Faults:

Transmission issues.

General Comments:

Got this Jeep immediately after selling my 2 seater convertible, because the dog didn't fit in the Miata.

The good news: Off road, the Trailhawk is very capable. I've taken this thing on a trail up a steep grade in the snow and it was very competent. It has a good amount of space for its size. The 110V inverter is a real nice touch.

The bad news: this thing is SLOW! I understand that it's not a sports car, but its lack of power has become a liability in several situations, including passing safely, climbing a steep incline, and accelerating to highway speed. This is not aided by the 9 speed transmission and its dim-witted programing. Up changes are jerky and down shifts are slow and inaccurate. It feels like there is a committee sitting around a table in the TCU trying to decide which gear the car should be in. This also doesn't help the fuel economy; I average 19 on a good day with lots of freeway driving. I can't help but feel that a larger engine would have helped with all of these problems.

The infotainment system is as responsive as a coma patient, and there are already a few weird electrical gremlins like twitchy gauges and window switches that sometimes don't work as intended.

All in all, not a bad rig, but I can't help but feel that one would be better off with a Mazda or Toyota.

Faults:

Well, quite a few things. For the first couple of years, we were quite happy with our purchase and everything went well, except for suspension parts that kept breaking (toe-link and the like). All of them were replaced under warranty, but this was not a good indicator on long-term reliability. I cannot tell you how many time we replaced suspension parts, at least once a year, and we only drive on paved roads (living in the suburbs).

Last week, we went for our regular oil change, and as usual, the mechanic went around the car and brought us the bad news: the brakes were worn-out again (brakes are an issue on Compass-Patriot), toe-links also needed replacements, and even worst: the transmission is just about to die, after five and a half years of use and only 100 000 km on the meter (60 000 miles).

This is not what I call great reliability. And I must say we are really disappointed in the overall reliability of this car in the long-term. Needless to say, we are getting a new car on Monday (a Subaru) and will probably never buy another Jeep. The 4wd was great, no complaints there, and fuel economy was good, but having to replace a transmission after only 5 years of normal use is far below average in terms of reliability. Plus, a new OEM transmission cost around 6000$, which is the amount of money we got for our Compass as a trade-in. Of course, we could have gotten a rebuilt transmission for much cheaper, but it is still insanely expensive for Chrysler to sell a new unit at that price.

Also, the heating was getting bad and it took ages to warm up the vehicle; another thing that was not right.

A friend of ours is driving a Patriot, which is a clone of the Compass mechanical wise, and he has experienced the same problems with suspension parts and brakes.

General Comments:

Fairly comfortable ride for front seat passengers, low buying price, and fairly good on gas, although you can now get better mileage out of competitors. One of the cheapest options on the market for a 4WD, which is why we bought it because we need one. But overall reliability is well below average in the long-term, and you should look elsewhere if you plan to keep the vehicle after the warranty expires.