TCC: Jeep Patriot Review

[BrewSwillis]

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Vehicle_Re...11810.html?pg=1

[FAPTurbo]

Exterior looks awesome.

Interior... well... um...yeah...

[ocnblu]

"... spiritual successor to the old XJ Cherokee." What a bunch of bull. For a Jeep employee to say such a stupid thing is very disheartening.

[K.C.]

"... spiritual successor to the old XJ Cherokee." What a bunch of bull. For a Jeep employee to say such a stupid thing is very disheartening.

In a pigs eye! How can a car based SUV be a spiritual anything to a car?

[Flybrian]

Pop Quiz: Which is the Compass, which is the Patriot, and which is the Caliber?

[Northstar]

I'm pretty sure the bottom one is the Caliber, but I can't tell between the other too. Man, is Chrysler cheap or what?

[Chris_Doane]

Patriot

Compass

Caliber

The only reason I can tell the Patriot from the Compass was the floormats.....they just looked more....uh....rugged I guess.

Yeesh, that needs work.

Edited January 29, 2007 by CD/BP

[NOS2006]

No.. effing.. way. Their interiors are all that damn identical? What BS.

[frogger]

Well the Compass is a turd, this is better but still $h!.

[Ravenfreak13]

So remeniscant of the cloud cars....yet they sold well.

[big blue]

I was actually waiting for someone to do a comparo interior pic between the 3 DCX cars. It's kind of sad really, I like the Patriot's look but knowing it shares the Caliber's inside stings.

[BrewSwillis]

Man, everyone is a frilly little interior snob these days.

The review said the interior was fine until they started rapping on the dash board. WHO IN THE HELL BEATS ON THEIR OWN, OR OTHER PEOPLES' DASH BAORDS??

In fact, they said the seats were some of the best they've experienced in an SUV.

Why is everyone so obsessed with the Compass and Patriot having the same interior? They are basically the same vehicle, with different sheetmetal, and suspension. They are both Jeeps. The Caliber is quite different except for the center stack trim cover.

[Flybrian]

Why is everyone so obsessed with the Compass and Patriot having the same interior? They are basically the same vehicle, with different sheetmetal, and suspension. They are both Jeeps. The Caliber is quite different except for the center stack trim cover.

So why spend the money to make both? Its not like DCX is flush with cash. They have very little distinction between them than the exterior, so what's the point? If anything, the Patriot makes the most sense because it at least looks like a normal Jeep, not like a melted moon buggy.

[!!!TED!!!]

Man, everyone is a frilly little interior snob these days.

Why is everyone so obsessed with the Compass and Patriot having the same interior? They are basically the same vehicle, with different sheetmetal, and suspension. They are both Jeeps. The Caliber is quite different except for the center stack trim cover.

Well, they could have done more to make them different. They did on the LX's....

[Intrepidation]

Well, they could have done more to make them different. They did on the LX's....

The main difference with the LX's is the gauge shield and the gauges...and that is the the main difference between the Caliber and the Patriot/Compass. It's really no worse than the Cobalt/G5 or Torrent/Equinox (which have almost no differentiation). As for the interiors themselves...they're cheap...the Chill Zone lid doesn't stay up on it's own.

Edited January 29, 2007 by Dodgefan

[Cory Wolfe]

Man, everyone is a frilly little interior snob these days.

The review said the interior was fine until they started rapping on the dash board. WHO IN THE HELL BEATS ON THEIR OWN, OR OTHER PEOPLES' DASH BAORDS??

In fact, they said the seats were some of the best they've experienced in an SUV.

Why is everyone so obsessed with the Compass and Patriot having the same interior? They are basically the same vehicle, with different sheetmetal, and suspension. They are both Jeeps. The Caliber is quite different except for the center stack trim cover.

Excuses, excuses...

I like the Patriot's exterior, but interior is horrible. I thought it would atleast get a slightly different interior, but its pretty much identical to the Compass's. As Fly said, why bother? Two vehicles, one badge, one interior, one chassis... Why? One's completely pathetic and one's only slightly less pathetic.

[sciguy_0504]

It's a great looking small SUV and at least you can tell it's a Jeep. The interior and powertrain options hurt the vehicle, though. How well can a 170-some HP I4 perform offroad?

[BrewSwillis]

Excuses, excuses...

I like the Patriot's exterior, but interior is horrible. I thought it would atleast get a slightly different interior, but its pretty much identical to the Compass's. As Fly said, why bother? Two vehicles, one badge, one interior, one chassis... Why? One's completely pathetic and one's only slightly less pathetic.

Both vehicles were dead evenly split in focus groups.......and like it or not, your opinion does not matter anywhere near as much as focus groups of actual dumb consumers.

Why would you expect it to get a different interior? They are two vehicles that kind of compete with each other. One is kinda wimpy for girls and old people, and the other is more macho for people that might actually go off-road. Different (from each other) interiors would not make one bit of difference in consumers minds who are considering either of these vehicles. If the Compass fails, or just sells slowly, they can just make more Calibers and Patriots.....if the Compass does catch on, well, they'll have to make more of each.

Did you read the review?? There was no mention of the vehicle being pathetic. In fact, they claim that Jeep raised the bar for small SUV's.

[Flybrian]

Well, I still don't see why Chrysler wasted months and obvious effort trying to flesh out the market for cute utes. Everyone knows that even if its soft and whimpy, it should at least look like a proper Jeep. The Patriot is more of a softer, feminine Liberty for those that want the Jeep image without the cost of authentic Jeep ownership (hard ride, fuel-hungry engines, overall bulkiness). Patriot is the perfect fit. The Compass is an abberation, a mutation, a perversion, a gender-confused metro-transsexual crossdressing hermaphrodite that has no idea what it is or how to sell itself and now has zero appeal thanks to the Patriot.

[BrewSwillis]

How well can a 170-some HP I4 perform offroad?

:rotflmao:

In 1991 the Jeep Wrangler's I6 was bumped to 180 HP......up from 112 HP. In the 80's and 90's, the Jeep Wrangler was considered (and obviously still is) one of the top off-roaders......even with 112 HP. Off-roading is all about torque and gearing. The Patriot has 165 ft/lbs of torque, and an optional special CVT for low range gearing.

[BrewSwillis]

Well, they could have done more to make them different. They did on the LX's....

One's a Dodge wagon, the other is a Chrysler sedan. The Compass and Patriot are both Jeep Cute-Utes.

[!!!TED!!!]

One's a Dodge wagon, the other is a Chrysler sedan. The Compass and Patriot are both Jeep Cute-Utes.

Im not trying to hate on Jeep, but still, if your going to have a different style outside, at least have a different look inside. Something small like a color change, different style seats. Anything.

[thegriffon]

In a pigs eye! How can a car based SUV be a spiritual anything to a car?

Well now, except for the Wrangler, all Jeeps are unibody these days.

[The O.C.]

Man, everyone is a frilly little interior snob these days.

The review said the interior was fine until they started rapping on the dash board. WHO IN THE HELL BEATS ON THEIR OWN, OR OTHER PEOPLES' DASH BAORDS??

In fact, they said the seats were some of the best they've experienced in an SUV.

Why is everyone so obsessed with the Compass and Patriot having the same interior? They are basically the same vehicle, with different sheetmetal, and suspension. They are both Jeeps. The Caliber is quite different except for the center stack trim cover.

When trotting around NAIAS, I can say assuredly that Chrysler is putting out the absolutely most god-awful interiors in the industry. With the exception of the current LX cars, which I find quite nice inside, everything else in the Dodge, Jeep, or Chrysler lineups is pure garbage. AND you can bet the LX cars will follow suit with this cost-cutting when the next-generation cars make it here....

I've never seen a worse combination of interior plastics, colors, or fabrics than what is showing up in Chrysler's latest designs.

The actual STYLING is okay.....and ergonomics and switchgear seem to be just fine, if not better than most of what GM and Ford gives us. It's the finish that truly disappoints.