Complaints fall by more than four fifths from 2019 and the recall list drops to three. What does not go away is the Power Transfer Unit, and on a 2020 the recall covering it still has no published fix.

Short and serious. In Chrysler's words, on certain 2019 and 2020 Cherokees 'the steering rack gear may break, possibly causing a loss of steering control,' and a loss of steering control increases the risk of a crash. The remedy is a free steering gear replacement, and the recall began 24 October 2019 under Chrysler code V99. There is nothing subtle to inspect for here, because a rack that has not broken yet feels normal. This is a pure VIN lookup, and it should be the first thing you check on a 2020.

A compliance recall rather than a mechanical one. On 2020 Cherokees with the 8.4 inch or 12 inch radio display, 'a software error can cause the rearview camera image to remain displayed after the vehicle has been shifted out of reverse,' which fails Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111 and can distract the driver. Dealers update the radio software free, and unusually for this model there is also an over-the-air option that owners could run themselves from May 2020. Chrysler's codes are W30 through W37. Easy to verify on the test drive: shift out of reverse and watch whether the camera view clears. Chrysler also ran two customer-satisfaction programs on 2020 cars, W43 for tire rub and the chrome exhaust tip, and U28 for the Uconnect app, both worth asking a dealer about.

The 2.4L Tigershark four-cylinder's appetite for oil is well documented by Chrysler itself, through warranty extension XB1 published as Warranty Bulletin D-23-01. The relevant fact for this year is the boundary: that bulletin covers 'Select 2014 - 2019 Jeep Cherokee (KL).' A 2020 is outside it. Whether the underlying engine changed enough to matter is not something any source we have states, so we will not claim it did. What we can say is that if a 2020 2.4L uses oil, the manufacturer program that paid for an oil consumption test and a long block on earlier cars does not apply. Check the level cold, ask for consecutive oil-change receipts, and treat a low dipstick on the test drive as a real finding. Chrysler also published a 2020 note about Pentastar V6 cars reading overfull on the dipstick after a correct-spec oil change, so on a V6 do not read a high level as a fault straight away.

Every Cherokee uses a ZF nine-speed automatic, the 948TE, from the German gearbox maker ZF. A mechanic who repairs them says 'every second or third will have some kind of transmission issues,' with symptoms that start as stuck gears, throttle delay and clumsy downshifts. The structural problem for a used buyer is maintenance: an owner-mechanic who serviced his own car reports that 'Jeep classifies the fluid as a lifetime fluid,' that a dealer told him 'this car does not have a service for the transmission,' and that the unit 'is basically completely sealed, it has no pan underneath, it only has a drain and a fill' plug, with no dipstick. Assume the fluid has never been changed and factor a drain-and-fill into the first year. On the drive, warm the gearbox and work every gear both ways.

On V6 cars the documented wear item is the oil filter adapter housing, which weeps at the joint with the engine block. Chrysler's bulletin on it covers model years 2014 to 2022 and tells dealers that on cars above 30,000 miles the fix is to remove the adapter, replace the oil inlet O-ring and gaskets, and refit it, rather than replacing the whole assembly. A mechanic puts the job at three or four hours of labor. The other V6 sound to listen for is a tick from the top of the engine, which owners and mechanics associate with a worn rocker arm. Neither is a walk-away on its own, but a fresh oil stain on the underside of a 2020 is worth pricing.