I know that many Patriots sold well below the msrp, except maybe those ordered with custom features. Even at full msrp, you get a great vehicle built for the market it was meant to serve: Those that didn't want the expense of a Wrangler or Grand Cherokee, but wanted a classic, dependable, go almost everywhere, and looks great! Most of us were NOT looking for a hot rod--many of us have "been there, done that" so this vehicle is well suited. And, like any other vehicle, it does require maintenance, some tend to forget that, but those of us with aviation backgrounds, know too well that periodic maintenance is key to staying alive!

Sure, the CVT has caused some negative discussion--it did take a little time to get used to it and once there, I liked the smooth increase in power and speed, much different that my 6 speed. I did tow some heavy loads, but I didn't drive as if every stop sign would turn green and let the vehicle find the right speed. My '08 was traded at 120,000+ with the original brakes, and the only time in the Jeep shop was to service the CVT--that I did about half way between the 60K heavy use and the 120K normal use. And, of course, oil changes when the confuser suggested them. Spark plugs are easy and inexpensive to change--about 10-15 minutes once you figure out the proper tools, and should be considered preventative rather than reactive maintenance. I did belt and all idler pulleys at about 100K as we had detected an intermittent squeal, so did so to be safe on the open SW highways during the summer. Two sets of tires bought--the originals lasted less than 30,000, but the first replacements went over 65K, so I guess it all averages out. Never had a problem on the road, only once with a dead battery--which was at end of life--where I was on a three hour ferry ride and had the radio and dog chiller both pulling wattage--just enough to say, "i don't think so" when trying to start--a quick jump got me underway, and I checked the acid level, finding it low, so added drinking water to bring it up, then drove about 100 miles to next stop to charge it up.

So, the life and times of Jack's '08, the '16 has only 7,000 miles and I just renewed the license tags--so one year! So far it looks like its quality is good, and the main reason for a new car was to have a 4x4 for those periodic trips in the snow here in the pacific northwest, otherwise I'd put another 50-100K on the '08 with some suspension, brake, and bearing maintenance.

Think what you want, make your own history with this car and tell your story--but beware of the nay-sayers out there!

 

car reviewers hate cheap small cars. They really do. and the patriot is an economy car, build with economy car parts. every comparison I saw was with cars that cost at least 10k more. I sure as heck home a car that costs 10k more is made with better materials.

This is the review that sealed the deal for me in buying a patriot: Jeep Patriot Review Off Road Test

 

HILLPPL



I feel a lot better with the review you gave me thank you !:nerd:

 

My '98 Grand Cherokee had 156K when it blew a head gasket, so we figured a newer car was in order for our frequent long distance
trips. I then bought my '07 Patriot and am right at 150K. I probably saved 10k on tires and gas alone over that time. The Pat is all
original except for front brake pads. I kept the '07 (lifetime warranty) and just bought a new 2016 Pat. If the '07 runs another 10k miles
without repairs it will be the cheapest car I ever owned. I run 70-75 on the freeway, so I don't baby it. I feel for people having high
repair costs today, but I am well satisfied with the Patriot.

 

Why the negative reviews? Because reviewers say what their readers want them to say. If you just spent $80,000 for some overpriced import you don't want to open a magazine and read that you could get a vehicle just as good for 1/4 the price.
So reviewers will badmouth it.
They'll say its under-powered (doesn't have a V8).
They'll say the interior is cheap (is imitation wood any better than genuine plastic?).
They'll complain the seats are cloth or vinyl (some people want dead animals stretched over their seats).
They'll say it gets poor fuel economy (compared to a hybrid).
They'll say its bulky & ungainly (compared to a Honda Civic).
They'll say its too small (compared to a GC).
They'll say it has no snob appeal (regular people can afford one).
Oh yeah, most reviewers hate American made vehicles (I guess they hate the people that designed and built them too. There is a relationship).

What Jack said above, I'll say in my own words: it gets great fuel economy, is comfortable on-road, capable off-road, doesn't need much maintenance, rarely breaks down, and has good usable cargo space. Best of all, its affordable. No reviewer is ever going to say that!

 

Let the title say it all ! Lets hear it ! the reviews say cheap price is all it has going for it ! WHY Thanks HILLPPL:nerd:

This has been asked numerous times. Even I asked a similar question in the 2 years I visited this site before buying mine. It's quite obvious that there is a bias here. We don't want to admit to being fools for buying a lowly Patriot. I am (was) afraid to admit Patriot ownership on other automotive forums because of the jeering that took place. I'm over that now.

Why is the media so hard on the Patriot??

I attempt to be honest about the Patriot. Some points have been mentioned above already.
- It is an economy vehicle built to economy standards. This was an upsell for me. I don't want $400 headlamps, $300 keys, maintenance that can ONLY be done at a dealership.
- It is "dated" (love that media term) compared to current vehicles in both looks and technology. The media blasts anything that is not the new kid on the block....a.k.a. - fashion show mentality. Owner reviews tend to be better than the media reviews.
- It came onto the scene while Chrysler was being gutted by Cerberus and near bankruptcy. There were some serious early quality control issues that tainted its reputation over its entire life, despite a makeover post 2011.
- Chrysler has had nearly the lowest reliability ratings for several decades. That creates a jaded view for many people that cannot be overcome, in spite of a few vehicles that do well.


That's about all I can think of now. Before I bought mine, I dug very deep for real information and found out that the GEMA engine is very reliable, as is the 6 speed Powertech transmission. The early suspension problems seem to have been improved - not much talk about ball joints in the post 2011 models. The Patriot has Jeep's best reliability rating.....LOL, but it is still a Chrysler product. My 3 previous Caravans had very low cost of ownership over 28 years, giving me some basis of experience.

I also learned that other brands (Honda, Toyota, Subaru) have had their share of serious problems too.....oil consumption, variable cylinder management, etc..). I could write volumes.

It was very tough to break away from the sheep herd mentality and buy a Patriot. At 4+ years, I have no buyers remorse...yet...knock on wood, LOL.

 

When I bought my first Patriot--an '08, I narrowed down the field to it, a Saturn Vue, and a Ford Escape. I found the features I liked on all three, except the Patriot seemed to be more accommodating, for example, the Escape would only give you heated seats with the most deluxe model which had a standard v-6. The Vue only had heated seats when they were leather. But the Patriot would offer heated seats on its textured upholstery. (I bought a "Limited" so I got leather and heat...) If you do your homework, you see that there's so little difference in sizes; cubic capacity, butt and shoulder room, wheelbase, empty weight. What clinched it for me was the Vue and the Escape went from the squared-off (read: dated!) body style. When I got my Patriot, I had the only one in my small town of 10,000 folks---felt kind of good, until all the "followers" got on board...

 

i have said it before elsewhere on here and ll say it again.


the patriot is the best 4x4 in it's class. period.

what's it's class? a vehicle with>8" ground clearance that has 4x4, that gets mid 20's mpg on average that costs $20,000 give or take.

find me another 4x4 that has:
$20,000 or less for 4x4 new model!
4 cylinder engine- easy maintenance and good economy
a manual transmission! which i have.
can get 30mpgs on the highway- i get 29/30 if i keep her at 55mph.
9" of ground clearance
lifetime warranty option- i bought the added care lifetime warranty for mine at 40k miles through jeep. This covers just about everything. What other car maker offers this option? Nobody!


There is nothing else in it's class. As a previous poster mentioned, the reviewers always compare it to a vehicle costing $10k more. that's not fair and even those don't match the stats above.

If you want better 4x4, get a 4x4 wrangler or GC but those are way way more expensive as we know.

This jeep reminds me so much of my old k-car i used to have when in the drivers seat looking out. has the same sort of hood and lines. That's a good thing.

And those that say the looks are dated, have you looked around lately at what's coming out for the bigger suvs? Big boxes! Like the new tahoe. People dig that look otherwise they would not be designing them like that.

No, i love my jeep jeep.

I think most not on this board believe it's destined for the junk heap as a model- meaning nobody wants them. I truly feel, mine is destined for the classic car/truck collectible heap someday. Mine specifically because of the 4x4, 5spd, 4cylinder aspect of it. Pretty rare bird.

 

A lot of good answers and I thank you !
I feel P.M. is the best way to go .
I agree with you all !

 

I agree with whats been said here about so called professional reviewers.
Before i set out to buy my Pat, i did the research and the on-line professional reviews were less than stellar.

There are many good Pat reviews but here's 3 Utube reviews that convinced me to pull the trigger for buying my 2014.

 

Two of those three reviews for sure bash the CVT, which is alot better than they give it credit for. Too many people push it aside from the start just because anything that doesn't actually shift doesn't "feel right". And it's had some issues, sure, but that's mostly Chrysler's fault for implementation and lack of even trying to educate people on it, and the rest of the fault is with owners to don't research their own vehicle maintenance.

 

True, I myself am not bashing the CVT.
Lets face it though, some love the CVT while others, not so much.
Chrysler-Fiat discontinued the CVT with the '14 Pat for their own reasons and never looked back.

Those two CVT bashing videos you refer to have reviewers who previously reviewed earlier Pats with the CVT so they had good comparison evaluations between the CVT and 6 speed transmissions.

By the way those two videos and the advice of a Jeep technician friend convinced me to go with a FD-1 6-speed transmission instead of a FD-2 which comes only with a CVT.

 

Lol, I wanted a conventional when I first got mine...heck, I wanted a manual so I could learn one. CVT was described to me as a snowmobile transmission, a sealed unit. This didn't appeal to me, but when I got in my Jeep for the first time, it took me all of two minutes to barely even realize I was driving a belt-powered Jeep instead of a gear-powered one. It's served me extremely well, and while yes it did fail once, that was due to poor maintenance. Again, partly(or mostly) Chrysler's fault for not having proper education out there on their own vehicle, and partly my fault for not always having $$$ for maintenance. I still maintain that every single reason they had for dropping the CVT is complete and utter bullcrap. Any maintenance issues ever with these, within reason, could easily have been prevented if Chrysler had done something right for once, unlike every suspension they made before Fiat came along. That's like, one and only one good thing Fiat did for Chrysler, they made suspensions more durable.

 

We are agreed on the CVT's performance and durability. It does baffle me that Chrysler didn't give a realistic maintenance schedule, especially considering most people stretch the intervals either from laziness or finances. On the other hand my dealership always puts on a windshield sticker that says next change due in 3000 (while the change oil indicator runs closer to 7-8000 miles!). They certainly aren't consistent.

I wasn't aware that Fiat had done much with suspension improvements. Heard a lot about the dual clutches, but not about suspension. Any more info on that? My Patriot suspension has been better than many others I've had. Seemed cars of the 60s & 70s needed ball joints every 50,000. I switched over to GM A-bodies and just figured the FWD vehicles had to have more durable front ends because there was so much more going on up there. My Grand Prix went through tie rods every 90,000 like clockwork.

So what's with the FCA improvements? Or are you just referring to the new models?

 

Thanks, Rosso. Wifey has the 2014 so She benefits from the improvements. That said I've no quarrel with the suspension in my '08. I think mine rides softer and that's a good thing.

 

~Rain Drops Keep Fallin' on my Head~

I got yet another shower in my Patriot the last hard rain we had. That's why I give Patriots a bad rap. Oh, and read my signature too.

 

I got yet another shower in my Patriot the last hard rain we had. That's why I give Patriots a bad rap. Oh, and read my signature too.

Roof leaked on 3rd day of ownership and multiple times thereafter. Wheel Speed Sensor FAILED (TWICE) causing ABS system to nearly kill me! Ball Joints FAILED @40k miles. Electronic Control Module FAILED - $750+ with towing and repairs! "Tire & Wheel Package" = 17" wheels with 16" donut spare - WTF?

POS edition? Well, your wife has had it for 8 model years, approaching its 9th. Must be fairly durable overall. If that's all the trouble she's had in 8 years, I don't think she's got a POS.

I once had a lemon -- Jeep XJ. I bought it new and when I realized it was a lemon (6 months), it was gone.
Also had a bad set of tires on Wifey's old Wrangler -- Goodyear RT/Ss. Nobody I love was gonna ride on those.

If her Patriot is so awful, why have you let her drive it for 8 years? Its one thing to slam your finger in the door; its another to leave it there!

 

LOL; have any of you actually DRIVEN a Jeep Patriot?!! My wife has one (2009 Sport w/2.4 liter engine), and it's the BIGGEST piece of **** ever foisted upon the American motoring public!! What's wrong with it, you ask? Well, for starters, how about the headliner (AND, the hood shakes, too!), which vibrates LOUDLY against the steel roof at idle (loud enough to wake the dead!), and the only ways to get it to stop are to put your hand up against it, or place the trans in neutral. Or, the spare tire; the use of which causes the trans/engine to operate erratically, and all kinds of warning lights to come on in the instrument cluster. Or, the NUMEROUS reports on the Internet I've seen of suspension components, particularly ball joints, failing at very low mileages, like 30,000 - 40,000 miles, etc, etc, I could go on and on, but honestly, I've neither the time nor the energy to do so.

Anyone praising the Patriot reminds me of the Ford Mustang EcoBoost crowd, who're sure that NO MATTER WHAT, a Mustang GT (whose V-8 engine starts out, in base trim, with AT LEAST 100 more horsepower than the 2.3 liter turbo four) will NEVER be faster than their EcoBoost Mustangs, LOL!

Please see the signature of the poster directly above me!

 

Only the second post you have on here, so you don't know alot about the platform. Therefore, I'll go easy on ya. But, you still have ALOT to learn.

The hood on mine rattles a little, at speed. Nothing major.

Headliner seems a little loose(not bad for a sub-$23,000 4x4), but doesn't rattle. Although, my aftermarket exhaust sometimes rattles like you described your headliner doing. Only when holding the brake pedal at a stop though, and I've never put my hand on the exhaust when the engine's been running. When it happens, however, putting it in neutral eases the problem.

Spare tire is a cheapo donut you shouldn't have to use, and then(by definition) only for maybe a day or two until you can get an actual tire put back on. The AWD system gets messed up by different size tires though, a side effect of all the technology though not altogether unsurprising considering all four wheels kinda have to work together in a certain fashion to keep traction as the system was designed to do, ya know?

Oh, and that suspension you mentioned? CHRYSLER is known for bad suspensions, not just the MK!!!! The MK was designed at a low point in the company's history, and as a result the earliest years have more problems. There's still a few kinks later on, but customers buying 2017 models new, even with the CVT so many love to hate, are much happier for the most part than in 2008-2009....and those early problems are one of the reasons that there was a lifetime bumper-to-bumper warranty available at the time. Plus, anything that goes bad on these suspensions, you can easily go to your local parts store and order the same exact part made by Moog instead of Chrysler. Problem solved. My local dealer even orders Moog suspension parts if a customer asks them to, because they know Chrysler makes crappy suspensions.

Yes, the CVT. Again, implemented at a low point in the company's history, and while they have learned SOMETHING about factory tuning/cooling(tuning most shown in the 2.0L Sport SE models the last couple years), it's still a Chrysler wannabe job. Add an aftermarket trans cooler, swap out the fluid every 50k-60k miles at most using either Valvoline or AMSoil CVT fluid(if you live someplace warmer, AMSoil is probably wiser), and you should be just fine.

So basically, it's not a Hellcat, it's not a Cadillac, it's a Jeep. A very simply-designed Jeep, designed for basic transportation to wherever you might really need to go, from downtown NYC to your favorite backwoods campsite or fishing hole. Any problems you have should be easily fixed, otherwise you have one of the occasional lemons. I'm sure you know about the "Monday" and "Friday" vehicles to come from auto factories. There's been some of those on here. Long story short...it's a machine. Take care of it, it'll take care of you. If you don't wanna take care of it, sell it to somebody who can actually appreciate it, then buy a Subaru and deal with their oil-burning problems.

 

I would imagine that most of us who have owned dozens of cars over the years can point back at some of them suggesting they were a P.O.S. My first Mercedes Diesel was a 1970, got great mileage, everything worked--altho it was manual steering and 4 speed manual, but 35 mpg, and the ability to climb Donner Pass on the way from Sacramento, CA to Reno, NV, pulling the hill in high gear and still make the speed limit is a great accomplishment. From there I went on to 4 more Mercedes, two more diesels and two gasoline models, and the quality and fit/finish diminished with each one.

As one who has restored and flown vintage aircraft, one learns to handle a piece of machinery so as not to abuse it, and to do the periodic/preventative maintenance, and many folks who I know bad-mouth any car, fit into the category of folks who don't. Just my humble opinion, not meant to refer to anyone person. Look around at folks you deal with on a daily basis--how many drive as "if every stop sign will turn green?" pedal to the metal until maximum braking is required, and then full throttle away from the intersection...

 

With all the negative reviews from so called professional reviewers i tell you what, in my area i see a lot and i mean a lot of new(er) Pats on the road.
The people themselves are reviewing this vehicle with their pocket books.

When i had my speedometer re-calibrated for the bigger tires, i got to talking to my Jeep Tech.
He said, we don't get many of the newer Pats in for service.
Finally after years, Chrysler got the Pat right and then they discontinue it.
IMO, for those with old clunky 1st gen Pats, trade up while you can still get them.

An aside, just an unscientific observation, seems most of these Pats i see on the road are driven by women.
Why are Pats a hit with the ladies?

 

When i had my speedometer re-calibrated for the bigger tires, i got to talking to my Jeep Tech.
He said, we don't get many of the newer Pats in for service.

Well, that kinda figures. Newer vehicles don't usually break down.

IMO, for those with old clunky 1st gen Pats, trade up while you can still get them.

I thought about it, but why trade in a perfectly good running vehicle?

An aside, just an unscientific observation, seems most of these Pats i see on the road are driven by women.
Why are Pats a hit with the ladies?

I see a lot of bumper stickers like "Silly boys, Jeeps are for GIRLS!" or "This is not my boyfriend's Jeep!" My Wife's driving a Patriot -- She liked mine.

 

Reef, I think there's documentation someplace about your leak problem being a plugged drain tube. Check the JPATW(Jeep Patriot Around the World) facebook page or use the search bar(the real search bar, not the shoutbox) here for more info. Might help you out alot.

 

Everyone covered it

The Jeep patriot is as good as other higher priced vehicles and cost much less. You're getting great value . Let people what they think about it, they're the ones that are ignorant and losing out on the great deal

 

I think one of the biggest issues with the Patriot when it comes to "professional" reviewers is that it sort of falls in the middle between the "cross-overs" (many of which have less than 7" of ground clearance and have no business doing even "light" off-roading) that are little more than high-roof station wagons and "true" hardcore off-road vehicles (i.e. Wrangler).

For the reviewers like consumer-reports, etc. that essentially set the Toyota Camry (or Highlander, or RAV4, or Honda Accord, or CRV, you get the picture) as their benchmark and try to see how other vehicles compare the Patriot is "unrefined", "rough", "noisy", and "handles poorly" (I think it handles pretty well for what it is, but again they're comparing it to cars with 6" of ground clearance, of course it doesn't corner as well), but they aren't comparing it to truly "like" vehicles even if they are "officially" in the same class.

On the other hand you have the off-road guys that are comparing it to a Wrangler Rubicon and complaining that it isn't as capable off-road (no s*** it doesn't have the capability of a $40k purpose-built off-roader).

The Patriot falls in a niche somewhere between these two extremes which makes it perfect for many people who need a vehicle with decent road handling, fuel economy, etc. and also need a vehicle that can handle some light off-roading and/or bad snow, but with reviewers often so slanted to one side of the coin or the other the Patriot doesn't get a fair shake.

 

My 2016 Patriot is my first Jeep. I am very pleased with it. Actually, I like it more than my wife 2017 Cherokee.