I was introduced to the joy of jeeps in 95 and I have owned a 95 Wrangler, 95 Grand Cherokee, 96 TJ, 96 Cherokee Sport, and 79 Cherokee Chief which was probably my all time favorite... The misses and I are going to test drive a Patriot on Sunday and I can't wait.... I have been on the site for about a month and I felt I should introduce myself and stop lurking... I have enjoyed everyone's comments and pictures... Ok I have talked enough have a great jeep day...

Zak aka Jeepnik

Welcome!

I have owned a 95 Wrangler, 95 Grand Cherokee, 96 TJ, 96 Cherokee Sport, and 79 Cherokee Chief

Well, it's obvious you're a big fan of Jeeps. :smiley_thumbs_up:

The misses and I are going to test drive a Patriot on Sunday and I can't wait....

I look forward to hearing your report. It is always interesting to hear what dyed-in-the-wool Jeep dudes think of this new model.

Yes, welcome to the board

Good Morning All,

First let me start off by saying we forgot the camera so we didn't get any pictures... Ok we got to the dealership yesterday on a beautiful rainy NW day for our test drive... It was an odd package not like any of the ones I have seen on Jeep.com... This one had 4X4 with the like it was a Freedom II but no where on the sticker did it indicate that.. It had the 16 inch steel wheels which are the ugliest thing I have ever seen... I'm not a rim kinda guy but these looked like the inside of a 1970's pie tin... From the outside the Patriot looks really small when standing next to it...(I'm 6'2"),but once you get inside there is more than enough room.. The doors felt solid, closed with a thud instead of a tink like most vehicles. The seats were the cloth ones and honestly they were nice as hell... The missses drove first and it felt very solid from the passenger shift with the CVT there was no shift shock as we attempted to get on the freeway, it held the speed really well and didn't feel small or timid on the road... The visibility out of the front window is great but the small back window took a few minutes to get use to... Then we switched drivers, and behind the wheel I must say that I loved it, it handled great steering was tight and accurate, I was able to get it up to 90 on 405 in the rain without any complaints from the CVT, also the one we drove was the 2.4.. I had my concerns with the CVT but after driving it I can honestly say I think the near future holds 2 Patriots for our household... The dealership said that they had 3 Limited's coming in the next 5 weeks so we are anxiously awaiting, we put 500 down to hold a black loaded limited... Sorry for rambling on. Feel free to ask me anything I may have not covered because I am sure I forgot something. Have a great Jeep day...

Zak

What dealership did you visit? I live in the NW too, and none of the dealers near me have gotten a Patriot yet.

We went to Eastside Jeep off of 116th in Bellevue... It's pretty nice, its the kahki color it's almost a limited but no sunroof and lower end tire package... I really liked the color but the misses wants black and we have to get hers first... Oh yeah it had the 26E option package if I remember correctly.

...we put 500 down to hold a black loaded limited
nice choice! thats what im trying to get. what color did you drive? i wanted to know what the silver tank in the rear undercarriage looked like paired with the black or green paint. i drove a silver Limited and i didnt notice it.

We drove a Khaki colored one, it had the silver tank... I'm hoping that the darker color ones come with the dark tank, or do we get the skidplate over the tank with the Freedom II?

ya, that sucks if we have to get the FDII just to cover up the bright silver.