Coming out of the closet. I bought a Jeep Patriot.

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doitmyself

doitmyself

Joined
Jun 3, 2002
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MI
In April, 2013 I bought a 2014 Jeep Patriot.
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Ahhh, I feel so much better now.
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When The Critic learned of my purchase, I believe there was a tremor in California when he fell off his chair in disappointment. He was aware of my very intense pursuit of the CRV. As a person who contently owned 3 short wheel base 2.4L Caravans over the past 26 years, there was not a single vehicle that called out to me last winter ('12-'13)while car shopping. Nothing could match the practicality that the Caravans provided our lifestyle and needs (Farmer, forester, diy'er,children/grandchildren).

With reliability, functionality, and cost as major factors, we shopped for 2 wheel drive SUV's as the next best thing. The engine oil consumption issue and no need for awd took the favored Forester off the list. The CRV was my next choice, but we simply could not get them to budge much on the price (and I am very skilled at this). My wife liked the Jeep Patriot and I reluctantly bought one.

We bought the base 2wd Sport model, "larger" 2.5 engine, "new" 6 speed tranny. Hand crank windows...I'm a minimalist....no bells and whistles to break later on. It's a cheap, unrefined entry level vehicle, with looks of the traditional Jeep. We had savings to pay cash, but opted for a slightly better financial option.

The major early Patriot problems were ball joints, leaky sun roofs, and IMO a poorly executed CVT. A complete 2011 refresh had many improvements. The 6 speed tranny is great, IMO. The GEMA engine was tweaked when Chrysler bought out the rights. The engine is unrefined, "buzzy", but has great reliability and plenty of zip for "me". With most of it's bugs now worked out, it is scheduled to stop production in the next year.

The rags are brutal to the Patriot. Owner reviews are just the opposite, except for sheeple that drink the kool-aid about needing the newest/bestest.

I can discuss more about it if interested, but this owner review at the Patriot forums says it all: http://www.jeeppatriot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=215145

With my maintenance skills and the very simple design, I am hoping for very low cost of ownership like my previous Caravans.

Flame suit donned, bring it on.
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Congrats! I'm sure it was thousands less than a CRV. As much as I like Hondas they can be ultra boring. Try to post some pics if you can.
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What car magazines know about what real people want in real cars would fill a thimble. Drive it and enjoy it.
 
@ TBDO: It's sometimes tough to be a non conformist with the tough audience here. But you are very correct. I say the same thing about people who buy performance cars.

Tell the parents? LOL My dad (RIP 1.5 yrs) would have disowned me if I had bought a "foreign" car. At least he won't turn over in his grave. My 48 year old baby brother broke the ice when he bought one in 2010.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
@ TBDO: It's sometimes tough to be a non conformist with the tough audience here. But you are very correct. I say the same thing about people who buy performance cars.

Tell the parents? LOL My dad (RIP 1.5 yrs) would have disowned me if I had bought a "foreign" car. At least he won't turn over in his grave. My 48 year old baby brother broke the ice when he bought one in 2010.



It is not tough at all to do. As long as I am the one toting the note, I'll drive what the bleep I want. A member of my family took a snide shot at me when I bought my Mustang new in 2008. She got her snide comment back with interest from me as a retort.
The tough comments IMO do not come from the auto part of this forum. The tough comments come from discussions about finance and mattresses. There are some people with some people to fail to understand the concept of individual circumstances.
 
There is also the shame to be endured because it is not a "real" Jeep and, eeeh gad, it's built on the Caliber platform! In uncharacteristic fashion, other Jeepers will not even wave to Patriot owners.

To boost our self esteem, we post pictures like this:
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EDIT: I hear you TBDO. I am posting this somewhat for fun. Although, I am not kidding about "The Critic" comment in my OP. He was very disappointed in me!
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Thank you gents. I was really expecting some good Chrysler bashing. Again, we bought this 2014 LAST April....running PP 5w20 at 6K initially, with thoughts on following the OLM (1 year/10K max) depending on how my first UOA pans out.
 
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Originally Posted By: doitmyself
In uncharacteristic fashion, other Jeepers will not even wave to Patriot owners.


The Jeep "pecking order" is long and complicated.

Back when I had my CJ-7, more than a few other CJ owners advised me to never, EVER wave at a Wrangler owner!
 
Originally Posted By: morepwr
Your money, your rules. The only one who has to like it is you!


Well, a look at BITOG over the past year or two will show that it is somewhat a kamikaze move if you post about buying new. The self righteous, holier than thou come out to instruct everyone on proper living and financial success according to their "legend in their own mind" assumptions. I don't think I have seen this phenomenon as bad at any other forum I visit. It is quite nauseating.

But, I digress. After all, it's only an internet forum. I've learned to avoid those toxic threads and don't wish to start one here.

Carry on with the "well done" comments!
 
Cheap, economical and spacious.
Cheaper, more economical and more spacious than either the CRV or the Forester.
I don't think that Honda offers a stick CRV anymore and the Forester stick is reportedly awful to use and would be hard to find.
If you don't need or want AWD, this thing seems like a good choice.
It's even fairly attractive and although the FWD platform does not lend itself to classic Jeep proportions, the Pat still looks pretty good.
It looks a lot better than its hideous Caliber parent.
It's a CUV, not a Wrangler, although most of the Wranglers I see are used as CUVs anyway.
What's not to like?
 
Enjoy, I heard a lot of things were worked out and improved from the first iteration I rented which I will leave no comment on.

For all that manual stuff did you get a manual transmission?
 
A Jeep Patriot was going to be my next choice had I not been able to strike the reasonably marginal deal I had on the new Subaru.

I've always loved the looks, versatility and price of them. I too prefer basic. Funny too, because for me, the Soob dealer and Jeep dealer are right next to each other. I first drove through the Jeep lot and all the Patriots I saw were the fancy high dollar ones. Drove 50ft to the Subaru dealer and spotted the XV Crosstrek I bought. The least optioned model you can get.
 
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We looked at one during Cash for Clunkers, the pricing Chrysler was doing on their vehicles at that time was insane. But the unrefined CVT killed it for us and we got a new Equinox.
 
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