Looking to buy a 2017 Jeep Cherokee with the 3.2 V6. Anyone have any insight on this engine? Problems?

My wife has a 2017 cherokee with that engine and it has been perfect. Good power, good mileage and other than a tune up untouched.

We have three 2019 Trail Hawks in the family. 190k combined miles, NO issues. Mpg isn’t that great, but we have really enjoyed owning it.
19 and newer had WAAYYY better headlights

Thanks for the responses so far. After checking internet sites I noticed there is a class action lawsuit against Fiat/Chrysler for the 3.6 & 3.2 V6 engines for rocker arm/cam failure. It states the rollers on the rockers are failing causing the rocker arms to eat the cam lobes. If there's a class action suit that means there's more than one party involved in the legal action. I hate to say this but I'm starting to lean toward a Toyota Rav4, much better reviews.

I have a 2015 Grand Cherokee with the 3.6l. The only issue I have had with it was the rocker arms. I had one bad one, and you could hear the tick from a mile away. I changed all of them (that job sucked!!), and it has been problem free since. I suspect the dealership that was giving me free oil changes was using the wrong weight oil, as I caught them putting 10/30 in one time. Make sure the oil is changed religiously with the right weight.

We have a 2016 Cherokee Limited 4x4 with the 3.2L V6 that we bought new in the Fall of 2016. My wife just turned over 100,000 miles last week.
Only issue we ever had was one day it started missing, we took it to the dealership and one of the coils had failed. They replaced the coil and the oil filter canister (was leaking) under warranty.
Other than oil changes, tires and brakes, that's all we've done to it since new.

JS

My wife drives a 19 Cherokee. She loves it.

They seem to eat rear knuckle bushings. Mine were starting to get loose at 50k. I just had them replaced at 90k. Replacement knuckles are something like $800 per side. The dealer I go to found some replacement bushings that work without having to replace the entire knuckle.

Right after I had the bushings replace, the oil cooler started leaking. It's under the intake manifold. They replaced the cooler and replaced the plugs at 90k since they were in there anyway. Bad oil coolers seem to be pretty common on them as well. Chrysler was back ordered on them for awhile. That forced my dealer to use aftermarket parts store coolers instead of the Chrysler ones. Those only lasted a year before leaking again.

I haven't heard of a 3.2 from Mopar since the intrepid's went away

Well if your flavor of Cherokee was a mundane pavement princess the Rav might be for you. We “use” our Trailhawk. What it lacks in articulation it makes up for with traction technology. We haven’t taken our 96 out in the desert in two years. We take the 19. I’m a dealer tech. If the 3.2 was that big of a pos my wife and daughter probably wouldn’t own one

My father and sister were pushing the Toyota line hard. Pops got a highlander, and sister got a rav, and loved it(she had been in a crv for 10 years prior). I really like jeep, but I humored them and went to several Toyota and multi car dealers. The rav is an underpowered turd box that feels like it was assembled on the same line as a power wheels, and they ride like it as well. The cherokees were just WAYYYYY more comfortable and had more power and capabilities. Personally I feel they look better, but thats not saying much about vehicles that look like jellybeans. We went with the cherokee and really liked it a lot. It was almost unstoppable in snow. Got good mileage, only complaint was the 9 speed trans. No amount of reflashing makes them decent in city driving.

Looking to replace my wife's 2008 Grand Cherokee closing in on 99,000 miles, 3.7 V6. Really like this Jeep, just the normal replacement parts; complete exhaust, two starters, 3 crank sensors, two O2 sensors and the normal tires and brake pad replacements. Since reading about the 3.2 & 3.6 engine problems (Google it) not sure about the newer Jeeps. We live in the mountains and really don't want the 2.0 4 cylinder engine, and she doesn't want the gas eating hemi. Told her she could use the '54 Power Wagon but it has a 440 in it, she just gave me "The Look".

Its a smaller 3.6 pentastar only used in cherokee

As stated, that's the smaller Pentastar V6 (same engine family as the 3.6L). The 3.2L Version (as far as I know) was only used in the Jeep Cherokee (14-23). It's the optional V6 in all years.
My 2016 has the 3.2L V6 as mentioned above as well. Pretty trouble free for us other than the one coil failure (under warranty) and the leaky oil filter canister (also replaced under warranty).

JS

were those oil canisters plastic ?
i have no knowledge of these engines, just looking to learn something new.

Yes, the oil filter canisters are mounted near the top of the engine (filter changed from top) and very handy to use (in my opinion).
Some of the early Pentastar V6s (3.6L and 3.2L) had issues with these leaking (it was a new design in 2011 with the 3.6, and slightly updated for the 3.2 in 2014).
Our 2016 was leaking (slightly) when the coil went bad and was found (under warranty). Not a huge leak, but "seeping" so it was replaced under warranty as well.

Google some photos and you can see the oil filter canister on top of the engine (and it does make it super easy to change the filter).

JS

I worry it's going to break every time I put a socket on it. When removing the cap, oil runs down into the valley if you don't plan ahead. I've started shoving a rag down in the space between the filter canister and the timing cover(?) to catch the spill.

My 2014 300 with the 3.6L suffered a cracked oil filter housing at about 31,000 miles. It was replaced under warranty. I first noticed it one evening in our garage - smelled like a burning belt. After a couple more times, I realized it was burning oil. They were notorious for doing this - the plastic assembly would crack & allow for oil to leak & start cooking on the top of the engine. So far, this has not happened on our 2016 300, but on cold starts, there is a sound like old solid lifter engines had from the valvetrain. I've had 2 different dealers look at this & both claim the rockers are good, even though the 3.6's are notorious for this problem. I'm almost out of drivetrain warranty, I'm thinking of selling it.

I replaced by leaking oil cooler on my 3.6. It’s a fair amount of work, but not horrible, and a good time to replace plugs. Dohrman now makes an aluminum cooler that I would have bought, but it wasn’t available 2 years ago.

On mine, I drain the oil first, then remove the filter and install the new filter and seal. I haven't had any run downs doing it this way.

JS

My 2014 300 with the 3.6L suffered a cracked oil filter housing at about 31,000 miles. It was replaced under warranty. I first noticed it one evening in our garage - smelled like a burning belt. After a couple more times, I realized it was burning oil. They were notorious for doing this - the plastic assembly would crack & allow for oil to leak & start cooking on the top of the engine. So far, this has not happened on our 2016 300, but on cold starts, there is a sound like old solid lifter engines had from the valvetrain. I've had 2 different dealers look at this & both claim the rockers are good, even though the 3.6's are notorious for this problem. I'm almost out of drivetrain warranty, I'm thinking of selling it. [/quote]

You're thinking of selling it because its going to run out of warranty? If its been a good vehicle to you and you're worried the rockers are going to fail soon, buy a top end kit for it. I think the rockers are $5 each, and you can easily check them in place for the most part.