Toyota RAV4 vs Jeep Cherokee: which is more reliable?
The Toyota RAV4 and the Jeep Cherokee are level on the federal record — 65/100 against 66/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Toyota RAV4
- 14 model years scored
- 4,499 owner complaints on record
- about 58 complaints per year on the road
- 58 recall campaigns, 26 safety-critical
- best year 2013 (88/100) · worst 2020 (32/100)
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)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: RAV4 against Cherokee
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
Toyota RAV4
- Electrical System — 907 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 814 complaints
- Engine — 718 complaints
Jeep Cherokee
- Power Train — 1,357 complaints
- Engine — 680 complaints
- Electrical System — 591 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the RAV4's complaints concentrate in Electrical System, the Cherokee's in Power Train. 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
Toyota RAV4 — avoid: 2019, 2020, 2024.
Jeep Cherokee — avoid: 2018, 2019.
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 Toyota RAV4 prices at about $30,500 and a Jeep Cherokee at about $27,900 — the Jeep Cherokee is roughly $2,600 less, and they return 30.0 against 24.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Toyota RAV4 or the Jeep Cherokee more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Jeep Cherokee scores 66/100 against the Toyota RAV4's 65/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Toyota RAV4 and Jeep Cherokee years should I avoid?
Toyota RAV4: 2019, 2020, 2024. Jeep Cherokee: 2018, 2019. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Toyota RAV4 and the Jeep Cherokee?
The largest complaint group on the Toyota RAV4 is Electrical System (907 complaints); on the Jeep Cherokee it is Power Train (1,357).
Is the Toyota RAV4 or the Jeep Cherokee cheaper to own?
A recent used Toyota RAV4 prices at about $30,500 and a Jeep Cherokee at about $27,900, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.