a diesel which we know diesel are hard to start in cold weather indeed and in negative five
weather yesterday morning the car just
Fired right up. Well, there you go. That's that that that shows you quality vehicle
But we're on range on electric cars. Do you have that as a topic to discuss?
Yeah, I mean
I don't know I read through that article. I don't know what to make of it. I don't have an electric car
I know there's a whole thing about preheating
the batteries
But basically
This one test I read through it, you know, the person had gotten in the car
it was like 20 below or 30 below and
They were going on a short drive and it took forever to
Heat up the car
And yes, they lost a lot of range, but you know, like you said, you know, if you get in the in a in a I see
a
Powered car you you you also, you know, you started up and waste a lot of fuel just warming it up. So I
Still don't think it's a whole big issue
Right except for when you get the extreme a sudden a
Stretch of extreme weather which we have just experienced. I don't remember having this kind of weather in many years
That lasted for 48 hours around our listing area. The skiing is good skiing is fine
The brutal wind is was not good on the temperatures
produced weaknesses
in a couple of my battery I see
car batteries
recently that
Let me to talk about
cold weather with batteries
But
Electric cars are known to lose a certain amount of range in cold weather
You say preheating uses up some of the range. I believe cold weather
without preheating also
Afflicts electric batteries
With range degradation
The moment you started up and what may give you 300 miles and 70 degree temperature might give you 250 miles in
Minus six or even less
Knowing that you have to use obviously heat
So
Going back to ski vehicles. What do you look at the cars in the parking lots when you go to ski areas? Lots of SUVs
Everything has racks that can't fit skis inside
My Jeep Cherokee you fold the seat
One half one third or two-thirds of the seat in the back of a Cherokee and you can slide most
Yeah, but okay, so when one's the last time you went skiing with a passenger in the car
Well, one passenger it doesn't matter because one pass doesn't take up doesn't mean you
You can't have two people in the car. What what's the coolest of ski vehicle you've seen in the parking lot
I'll tell you mine in a second. Okay, go ahead because I I don't really have a coolest one
I've seen in the party like that. So at one of our local mountains a few years ago
I saw an Audi R8 and for those people who don't know what an Audi R8 is
it is a
Audi a sports car that is made in in collaboration with Lamborghini. It's a v10
central
All-wheel-drive sports car
Cedar only and it had a roof rack on it and it was driving through the snow and I thought that was the absolute coolest
Ski vehicle that I saw okay
Yeah, although I did drive a couple times when I had in my Miata years ago
I did drive top down to the mountain with my ski sticking out of the car
You were young and reckless in those days
Now we move to a speed cameras and small yes. Yes
Okay, we want you you think old and reckless and then all of a sudden you think of speed cameras
You think of me and okay. Okay. Well, let's let's give our listeners in the northwest corner a bit of talk about this
What the small some of the small towns have been doing sometimes behind outside of my knowledge base
But I've just read the article
That you sent me about in the legal journal our small towns and this is really right here in the northwest corner Sharon
Salisbury Falls Village Canaan Cornwall
Well, I've been doing studies of whether or not we need to put small speed cameras on our roads to offset the lack of
Human
people in cars
Patrolling our roads to try to keep speed and check where it's out of control
If you want to call over 10 miles an hour over the closest speed limits out of control, which I do not
We have seen that some areas in the country have put speed cameras up as
Revenue increases
And just to try to slow traffic. We have a small village in the Massachusetts
Agri-Mott
Which does not need speed cameras, but they have trained the drivers that when you approach this town from either direction
you assiduously
Drive through those vehicle those towns this town at the post of the posted speed limit
Which I think is 30 miles an hour without any need for even when there's no patrol
no officer sitting in the middle ready to
Regulate you manually if you are exceeding that that speed
But Sharon is particularly noted in this article in our local paper has done a lot of research on it
And they did it on several roads route 41
caucus down road
Williams Road and a few others all of which I am familiar with and my one comment to
the select man Casey Flanagan is that
There's not enough traffic on those roads to warrant putting speed cameras on them
Although allegedly there were 33,000 sighted
No, no not sighted there were 33 the study
Insightable events a month. I don't know how they have 33 cars on some of those roads like
and
But maybe 33,000 cars
Well, it was over a month, you know multiple months. It is the outs not just a day in any event
I don't think any of our towns really need speed cameras except no
I would I would I would oppose my last comment this comment by saying
some of the people in Sharon come down into the village from the north and from the south into the middle where you're trying to get out of the
So-called shopping center or the post office or the gas station at speeds, which I would call
sightable for excessive speeds
and maybe a speed camera in the middle of Sharon one each direction might be on a
Pro you know a desirable thing in some so here's the thing. I mean the speed cameras
What what is the goal? Is it revenue enhancement or is it a safety concern and you know
Well, of course and and and that's what most efficient
I mean, that's what all of the officials that were interviewed in the in all these towns all said
You know the goal would be to improve safety and and does
so what is the the
What is the cost and what is the benefit and so far?
None none of the towns have come to the conclusion that was worthwhile doing there are issues people
Have issues with speed cameras in general and that is a thing in this country versus other countries
What I find it what I find crazy about the whole proposition is that even if you had speed cameras
You would have by law you there's a whole legal process involved, but you would by law every single
a
Citable
Offense would have to be reviewed. I know I know and that's just I mean that just defeats a whole purpose to me
I think it and it also affects. I mean in these small towns
That means that somebody in the town hall, let's say or your local resident trooper knows
Exactly who's doing what speed where what time and yes, I I think there is a privacy concern
That is totally legitimate. I have no problems with within theory like it's done in Europe
Having speed cameras in in air like in school areas like on Main Street where you have
You know dangerous situations and where keeping keeping people in check will really help
Yes, now, I think it was in North Canaan
Where they came to the conclusion that they were better off having
Radars with the signs flashing at you your speed which as far as a safety
Argument is concerned does have some effect. You do see people slam on their brakes as soon as they're see they see their speed light
Up when entering town and there is yeah, well
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. We know Salisbury's got several speed cameras around and
So do other towns as well. They flash at you. You look at your speedometer and you're doing 45 and it's a 30 mile an hour thing and
Yes, you do initially hit brakes
But I think that most people start ignoring those when they know that there's no other
Enforcement and the speed cameras are just speed cameras. They're not
Photograph photo cameras that are going to take a picture of your plate as you go by and then you're going to get a ticket in the mail
So I
Notes that our roads in Salisbury have several locations the one coming into Salisbury from Canaan, for example
Doesn't flash until you get almost at it and then it gives you the correct speed hasn't been serviced in years as far as
Starting to flash when you come around Bracken tip corner
listeners will know what that means and come down the straightaway past the
Condominium area that light does that on that sign go on until you're just about a hundred feet from it
And which when it will give you probably the accurate speed sometimes it flashes earlier and doesn't give an accurate speed
What what is the fastest you've had it flash at?
Don't answer well, I can artificially answer that question by say
Anyway, it's it's an interesting debate
And we may be running out of time so I don't know how far we can go with this
But I think that we don't need them in the in our corner in any big
large
Use fraction until next show it is Robin Leach and J. DeMarken and this is Parkies and we hope you enjoyed
Parkies with Robin Leach and J. DeMarken is produced at the facilities of
WHDD
91.9 FM Robin Hood radio comm sharing Connecticut
About this episode
Robin Leach and Jay de Marcken dive into the newly unveiled 2026 Jeep Cherokee, discussing its design, drivetrain changes, and hybrid technology. Leach shares his personal experience with multiple Jeep Cherokees and expresses concerns about the new model's off-road capabilities and CVT transmission. The conversation also touches on brand loyalty, market competition, and the evolving automotive landscape, including the rise of electric vehicles like the Hyundai Ioniq 5. The episode provides insights into consumer preferences and the challenges faced by traditional automakers.
