So after about 5 months of ownership. I regret buying the patriot. Especially brand new.
I think I got caught up in the hype of buying a new car.
If I didn't get the 'riot I don't know what I would of got. But I sorta wished I got a 02-04 Grand Cherokee. Or something like a xr6.
To be honest the 2.4L is sooooo slow. AT first it didn't worry me, but I can't stand it now. Due to where I live and work I have to merge onto a 90 and 80km/h zone respectively, UP a hill with a cold engine. With a toqure-less engine I struggle to get to 70km/h in the 90 zone at the merge area after accelerating @ 3000rpm up the entire hill. I don't want to rev the engine over 3000rpm while it's still cold.
Taking off from traffic lights is embarrassing unless I give to boot and make the engine rev to 3000rpm. I have grannies in sedans tailgating me as a take off under normal acceleration.
2.4L with stuff-all torque in a car that weighs 1500Kgs+ WTF? Fuel efficient? Nope. I struggle to get under 11l/100kms. Even in my old 3.5L V6 magna i got 10.3L/100kms on the same roads.
Even under really slow acceleration I can't get it under 11L/100kms in the Patriot.
Ok so the Riot is not a sports car, I know that. But maybe with it's unimpressive perfomance on road, it can compensate offroad? Nope.
Ground clearance stock? Smaller then my mates Falcon ute.
Low range? Nope. I know it's not a hardcore offroader, but still. I thought it would be half decent off road. The mud guard has even scraped a few times on gutters!
I have taken it offroad an I got so far, then I looked at the rough track ahead and saw images in my head of the Riot bottoming out and getting stuck, so I turned around.
Ok I still love the look. The black looks fantastic. I was thinking of some custom, slightly bigger rims, give off a even better look. Nothing over the top. But I dunno if it's even worth spending money on.
4wd handling in corners is amazing, even in a patriot. I was used to FWD's only and flying into a sharp corner in the riot was great, felt like it could keep gripping for ages, with none of the usual front wheel drive under-steer I was used to.
Late in the year I hope to buy something like a 2000 Grand Cherokee V8 and modifying it for reasonably hardcore offroading. Keeping the Patriot as a daily drive until next year.
Next Year I'm thinking of trading the Riot in on a 07-08 Grand Cherokee SRT8 OR a 00-02 BMW M5. Have not decided yet. But since they are expensive I think I may grow up a bit in the next 12 months and settle for a more reasonably priced ($30,000) 2004 BMW 540i V8 sedan. Or something similar.
For what it is, The Patriot is my favorite in it's class. But it's just not what I am after at the moment. I may try to palm it off onto the missus, because it seams a waste to own it for 12 months and sell it with only 20,000kms on it, but she thinks it's TOO big for her to drive and she seams to think her Toyota Echo will last her for the next 30 years or so.
So also how much do you think I can sell a 1 year old Patriot with around 20,000kms on it?
Perhaps all my whinging is just because I'm not used to a small engined car and I want to go fast. But hey, I can't help it, it's what I like.
I would like to get a car that I can proudly take to a track day or drag strip on the weekend and smoke bogans in their crappy, slow and boring xr-ss falcondores.
I don't know what to do. I think no matter what car I own I will always want something else. I can't help it.
