Same here (both in central OH and SW OH). I don't think a single dealer has a FDII equipped Pat in stock. One guy told me that he would locate one if that's what we wanted, but he didn't try to tell me they weren't different (trail rated vs non-trail rated). I guess he recognized that I was educated about the vehicles and realized it wouldn't work, who knows. At any rate, noone seems to order them for their stock, not even in northern KY were 4x4 vehicles are more common place.

-SR-

 

I wonder if Jeep underestimated the number of FDII's that people would want?

Can anyone here get actual production numbers? 4x2 vs FDI vs FDII ??

 

A year ago I bought the first FD-II in Manitoba. Or at least that is what I was told. And I tend to believe it as a year later, they are still quite rare here. I have only seen two others in the past year. Cruiseing the dealership websites, I only saw one for sale out of about 30 Pats for sale.

Not sure though if that is because production is low, or if they know that sales will be low. Just given the price difference, and the target market, I would think that FD1 and FWD vehicles would greatly outsell FD-IIs, even if FD-IIs were more available.

 

I bought my 09 Patriot from a dealer in Tennessee. No dealers in Georgia had any in stock (no need for FDII I suppose). I found several FDIs.

My new Patriot left the dealer with 18 miles on it and had over 250 miles before it even saw my driveway.

- Dan M

 

I allegedly bought the first one around here last November. Dealer had not been ordering any because he thought they would not sell well. I told him mine was equipped exactly how I would have ordered one (except for the 6 disc CD thing). He gave me the impression he would order more.

The down side is that Jeep only puts the Trail Rated badge on the driver's side fender.

 

My dealer didn't have one in stock either, and still doesn't. But after a day of looking, he gave me a list of about 6 within 60 miles of the dealership.

I picked one that was almost exactly what I was looking for (it didn't have the upgraded sound package that I wanted) and he went and picked it up for me.

 

Just got an email from one of the local dealerships.. trying to sell me a regular CVTII (on 16" rims) as a trail rated Patriot.

There must to be one out there somewhere...
To dream the impossible dream...

 

I bought my FDII in March of 2008 and It was the only FDII around in southern Alberta, I could have factory ordered one instead of taking the one I found off the lot, but I didn't feel like waiting. I"ve moved back to SK for a bit and I havn't found a single FDII on any of the dealer lots.

 

Feb 08 when I bought my FDI there was no FDII's anywhere here in the philly area. I really would have liked to be able to compare the two side by side but oh well. Happy with my choice.

 

I wonder if Chrysler is holding down production in order to sell more of something else?

 

If you are looking for an 09 FDII, it is very hard to find. There are still 08's FDII available, & should be able to get a pretty good deal on them. As i was looking for a fully loaded 09 FDII, had to factory order it. If all is well, should be here in 6-8 weeks.

 

chrysler has always neglected the patriot due to its low profit margins. i'm not surprised that they are barely trying to push FDII's onto dealers. chrysler is trying to stay alive...and unfortunately they won't do it just by pushing FDII's. they are already short staffed (employee count cut by 60% from the mid 90's) so they need to focus their efforts on reorganizing the company and slashing costs. they don't have the resources to push the FDII.

back when gas prices were high, Patriots were selling like hot cakes. now...nothing is selling. in my honest opinion, we will probably know the future of chrysler in the next 2-3 months

 

I finally saw an FDII yesterday @ Hicks Lake first one I've seen live. Today I was at the dealer and all they had in the showroom were 4x2s.

 

it seems that dealers love to order dozens and dozens of base model stock 4x2's... i don't get it. does the base stock model 4x2 actually sell that well? i would think the 4x4 would be a better seller. i know during the gas price crunch though, the 4x2's were selling like hot-cakes, and i guess dealers are taking the mentality that the cheaper they can make the car the more likely people are to buy. problem is that the profit margin on the base stock is so low, combined with that potential buyers are expected thousands and thousands and thousands off MSRP...that doesn't paint a pretty picture for dealers.

 

I checked 3 dealers in the Buffalo, NY area and none had any FDII models. One said that they could order it no problem. Seems they'll make them, but only upon request.

 

ive only seen one trail rated here
lots of limited pats though

 

I had the same problem, guys at the dealer I went to even tried to talk me out of 4WD altogether. Some AZ dealerships don't even have 4WD models, much less the Trail Rated ones. I was looking for a Trail Rated Sport but ended up with the only one I could find, a loaded Trail Rated Limited.

I'm glad I held my ground, lots of cross-axle type terrain here in AZ, FDII and Trail Rated capability were on my must have list. If you have seen the photos and videos I post, you see I squeeze every drop of capability out of my Patriot.

If its what you want find a dealer who will get you one. If they want your business they will find one for you.

 

My local dealer here had about 10 4x2's on the lot most of those were bare bone. I wound up buying an 08 FDI with 5,000 miles on it and got a great deal from a "stand alone" Dodge dealer. The guys at the Jeep lot looked at me like I was nuts wanting a
4x4. We are in Indiana for crying out loud we do get snow and slick roads.

 

We didn't want to buy new, but ended up having to as it was impossible to find a used FDII. Even the dealer had a tough time finding one. They had it brought in from another state. The dealer kept trying to talk us out of wanting an FDII saying it is for "extreme offroad".

It is well worth it though! For the small increase in cost, you get a ton of extra equipment.

 

I had a hard enough time finding a 4x4 bare bones sport in Hawaii. There is all of three Jeep dealerships on the island.

 

I found one Trail-Rated Patriot only a few hundred miles away! Too bad they want over $26,000.00 for it! :doh:

That's going to be a hard sell when I can get a Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon for $100 less! or a base model 4x4 Wrangler Unlimited for $6,000 less! (both within 50 miles from home - and have a choice of colors for either!)

Anyone know when the order cut-off is? when are the 2010's able to be ordered (if we're nearing the deadline)

 

If you live over here in Europe you've a better chance of finding a pile of fresh, steaming dinosaur s**t.

Rocal

 

Yep FD1 or nothing over here!!

 

When looking for an FDII here in Newfoundland back in April - May there was none to be found so I ordered and recieved mine in early June. Two weeks before arrival a white base model FDII showed up on another Chrysler lot and I had to go for a test drive so I could get a feel for this model. The dealer told me that the white FDII had just been sold..., to Hertz as a rental! What a waste..

I have seen three others around the city since then.

 

Again this show how much Detriot knows about their car buying public. They keep on making 4X2s that no body wants, while we all have to either order from factory or settle for something less. :doh:

 

the majority of people on this forum do some sort of off-roading activity and demand the 4x4 or FDII option. you have to keep in mind all of the other people who are not on this forum, who need a small fuel efficient cheap SUV and don't have a lot of money so they buy a base model 4x2. there are more people out there buying the 4x2's than the FDII's. it just seems the other way around b/c this forum brings a lot of educated and specialized interests in together.

but you are right...i wonder how many people end up not purchasing a Patriot b/c they have to special order the FDII option and can't just go to their local dealer and pick one up.

 

if anyone lives in the Northeast part of the USA...the dealers down in Maryland and up-state New York seem to always have FDII's in stock. go onto the Jeep.com inventory search tool and do searches in those 2 geographical locations. look for Patriot Sports that are in the high $25K's and above. those are almost always the FDII's. sometimes the MSRP tricks you because the high $25K is actually just because they slapped on all of the available options PLUS the $225 special paint color etc. again...if you live in the USA Northeast here:

1) Up-State New York
2) Maryland - near the Chesapeake Bay Area