Jeep Cherokee diesel auto 2005 review

Add Cherokee and one has a sense of tribal power. It's an alluring combination and, frankly, I've long harboured a whim to get behind the wheel of a Jeep Cherokee.

So, all my Christmases came at once when a feisty silver 2005 turbo diesel was put into my hands for girl testing. They make them for girls these days – fuel injection, power steering, automatic ...

As an habitual manual driver, I was a bit askance at first but, hey, automatic is just a bit delicious. Like a duck to water, I took to it and off we chugged. Amazingly, this high-riding hard worker is as comfortable in the city as it is on dirt roads. It fits better into tight city parking stations than most sedans. You would not think it, looking at the vehicle. But it's a lean machine – and it even has flipper wing mirrors, which tuck flat in when you are going into a tight spot. How good is that.

Between home, the shops and work, the Cherokee refused to drink, or so it seemed. The fuel gauge stayed so long on full that I started to worry. But when a couple of hard-driving days in the country took the fuel only to half, I figured it is just plain economical.

The interior is classy without being showy. There are not too many gadgets, with a lot of controls neatly confined to the steering wheel. Above the rear-vision mirror is the temperature read-out etc – with the added feature of telling one in which direction one is travelling.

I love that.

The cup holders are a bit of an issue. There is one in the central console area – and the central storage unit is a bit awkward, being set a bit far back for the short-legged driver.

But the interior door handles are the best I have encountered in a car. Sleek stainless-steel grips one slips the hand through. There are nice, sturdy hand-holds on both passenger and driver's side, too. Nifty for swinging sportily in to the car or for steep off-roading.

The rear window opens with a double click on the key-ring control and the lower gate can be opened manually thereafter. The luggage area is like the car. It is more capacious than one thinks. And the interior generally seems spacious for the growing world of long-legged people. Headroom, too. It is quite a tall vehicle.

Naturally the fun with this vehicle is in going out on to the rough roads – and the Cherokee surged merrily on the dirt, at home in front of a cloud of dust. Despite the warning signs about tippability inside the car, its road holding felt very secure on the winding dirt roads.

Not that I am inclined towards any idiot derring-do in any motor car. Which is why I only got to open up the turbo power for one country overtake – and I was glad of the sure surge which made it a safe and easy manoeuvre.

In all, the Cherokee is a trim, taut and terrific member of the compact 4WD family.