Judging by Jeep’s recent sales numbers and its production expansion into India, the brand is red hot right now. However, the ZF nine-speed automatic it uses in its Cherokee and Renegade models has been known to flare up as a problem.
The gearbox fine-tunes its shift quality by going through two stages of “adaptation”: one in which it adjusts to internal tolerances while both new and as it ages and the other in which it learns a user’s driving style. That just takes a few minutes.
It’s best to change up your driving style or share your Cherokee or Renegade with your significant other while it’s new so that the transmission can learn how to properly shift under a variety of conditions more quickly. If you fire up one of those vehicles after it’s been driven by a more aggressive driver than you, you might find it’s shifting more firmly than you’d like. Those gear changes should become gentler after a few minutes out on the road.
The transmission’s particular nature and the complaints it’s drawn haven’t seemed to slow Cherokee sales. Through June, it’s Jeep’s best-selling SUV in the U.S. Let’s hope that by the time the Cherokee is refreshed next year that its transmission will be as popular as that vehicle seems to be.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
