The 2023 Ford Edge vs 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee is a battle of casual off-roading SUVs. Which you choose will vary greatly on what you are looking for in an SUV. The Ford Edge offers a better driving experience on a standard road with some off-road flexibility, while the Jeep Grand Cherokee provides excellent off-road driving with less of a focus on everyday driving. Is one better than the other? Well, that will very much depend on what your needs and desires are. Also, one of them is significantly less expensive.
The Ford Edge may not offer as good off-road driving capabilities as the Jeep Grand Cherokee, but it is much more affordable. People choose the Ford Edge over the Jeep for many reasons. First of all, the Ford Edge is a solid SUV that is easy to drive and has a roomy interior. Secondly, the price is right since it is significantly cheaper than the Grand Cherokee at all trim levels. Thirdly, the Ford Edge has a lot of luxury features like a big infotainment screen, a hands-free tailgate, heated leather seats, and a premium sound system, just to name a few. Finally, people may not drive their SUVs off-road much at all and so they have no need for the off-road features the Cherokee has. There are many other preferences and aesthetic reasons that buyers choose Ford, but these are the main two reasons: unneeded features and value for your dollar.
Which Do You Need More? Off-Road or On-Road
The Jeep Grand Cherokee has been known for years to be a great off-roading vehicle. Many people buy it specifically for the purpose of adventuring into the wild, yet few Jeep owners actually use their SUVs this way. Sure, once in a while they may venture off the path, but more often than not, they seem afraid of getting their shiny new Jeep dirty. While there are many drivers out there who go off-roading on occasion, it just isn’t a primary concern for many when buying a midsize SUV.
Jeep undeniably has an advantage in off-road driving, and because of this, the standard driving performance on the road suffers. It gets significantly worse fuel economy than the Ford Edge while also being less enjoyable to drive. Mud tires are great for driving in the mud but make a lot of noise and handle worse on the pavement. This is not a fun experience. While the Grand Cherokee might be well equipped for the trails, those same features make the driving experience more uncomfortable than other options, like the Ford Edge, when you are traveling on paved streets.
The Ford Edge has some decent off-road features, such as Ford’s Intelligent all-wheel drive, but Ford didn’t make the entire focus of the Edge off-road performance. Instead, the Edge provides a good balance between standard road handling and off-road capability. The Edge is absolutely primarily a road vehicle, and for most drivers, that’s a good thing. Just take them both out for test drives, and you’ll see that the Edge has a significantly better riding experience than the Jeep. The Edge also has a comfortable suspension, cozy seats, and a luxurious interior.
While the balance of off-road and regular road driving is a difficult one to strike for an SUV, if you spend most of your time on the road and only rarely venture into the wilderness, the Ford Edge is most likely the better choice for you. Most folks do more than 95% of their driving on the road, which makes the Ford Edge better for most drivers. If you absolutely cannot live without off-road capability, maybe the Jeep will be a better choice, but it will cost you.
The Price of Off-Road Performance
Everyone knows Jeep makes its vehicles with off-road performance in mind. While a small percentage of drivers really need their SUVs to drive off-road, most don’t have much need for specialized features. This becomes even more true when you begin to factor in the cost of the vehicle. Off-road features are not cheap. Don’t believe me? The base Jeep Grand Cherokee starts out at $40,030, more than $2,000 higher than the Ford Edge, which starts out at $37,945. Now, when you look at the highest trim package, the difference becomes even more stark. A top-of-the-line Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve starts at $69,435, while the Ford Edge ST starts at $46,485, over $20,000 cheaper than the Jeep. Sure, the Jeep trim package probably has some very nice features, but is it even close to $20,000 more value? I doubt it.
Value is the keyword here. When you buy a Ford Edge, it may not have all the super fancy features that the Jeep has, especially in regards to off-roading, but it does offer incredible value. It is cheaper across the board than the Jeep, yet still performs at a high level and has some luxurious features too. The Ford Edge has two engine options available. While the base 2.0L turbo I-4 engine is on par with the one 3.6L V6 engine option for the Grand Cherokee, the available 2.7L turbo V6 offers way more performance. The 2.7L EcoBoost turbo V6 produces 335 horsepower and 380 lb-ft of torque. Compare that to Jeep’s 3.6L Pentastar V6 with 293 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. That’s a very big difference in power.
The Ford Edge also gets better mileage, with the 2.7L V6 getting 19 MPG in the city and 25 MPG on the highway, while the Jeep Grand Cherokee’s 3.6L V6 gets 14 MPG in the city and 22 MPG on the highway. However, if fuel economy is a big concern for you, you will be happy with the 250-horsepower base 2.0L turbo I-4 engine in the Edge that gives you 21 MPG in the city and 28 MPG on the highway.
According to Repair Pal, the long-term maintenance of a Jeep will also set you back more than a Ford Edge, with both higher annual repair costs and more frequent visits. From the moment you buy it until the moment you sell it, the Ford Edge will simply cost you less than the Jeep Grand Cherokee. If you absolutely need it for off-roading, maybe that extra cost is worth it to you, but if you’re like most drivers, that is unlikely. When you consider that the Ford Edge is better to drive on regular roads while still having decent off-road capabilities, it becomes the clear winner in value.
Tech and Safety
While the Ford Edge and Jeep Grand Cherokee both offer some high-tech features, the value per dollar is much higher for the Edge. Ford has provided its state-of-the-art safety system to keep you and your family safe while driving. The Co-Pilot360 technology utilizes sensors all around the car to do everything possible to ensure no collisions. This technology is truly amazing and will hopefully lead to fewer accidents, fewer injuries, and less damage on the road. Jeep has similar safety features, but they come at a higher price.
Both infotainment centers have some cool functionalities, like premium speakers and a big screen, though the Ford Edge beats out the Grand Cherokee in size. The Jeep Grand Cherokee has a starting screen of 8.4 inches, which can be upgraded to a 10.1-inch screen in higher trims. On the other hand, the Ford Edge has a 12-inch screen standard across all trims.
The 2023 Ford Edge Is the Better Value
These days things are expensive, and SUVs are certainly no exception. The Ford Edge may not have the fancy off-road features and extensive extra options the Jeep Grand Cherokee has, but what it does have is a great value. The Edge drives better on the road than the Jeep does while also having some limited off-road functionality. If you are simply a casual off-roader who finds that they aren’t visiting the trails all that often and are using their SUV for daily travel, then you are probably going to want to get your hands on the wheel of a 2023 Ford Edge.
