What SUV Shoppers Need to Know
- The Grand Cherokee Summit’s interior is as nice — if not nicer — than some models from established luxury brands.
- It’s also a moderately good value with a $62,595 base price (including destination fee).
- A poorly tuned drivetrain is the only disappointment.
It’s my humble opinion that of the traditional Big Three automakers, it’s Stellantis’ core U.S. brands of Jeep and Ram that offer the best luxury-adjacent interiors for luxury-adjacent pricing. That’s an odd and convoluted statement for sure, but all it means is I think the cockpit of a loaded-out Jeep Grand Cherokee or Grand Wagoneer is more impressive (at least visually) than an equivalent maxed-out sled from GM or Ford (not including Cadillac or Lincoln, respectively).
This rings especially true of Jeep’s current top-trim interiors, so you can imagine how pleased I was when I landed a maxed-out 2026 Grand Cherokee Summit for a whirlwind 1,000-mile road-trip week. Between a work trip in San Diego and just 16 hours spent in lovely Santa Cruz, Calif., for a wedding, it’s apparent there are few mid-size SUV interiors offering this level of stylistic appeal, rich feature set and quality materials for less than $70,000.
Related: The 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee’s New Turbo Engine Sure Is Growly: Quick Spin
Expert Rating: 7.4/10
- Powertrain: 5/10
- Ride quality: 7/10
- Driver comfort: 9/10
- Passenger comfort: 9/10
- Interior quality: 8/10
- User interface: 6/10
- Cargo space: 8/10
- Value: 8/10
- Overall appeal: 8/10
- Fuel economy: 6/10
How Much Is the Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit?
- Takeaway: The Grand Cherokee’s top trim starts at $62,595.
Let’s compare. My two-row Grand Cherokee Summit test car stickered at an as-tested $66,585 from a base price of $62,595. Options included the $995 Advanced ProTech Group (head-up display, windshield wiper de-icer and night vision system) and $2,995 hands-free driving system, both of which I consider ancillary to the remarkably well-equipped Summit. With the lone exception of automatic brake hold — a strange omission — the Summit easily outpaces the mid-grade, $65,890 Lincoln Nautilus Reserve and is a rounded match for the $79,955 Black Label in presentation, gizmos and materials.
Check out my Grand Cherokee’s “Palermo” interior. The leather upholstery extends to the seats, door panels, armrests and portions of the dash. The front seats, by the way, are massaging in addition to being heated and ventilated, with matching heating and ventilation for the rear passengers. And speaking of temperature management, enjoy that four-zone automatic climate control and heated steering wheel.
The 19-speaker McIntosh sound system is enjoyed by all occupants, with a neat, skeuomorphic volume-unit gauge readout available on the 12.3-inch center infotainment touchscreen, which is bordered by a digital instrument panel and 10.25-inch passenger display. Some folks have soured on Stellantis’ long-lived Uconnect infotainment system, but I find it on par with your average digital architecture in terms of organization, reactivity and fidelity. It’s a bit old, but its familiarity is welcome and doesn’t detract from the Summit’s primo environment.
Does the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee Have Physical Buttons?
- Takeaway: There are some, but most functions are toggled via touch-capacitive controls or the center touchscreen.
This is the first model year for touch-capacitive climate controls, which are both expected at this price and also feel relatively low-rent despite acceptable reactivity and ease of use. The remaining line of physical buttons on the dashtop is welcome, however, especially for toggling the rather intrusive automatic engine stop-start function for the turbocharged 2.0-liter Hurricane four-cylinder.
Furthermore, I concur with our Detroit Bureau Chief Aaron Bragman’s assessment of the new top-dawg Hurricane four in his quick spin you can read above: a growly, power-dense heart suffering from poor accessibility thanks to the frustrating tuning of the eight-speed automatic transmission. What felt like egregious turbo lag was likely the perpetually confused transmission, often refusing to downshift even under full throttle or needlessly dropping a gear when merely trying to maintain highway speeds.
Does the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee Have Good Fuel Economy?
- Takeaway: With four-wheel drive, the turbo four-cylinder gets an EPA-estimated 21/26/23 mpg city/highway/combined.
There was also an odd feeling of disengagement or “lash” in low-speed bumper-to-bumper traffic. Every press of the accelerator from either a stop or from a single-digit mph coast sent a lurch through the driveline that felt like the clutch engagement of a poorly tuned dual-clutch automatic transmission. This was particularly frustrating on the final, traffic-clogged portion of my return trip, where this jarring lurch so frayed my nerves that I resorted to the manual-shifting mode, which thankfully eliminated the nasty lash by forcing the transmission to stay engaged and in gear.
Don’t let this discourage you — the Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit is a lovely SUV if you can suffer the odd powertrain tuning. And it’s decently efficient, too, with a recorded 19 mpg over 1,025 aggressive miles against its 21/26/23 mpg EPA rating. Not sold on the Hurricane four? Keep an eye out for additional powertrain choices in the coming model years given Stellantis’ strategy refocus.
Related Video:
We cannot generate a video preview.
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
