Full Size Jeep Network

Looking at the Jeep Patriot as a replacement for my much loved but aging and non-winter-useful Lincoln LS8. Anyone own or owned one? Good vehicle? Problem child? I think it shares underpinnings with the Dodge Caliber? How does the 4x4 do in snow? Is it useful at all on anything other than roads? (Not necessarily a bad thing, just curious if it can do camping trips while Susan is under refit/repair) Thanks!

Well, yes it shares the same platform as the Caliber and the Compass. 2014 they used a CVT which just sucked. They moved to a normal 6sp auto after that.

The models with the Freedom Drive II actually have a sort or low range (The CVT has an extra low gear below first) and will go more places than you would think.

The interior also got WAY better in the 2014 refresh.

Are you buying new or used? If going new, get a Renegade. WAY better vehicle. If used, they have lowish resale (For a Jeep) so should be able to get a decent price.

Oh, and stay away from the first few years. They (and the Caliber) had some nasty electrical issues that got fixed in like 09 or 10. Good friend has a Caliber that is an 07 and has been super reliable except for the electrical. He has had to replace the PCM twice.


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Wife drives a 2010 Patriot. Not a bad little vehicle, although ours is 2wd. We have the 2.0L engine and CVT, which I'm not a huge fan of. We live on the flat desert plains, so the lack of power isn't much of an issue for us. We drove it out to Las Vegas and it definitely struggled on I-40 west of Flagstaff.

As Stuka said, they don't seem to hold their value very well. We were looking at trading ours in for something larger (to fit our growing children) and trade-in value was somewhere around $5k.

For what it's worth (and if it matters), we get around 24mpg in the city and 27-30 on the highway depending on how much wind we have to fight.

It'd be used but fairly new (likely 2012-2014). Thanks for the info. Resale I'm not hugely concerned about, but good to know that I might have some negotiation room with them. All the ones I've looked at had the 2.4 and a normal 6-speed auto, though they were just the basic AWD, didn't say Freedom or anything on them. They were all the 'Sport' model, which I think is the base?

I actually JUST bought a 2007 for my wife, its an awesome Jeep.

I wanted to get a Compass because I like the name, but I can't stand how they look. The Patriot is great looking, its basically an updated 80's Cherokee.

The CVT is different, but not bad. Its surprising how easy it is to hit 80MPH without even knowing.


First thing I noticed though... Something HAS to be done about the HORN!

I pulled a FSJ horn from the Junk Yard to replace it. I'll have to make a before and after video.







One thing I will never understand is why people buy tires with white lettering and have them installed IN. First thing I did was have them flipped RWL OUT and rotated.



I'll run these tires until they wear out then find a set of jeep alloy rims.

Its got 130k and some hail damage, but for $2700 it was a hell of a deal.

-Charles

Charles Kline wrote:
Its got 130k and some hail damage, but for $2700 it was a hell of a deal.

-Charles

What a deal, how is that engine pulling, 2.4L, I almost rented one, but went for the 3.8L V6 Journey. But 172 HP and 3330lbs, seem nice.

As for RWL, some of us are not interested in buffing the white letters...

letank wrote:
What a deal, how is that engine pulling

Like towing? I wouldn't pull anything with it, I was glad to see that it didn't have a hitch installed when I went to look at it.

Charles Kline wrote: Its got 130k and some hail damage, but for $2700 it was a hell of a deal.

-Charles

Holy Guacamole that's a good deal!

Thanks

The side needed something, an YJ fender logo looks like it belongs there.



*edit for a clean photo of the side decal

Heck yeah it does! That's the best patriot mod I've seen by far!

Still looking at these. Found a couple places that even do 2" spacer lifts...
I'm still not 100% though. The Renegade is too small for sure. Just pushed a new Cherokee out of a snow bank in my Crown Vic, so, not a lot of confidence in its AWD system there. Of course it had street tires and a very inexperienced driver...

Renodemona wrote:Still looking at these. Found a couple places that even do 2" spacer lifts...
I'm still not 100% though. The Renegade is too small for sure. Just pushed a new Cherokee out of a snow bank in my Crown Vic, so, not a lot of confidence in its AWD system there. Of course it had street tires and a very inexperienced driver...

Hey, feel free to call or text for more info but....

I daily drive a practically brand new (2014) one and I hate it. You're welcome to come try it out if you want.

Granted, mine is front wheel drive, but that only makes a difference in the snow.

The CVT transmission is terrible and the thing only gets mid 20's for MPG. The whole car is just....cheap and.....well.....a car. If you need a little 4x4 econobox, it'll prolly do the trick.

My mom drives a 2007 that is stick shift and 4x4 and was the top of the line trim package, it was pre-fiat so the interior is a bit different and it honestly feels a little bit better put together. The stick shift makes a huge difference, and she gets 30+ mpg on a regular basis. I would MAYBE consider one as such if i could get a deal and if i needed a little economy 4x4.

Theres a fellow over on expedition portal that has one and tried to lift it and it caused all sorts of problems. Also its know that lifting will really put way more stress on the CV joints and shafts.

Dont let me dissuade you, but I really really really dont care for the one i drive every day.

I had a CVT in my wife's Ford Freestyle. It was great and didn't have any issues with it [155K miles]

We still like ours, I think its fun to drive. Its like a go-cart, you just step on the gas and it GOOOOES.

Wife drives an 08 2wd patriot. She loves it and I have only changed the oil, tires and accessory belt (do yourself a favor and bring it to a shop. It takes 3 people and a lift to change it). It did have some weird issues a few years ago, but they seemed to fix themselves.

The wife's Patriot is dying. The stupid CVT constantly overheats and puts it in limp mode while driving down the highway. It'll go around town no problem but if you try to go more than an hour at highway speed the trans temp light comes on and takes away the throttle (I hate drive by wire)

Even put in a huge fin and plate cooler and it didn't help.

Totally bummed because we love'd that little thing.

New trans is $2,700, at 152k its not worth replacing.

I'm thinking about hanging on to it and using it to go back and forth to work, that'll take the daily driver duty off GranWag.

A manual swap is also bouncing around in the back of my mind, would just have to come across one at a JY....

Use it for a trailer for the FSJ

ShagWagon wrote:Use it for a trailer for the FSJ

Haha!

"are jeep patriots any good?"

"must not be, I see a dude towing one around all the time"

My dad has a 2015 patriot. It is decent in rain or mild trails, that's about it as far as the 4 wheel drive goes IMHO.

The 2.4 has better pull than the smaller engine, but I felt like something that size could use a 6 cylinder. His 2.4 gets about 24 highway, as a comparison the 2015 mustang v6 I just sold was getting about 22 when I was cruising at 105 on the same highway.

I've also noticed some QC issues on his patriot. The power locks and windows decide when they want to work (they always decide to work when I bring it to the dealership for him.) the hubcaps all fell off within 8k miles. I know hubcaps always fall off, but my last car had them for a good 80K miles before falling off.

It's a decent Compact SUV, but there are others I would buy first, like to new Cherokee or renegade.

I don't want to hurt any feelings, but at the dealership you got a bonus for selling a Patriot. Because they couldn't give the dang things away!

The renegade however is a dang fine automobile.