Fiat has already announced it will discontinue the Compas and the Patriot and merge the two vehicle into one based on an exhisting fiat frame. I know that Old School Jeep owners remember AMC, GMC and now Chrysler Jeeps. But will you still buy Jeeps if they nolonger produce the Jeep we all love. What I want to know is, If you can't buy a Patriot what will you buy???

I am a first time Jeep owner, but I am not new to the Jeep scene. I don't know yet if I will buy Jeeps from Fiat. I am sad they plan to axe the Patriot. It just got its start and I think it could have really taken off as a long main stay with Jeep.

Fiat is just looking at the bottom line and Jeep may lose some of its "Jeep" feel. A Jeep is meant for the trail, not to be a “city” car that gets 45 mpg. If that is the direction that Fiat takes Jeep then I might just get another Ford truck.

I do plan on keeping my Patriot till it dies. I want to see how long they say a "lifetime" is.

I guess I would buy a Jeep Wrangler four door or the Commander. If they lose their "Jeep" feel. Then I will get a Ford something.

Being italian,
dont mind fiat,
Being american would buy US made over foreign made,
if Jeep is still made in US i will consider it,
If it is made elsewhere, including Italy, (even if its made in my birthplace) i will not.

as for what else would i buy?
i will look at what is still made in US at the time.
saturn Vue, ford escape.
If cant find something made in US,
Will buy a Bus/train pass and a good pair of sneakers. maybe some italian shoes instead :).

it all depends on how the new jeep-fiat will looks like.

Depends on the product and how "American" it remains. Jeeps have been built in this country by American Bantam, Ford, Willys-Overland, Kaiser, AMC, AMC-Renault, AM General, Chrysler, Daimler-Chrysler, and now Chrysler-Fiat. Probably another half dozen or more foreign manufacturers under license as well. The marque is certainly a survivor, as long as the heritage is kept in the product.

It it were not for the Patriot, I would not have a new Jeep. I was driving a Chevy HHR then I noticed a Jeep with acceptable mileage so I bought both a Compass and a Patriot. Prior to the gas price crunch, I was driving a 1983 CJ8 Scrambler and a 1982 Jeep J-10 Pickup most of the time.

There is nothing else in the current Jeep line that wasn't clearly done far better in the past by Willys, Kaiser or AMC. I'll spend my $18K restoring a real Jeep rather than wasting it on a new one.

There is nothing else in the current Jeep line that wasn't clearly done far better in the past by Willys, Kaiser or AMC. I'll spend my $18K restoring a real Jeep rather than wasting it on a new.

I totally agree. The toughness of the Jeep line-up has gone down hill over the year a bit. I was asked by an aunt whether to get a new Jeep Wrangler or a CJ3 for her son. I said go with the CJ3, YJ or early TJ.

Like you said, nothing else in the lineup caught my attention like the Patriot.

I think I would give the Fiat platform the benefit of the doubt and not rule out buying one simply because it's made in Italy. They make some fine cars in Italy. The patriot platform being sold now is based on a Mitsubishi product. Let the R & D team and the engineers at Jeep work their magic on it. There is nobody in the world better at designing a 4x4 than Jeep. If they screw it up? I'm going to spring for the Toyota FJ.

I came from a FIAT family in Brazil, at one time we had like 8 or 9 of them in the extended family. I learned to drive on a FIAT 147 and the first four cars I owned were FIATs. Yes, I would buy a Jeep from FIAT.

Jeep guys continued buying Jeeps when AMC had the partnership with Renault. The Jeep brand is, along with Harley, perhaps the most iconic American brand. I am sure FIAT will treat the Jeep brand better than Chrysler or Dodge. Italians love cars with character, Jeep has loads of it.

Enzo Ferrari famously said "The Jeep is America's only real sports car!".

Fiat has already announced it will discontinue the Compas and the Patriot and merge the two vehicle into one based on an exhisting fiat frame. I know that Old School Jeep owners remember AMC, GMC and now Chrysler Jeeps. But will you still buy Jeeps if they nolonger produce the Jeep we all love. What I want to know is, If you can't buy a Patriot what will you buy???

GMC Jeeps? :confused:

I think the main reasons Fiat wanted to acquire Chrysler was for their dealer network AND the JEEP LINE! From what I've heard from our new corporate execs, they are VERY big on Jeep and want to expand the line, export more to the EU and other parts of the world.

All of this can be nothing but GOOD news for our favorite Chrysler brand. The more they make and sell, wherever, will only make the company that much stronger. I look for Jeep to have a very bright future. :smiley_thumbs_up:

As a Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge dealership employee, it's Dodge and Chrysler that I'm most concerned about. :confused:

as for what else would i buy?
i will look at what is still made in US at the time.
saturn Vue, ford escape.
If cant find something made in US,
Will buy a Bus/train pass and a good pair of sneakers. maybe some italian shoes instead :).

Well, unless you're buying a used one, you can scratch off the Saturn Vue, as first, it's a Daewoo built in South Korea and second, Saturn is soon closing it's doors.

"The Opel Antara is a compact crossover SUV produced in South Korea by GM Daewoo, but sold under the Opel brand. Launched in 2006, the Antara is based on the GM Theta platform which shares its underpinnings and powertrains with the Daewoo Winstorm. However, it has a different exterior and interior design, along with different exterior dimensions. In the United Kingdom, the car is sold as the Vauxhall Antara. In Australia and New Zealand the car was known was the Holden Captiva MaXX until sales were suspended in 2008; in late 2009 it returned as the Holden Captiva 5. In the United States and Canada it has been sold as the Saturn Vue from 2007 through to 2009 (until Saturn closed down most recently), while in the Middle East, the vehicle is sold as the GMC Terrain,[1] and as the Chevrolet Captiva Sport in Mexico, India, Brazil and Uruguay."

Guess it's always good to know WHAT we are buying and WHERE it was built. At least the Ford Escape (even with it's Mazda heritage) is made in Kansas City (Claycomo) Missouri.....:smiley_thumbs_up:

Like the piece on the LA Times that said Toyota Matrix are made in Japan when they are actually made in California...

Fiat didn't buy Chrysler as an act of charity; Fiat intends to make money with Chrysler. They're smart enough to know that won't happen if they lose Jeep's reputation for quality and durability. My guess is they won't screw up success.

That said, if a product isn't selling, it'll disappear quick, and rightfully so. There is a lot of redundancy in Jeep/Dodge and they could thin out the lineup without losing much in sales.

So the answer to the question is Yes, I would buy another, but it better be a good one.

WOW, you all put a lot into this thread. I also bought my patriot for life. I paid extra for the warranty and plan on making it pay for itself. I have always loved Jeeps and watched them evolve slowly thru the years. As long as Fiat continues producing a quality product Jeep should survive. Jeeps roots are too strongly interwoven into the fabric of our country. I don't want to see an America without Jeep. I think discontinuing the Patriot is a bad decision. Mainly because I love mine so much. I only hope it is replaced by a better product not a more "cost-effective" product. As long as "someone" honors my lifetime warranty I will not need to buy another new vehicle. That is until my son starts driving in 16 years. Then he will get the Patriot and I'll have to buy his mother a new car.

Like the piece on the LA Times that said Toyota Matrix are made in Japan when they are actually made in California...

toyota makes/sells about 8 million cars a year,
of which about 1 million are assembled in US,
GM on the other hand makes/sells about 8 million and about 1 million are made overseas,
yet every toyota owner claims theirs are made in US,

I came from a FIAT family in Brazil, at one time we had like 8 or 9 of them in the extended family. I learned to drive on a FIAT 147 and the first four cars I owned were FIATs. Yes, I would buy a Jeep from FIAT.

Jeep guys continued buying Jeeps when AMC had the partnership with Renault. The Jeep brand is, along with Harley, perhaps the most iconic American brand. I am sure FIAT will treat the Jeep brand better than Chrysler or Dodge. Italians love cars with character, Jeep has loads of it.

Enzo Ferrari famously said "The Jeep is America's only real sports car!".

Where was the design process for the XJ when Renault bought in? Did they push for the unibody design? They cleverly left the engine and drive line components the same as what Jeep had been using. That is the thing that strongly alienates long time Jeep buyers. We need the torque of a I6 engine.

Prior to my patriot I've been driving Fiat and Alfa-romeo all my live, so would I still buy a jeep once it has been taken over by Fiat ? Sure do, they make some fine cars, indeed 10 years ago there were electrical issues, but my last Fiat (a punto 1.9 JTD) was a great car, low gas milage, comfortable. The reason why I bought a jeep was to get de nice (non japanese) 4x4 that you don't see on a daily bases.

It all depends how the car will look, but I'm sure that the engine will be of good quality.

yet every toyota owner claims theirs are made in US,

Nope, I owned a Prius that was clearly made in Japan. All one needs to do is look at the VIN, but most people are ignorant of cars anyway. I used to live a few miles from the factory that made the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe in California.

Where was the design process for the XJ when Renault bought in? Did they push for the unibody design? They cleverly left the engine and drive line components the same as what Jeep had been using. That is the thing that strongly alienates long time Jeep buyers. We need the torque of a I6 engine.

You can blame Chrysler for that minivan engine on the Wrangler. I never cared for Chrysler, I wish Jeep would divorce from Chrysler for good. Besides the Jeeps, Viper, Ram trucks and maybe their minivans I see not much stuff that is good on their line up. I hope the Italians will finally do that.

Everyone keeps saying that Fiat makes good Cars, but Jeep is not a Car company. Jeep is a 4x4 company. Now I don't know the answer to this off the top of my head. I will look into it. Does Fiat make a good 4X4 or a an SUV? How much influence will they have on the Jeep designers? I like a lot of European cars, but I haven't been impressed with any European SUV's. I know Porsche makes an SUV but one would be crazy to take a Porsche where we take our Jeeps. I just don't want to see Jeep go back to where it was in the early 90's when the Wrangler had little better then car tires on it.

I would also like to see Jeep depart from Chrysler, but would Jeep survive on its own? I think that Jeep could survive on its own if it separated from Chrysler but it would have to reinvent the entire drive train, because it is loaded with Chrysler patented parts. So if Jeep could do that and produce a good product it would survive and thrive. But Chrysler will never let the Jeep designers to stray away from Chrysler parts because it keep Jeep tethered to Chrysler.

Wouldn’t it be just great if Jeep got free of Chrysler then established itself, dominated the market, then turned around and bought Chrysler. Hell why they were at it buy GM too.

We need the torque of a I6 engine.

Relatively few need the torque of the I6 engine. Believe me, when I say the 3.7L engine is more than adequate enought for 95 percent of the people who own Jeeps.

Again, I state the people who criticize the 3.7L (3.8L I've never driven) either have never driven one, or they have way too high expectations.

This comes from someone who put over 300,000 miles on a 4.0L XJ. Would I love the 4.0L to come back. Yes. Will it? No. Am I happy with the 3.7L in our new Liberty. Absolutely.

i was born in argentina, lived there for 14 years, then moved to Belgium, and lived there for almost 3 years, and now i'm here in the U.S, i've been here for 9 years. I drove american cars, european cars, and asian cars.

I love and trust european cars, my dad drove Renault (french cars) all his life and they are great, and i know a lot of people that have fiats in Argentina.

If the "FIAT JEEPS" look good and have a good warranty, then i will still buy them.

Did you own any European SUV's?

Relatively few need the torque of the I6 engine. Believe me, when I say the 3.7L engine is more than adequate enought for 95 percent of the people who own Jeeps.

Again, I state the people who criticize the 3.7L (3.8L I've never driven) either have never driven one, or they have way too high expectations.

This comes from someone who put over 300,000 miles on a 4.0L XJ. Would I love the 4.0L to come back. Yes. Will it? No. Am I happy with the 3.7L in our new Liberty. Absolutely.

O.K. I need to see an I6 engine under my Jeeps hood. :D
I don't really care what kind of performance it offers. It is like seeing the 3 holes on the side of a Buick hood. They just have to be there.

Land Rover has been going since 1946-- It too has been through bad management, bankrupcy, bad designs & engines , poor build quality. It has been owned by the the British , the Americans ( Ford ) & now the Indians . Like Jeep it has survived & will survive --because like Jeep it is a World Icon & has a great & enthusiastic following.Nomatter who ownes them the Brits would never let Land Rover die & I'm sure that the USA & NA will never let Jeep die. Icant see FIAT being Jeeps last owner & feel sure that one day Land Rover will be truly British again & that Jeep will return to American ownership. Dont worry about Jeep , its a tough old bird & its going to take a hell of a lot to kill it off. FIAT ownership may open it up to a whole new market place & a new generation of Jeep lovers....Keep the Faith Brothers!!