Yup. Heard the same and ignore them. Most likely they are just realizing they have the wrong vehicle and the rest are just haters.

 

What Captaincog said.

People in general are ignorant of what they do not know those people copy what they heard from Joe that heard from Jill that read from Josh who paraphrased from John. Half the reviews on the internet are the same one review copied several times over. Are there some better options out there...in separate areas and at a higher price, sure. Wanna know some terrible engines? 2011 Ford Rangers which weigh about 3,300lbs are still using the same well-known (and admittedly by some by Ford fanatics to be plagued with performance issues) for still having terribly underpowered 12 year old engines: 2.3L 143HP, and 4.0L V6 with a measly 207HP?? Point is, Patriots don't deserve the harsh negativity they have received.

Dodge and Jeep are still selling cars because they sell what the others are afraid to do. Vehicles that people demand which don't quite fit a typical company CEO's 5 year grab-a-profit-and-run projection.

The Patriot was what many of us on here needed and it was offered when we needed it while we could afford it too. I really enjoyed it until I stepped into the new vehicle after my wife was raving about it and we agreed more passenger/cargo volume was in order. I will miss the compact, yet forgiving, guy though.

 

sure have. Consumer reviews, edmunds all wrote kind of negative reviews. The thing with edmunds though a 2007 model price at about 9, 300 at the TMV price and you can use this to get what it is really worth. Many people are simply ignorant on it in my opinion and dont know how capable it is. It was voted the best SUv that costs less this year

It comes down to if its for you.
Do I want a SUv? yes because Ive had one from my very first car and if I must compromise from mid-size SUV due to budget I want something that still looks rugged and nice.
Do I want something that gets good gas mileage? extremely important
Do I want something that can go at least a little offroading without getting struck? Yes
Do I want something that looks nice? Yes
Do I want something that costs less and still has just about everything I want? Yes

check out Edmunds latest review; they murder the Patriot http://www.edmunds.com/jeep/patriot/2011/?sub=suv

 

Every where I look for reviews and everyone I talk to hate the car. I've heard things like: It's too small, too weak of an engine, a wimpy jeep, a failure, and not a jeep...What? I'm venting to you guys on this forum because I'm wondering if anyone else shares my pain? My friends love it and say it's great but I hear a lot that it shouldn't be a jeep. Does anyone else hear the stupid insults to the jeep Patriot?

Yes, but only from Jeep owners???

Most of my family and friends really like it. I guess the "Real Jeep owners" don't like it because it isn't a big footed rock hopper with a huge power-plant?

Surely a manufacturer can make more than one style of vehicle without this rubbish!:soapbox:

PS..... found this out when I tried to find a club to join to learn more and find some off road & camping spots. Waste of time that was...

 

agree tottaly, the locals for some reason hang crap on patriots always, i got mine back at one when i had to pull a new cherokee out of a mud hole, as you are in brisvegas , joined the sunshine coast club, got nothing but crap from theme even when i tried to help some of them out with technical stuff related to mygig, funny thing is my car features at mopar sunday and they all come over to say hi to me and say nice things, they had no clue i was the same person they slagged at the club...ahweelll, it is suprising how many pats are on the roads here now

 

The reviews usually mention that the CVT transmission is a weakness. Meanwhile, I consider the CVT to be the best part about the car: it allows for great acceleration. The noise of the engine, when accelerating at the lower speeds is admittedly annoying and the interior of the 2010 at least is a little plasticky but both have been worked on for the 2011 edition, making the car quite a nice purchase. Screw the reviewers either way, their opinion is as valid as your neighbour's or best friend's.

 

You think CVT is good?
That is the main thing I hate about the patriot.
You are just cruising along and you suddenly put your foot to the floor and nothing happens for 2-3 seconds then its like "oh you want to go faster, ok ill give it a shot"
Then its just annoying when it holds the engine in 1 spot while accelerating

I' ll never touch a CVT again with a 10 foot pole.

 

In other words, unless you have the rather specific need for an inexpensive SUV with a true 4WD system that includes a low-range transfer case, we'd suggest you give this Patriot a crisp salute and look at competitors that concentrate on doing one thing very well.

Well, they are wrong about the transfer case since it is just a low range on the transmission, but they hit the nail on the head! That's exactly what I was looking for... and I still came away with heated leather seats and navigation for well under 25k.

I was interested in the Rav4, but my wife didn't like the looks, and I couldn't really see myself trailing along to a remote campsite in a Rav4. Now that I think about it, we were also looking at the new Santa Fe's. The V6 in the Rav and Santa Fe is what really appealed there... but the Patriot does have plenty of power for what I need. And to boot, I don't know of any small suv that provides skid plates other than the Patriot/Compass. The more I looked at the Patriot, the more the Jeep styling was growing on my. I couldn't be happier with my choice

 

People are unwilling to accept this vehicle for what it is. An inexpensive useful vehicle. A "jack of all trades, master of none" vehicle. It is a great useful capable Jeep. Enjoy and ignore the talk. (do not try to pull a 24 foot Airstream. That is a joke photo)

 

A classic

People are unwilling to accept this vehicle for what it is. An inexpensive useful vehicle. A "jack of all trades, master of none" vehicle. It is a great useful capable Jeep.[...]

Exactly. And isn't that's what was said about the grandaddy of all Jeep ( The willys ?) ?

The Patriot is a great Jeep. It is the best Jeep for this millenium and will be remembered fondly. It's a classic.

 

KBB seems to like the Patriot.

Most important of all, I love my Patriot!

If someone has something bad to say about my vehicle, that's their business. They can enjoy their overpriced foreign model.

 

CHEAPEST 4 wheel drive vehicle of any kind! thats what i wanted and got. It has the best mpg of any 4 wheel drive vehicle and it looks cool. Its just what i wanted in a vehicle. Gets me where I need to go in the least expensive way and somewhat stylish way. I need 4 wheel drive here in colorado. If I had the money I would have probably gotten the new grand but I don't have the money lol

 

CHEAPEST 4 wheel drive vehicle of any kind!... It has the best mpg of any 4 wheel drive vehicle...

Ding ding ding ding!
We have a winner!!


That's what Jeep wanted. That was their target audience. The Patriot fits the bill perfectly.

 

dont get me wrong here but I love my jeep. the one thing i wish it had was a v6 model. i want more power.

 

The Jeep patriot is perfect for what it's DESIGNED to be nothing more or less I had an 09 and loved and really miss it ironcily esp the room and mpg lol currently driving a 97 wrangler which i love very very much but thiking of a more economical DD haha. all those haters can just buy another vehicle the Patriot has the perfect name, option and room for its purpose epper:

 

currently driving a 97 wrangler which i love very very much but thiking of a more economical DD haha.

Might I interest you in a 2012 Wrangler? 17/21 vs 13/16

 

. . . holds it's own off road ( unlike most SUV cross over vehicles) . . .

A FWD Patriot is probably as capable off-road as most of the so-called crossover vehicles. If you look at what 4WD Patriots can do, they'd be pulling the other crossovers out of the mud if they tried.

I bought my Pat because I wanted good economy, a comfortable ride, reasonable interior space, and I don't stay home in snowstorms: Ignatz does any of those things as good or better than any other FWDs and most crossovers. Any vehicles that equal the Patriot in any of those categories usually fall far short in another.

 

A FWD Patriot is probably as capable off-road as most of the so-called crossover vehicles. If you look at what 4WD Patriots can do, they'd be pulling the other crossovers out of the mud if they tried.

You got that right! Have you seen the video where a Patriot rescues an FJ Cruiser, twice! And those FJ's are supposed to have a great drive system for trails (I would have considered one) and can reach over $30K quickly.

A Jeep club I met with a few times gave me a hard time, calling it "cute", with one delinquent in his bashed up full-size Jeep going as far to pretend that I, as a person did not exist (not acknowledging greetings and interrupting conversations and such to divert attention back to how he and his rust bucket were better than everyone- even if people were talking about places to eat). But the majority were interested in seeing it in action, envied that it provided a nicer highway ride and nearly twice the fuel economy (I had 16MPG average after a full day off-roading in the mountains, the Wranglers were getting about 6-10MPG), and they were mildly impressed that it handled everything I ran it through (and up and over)- save for one short length of trail that stock Rubies were getting hung up a bit on where I turned around (but did so in a somewhat fashionable way) and took a bypass.

 

The patriot is awesome vehicle....when its new. Once the miles start to add on the pat it begins to fall apart. How many threads are out there talking about replacing control arms, ball joints, tranny failure, electronic failure, and recently a engine seizing from getting splashed. I like the pat but im starting to doubt its reliability. Even the new ones already having problems from the start. I have a 2011 and its starting to have issues early in the game. A new vehicle should not have so many problems, especially in its 5th production year (07-11) Id imagine they would have address all these problems and the 2011 should be near perfect.....well time and miles will tell.

P.S. Im still cheering for the pat, especially when the new platform arrives

 

That's funny, because the Patriot is rated more reliable than certain other Jeeps and vehicles that nobody seems to talk about the reliability of....

 

(Still) love my Patty -- warts (CVT & noisy engine) and all :Racing:

 

Don't get me wrong I like the patriot ( reason I bought it ).The reliability of the pat is my opinion based on my experience and reading threads and comparing it to other vehicles I have owned. I think every pat will be different because of driving style, maintanence up keep, enviroment, ect. My brother owns a 09 sport with 60 K miles and no hiccups. The roads he drives on a daily basis and the places he takes his pat makes me a believer that his pat is tough and reliable. Again, time and miles will tell the rest of the story

 

The reliability of the pat is my opinion based on my experience and reading threads and comparing it to other vehicles I have owned.

Just my .02.

Human nature is what it is. We tend to remember the negative rather than the positive. Many of us will go to a restaurant a hundred times, have a great meal and great service every time, and never tell a soul. One day you walk in, something bad happens, and you tell everyone you know it is a horrible restaurant.

Yes I know a restaurant is not the same as a car. But I think you get my point. Many people never post anything on a forum until they have a problem. They are mad and need to blow off steam, or they are looking for a solution to their problem.

This is not the case for many of us, but you need to take things in perspective. I had a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer for 7 years, and it was rock solid. I crashed it or I would be driving now. I did not have any major repairs on the car. Yet when I would look for reviews online, I would see plenty of people complaining. Did I conclude that the TrailBlazer is a bad car based on what I read? Nope, and I am sure glad I didn't.

Again, just my .02

 

We did A LOT of research before we bought the Jeep Patriot.
I come from a toyota truck background...
My best half loved a 2000 Chevy Tracker bought new 11 yrs ago w/ 165k miles on the ticker. It was time for something new.
We test drove everything and I mean everything!!
I would have loved to see a Toyota in the driveway (cough cough FJ cough cough) next to my truck but honestly pricing blew that outta of the water.
Not to mention the some horrible features for all that ca$hola.

Magazine reviewers are slanted because their salary and magazines exist by advertisers.
Most consumers who buy a more expensive SUV either have more disposable income than the average joe/josephine or are over buying/in debt over their head.
I have to say I was so surprised by the Jeep Patriot. It was a huge sleeper for me and am very happy with the price & capability of it.
To the OP, I could care less what others think or do not think, review or do not review. Agree with so many of the posts here. Love the Patriot!
Now if I can only get to drive it more....................Honey can you take the truck??!
Not a chance .....

 

but you need to take things in perspective

Ill try that hahaha.

I'd like to see a poll for how many got past 100,000 without a repair

I second that

 

I read a lot of reviews and some were bad and some were not that bad. When I was shopping for it, I was looking for a little truck with good mpg and good cargo space because I was tires to always ask friends or relatives to give me a hand when I wanted to bring something home and it wouldn't fit in my Hyundai Tiburon.

I know....we are not talking about the same car here ( Pat vs Tiburon ) but that was one of the reason why I took a very long look at the Patriot. I wanted to have a ride higher than my car, wanted to have more cargo space, wanted to have a 4X4 without leaving my right arm at the dealership and more space inside for my futur kids. The Patriot had all that with a reasonnable price and every time I was driving around....I was seeing Pats on the road and I always loved the look of it.

I found this forum and I found very good informations about the Patriot so this is why I'm a happy camper with my Riot since May and I wouldn't change it for any other vehicule.....well....except for the Grand Cherokee...lol

 

mmmmmm...grand cherokee

 

After driving a 2011 GMC Canyon as a rental today while my new SUV was receiving a paint/fabric/underbody protection treatment, I can only think that the competitors are obviously paying reviewers to straight-up smear the Patriot (I know, different genre's but Canyon is a great example of truly poor build quality). That new GMC truck is exactly the same is it's current design as it was 7 years ago! Check out the 2004 Canyon/Colorod...now 2011 NO DIFFERENCE except the newest ones now offer V8s...sorry, sidetracked, anyhow, it was a horrible experience. Brand new 6,200 miles '11 Canyon I5 felt weaker than Patriot, was rough all around with ride and moving parts like steering column shifter, gas, brakes. Oh and hard plastic with a thin unpadded layer of itchy cloth is not cutting it GMC! Brakes were WEAK, I swear I felt every piston fire/misfire through the gas pedal, it made tons of noise, even coasting (more so coasting than low throttle), and ridiculously over assisted steering yet a terrible turn radius, worse than my '11 Durango. I was spoiled in the 05 Dakota compared to the Canyon.

The negative reviewers are way out there in deep left-field and have lost all perspective.

 

i love my pat and the 2 at work(we get new ones every 10,000klm...this is the 6th lot we have had) and even though i am no longer with the ex...she still loves her crd pat, the new one is 40,000 aud so i am never going to let my girl go, so may have to get a new one for day to day use

 

This car is truly a smart build from jeep.

There's your problem. The average person is dumb as a stump, and after a few years, begins to believe their own hype.

The Patriot is a truly unique, capable vehicle for the real world conditions it is exposed to- and "competent" isn't a great marketing tool.

If the Patriot was made in Japan, you'd be paying full sticker and needing a rag to wipe the fanboy goo off your wheels.

 

What do you mean full sticker price...after test driving my first patriot today my take is its worth the lower price it costs and that is why it costs lower. If jeep could somehow put a v6 under the hood I would compromise a little inside room and think i would like it better

Pros

I like the exterior SUV look . Inside is Nice and roomy , Lower price, outside looks, nice fuel economy, and the ability to go offroad

Cons

Its short. The engine is not powerful at all and this is coming from someone who drives a power SUV v8 awd a It just does not feel like an SUV INSIDE-ive had three of them and it feels like your inside something like a PT cruiser when behind the wheel

both pro and con depending how you look at it

doesn't "feel" like a true SUv, looks like one.(to myself this is a con since I have drive a powerful SUV) That said, I am willing to look past that because of the lower price, outside looks, nice fuel economy, and the ability to go offroad

This is an objective and subjective review and if you see my posts the last couple weeks you know I have been all for the patriot. Test driving it changed my opinion a little since I am used to more powerful SUV's

 

Mercury Mountaineer (Ford Explorer) vs Jeep Patriot

Comparing apples to oranges.

Fully Loaded Jeep Patriot 70th anniversary Latitude FDII vehicle, 28,795$
Base Model, v6 AWD Explorer (they don't offer a v8 anymore) 31,565$

Excerpt From Car and Driver about your so called "Powerful SUV" they tested a 4.6l v8 moutaineer.

The V-8 is tons of fun in the Mustang GT, where it feels like there's an offensive lineman on meth under the hood, but in the Mountaineer, it's pretty snooze-worthy. Acceleration is decent (we recorded a 7.8-second 0-to-60-mph run in a similar Explorer), but the 292 horses the V-8 makes here (eight fewer than in the Mustang) just aren't enough to tug around nearly 5000 pounds with any real urgency, and its character is more longshoreman than movie star. Forget about the 210-hp V-6 unless you want to show up to Sunday service on Tuesday afternoon. Similarly, the steering, the brakes, the throttle response, and downshifts from the six-speed automatic (V-6s get a five-speed autobox) all happen at their own pace; there's no sense in asking any of them to hurry, because the Mountaineer will just ignore you. This is a high-ridin', easy-livin' sort of SUV.

So let me get this straight.

292 HP, nearly 5000 lbs and it manages a whopping 0-60 in 7.8 seconds

Doesn't the Patriot with 172 hp, ~1500 lbs lighter and does 0-60 in 10 seconds with a cvt. A standard one manages 0-60 in 8 seconds.

Am I missing something on the power side of it. Sure it has half the torque, half the cylinders weighs 1/3rd less. The CVT is quirky, and most people here have found that flooring it is SLOWER than putting your foot 1/2 to 3/4 down and gently applying more gas.

But than again, Ford caught on that their SUV's didn't need that much power either and the new Explorer is only available with a v6 or an i4ecoboost (fwd only).

For what it is, it's quick, considering that you are buying a cheap, small suv and than knocking it for not meeting your comparison of a car that is in a completely different class.

Compare it to a CRV, Rav4, things that are considered similar and you will notice that although we would all appreciate a torquier v6, or hell for them to sell the CRD in america, the Patriot has not let us down in the power department at all when comparing it to the other SUV's in its class

 

My mountaineer is a 5.0. I do agree that the Mountaineer is high-ridin', easy-livin' sort of SUV. I feel that review is underrating the power of the mountaineer because when comparing driving the mountaineer to the Patriot the power is dramatic . I was not bashing the Patriot why do you think i am bashing it?

I am being as objective as I can and still would like to own one however my options are open to in general a nice economical SUV, whether or not I pick another one because of a bit more power- well I may be on the market testing many SUV's to narrow down what I want. So far The Patriot , The escape, The Mitsubishi out lander, maybe a grand Cherokee 2006 model. I do know from driving the two the RPM's are much better in the mountaineer at least it feels that way to me and I could be wrong. If you have seen my posts the last couple weeks you have seen i have been very supportive of the Patriot, who knows maybe this one was screwed up, it sure had a funny time stopping,, like it paused right before it completely stopped after putting the brake on every time I stopped. Is this normal for the Patriot?

This one had close to 70 k and a 4x4, therefore someone could have screwed it up offloading. I know 12 years ago I screwed my Pathfinder up hardcore offloading taking on more than the Pathfinder was designed for, a previous owner could have been a young dumb kid like I was at the time. I told the lady helping me and she said something about a service check.

 

A true SUV to me is a body on frame based off a truck. Most new SUV and CUV are based on car platforms and are unibody. So they will for the most part feel carish and not truckish (city drivers and magazines like that). If you want a more power just wait for 2013 ...too long...then look at other competitors they offer stronger powertrains for a premum. Or look at the JGC, Durango, Journey..all are larger, more powerful.