After months of reading, shopping online, and looking I finally purchased a 2008 Jeep Compass. I began this process last May partly by reading this forum. I joined the forum in June and learned much about the MKs that I would not have been able to find anywhere else. Thanks everybody. My wife and I decided that we would sell her 2001 Durango (13 to 14 mpg) and she would drive the 2002 Liberty (17 to 18 mpg) that I have been driving. She only drives about 12 miles round trip to work and I drive 52 miles round trip. I sold the Durango about 6 weeks and have been seriously since then for a Compass. My original plan was to buy a leftover new 2008. I decided when I bought my Liberty that if I was going to buy a Jeep it would be a 4x4 and I decided I would do the same with the Compass. There are almost no 4x4 Compasses in Texas, believe me I have spent hours on the Jeep website searching. I found several in Colorado, but was unable to get any decent discount. I was willing to fly to Denver and drive the Compass back to Texas, in fact I was looking forward to it :banana:. After I gave up on a 2008 I contacted several local dealers about ordering a 2009. One didn't respond and the other 2 made it clear that I was looking at somewhere around $20,000. Since I have two and half kids in college, I needed to keep the price down. I began to look at used Compasses. I found a real nice blue 2007 at Carmax that drove and looked good. It had cvt, power windows, doors, and mirrors, and a/c. It was priced at $13,988. I found another green 2007 at a Jeep dealer with the same equipment for $13,698. The blue one had 22,000 miles and the green one had 19,000 miles. I was off this past Wednesday and decided I would drive the green one and then buy either it or the blue one. Well, Wednesday morning I took one last look at Autotrader and found a 2008 Compass with 15,000 miles for $12,988. It has the 25D package, but it does have cruise control. It is silver with the black or slate interior. It also has the cvt transmission. And it is now MINE! 
I figure I saved $4,000 to $5,000 over buying a new 2008 or close to $7,000 over a 2009. I used the proceeds from the sale of the Durango for the down payment, but I kept out $600 to buy a few accessories for my new Compass.
I picked up my Compass Thursday afternoon and after I got off work Thursday evening I went to a nearby Jeep dealer and ordered floor mats and the rear cargo area mat. I picked them up today during my lunch break. They look great! Both front mats have the Jeep logo and they hook onto the carpet to keep them in place. The rear mat also has the Jeep logo. Next week I will have the back windows tinted. After that I will have to figure out what is next. I may look at a roof basket or the rearview mirror with the temperature and compass.
I am so excited to finally have this vehicle! When I picked it up it had a half a tank of gas. Yesterday the low fuel symbol came on and I drove it another 10 miles or so before filling up this morning. It only cost $25 for a full tank of gas! I have read all of the comments regarding the interior and I like it - the only negative that I would agree with is the door armrest being too hard. I don't have a problem with the console arm rest. I had driven the 2.0 with the cvt last summer and wasn't overly impressed, but the 2.4 with the cvt is certainly adequate if not impressive, although North Texas is pretty flat. The other negative comment that I would agree with is the road noise being somewhat loud. I have the Firestone Affinity tires.
I am off tomorrow (Sunday) and I plan to wash and wax the new guy and then I will post some pictures. My original preference was to get a dark color (blue, black, or green) but I am getting used to the silver. My oldest son pointed out that silver does not show dirt or water spots as bad as some of the darker colors.
I filled up with my first full tank of gas. I got 24.8 mpg with about a 50/50 mix of highway and stop and go traffic. Until a couple of days ago we were still using the a/c here. Needless to say, I'm pretty pleased with that. The day I picked up my Compass I went to the nearest Jeep dealer and ordered the mats. I picked them up 2 days later.
I figure I saved $4,000 to $5,000 over buying a new 2008 or close to $7,000 over a 2009. I used the proceeds from the sale of the Durango for the down payment, but I kept out $600 to buy a few accessories for my new Compass.
I picked up my Compass Thursday afternoon and after I got off work Thursday evening I went to a nearby Jeep dealer and ordered floor mats and the rear cargo area mat. I picked them up today during my lunch break. They look great! Both front mats have the Jeep logo and they hook onto the carpet to keep them in place. The rear mat also has the Jeep logo. Next week I will have the back windows tinted. After that I will have to figure out what is next. I may look at a roof basket or the rearview mirror with the temperature and compass.
I am so excited to finally have this vehicle!
When I picked it up it had a half a tank of gas. Yesterday the low fuel symbol came on and I drove it another 10 miles or so before filling up this morning. It only cost $25 for a full tank of gas! I have read all of the comments regarding the interior and I like it - the only negative that I would agree with is the door armrest being too hard. I don't have a problem with the console arm rest. I had driven the 2.0 with the cvt last summer and wasn't overly impressed, but the 2.4 with the cvt is certainly adequate if not impressive, although North Texas is pretty flat. The other negative comment that I would agree with is the road noise being somewhat loud. I have the Firestone Affinity tires.I am off tomorrow (Sunday) and I plan to wash and wax the new guy and then I will post some pictures. My original preference was to get a dark color (blue, black, or green) but I am getting used to the silver. My oldest son pointed out that silver does not show dirt or water spots as bad as some of the darker colors.
I filled up with my first full tank of gas. I got 24.8 mpg with about a 50/50 mix of highway and stop and go traffic. Until a couple of days ago we were still using the a/c here. Needless to say, I'm pretty pleased with that. The day I picked up my Compass I went to the nearest Jeep dealer and ordered the mats. I picked them up 2 days later.
