[Rda]

The Jeep Meridian Limited (O) 4X2 AT | Initial Ownership Review
Bought in July 2022. Driven 1000km till now.

I bought the Jeep Meridian as a replacement for my 8-year-old Hyundai Santa Fe (4x4 AWD AT) as I was looking for a comfortable & spacious SUV (with a large boot space and third-row seating) at a price around Rs. 40 lakhs on road. Sadly, both Hyundai Santa Fe and Honda CRV have been discontinued, despite being great cars. As I didn't have any other option, the Jeep Meridian was the only car that I test drove, and bought it immediately after the test drive. Big shout out to Axe77's phenomenal review that helped me take a quick decision (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...ip-review.html). I hope that other cars also find awesome reviewers like him.


Short Review:
If you want a premium non-Indian comfortable-to-drive SUV with three-row seating around Rs. 40 lakhs, then the Jeep Meridian is the car for you. The detailed review will contain the reasons why I chose to buy the car from Mumbai instead of Pune (city of residence) and why my car broke down less than 24 hours from delivery and spent 12 days at the Pune Workshop. However, despite all this, I believe that the Jeep Meridian is a pretty good car overall.


Here's a quick summary for those who don't want to read the long review ahead:
What's Good:
1. The car is very comfortable to drive (especially when you're past the second gear). It literally glides over potholes and speed-breakers at medium speeds without discomfort.
2. The car is feature rich with a panoramic moon-roof, 10.1" screen, leather seats, ventilated seats, 360-degree cameras and several customizable electronic features for creature comforts.
3. The car feels solid & heavily built and gives a sense of safety.
4. The fuel efficiency of 15+ km/litre (Highway with average speed over 60 km/hr) is phenomenal.

What's Bad:
1. The fuel efficiency of 7-9 km/litre (City Traffic with average speed less than 15 km/hr) is just terrible, as it results in refuelling the car at every 400-500km distance.
2. The car is underpowered (especially at lower speeds) and takes a while to get off the blocks.
3. The central console storage area around the gears is cramped.
4. The second row of seats is fixed, hence you cannot increase the leg space by shifting the seats backwards.
5. Unreliable quality issues (My car went to the workshop for repairs twice in less than 1 month since purchase)
6. Rear passengers complain of inadequate AC cooling


Time for the detailed review, so go grab some popcorn and a box of tissues!! This is gonna be filmy!

I tried to woo the car, but the dealer was reluctant!
Why I bought the Jeep Meridian from Landmark Mumbai instead of Sky Moto Pune, despite staying in Pune
When the Jeep Meridian was launched, I called to inquire about its physical availability at the showroom, but I received a very cold-hearted reply from a sales representative at their SB Road showroom over the phone. Maybe he was busy with the launch, so I ignored it.
Next week, I walked into their Wakad showroom and inspected the Jeep Meridian. I interacted with two salesmen, even wrote my phone number in their customer book, and asked them to inform me when a car is available for a test drive.
Since I didn't hear back from Sky Moto, after a few weeks, I wanted to schedule a test drive, so I tried calling on the several phone numbers I found on Google Maps, JustDial, and the SkyMoto website, but to my horror, no one was answering my calls. I must have called them over a dozen times in a week and I was annoyed that no one bothered to even call back. After reading a couple of negative reviews about Sky Moto online, I decided to drop my plans for Jeep Meridian. My father (a die-hard automobile enthusiast) had warned me against Stellantis' unreliable vehicles having previously owned Fiat Uno, Fiat Siena and Peugeot 309 in the 1990s.

Love at first drive
One fine day, we decided to check out the newly launched Hyundai Venue at Wakad and as the Jeep showroom was right next to it, we decided to test drive the Jeep Meridian. All it took was 1 test drive to convince us that this was a worthy successor to our Hyundai Santa Fe. We immediately initiated the booking formalities but were crestfallen to know that Sky Moto would not sell the car without insurance. We were told that the sales team would have a word with the company management and revert back after a week. (They actually reverted back after 2 weeks to offer some freebies bundled with insurance, but I had already bought the car without insurance from Landmark Mumbai by then). I was insistent on buying insurance on my own as Sky Moto was overcharging for the same insurance by more than a lakh rupees. Landmark Mumbai was willing to sell the car without insurance with instant delivery. (No matter what the showrooms say, the Jeep Meridian sales are not exactly off the charts). My final purchase price inclusive of insurance was Rs. 41 lakhs.
The buying experience from Landmark Mumbai was super smooth and I must thank Mr. Liyaquat Shaikh for the excellent support all throughout. Although, I must add that I experienced a more grand delivery celebration & refined experience when we purchased the Maruti Suzuki Ignis from a Nexa Showroom in 2017. There was no customized nameplate or cake or photograph with frame when we bought the Jeep Meridian, but this is not a complaint, just my observation.


Additional Accessories
From Landmark Mumbai, we bought Mudflaps and Slush Mats for around Rs. 12,000, I think these are must-haves.
From a local car shop, we bought 3M 70% window filming and a Roav dashcam for around Rs. 23,000

Just like in the movies, when everything seems to be going fine, the villain makes his entry. Hold on to your seats, ladies & gentlemen. The ride is about to get rough.

My new Jeep Meridian breaks down in less than 24 hours from delivery
My wife and I were excited to pick up the brand new Jeep Meridian from Landmark Thane. Having read online about PDI issues faced in the Jeep Meridian, I had already asked Landmark to double-check my vehicle, but little did I know that I was about to experience Murphy's Law firsthand. In just the first 15 minutes of driving, the dashboard threw up this message - "Dynamic Steering Torque Service required".


It was raining heavily as IMD had issued a red alert, so we decided to drive to Pune and show the car to the Pune workshop later on. That 150km drive from the showroom to my home was just so good that I was already dreaming about all the long trips that we would do in the new car, but little did I know that the Jeep Meridian had different plans. When we reached home, the beautiful car received tremendous attention from family members and neighbours alike. Everyone was congratulating me and it was an amazing feeling. The next day, I drove the car to my office located in Pune Camp area and just as I was about to reach my office, the car started losing control and multiple malfunctions like service messages were popping up on the dashboard.


I didn't know what to do and drove the car right up to my office building, where the car abruptly stopped working in the middle of the road, just as I moved the gear from Drive to Reverse. Even the gears froze and after some trial & error, we managed to get the car to Neutral Gear and with the help of 3 drivers nearby, we moved the car to the roadside.


All my joy had turned into exasperation and embarrassment as all of us tried to figure out what could have gone wrong in a vehicle that was delivered less than 24 hours ago. I called up Mr. Liyaquat Shaikh (Landmark Mumbai) and asked him to provide a solution. He arranged for the RSA, which arrived almost 12 hours later and my brand new car was towed away to the Pune Workshop at 10pm that night. The entire ordeal was also covered by Motorbeam here - https://www.motorbeam.com/more-incid...breaking-down/



The next 12 days were spent in continuous follow-up with Landmark Mumbai and Sky Moto Pune Workshop to figure out what went wrong. I was provided with a loaner Jeep Compass AT Petrol (2018), which made me realize how much better the Jeep cars in 2022 have become with regard to interior specifications. Finally, the problem detected was faulty wiring and hence the entire wiring harness was replaced. This process involved the removal of the doors, dashboard, and steering, which perturbed me as I no longer had a pure factory-fitted vehicle. I'm still waiting for a revert back from Landmark Mumbai and Jeep India about what compensation they are planning to offer me for this entire episode. I have no complaints with Landmark Mumbai or Sky Moto Pune as they have done their job perfectly well, they helped me restore my defective brand new car to working condition, but I'm definitely very peeved with Jeep India on how such issues can slip through their Quality Control.


Just when we got ourselves back on the road, it was clear that the Jeep Meridian had fallen in love with the Workshop Trips

My Jeep Meridian heads to the Workshop for a second time, in less than 1 month since purchase
I was glad to receive the repaired car after 12 days from the Pune Workshop and had a good time driving it for 2 weeks more after that. However, a new problem was about to unravel when we travelled to Mumbai during the heavy monsoons. During our drive, my wife noticed a leakage in the rear side of the vehicle with water dripping from the rearmost AC vents. Once again, Mr. Liyaquat Shaikh from Landmark Mumbai provided very quick support and had my car sent to the Thane Workshop as soon as I reached Mumbai. The car was duly repaired and returned in 24 hours. The problem blamed for this debacle was a choked drain pipe. However, Landmark Mumbai did not support me with a Loaner Car or Taxi Fare despite me being stranded in different city away from home.



All is well that ends well - Detailed Review
I've driven the car for around 1000km now (mostly through city traffic) and I don't regret my decision to buy the Jeep Meridian despite the frustrating quality issues (You can never really buy a perfect car within all your constraints). What I went through was really unfortunate and I hope that others do not experience this. The Jeep Meridian is a great car to drive, no doubt about that.

Car Exteriors
The front of the car looks very much like the Compass, it's nice but it should have been distinctly different. The side & rear profile looks really imposing and masculine. I would have preferred lighter colour options (like Blue, Silver, Beige), but settled for their Magnesio Grey variant. I also liked their Techno Metallic Green, but it looked more black than green to me. Amazing looks overall.

Car Interiors
The car feels premium from the inside with a clean frontal dashboard. Plush leather interior and good quality handles, switches & buttons are all lovely welcome features. The central console storage however is not well designed as it cramps everyone around it including the wireless mobile charging area, bottle holders, seat-belt buckle and the leg space for all passengers. Amazing finishes overall.

Car Driving Experience
I have driven this car regularly across all types of traffic (City, Highway, Hilly, Mixed) and it's a bittersweet experience with regards to power & fuel efficiency. However, when it comes to ride quality & stability, the Jeep Meridian is rock solid like a tank that glides like a hovercraft over any small pothole or speed breaker. Compared to my 8-year-old Hyundai Santa Fe, I no longer feel most of the usual road undulations during my regular drives now, which speaks volumes for the excellent suspension of the Jeep Meridian.
At lower speeds (Less than 30 km/hr) - The car feels underpowered and not fun to drive. This is also where the fuel efficiency goes down the drain.
At medium speeds (30-50 km/hr) - The car shows enthusiasm to glide and if you let go of the accelerator, the car will happily drift along and provide much better full efficiency. However such medium speeds are rarely sustainable for a long time during the average course of any drive as one would normally be stuck at lower speeds or higher speeds for a prolonged duration of time. Hence, most drivers will seldom get good fuel efficiency in the long run.
At higher speeds (Beyond 60 km/hr) - The car drives wonderfully well. I even got a highway mileage of 20 km/litre for a 100km downhill stretch from Pune to Mumbai on the Expressway where I was on Cruise Control at 80 km/hr for most of the journey.


Car Passenger's Experience from the middle row seats
The passengers were happy to have high seating with good back support. Obviously, they enjoyed the excellent ride quality as well. The overall space is less than what you'd expect from a car of this size (Maybe because the heavy thicker doors result in lesser internal space). They also complained that AC cooling is less powerful than expected. As the rear AC vents are situated at the front bottom, the cooling is not very uniform. The passengers feel cold at the bottom and hot at the top.


The movie is over, you can go home now unless you want to see the Director's Extended Cut below...

Random Musings
1. I expected Landmark Mumbai to give a detailed document containing all the terms & conditions of the RSA, but haven't received it yet. What if we had broken down on the highway, how do I know what are my privileges under the RSA? I have asked Landmark Mumbai to compensate me for these recent defects in my new Jeep Meridian, however they are yet to revert back, which shows that Jeep India will not budge towards customers in case of defective vehicles.

2. Jeep should have practically priced the Meridian at least Rs. 5 lakhs lesser, to allow for a 10-15% premium margin over XUV700 and Tata Safari. (The sales volumes of XUV700 are just stupendous!) But given how impractically priced the Compass is, this has left Jeep in a hard spot. I do not expect the Jeep Meridian to sell over 6,000 units annually in the long run and I will not be surprised if the model itself will be discontinued after a few years. (History has been cruel to Hyundai Santa Fe, Honda CRV and even the Mahindra Alturas G4 and it will not be kind to Jeep Meridian either).

3. There is a debate on how the Jeep Meridian will affect the sales of the Toyota Fortuner. I daresay that the Jeep Meridian will instead cannibalize the sales of the Jeep Compass as it is a better value offering. Even the cheaper (and maybe more reliable) Hyundai Tucson will add to their woes. The Toyota Fortuner and Innova are in a league of their own with no real sales competition.

4. The Indian automobile market has been tough for many players (who fail to understand the customer's needs). Even Honda & Toyota are on ventilator support today. Stellantis currently is in a vicious circle where poor sales volume is resulting in less dealerships & more crowded workshops. On top of that, glaring quality issues with Jeep Compass deters many customers from paying 30-40% premium for a non-Indian brand. Despite having local manufacturing, this is too high a premium for a cost-sensitive market like India. It appears that they're headed down a familiar road like Fiat & Peugeot yet again...

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[CEF_Beasts]

Glad to hear that your car is fixed and back with you. Enjoy your car to the fullest, take it out on the highways, that’s where the Meridian truly shines!

2 cases of wiring harnesses being faulty have come up on T-BHP, I am sure there might be many more. Jeep India should call out a recall to sort this issue out!

Buying a new car for 35 - 45 Lakh and experiencing something like this within the first 24 hours is horrible, the trauma and embarrassment the owner will have to face is even higher!

No offence to anyone, I’ll be very blunt, if I’m paying this kind of money, I’ll put it in a Fortuner eyes closed. Yes, I agree it’s not feature-loaded, it’s not as comfortable as the Monocoque SUVs, but having strong fundamentals is what matters! Toyota knows this very well, no wonder even after their pricing being 5-10 Lakhs more expensive than their nearest competitors they are able to get sales…

To add any new features, Toyota will test them thoroughly for 6 months to 1 year and then only release them! And the less I talk about their world-renowned and rigorous QC the better!

[sharan_si]

You have covered good and bad well, I feel 7-9kmpl city mileage is good for this SUV. Its unfortunate that you had the bad experience with new car, Jeep is bit slow in repairs,
I have a compass, Jeep is excellent in highways, you will definitely love long drives. I have learnt to mange in the city with low initial pickup, its not a deal breaker, hope same with you.
About leakage in rear side, expect initial niggles in freshly baked products, especially from Jeep, good that they have fixed it in a day.
Happy million miles

[snowmane]

I have a 2021 Compass (S) Diesel and as of now driver side ventilated seat has stopped functioning, seat trim broke twice(got it replaced for free and the service center guy said this is a common problem).

My car randomly gets service 4wd error on the screen and after restarting the vehicle it goes away, this has been happening since the past 10 months and the service center guys told me to ignore it since Jeep's software is full of bugs and they also dont know what can cause such issues.

IMO, this vehicle is not at all worth the premium that Ive paid for it and as far as it comes to reliability it is very risky to take this car for long journeys.

[kushagra452]

Congratulations! Jeep India QC seems to be non existent. There are numerous posts which talk about their brand new Jeep SUV breaking down within a few hours or days of delivery. This is simply unacceptable. After spending 40L on a car, getting stranded on the road is simply unacceptable (to put it mildly). My Alto never broke down or left me stranded anywhere in over 13 years of ownership.

Car companies are rolling out half baked products but with flashy features and the all important sunroof to lure potential customers. Cars these days are really a hit or miss when it comes to quality and reliability. No wonder Toyota and Maruti products have such a huge and loyal customer base.

If I were in the market looking for a SUV in the 35+L range then I would pick up the Fortuner. Jeep will not even feature in my circle of consideration.

[padmrajravi]

Congrats on the purchase. Wish you long miles of happiness with the Meridian. It is a handsome car that turns heads everywhere.

No words can fix the agony you must have gone through in those first few weeks with the Jeep. Wonder why it is so difficult to ensure basic quality control for this billion-dollar companies. The issues that pops up in TeamBHP about Jeep vehicles make me reluctant to recommend a Jeep these days. My standard response to anyone who is looking for Fortuner was to test drive the Meridian as well. I never felt Kodiaq was an alternative to Fortuner, but Meridian somehow made me feel it can provide the best of both worlds. But these issues are a real deal breaker.

How I wish there was some law for compensating customers who experience problems during the warranty period. Just the fixing of the issue is not enough. There should be a compensation process. Only then will the manufacturer feel the pain. Otherwise, this is too easy on the manufacturers with less stringent quality control.

[PaddleShifter]

Congratulations! Jeep Meridian is an excellent package and those alloys look so beautiful. Wishing you lacs of happy ownership Km with this car.

Originally Posted by CEF_Beasts

2 cases of wiring harnesses being faulty have come up on T-BHP, I am sure there might be many more.

A Tata Harrier and now this. I had read somewhere that Ukraine was the world’s biggest hub for wiring harness manufacturing. Could the Russia-Ukraine war be the reason for this faulty harness issue in two brand new cars within a short time? Maybe new units manufacturing these harnesses who dont have good QC.

Incidentally, both cars are from manufacturers that have been/ are sharing resources since atleast two decades now. I hope more cars are not affected.

News related to wiring harness supply issues:

https://auto.economictimes.indiatime...akers/89953836

https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...rs-2022-03-02/

Manufacturers making wiring harnesses in-house or sourcing from alternate channels:

https://europe.autonews.com/automake...-war-shortages

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/man...in-issues-grow

[VNair]

Congrats on your purchase! I am sure Jeep will be able to fix the initial glitches however, which shouldn't have happened at the first place. But I am sure this will be taken care off. And I would say for a city like Mumbai and for a SUV of this size your mileage is descent, ride it a bit being light-on-throttle and you should manage ~10. This is surely a wonderful car.

I guess its the second time I am hearing of a Jeep breakdown within 48 hours of its purchase and if I remember it was in Mumbai as well. Jeep being complacent about its QC off late?

[yashg]

This is the second review I am reading within last few days of a brand new Jeep breaking down within 48 hours of taking delivery. It doesn't matter how good the car is, nobody deserves to go through this after the kind of money they are paying. Guess I'll drop Jeep Compass from my wish list.

[BrakeDancer]

Glad that your issues are sorted out and I hope you have a trouble free ownership ahead.

Experiences like this would make me lose faith in a manufacturer, especially if it happens to a vehicle that is brand new. We really need much more strict enforcement of consumer laws so that manufacturers will think twice before taking the customers for granted. When the fear of law and huge compensation hangs over their necks like a sword, all of these quality control issues will suddenly vanish.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter

A Tata Harrier and now this. I had read somewhere that Ukraine was the world’s biggest hub for wiring harness manufacturing. Could the Russia-Ukraine war be the reason for this faulty harness issue in two brand new cars within a short time? Maybe new units manufacturing these harnesses who dont have good QC.

Incidentally, both cars are from manufacturers that have been/ are sharing resources since atleast two decades now. I hope more cars are not affected.

Not to forget the issues with the Jeep Compass 4X4 AT, which happened a few weeks prior.

What I can’t wrap my head around is, the dealership is always Landmark and specifically Landmark Mumbai.

2 cars, first the Jeep Compass and now the Jeep Meridian both from Landmark Mumbai!

Now I don’t want to get into any conspiracy but something for sure is fishy…

[rahulskumar]

Thanks for the review, the 9 speed transmission removes the fun factor of the engine. At this price they should have atleast provided paddle shifters. I just drool over these OEM alloys that comes with Meridian, would love to see them on my Seltos GT one day.

[RunGaDa]

Congratulations on your purchase. It’s very scary to experience the huge initial hiccup. Jeep needs to take their assembly dept to task to get to the source of the issue. There’s definitely some quality process not being followed and with the number of Jeep vehicles showing up with issues underlines this.
Secondly taking 12 hours to arrange towing vehicles from RSA is unacceptable. Heads must roll for this. Cannot expect such lack luster attitude when paying 40L for the car.
The cost of time probably hits the most. It’s unacceptable to wait for such long.

[Cresterk]

Congratulations on your new car. The meridian looks stunning in that shade! It is infuriating when issues pop up on a brand new car, especially 15 mins after you take delivery. Ripping apart a brand new car to change the entire wiring would probably constitute as a reason for replacement anywhere else but sadly our shoddy customer protection laws let us down once again.