Dodge Avenger vs Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT: which is more reliable?

The Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT is ahead of the Dodge Avenger on the federal record, 79/100 against 74/100 — a real but narrow gap that a bad model year on either side closes.

The record, side by side

Dodge Avenger
Dodge Avenger · Wikimedia Commons

Dodge Avenger

74/100 mean
  • 4 model years scored
  • 1,515 owner complaints on record
  • about 30 complaints per year on the road
  • 12 recall campaigns, 9 safety-critical
  • best year 2014 (89/100) · worst 2013 (60/100)

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT

79/100 mean
  • 5 model years scored
  • 1,441 owner complaints on record
  • about 38 complaints per year on the road
  • 0 recall campaigns, 0 safety-critical
  • best year 2021 (94/100) · worst 2018 (47/100)

Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.

Year by year: Avenger against Grand Cherokee SRT

The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.

YearAvengerGrand Cherokee SRT Gap
2021—94 BUY—
2020—89 BUY—
2019—83 BUY—
2018—47 AVOID—
2017—83 BUY—
201489 BUY——
201360 CAUTION——
201266 CAUTION——
201183 BUY——

What owners actually complain about

Dodge Avenger

  • Air Bags — 367 complaints
  • Unknown Or Other — 341 complaints
  • Engine — 286 complaints

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT

  • Electrical System — 464 complaints
  • Unknown Or Other — 368 complaints
  • Engine — 262 complaints

They do not fail the same way: the Avenger's complaints concentrate in Air Bags, the Grand Cherokee SRT's in Electrical System. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.

Years to avoid on each

Dodge Avenger: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2011, 2014.

Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT — avoid: 2018.

A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.

What each costs today

A recent used Dodge Avenger prices at about $15,400 and a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT at about $31,600 — the Dodge Avenger is roughly $16,200 less, and they return 24.0 against 15.0 MPG combined.

Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.

FAQ

Is the Dodge Avenger or the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT more reliable?

On the NHTSA record the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT scores 79/100 against the Dodge Avenger's 74/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.

Which Dodge Avenger and Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT years should I avoid?

Dodge Avenger: no year scores below 45. Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT: 2018. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.

What goes wrong on the Dodge Avenger and the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT?

The largest complaint group on the Dodge Avenger is Air Bags (367 complaints); on the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT it is Electrical System (464).

Is the Dodge Avenger or the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT cheaper to own?

A recent used Dodge Avenger prices at about $15,400 and a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT at about $31,600, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.

More head-to-heads