Elsewhere on this site (somewhere), I posted a link to a report on CR's credibility issues. They have some major issues to iron out before I take their reviews seriously.

http://www.allpar.com/cr.html

 

Elsewhere on this site ... I posted a link to a report on CR's credibility issues.
They have some major issues to iron out before I take their reviews seriously.

HoosierMud,
I believe this is the Consumer Reports article you referenced:


2007 Jeep Patriot: First Look
21st-century Cherokee heir disappoints

BTW thanks for the reminder: I had intended include a link to this earlier CR write up in my initial post but forgot about it in the rush to get the Dec 2007 article uploaded to my webserver.

Irish Waif
​

 

Looking at the figures on page 4, the Patriot is very close to the other 3 SUV's in all the catagories.
They say poor excelleration, but the numbers are very close to the others.
They didn't mention how the others made out on there rock climb trail? Probably didn't try them.
I havn't got mine yet but from the test ride I did, all areas of the vehicle seemed fine. Rides alot smoother then my 89 cherokee.

 

Heh... The Dodge Caliber is at the bottom of the barrel too in the Wagons/Hatches section. The report does sound a bit off, especially the fact that they rated the Patriot's transmission with "Excellent".

 

Is there a page on the compass?

 

Is there a page on the Compass?

Nonames,

No, nothing about the Compass in this issue .. in fact it isn't even referenced, let alone reviewed. However if and when they do review the Compass or I discover an already published review of the Compass by the magazine, I'll be sure to post a notice as well as a link to the article if available, otherwise I'll just upload the relevant pages to my webserver.

BTW Nonames, when it comes to the Compass I'm in your corner. Although I love the Patriot, I've found that the Compass's unique styling has grown on me: so much so that it's going to be a tough decision when I finally plunk down my money for a new Jeep in the next few weeks as to which one of the 'Dynamic Duo' I ultimately purchase.

Gosh, first I struggled with color slection and now I'm stumbling over which of the two models I prefer. I guess ideally if I were married and money was no object, I'd buy one of each for the 'Love of my Life' and myself to mix, match and share .

Irish Waif

 

Let me tell a short story about the ethics of CR. In th mid 80's I owned a Suzuki 4x4. In one issue they said they were the next best thing to sliced bread and in 4 issues later it was the worst vehicle ever buillt, a death trap and should be banned from the roads. That issue destroyed the re-sale value. When no response was forth coming from Suzuki demanding a retraction or at least proving what they said a class action suit was brought by a group of owners. It was proven in court that contrary to what CR says about not excepting advertising they do except substantial donations (Suzuki had donated the previous year). It seems that Suzuki declined to bribe them for a favorable review so they retaliated by trashing a fine little 4x4. So take what ever you read within their pages with a grain-of-salt. By the way I was part of the settlement and received the market value of my Suzuki from the court ordered settlement.

 

Let me tell a short story about the ethics of CR ... So take what ever you read within their pages with a grain-of-salt. By the way I was part of the settlement and received the market value of my Suzuki from the court ordered settlement.

Tiburon,

Many thanks for sharing your story. I'm not totally wet behind the ears but I've got to say that hearing of your experience is deeply troubling to me, though I'm somewhat heartened to have learned that, at least in this instance, the legal system worked for you and the other class action plaintiffs.

Let's see now: Consumer Report's can't be trusted, there were no WMDs in Iraq and rumor has it that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are inventions of creative human minds - not to mention that the Tooth Fairy reportedly wears dentures! Honestly, I don't think I take much more bad news today.

Seriously though, it is really sad to learn that an iconic institution like Consumers Reports and its related foundation have somewhere along the line or perhaps always been less than completely ethical and transparent in the manner they go about their work. I'm one of the many who actually trusted their assessments of products, though I'm sometimes disagreed.

BTW, on a lighter note, thanks for including a snapshot of yourself with your new Patriot in your post; believe it or not, I actually did envision you looking like the guy in your Avatar.

Kind Regards my friend,
Irish Waif
​

 

I think the reviewer gave his hidden bias away when he complained that the Patriot didn't have a middle headrest in the rear seat area. Now I learn about those "Donations" something stinks here!

 

I believe the article reviewed the Trail Rated Patriot with the CVT2 which makes it somewhat heavier and the gear ratios are lower therefore a bit slower 0-60. Plus if I'm not wrong it was the only 4 cylinder in the batch that was reviewed. Hardly fair comparisons to 6 cylinder cars that are not Trail Rated.

 

Just got my 4x4 Patriot Limited last week, with the manual transmission, and I think it has plenty of get-up-and-go. I find it to be an all around wonderful car. No flappen hood problems, gets lots of stares, so far almost 400 miles 60% highway and 27.2mpg.....not bad at all for the little guy!

 

I understand that the Patriot engine is detuned by the computer during the break-in period to reduce stress on a new engine. I have 1,000 miles on mine and I have to say that it has very impressive go for a 4 cylinder 4x4 vehicle. She has all the oomph I want, and this is from a guy who once owned a car that went from 0 to 60 in about 6 seconds, and could do over 60 mph in first gear. Obviously the Patriot can't do THAT, but it is no embarrassment either.

 

CR is like any other business, profit is the bottom line. When they first tested the Suzuki along with several other vehicles they used a 75ft test circle to determine minimum rollover speed. The Suzuki placed second overall(the CJ was the first to roll) in the test. With the next so called test they tested only the Suzuki in a 55 ft circle and rolled at a higher speed than was used to test the other vehicles. The court determined that this was done on purpose to discredit Suzuki, the reason was as I said, Suzuki declined to pay a bribe to the magazine for a favorable report in an upcomeing retest of "all" the previously tested vehicles used in the last test. The records of the case are public record. Available to the public in Santa Clara, California.

 

CR is only good for rating detergents and light bulbs.

 

Dean would shi* if he saw that Hyundai made second place... granted, I really dig the styling of the Santa Fe, but as hubz is always quick to remind me, "There's a reason why it's Hyundai and not Honda!"

P.S. As far as the Riot review is concerned, to borrow a lyric from one of my favorite 311 songs, "[Screw] the naysayers cuz they don't mean a thing cuz this is what style we bring!"

 

amen sister!

 

I read the same article and I don't seem to have any of those problems. I get great gas mileage (24-27mpg) and I drive a lot (60-75mi. a day)! My 2.0 has good pick-up and I never hear any engine noise. I wonder how they choose the vehicle to be tested...

 

When I was doing my research on the Patriot, which took me all weekend, cause I read and re-read things to make sure I was doing the right thing for me. I read reviews and then I went and read customer reviews. I rather read what the owners of the vehicle had said. At that time, they were all on the first year out. There were a few that didn't like it, there were several that loved it. Then I found the forum.

BUT not everyone does what I do and they base their opinion on what the reviews are in the magazines also.

 

The only thing I don't agree with in the article is that I find the front seats comfortable.

I believe about every problem area they found has been commented about in this forum by someone, and then quickly told by many that it doesn't exist and MUST be their vehicle only.


Seems like a pretty straight up review to me.

 

Not really surprised, since the First Look was pretty brutal too:

http://www.jeeppatriot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2288&highlight=Consumer+Reports

They also gave poor reviews to the Caliber SXT, Caliber R/T AWD & The Jeep Compas Sport. (All 2007 Models)

So no I'm not really surprised.

BTW: I haven't read this issue yet (I have a supscription) but I know that when they reviewed the Jeep Compass Sport in the February 2007 issue all the vehicles that placed higher than the Compass also had a higher "As Tested" price.
The RAV4 Limited V6 was ranked First out of 18 with an "As Tested" price of $30,328. (USD)
The Jeep Compass Sport placed 14th out of 18 with an "As Tested" price of $21,660. (USD)
Out of all 18 vehicles that were ranked in the Small SUV category the Jeep Compass Sport had the lowest price.

If you factor price into the rankings (which CR does Not do) then you can see what a great value the Jeep Compass & Patriot are.

It is odd that the 07 Sport FDI model of the Compass beat the 08 Limited FDII model of the Patriot.

 

I have read CR at the magazine rack on and off for years but have never not purchased a vehicle because of thier ratings or reviews. I have owned a lot of new vehicles and only have had a couple that were pcs of crap. I had a 2002 ZR2 for a three year lease and it never had to go in for anything the whole time I had it even though the sonoma 4x4 had a very low reliability rating. The best place to find out how good a vehicle is in my opinion is from someone who actually owns one like in these forums which helped me make my descision to buy the patriot easy. For what the Patriot cost and what you get I can't think of a better small suv out there. Iv'e only owned mine for 1 month but have already got 2400 trouble free and fun miles on it. In fact we are going be trading in the Vibe this spring because my better half wants one now because she just loves driving mine:icon_rolleyes: almost too much lol.

 

For a more favorable review of the Patriot, get a copy of the Dec07 issue of Car & Driver. They did a better job of publishing a review. They actually took it off road in the desert to contuct a true evaluation of the Patriot's capabilities.

Hope this post is readable as I entered irt via my Blackberry while in the Tampa airport waiting on a flight to Houston. See ya'll in a couple of weeks.

 

Read it perfectly. I've been decyphering text msgs from my kids for years now. No Problemo Wade.

Safe Journey and see ya back here in a couple!

Randy

 

I find that CR tends to exaggerate flaws that just don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Their comments about the interior are a case in point. We tested a RAV4 with a V6, and we thought the interior was rubbish. It was full of cheesy clusters and pods, and the driving position was very strange. The engine was great, but the price you paid for that V6 was a tad bit ridiculous considering what you got for your money overall. When we optioned the RAV4 up, we were pushing $40K (Cdn.).

We were looking to trade in a 2001 TJ, and we flat-out rejected many of the CR recommendations as being far too "soccer mom". When the Patriot came out, we found it to be a natural fit in terms of what we wanted: good mileage, a simple four wheel drive system, good cargo hauling, and absolutely no BS. Maybe it was because we were coming from a TJ that the Patriot's no-nonsense approach appealed to us. CR clearly doesn't come from a Jeep culture, and they market to those who insist on "soft touch" interiors. I'd rather be able to hose the interior down, you know?

I've got a list of things that I'd like to change about our Patriot, but I've had a similar list for every single vehicle I've ever owned. The bottom line is that if you're looking for something more truck-like and you value your money, this is likely your best choice.

Oh, and I flat out reject CR's comments about the handling. That's what sold me on the Patriot. It's a little soft on-centre at highway speeds, but I think it's impressively nimble in pretty much every other context.

 

What's this I hear about Santa Claus?

 

I'm a very happy Patriot owner

Those magazine pundits may say whatever they wish but I can tell to all of you that I'm absolutely happy with my Patriot and those that have a problem with the Pat can go and stuff themselfs if they wish.

 

Those magazine pundits may say whatever they wish but I can tell to all of you that I'm absolutely happy with my Patriot and those that have a problem with the Pat can go and stuff themselfs if they wish.

Made me giggle

 

Thought that I'd pass these 2 Patriot review links along to all of you from Expeditions West and Automobile Magazine.

The Expeditions West review is used now on Jeep.com, but the link sometimes doesn't work, so I figured I'd post it here for those of you who haven't read it.

After reading the abysmal Patriot write up in Consumer Reports, these articles may shed a somewhat different light on this unique and affordable Jeep.

Enjoy . . .

http://www.expeditionswest.com/equipment/reviews/patriot/index.htm

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/suv/0704_2008_jeep_patriot/index.html

 

Thanks for those links. Much appreciated, and I'm sure they'll be helpful for folks who are trying to decide what to buy.

 

Earlier this year CR gave predicted reliability reports for new vehicles and published "above or good" predicted reliability on vehicles without history.
If I remember right it was about the Tundra. GM made a minor stink over it and it went away fairly soon. CR should however stick to their area of knowledge...---> toasters and vaccums. Cars are for the pros.