First off, Discounts are pretty good right now. so if you really shop it, you might find a NEW patriot 4x4 for that price. I know some people have gotten 2wd's for much less.

If you go used, you are in the salt belt, look for rust. Buy as new and as maintained as you can. Records are everything, if you find a car where somebody has documented every oil change, you probably have a really good buy on your hands. Ball joints on most Chrysler are suspect, patriot is no different. so if its got more than 25K miles on it check those. Check for any frame/body damage, or repair - a trusted mechanic is excellent for this. worth it to pay them a small fee to check out any car you might be interested in.

 

This, plus a couple other things. Some rant about how they hate the CVT, but it's more of a matter of learning how to use it. The 5-spd is nice, but a very few have had clutch issues of some sort. The 6-spd might work, but they had no reason to introduce it the way they did. Also, different people have had different experiences with fuel economy. A few get a bad experience with a 2wd or FD1 and only get 15-23mpg, but most can get 25-29mpg. If you wanna wheel it, probably a better idea to look for a FD2, but don't expect more than a 23-25mpg average. Might also wanna be wary of the earliest models, they were known for sunroof leaks. Mine has no sunroof, but does get a very slight leak(barely a trickle) down the rear window, and that only during heavy rains.

 

Try to go new if you can. There are some really good deals out there to be had right now. I got mine for 14.2K out the door. There is nothing like that new car smell. Sometimes I just sit in mine to enjoy that new car smell. lol!

 

Try to go new if you can. There are some really good deals out there to be had right now.

I'm with Mikos.

With that nice down payment, if you have any credit at all you should be able to swing a new 4X4 with ease.

Now get shopping.......

 

Okay, so I paid $23K for mine, but I bought mine brand new, and made absolutely sure it had the 2.4L and the 6 speed auto. I only have FWD, so I can't give you any info as to the fuel economy of the 4x4 models, but my setup is averaging about 24.2 MPG, and that is factoring in changing my wheels and tires to a wider footprint. I love my Patriot with the exception of one thing: no telescoping steering wheel on my model, just tilt.
As far as what to look for, everyone else hit the nail on the head.

 

I would opt for the 2.4L engine and get the 4 wheel drive. I love my Limited, but wish I would have gotten an FD1 4x4 instead of FWD.

 

If you want to finance around $10k then you will be hard pressed to get new from what I saw in the Syracuse area. After discounts they were still running $20k. So you would be financing $15k which is over your budget. Some dealers might give another $1k but that still wouldn't help you. Just doing a search centered on Syracuse + 250 miles out here is what I saw.

2014 Patriot 4x4 Latitude

Only 3k miles @ $17k... right at the top of your budget.


2013 Patriot Sport 4x4

15k miles @ $14k .. prob the best overall fit for mileage and price considering its 2 years old, under the avg mileage, and definitely in your budget after down payment. ***Manual stick*** Heck you could put $1k - $2k less down if you wanted and still have a small payment. On avg for every $1k its $20 more/less on the payment.

2014 Patriot Sport 4x4

18k @ $15k .. Pretty good fit as well for price and mileage. Puts you right solid in your budget. This is an automatic if you do not want stick.

There were a few lower in price but higher mileage. The comparision IMO is that they were not worth it when you could get one of the ones I listed for about the same price.

 

thinking about getting a new manual patriot. what are some of the problems people have had ?

 

No problems except that dealers like to sell you an extended warranty to pad their bottom line. First dealer I went to tried to do this to me and I said no. They insisted and told me that if I didn't get the extended warranty, they would under no terms sell me the vehicle for the net price advertised in their newspaper ad. I walked out.

The second dealer had one listed for $13K net price in their ad which came out to $14.2K out the door. No extended warranty gimmicks or sneaky last minute con games to sour the deal. So, I purchased it.

The Patriot I bought has the power value group which is a good value option. You get power windows, power door locks, body color door handles and a body color license plate eyebrow trim molding. A lot of the low price ad specials don't have it, so be aware. If you can, try to get one that has the power value group option if you're looking for the base model Sport .

It seems it doesn't matter to the dealers around here because I have seen both low priced ad special Patriots that have it and some that don't have it. This leads me to believe the dealers around here get a holdback for that particular option so it doesn't matter which ones have it when they pick out a particular Patriot for their low price ad specials.

Of course, this could be a regional thing and not available in other markets.

 

Hope rebates are active. 3000.00 one out check it out. AWD is great in winter not much beats it.

 

Welcome to the boards!!

 

Nicholas, what are you going to do with the Land Rover?

 

PS, Fuel economy is c30MPG with the 2.4 CVT and 30+ with the 2.0 5-spd. Our driving is 50% interstate, 30% state highways, 10% city, 10% rural roads.

 

I have no mechanical problems with mine. After all, it only has 800 miles on it. However, I do get a loud squeak sometimes when backing up and the shifter can be a little notchy at times.

Probably have to go check the parking brake cable bracket and the oil level in the transmission. Oh, and I already fixed the bouncing hood problem. One down and two more to go.

 

Nice!!! Good times a-coming!!

 

Nice! Which one did you get? Picks?

 

I typically do not like white vehicles, but that one looks outstanding. Congratulations.

 

Very Nice!!