Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: MarkC
Depends on what you want, but if you want more of an offroad behicle, there are better ones out there than this or the Liberty.
If you don't want an off-road vehicle, what other reason is there to buy an SUV?
Originally Posted By: MarkC
BTW the new Liberty is based on the Nitro, not the other way around
My sources:
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/GeneralFuture/articleId=116919
http://www.allpar.com/SUVs/dodge/nitro.html
Those are for previous model years, though. Is it the other way around now?
A. How many people who have SUV's go offroad? It's a small percentage. The Liberty is underpowered and clumsy compared to Nissan Xterra, Toyota FJ Cruiser, etc. But it's a Jeep and it that's what you want, that's what you want.
The Patriot competes with the likes of Subaru Forester, etc, and is good for people who want all-wheel drive (with the option of being able to lock all 4 wheels for deep snow, etc.)for ice and snow, and for going off the pavement a little.
It also doesn't hurt to get 23-28 mog.
I don't like the CVT myself, I always like a manual transmission.
As for reliability, not that I care much what Consumer Reports says, but they do say it's above average.
Most of the people on the Jeep Patriot Forum really like theirs and haven't been complaining about reliability very much. Of course, it's only been out for 3 years, so it may remain to be seen how they last.
I like mine, as I said. It's very close in size and weight to the old Cherokee, and I drove it in some decent snow and slush and it handled as if it were on dry pavement.
It comes down to going and riving one and if you like it, fine, if not, also fine.
B. I'm not sure whether the Nitro was based on the new Liberty or the other way around, but the Nitro was out on the lots earlier.