Jeep Cherokee vs Subaru Crosstrek: which is more reliable?
The Subaru Crosstrek is clearly ahead of the Jeep Cherokee on the federal record: 77/100 against 66/100 across every model year we score.
The record, side by side
Jeep Cherokee
- 6 model years scored
- 2,801 owner complaints on record
- about 68 complaints per year on the road
- 29 recall campaigns, 11 safety-critical
- best year 2023 (92/100) · worst 2019 (25/100)
Subaru Crosstrek
- 6 model years scored
- 800 owner complaints on record
- about 25 complaints per year on the road
- 14 recall campaigns, 8 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (93/100) · worst 2019 (51/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Cherokee against Crosstrek
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.
What owners actually complain about
Jeep Cherokee
- Power Train — 1,357 complaints
- Engine — 680 complaints
- Electrical System — 591 complaints
Subaru Crosstrek
- Visibility/Wiper — 263 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 169 complaints
- Electrical System — 134 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Cherokee's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Crosstrek's in Visibility/Wiper. 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
Jeep Cherokee — avoid: 2018, 2019.
Subaru Crosstrek: no model year scores below 45; the strongest are 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2025.
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 Jeep Cherokee prices at about $27,900 and a Subaru Crosstrek at about $32,900 — the Jeep Cherokee is roughly $5,000 less, and they return 24.0 against 29.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Jeep Cherokee or the Subaru Crosstrek more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Subaru Crosstrek scores 77/100 against the Jeep Cherokee's 66/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The Subaru Crosstrek carries about 25 complaints per year on the road against 68 for the Jeep Cherokee.
Which Jeep Cherokee and Subaru Crosstrek years should I avoid?
Jeep Cherokee: 2018, 2019. Subaru Crosstrek: no year scores below 45. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Jeep Cherokee and the Subaru Crosstrek?
The largest complaint group on the Jeep Cherokee is Power Train (1,357 complaints); on the Subaru Crosstrek it is Visibility/Wiper (263).
Is the Jeep Cherokee or the Subaru Crosstrek cheaper to own?
A recent used Jeep Cherokee prices at about $27,900 and a Subaru Crosstrek at about $32,900, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.