that red is sharp!!!!

 

Congrats and nice pics

 

WOW now that's a RED Patriot. On build quality - I think what you are seeing is an effort to produce as many Patriots as possible before the 07 shutdown. That's one of the reasons I keep hoping someone will post the production figures. The typical schedule for U.S. mfg is to try to catch up with demand at the last minute. You see a "hockey stick" where production shoots through the roof at the end. Unfortunately build quality (not components and pre-build subassemblies) suffers and the defects that would've been fixed like sloppy molding are left for the owner. These defects are usually cosmetic but still a p.i.a..

One of my roles has been to develop control systems for manufacturers to monitor this effect as it pertains to impacting gross margins and in some cases "slamming" customers with goods they did not order or did not expect deliver on until a later date for the purpose of puffing up the numbers.

 

WOW now that's a RED Patriot. On build quality - I think what you are seeing is an effort to produce as many Patriots as possible before the 07 shutdown. That's one of the reasons I keep hoping someone will post the production figures. The typical schedule for U.S. mfg is to try to catch up with demand at the last minute. You see a "hockey stick" where production shoots through the roof at the end. Unfortunately build quality (not components and pre-build subassemblies) suffers and the defects that would've been fixed like sloppy molding are left for the owner. These defects are usually cosmetic but still a p.i.a..
.

I had to have my doors on my pass side re aligned. They stuck out when closed the doors shut better now. It wasnt that big of a deal and actually took me about a month to notice. The body shop took the door panel off and did a little adjustment was out in less than 10 min. The car was water tight as is but I wanted it fixed ya know.

 

congrats. here are some pics of my new red Patriot on its 1st road trip.

 

Red looks awesome.
I still need to post my pics...

 

Wow, I love the red!!

 

Sigh...almost hate that I have to fly for my vacation. Just cannot waste the 2 day drive each way to the People's Republic of Taxachusetts.

 

with gas prices, it may be cheaper to fly, but i know what you mean.
anyway, i am taking it on another road trip in August. haven't figured out where yet, but we are going to take the Pat wherever we decide to go. i just need to get the roof bike rack and we will be set for anything.

 

Woody99, It is cheaper to fly due to frequent flyer points plus I have places to stay with a car available. Just not as fun.

 

Thanks for all the great comments...I gotta tell you though, that the Inferno Red really isn't quite so "fluorescent" as the photos make it out to be. My camera seemed to over-emphasize the color. It's red all right, but not quite that red.

Still not sure yet what my final decision will be; like it or love it. Only 75 miles on it...it's early.

I can tell you that the interior is nice. Yes, there is a lot of plastic, but everything there seems nicely put together and integrated...nothing sloppy about assembly there.

The body seams and gaps all look good (with the exception of the previously mentioned misaligned liftgate and the "plasticy"seam sealing material they use where the outer shell and inner shell of the door panels meet...most visible along the bottom inside edge of the door...almost looks like it wasn't heated enough to 'melt' during assembly). The panels are even and no panels stick out. I think the liftgate alignment will be a 10 minute fix as AMYK528 mentioned and not a big deal.

Nothing seems to leak (yet), knock on wood. Drove it home in the rain and washed it yesterday. I'm paranoid after seeing the "Leak" thread elsewhere on the boards.

Everything on the interior seems to work...switches guages, etc. I love that I was able to turn off the horn chirp on remote locking and turn off the headlights on upon unlock (I have never heard of that before and it's as annoying as the horn chirp) through the EVIC.

Not sure about the mechanicals yet. There is an odd- what I can best describe as- a "shudder" upon accelerating at the very beginning of takeoff (similar to the feeling you get with a torque converter lockup in a normal automatic transmission); I'm not sure if it's normal or not. Almost feels like the CVT is doing something and that it may be normal. It's not severe by any means, which is why I can't decide if it's normal or not. The engine idles perfectly and is very smooth (smoother than my Liberty did).

 

Now this is a review I can relate to! Keep the comparisons coming as you put more mile's on the car because I'm still patiently waiting for the oportune moment to pick up a Patroit.

 

Congratulation,I have waited 11 weeks for my Patriot and after driving focus for 6 years I finally feel like I'm driving real car.I love my Pat.

 

I too just traded up from a Focus, which served us well for six years. Quite a nice improvement with the Patriot, isn't it?

 

After 10 weeks and 1 day of waiting for my order to arrive, I picked up my new Patriot Limited 4 X 4 late Tuesday evening.

Now I should be able to see you waving from the other side of Lake Ontario. Looks great. Enjoy!
IIIIIII

 

And I have been driving around a Focus as well. Good training car. Where do you wind it up again?

Gawd I could not see myself in that thing for more than a couple of months.

 

congrats! I love my EVIC as well! I played a bit with it and found out you can have stereo on for 5 minutes after key shut off. Might even go more then that.

 

My car Olds Alero had that, it lasted 10 minutes or until you open the door. It was interesting. The dealer had told us about it. After we drove off the lot, went to Wal Mart, we go "How come the radio didn't go off" We did some thinking!! DUH!