New Jeep?

HoosierMud · Mar 5, 2009

When our daughter graduates from Purdue this May, she wants to start looking for a new/used 1 or 2 years old vehicle. She is now driving a 1997 Saturn with something like 170,000 miles on the odometer. It is a good car for college, but she is looking to upgrade after graduation.

Since we can have really nasty winters in northwest IN, she has talked about the Subaru Forester (she might be able to get it for employee pricing), a Compass, or a Patriot. She definately wants 4WD (and we would feel better if she had 4WD).

While I'm prejudiced towards the Patriot, we owned a Subaru Outback a few years ago. What a fantastic vehicle it was. It was one of the best cars we have ever owned.

I won't try to sway her decision one way or the other, but I hope she chooses either the Compass or (my choice) Patriot.

Medic311 · Mar 5, 2009

a subaru forester is a solid vehicle. i'm not sure what she plans on doing with the vehicle, but that could sway the decision in one way or the other.

if she wants something fun to drive...go with the patriot!

tiptronic · Mar 5, 2009

You may find the Jeep cheaper to Insure, Being a USA domestic product!!

Medic311 · Mar 5, 2009

insurance isn't just based off of where it was manufactured. besides the actual value of the vehicle...safety and security features also help get you a better insurance. the insurance companies take the attitude that if you have rollover protection and many airbags and stability control, that you are less likely to get injured or die in a crash. also, if you have an alarm system, and stereo immobilizer, or use "The Club" that your car will be less likely to be stolen.

driver12 · Mar 5, 2009

i had a subaru legacy and i loved that car it was my first and it took a beating. when i got rid of it it had 199xxx miles on it. but on the other hand i love my jeep and i feel that the jeep is better in the snow then the subaru would be. but its up to her to pick. if i had to i would go with the patriot

UWPsocr13 · Mar 6, 2009

Hoosier... I live near Chicago and we definitely get rough winters. My last car was a mustang, and thank god I purchased the Jeep last fall before the winter we've had. With all the snow and ice we got I never had any problems driving. I feel much safer driving this, and my parents are a lot happier about it.

Dawson · Mar 6, 2009

Only thing I would say about the three is that the Compass has really bad blind-spots. Our Project Management Division is getting rid of theirs after a year because of this. I really like the new Forrester design too!

HoosierMud · Mar 6, 2009

Dawson said:
Only thing I would say about the three is that the Compass has really bad blind-spots.

When the Compass first came out, I sat in one and that was the first thing I said to my wife. The blind spot over the right shoulder is terrible.

DM6156 · Mar 6, 2009

Go Boliers!

When my wife and I were looking we considered the forester. We ended up going with the Jeep Patriot for several reasons.

we liked the specs on the FDII patriot (additional 1" ground clearance, 4x4 crawl ratio) over the FDI patriot. But, I also so some considerable off-road driving (rocks, mud, gravel, stream crossings, etc).

The patriot has lifetime power train warranty so total cost of ownership will be lower than competition.

The specs were appealing (ground clearance, interior room, fuel economy)

we liked the jeep reputation

Great deal on cost of a new 09. Granted, i had to drive many miles, but It was well worth the trip. Got a great trade in on my 02 dakota quad cab 4x4, the incentives + discounts were sweet at the time of my purchase in January.

Insurance of jeep is same as my old 02 dakota even though it is newer.

I'd suggest you take some time with your daughter, decide what she needs and what she wants and do some research. Regardless if you go with the jeep or the subaru, you want it to be able to handle any situation your daughter sees a need for.

http://www.automotive.com/index.html for specs
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm for mpg estimates
http://www.jeep.com/en/ lots of good information, i like the videos on 4x4 there.

good luck! maybe she'll join us here one day with her new jeep patriot or compass!

- Dan M

Harbor · Mar 6, 2009

If she decides to go with a 1-2 year old used vehicle, consider the pre-2008 Liberty.

My daughters & nieces have driven these through Michigan winters, and they are tanks.

Only downside is the fuel economy of approx 15 mpgs.

Matt09Silver · Mar 6, 2009

HoosierMud said:
When our daughter graduates from Purdue this May, she wants to start looking for a new/used 1 or 2 years old vehicle. She is now driving a 1997 Saturn with something like 170,000 miles on the odometer. It is a good car for college, but she is looking to upgrade after graduation.

Congrats on graduation (a bit early, but I'm sure by now she's already in to senior mode, I know I was a few years ago).

I drove a 97 Oldsmobile Achieva (the last year they made that POS, THANK GOD!) all through the end of HS and throughout college. It ended up with 101,790ish miles on it (although it was to the point that i wasn't sure if it was going to make it through the day when i had to drive it).

For someone who is in a similar situation as your daughter (I finished my B.S. in 06 and my M.S. in 08) I'm glad I went with the Patriot. Not only because I wanted a Jeep, but also because starting out after college I couldn't have asked for something better on my wallet. I got the Jeep wayyyy below sticker (walking in the last day of the month in the evening is a great tool if they are only a car or two short of their goals) and for insurance I'm paying under $350 for 6 months with full coverage (take into consideration I am already 25 so that helps).

I drove many similar sized and equipt compact SUVs and the Patriot was my favorite from the first time I sat down in the seat. I had been looking strongly at the Hyundai Santa Fe or Tuscon but driving the Pat one time, I was sold on it. It was also the MPG that I could get in this odd economy that helped.

Hope all goes well in your search for a new vehicle! :banana:

UA_who · Mar 6, 2009

The Forester is definetly the Patriot's most close competition. We looked hard at it before deciding on the Pat.

Pat over the Forester:
The Pat had the FDII package
American manufacturer
More likely to have off-road mods available
It's a Jeep

Forester over Pat
Fuel economy (over the FDII)
More model history

Scottg173 · Mar 6, 2009

It came down between a new Forester or Patriot for me. I wanted a patriot since 07, but was intrigued by the new design iof the forester. My previous car was a forester. To be honest, I got rid of it last month with 135k miles on it.. I had a lot of problems with it.

It broke down 3 straight years the eve of the biggest snowstorm of the year. Leaving me stranded and borrowing 2wd vehicles from friends and relatives.

Two years ago I got up one day, went in the forester and the whole passenger side floor, from front to back was completely drenched. None of the windows were left down, I brought it to three mechanics and finally the third one, a subaru expert said some cooling device was blocked and that was what caused it.

last month, the head gasket went. Lowest estimate to fix was $1100. I had enough. I looked it up and the subaru specialist confirmed that all 2.5 subaru engines have head gasket problems.. The new ones are still 2.5.

The insides of the Foresters are still made very cheap. I have read reports of 09 models already having interior problems..

I got my fully loaded Limited for $4k cheaper than the Forester with less options.

Just my 2 cents

Boy George · Mar 6, 2009

Why not tell your daughter to be a patriot and get a Patriot. The US economy needs it right now, so why support the japs instead? Where`s the american pride and patriotism? Your country needs you to buy american :smiley_thumbs_up:
And besides that - the Jeep Patriot is a great car, I love it!

lmaccaro · Mar 7, 2009

First off - boiler up! Purdue alum, class of '06.

Either vehicle will be decent. But, I found I could get a brand new Patriot for the price of an older used foriegn SUV. Buying Jeep will also help out America and you get a lifetime warrenty.

Unless she goes offroading, I have found 4wd is rarely necessary. In 8 yrs in NW Indiana winters, I had no problems with a 2wd Neon. There was only one single winter day in those 8 years that I borrowed my father's 4wd Cherokee instead of taking the Neon.

Remember that 4wd only helps you get moving, it doesn't help you stop. If the snow is so bad that you can barely get moving, you sure as hell won't be able to stop when you need to.

HoosierMud · Mar 7, 2009

lmaccaro said:
First off - boiler up! Purdue alum, class of '06.
Unless she goes offroading, I have found 4wd is rarely necessary. In 8 yrs in NW Indiana winters, I had no problems with a 2wd Neon.

Yep, I drove a Neon (head gasket leak and all) for 230,000 miles, till the engine finally blew. I only missed one day of work caused by being snowed in. Considering I drive 46 miles from La Porte County to South Bend, it says a lot about the Neon.

I'm sure she will be happier with the room the Patriot provides, than a smaller car. She has two Bassett Hounds: Bennie and Maggie, who will take up a lot of space in her vehicle.

While 4WD is rarely used by me in winter, I'd feel better knowning she had it available during inclement weather. It's a dad thing, I guess

Besides, I wouldn't have to shovel the driveway as often!

New Jeep?

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