Is Jeep SRT Expensive to Maintain? [Answered]

When considering the total cost of a car, there’s a lot more to it than just the price you pay to purchase it from a dealer or used car lot. Maintenance costs can be high on some cars, so Jeep SRT owners should know if this model is expensive to maintain. 

The answer is that there are some regular and routine maintenance costs to be prepared for, but standard maintenance on a Jeep SRT isn’t unreasonably costly. If you neglect to perform required maintenance, costs can snowball, so it’s best to stick to a schedule.

Let’s look deeper at how expensive it is to maintain a Jeep SRT. 

Jeep SRT Routine Maintenance

All cars need regular maintenance to prevent long-term damage, and the SRT from Jeep is no exception. To keep your SRT Jeep in top condition, it will require a bit of tender loving care. 

When it comes to routine maintenance, Jeeps also need a couple of things many other cars don’t, at least not as often. If you keep a budget for the simple things on this list, you can likely head off issues before they get too expensive. Here are some service items to save your money and plan for having done. 

Oil Changes

Depending on what kind of oil you are using and how you drive the car, the interval between your oil changes can range from a few thousand miles to more than 12,000. That range is because conventional oil has a shorter service life than synthetic oil, usually less than 5,000 miles. 

In contrast, if you’re using synthetic oil, the service life and interval between changes can be much longer. If you’re not 100% sure what kind of oil you’re using, or you want to understand oil changes a bit more, check out my article on oil changes. 

An oil change can cost $65 to $100 if you do it yourself. Synthetics are more expensive, and you should always check your owner’s manual to make sure you use the right type of oil and the correct viscosity and weight. 

Or, you can have a dealership or other mechanic do it for a couple of hundred dollars or so. 

Differential and Transfer Case Fluid Flushes

To keep a Jeep running well for a long time, it’s a good idea to change the fluid in the transfer case and the front and rear differentials routinely. This is true for many cars, but especially for Jeep SRts.

The maximum interval is around 30,000 miles. You shouldn’t ever really exceed that mileage between changes for the best results. And, flushing the fluid can keep the differential and the transfer case running better longer, potentially saving you thousands in repairs. 

Here’s why. The transfer case transmits the power of the engine coming out of the transmission and splits it between the front and rear axles. There are two differentials, with one for the front and one for the rear axle. They split the power between each wheel on their respective axle, providing four-wheel-drive (4WD) capability.

These systems are costly to replace if something fails due to neglect or oversight in their fluid changes. 

So, to keep your Jeep’s 4WD system healthy, you should plan to change the fluids in the differentials and the transfer case every 30,000 miles. It will probably cost you about $1,000 to have the dealership do this service for you. 

You can probably save some money if you have the expertise to do the job yourself. Or you can try looking for a good deal at an independent mechanic. 

Brakes and Tires

Jeep SRT owners can do themselves a favor by keeping a close eye on their tire treads. Depending on exactly how your SRT is equipped, it’s quite possible your tires may cost $500 each or even more. 

That’s pretty pricey, so you have to make sure your SRT’s tires are wearing evenly. This will help keep you abreast of any suspension or alignment issues that might adversely affect the lifespan of your tires. By monitoring for tread wear changes and performing regular tire rotations, you can extend the life of your tires and save money. 

When checking your tire’s tread, use a tread depth gauge to see how much depth there is on the inside and outside of your tire’s tread. If you do discover uneven or accelerated wear on your tires, and you catch it early, you can address the issue and even things out. If you don’t catch the issue in time, you’ll have to replace one or more tires. 

If you need to replace all four tires, you could end up paying over $2,000 for parts and labor to mount and balance them. 

The brakes on SRT Jeeps are pretty beefy, which means they’re also pretty expensive, especially the rotors and calipers. So, to keep your costs down, make sure you’re replacing your pads before they wear down too far. It can potentially lead to a metal-on-metal situation, which damages the rotors if you don’t fix things immediately. 

New rotors can cost hundreds of dollars each, plus labor to install them. You could easily pay more than $2,000 to replace all of the brake rotors on your Jeep SRT.

Transmission Fluid

Some carmakers claim that the fluid in their transmissions is meant to last for the life of the vehicle. Most mechanics will tell you that no fluid can last forever and that transmission fluid does become less effective over time. 

So, you should probably think that the best answer is someplace in the middle. It’s probably a good idea to talk to your dealer and mechanic about changing the transmission fluid every 80,000 miles or so. It’s likely not going to cost more than a couple of hundred dollars, and it could save you a hefty repair bill down the road. 

Unplanned Expenses

As you can tell, taking care of a high-performance Jeep like the SRT isn’t cheap. You don’t want to skip out on regular service to help pricey parts last longer. The components are high-quality and performance-oriented, so SRT owners need to pay attention to their vehicles to prevent minor problems from snowballing into bigger and more expensive ones. 

Even with conscientious maintenance, sometimes vehicles break down or need unplanned repairs. For Jeep SRT owners who get unlucky, that could mean some big expenses.

Some Jeep Grand Cherokee owners have experienced difficulty with the infotainment system. Onboard electronics issues can be costly to troubleshoot and fix, but the good news is that they’re often covered by the warranty. 

Jeep SRT Maintenance Costs Bottom Line

A 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT costs more than $85,000 dollars. Spending a few thousand bucks on routine maintenance over the years isn’t expensive relative to the cost of ownership. And by scheduling and performing routine maintenance, you can keep costs down by addressing problems aggressively. 

This strategy of routine maintenance prevents small issues from becoming bigger and more costly and keeps SRT Jeep maintenance costs from becoming overly expensive. And with the SRT’s thirsty V8 engine always asking for more fuel, you need to save your money for the gas station!