Hi everyone.

I'm looking for something decent to drive that an elderly person who doesn't walk well would be able to get in and out of fairly easily and I'm looking at Jeep Compass or Jeep Patriot. Are these vehicles reliable? Easy to work on? Right now we ride around in a first gen Ford Transit Connect. Low, wide passenger door, but it's shabby and the AC doesn't work and really isn't fixable. These small Jeeps seem about the same size.

Anyway, thoughts about living with one? Thanks everyone.

 

We (mainly my wife’s ride)had a 2019 Jeep Cherokee, turned it in when the lease was up. Other than needed several ref lashes for the radio/navigation, we didn’t have any issues. My son hated the backseat (he is 6’1”, not much legroom) but it rode and drove very nice. It got excellent highway mileage, 35plus was no big deal.

Not sure if that’s relevant to your question.

 

Thanks Matt. It is relevant. Speaks for the quality and livability of their other products. I know an Oldsmobile forum is not a terrific place to ask about Jeeps, but I know a few people drive Wranglers and if those are good cars then one might figure other Jeep vehicles would be as well.

 

Beware the CVT's in the Compass. If you're looking at a used one, then it's a crapshoot if the previous owner(s) followed the maintenance schedules properly. My niece had a Compass that *looked* like a great vehicle, but they had nothing but problems with it. Anecdotal evidence, yes, but...

I'm not necessarily against the idea of CVT's, just something to be aware of.

 

For the price, you're better off moving to a Cherokee. (I used to sell CDJR)

My mom has a Cherokee and Ive not heard any complaints, my wife has a Grand Cherokee, but that's further from the Compass..ha!

I will say the 2.4 is a so-so engine (occasional complaints about oil consumption have popped up) whereas the V6 is much better..but again that takes you further up the scale and further away from a Compass.

 

I hesitate to recommend vehicles sure as the sun rises if I recommend one it will turn out to be a lemon !!
I can tell you this Weezer is correct I would be a little leery on CVT transmissions , they have made improvements (they had to )
I know we are not talking Nissan here but Nissan CVT were and still are plagued with problems, Jeep not so much. My buddies wife had a Patriot with a CVT trans he would barrow it when we went camping and he hated it said it was horrible on long grades and hills but ok on flat roads.
I also agree with BrotherGood if you could step up to a Cherokee do it ( they had the 9 speed Auto) the 9 speed had some issues but they were mostly programming issues and CDJ worked them out.
Now as for owning Jeeps I have had 3 and currently own 2, a 2016 Grand Cherokee Laredo 4x4 with the trail package. I love it and told my wife bury me in it !! my wife has a 2021 Grand Cherokee limited and she loves it ! My Laredo only has 50 k on it but has been trouble free her's is still less than 10k so still to new.
My other Jeep was a 1990 Cherokee it was my trail rig and it was damn near bullet proof, those old Jeep 4.0 straight 6's were known for going
200 k plus
Now the important part of my long winded answer ( big surprise I know) I was a tech for 25 years but my last 19 years were spent as a claims adjuster for a major extended service contract provider I have adjusted thousands and thousands of mechanical claims in those 19 years. Here is how it works, our contracts were only sold through the dealer ships not on line or like the ones you see on TV
The contract price was mainly set based on the reliability of the vehicles for example Nissan Murano contracts were expensive because they were plagued with problems a Toyota Camry contract was a lot less because they were much more reliable makes sense right, trust me the bean counters at warranty providers are good at research and collecting data !! they also base the contract price on repair cost, parts price etc.. the least expensive contracts were Hyundai and Toyota the most expensive were BMW and Audi (do you see where I'm going )
Also reliability differs even with in the brand Nissan Rouge's were not plagued nearly as much with problems as the Murano's
So here is my suggestion do some online research read reviews not so much the critic reviews they drive them for a day or a few days and move on to the next and I think their opinions can be bought !! read the customer reviews, the people who drive them daily, look for complaints
and likes that are common among the reviews. .
Good luck in your quest.
P/S no new vehicles are easy to work on unless you are changing a tire or maybe slapping a pair of brake pads on.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys. I'm looking for a car that sits sort of low, so a Cherokee might be out of the question. Except for the air suspension one that lets down to entry/exit height. A 9 speed transmission? Who'd a thunk it.

 

I don't believe the Cherokee sits much higher than the Compass, until you get into the Trailhawk trim.

The Grand Cherokee sits up a bit more..but then again my wife and I are taller and don't really think about how low things sit until it's too low..ha

 

This has been a challenge for me, maybe unnecessarily so. My Mother has recently moved close to me and she no longer drives so I've been taking her wherever she needs to go. She's short anyway and has a bad hip and the Transit Connect is a pretty good fit. A regular car is too low and most other SUV types are too tall. Just a couple of inches makes a big difference. If I could find something the same size as the TC but nice I'd be in business.

 

Mike, I totally get what you're saying. Hell, the 17 Lacrosse is difficult for me to get out of because I'm 6'1". I use the "exit" button on the memory seats to lift me up, and I'm only 50 with no arthritis or bad joints.

My folks bought a Buick Encore a few years back. My Mom is about 5', with a couple of disc problems. She can get in / out of it pretty well, so there is another vehicle platform to be on the look out during your hunt. The Chevy Trax is the same platform. I've driven the Encore several times, you'd never know it only has a 4cyl 1.6L engine in it. It has a turbo on it, and is surprisingly smooth on acceleration. It does not have a CVT, though in later years, GM has started using them in some vehicles.

 

Jeff remember the Saturn I have that is like the one you had? The reason I have it is because it was my Mom's and it was too low for her to get into. I traded my car for the Saturn's replacement(Equinox) and I took the Saturn. It's actually too low for me as well(I also have a bad hip) but I've mastered a sort of twist and turn to get in and out and it's actually a nice car to be in and drive.

Before we bought the rather expensive Equinox she got into a Trax and didn't like it. Maybe I could trick her into not knowing the Buick is actually a Trax. Also so is the last Saturn Vue. Eh, I'll keep looking.

I asked this same question on my Chrysler A Body forum and a Jeep mechanic came on and said he'd never, ever recommend a new/newish Jeep to anyone. Great.