2007 Jeep Compass: Take Your Pick

I'm either a 2 or a 3 -- if I had to choose, it'd be the Patriot, hands down, due to better utility and traditional "Jeep-y" styling . . . but I'm not sure either of these utes does much for me. Okay, put me down for a "3."

If I had to choose, I'd go with the Patriot for its less fuel-efficient off-road ratio for that craptacular CVT. That said, #3 is a pretty good choice.

I vote for:
 
 5) Make Jeep managers realize that consumers can detect lack of value in a car no matter how many facelifts/BOTOX injections they provide to their SUV's design.
 
Jeap (Jeep cheap) materials and ancient old inefficient engines are not going to give them any corporate profit. Japanese carmakers (and Korean and European and soon Chinese too) are eating their lunch and they need to react fast for the shake of their employees.
 
In short I agree with rick8365

The obvious answer is 3, but if forced to choose between the two offerings, clearly 2. Of course I am male, so the demographers/marketers already knew that answer. To me the Compass looks like a mishapen mish-mash of misproportioned lumps bumps and curves. The wheel flares are too big for both the wheels and the body, the window shape looks contrived and imitative of the much better looking Murano, and that awful bulbous lower front bumper makes it look like it has a fat lip and is pouting about it. Oh, and it's butt looks fat. Maybe that's why women like it - the woman will always look thin by comparison with this dumpy mess of styling gone wrong.

If it will hang with a CJ over the Rubicon then 2. Otherwise, 3.

The answer is 2.
 
I completely understand Jeep's desire to have their own entrant in the car-based SUV segment. Unlike most Jeep-fanboy lunkheads, I don't begrudge the company for this at all.
 
That being said, the Compass is the biggest waste of space I've ever seen; the Patriot is just fine by itself. If they wanted to make it more appealing to women, then they should've just given it a nicer interior.
 
Come to think of it, that probably would've made the Patriot more appealing to *everybody*.

Number 3!!!! Why would anyone buy a Jeep that is a unit-body? use a Jeep the way they were intended to!! these suv's would barley survive sand!!

Misterfusion hit the nail on the head -- if Jeep had taken all the money they wasted building TWO versions of essentially the same vehicle, they could have created ONE that might have been appealing. I assume domestic automakers don't sit down with the express aim of screwing up what will be the ultimate product release . . . so why does it so often seem so? In hindsight, not sure how this decision appealed to anyone.

2!!

3
 
If I had to make a choice, Patriot.
 
My advice on the future of the Compass is to brand it a Chrysler. New grill (visualize an Aspen style front end) and nicer interior and this would make sense at the Chrysler dealers.
 
The interior quality on the Caliber, Compass and Patriot is screaming "cheap" "cheap", therefore Job #1 for these three is to replace the current interior with a quality one.

3
 
The Patriot (which I prefer over the Compass, and yes, I'm male) is an ok product, but it's not a Jeep. It's like if Jeep made a car. *gasp!* Or if Ferrari made a truck *double gasp!*

Why would anyone buy this thing over a CR-V, RAV4 or Vue? The interior quality and design is absolute 1980's garbage and it has that stellar (sarcasm) Chrysler drivetrain/reliability.

Give me the Cherokee back.
 
The patriot was supposed to be a nod to the cherokee but failed miserably.

As a die-hard Jeep fan, I would never be seen in either of these, so i pick 3. These Caliber based soft-roaders are such an embarassment for Jeep.
 
BTW, golfgti, the Cherokee was a unit-body truck, and it did what it was intended for very well.

golfgti4789, the Wrangler is the only Jeep that is not unitbody.
Sucks for Jeep to have a lineup of one.

3
 
The Patriot is clearly less ugly than the Compass, but the Liberty already fills the role of small "real SUV". The Patriot is redundant. As others have noted, they should have spent all the money to make one decent vehicle, not two bad ones.
 
I think the Compass is a nice idea. Jeep should have a car to compete with WRX and Evo, why not? A little turbocharged AWD rally racer (that's kind of like a form of off-roading, right?) wagon thing. But they made it so ugly, and weak, and the interior is embarrassing. Of course the new WRX is pretty odd-looking as well, but at least it can drive well. The Compass definitely does not measure up to WRX, not even Forester if that's what they were going for.

3
  
Seems like it's mostly 3's with a sprinkling of 2's... I think it goes without saying how poorly the Compass and Patriot (to a slightly lesser extent) were executed. Several good points were mentioned here highlighting the problem of spreading limited development dollars too thinly, resulting in two lousy products instead of one GOOD one. Didn't we already learn this lesson from GM??
  
I'm sure many of the vehicles' ills will be corrected in upcoming redesigns, but it's a shame that a storied SUV brand like Jeep could not have a solid entry into this growing segment right out of the gate.

3! 3! 3!
 
Men in the focus group preferred the Patriot? Was the study done in a floral shop? Granted they're both hideous designs, but would any guy admit to liking either of these vehicles?

hmm...i could of sworn the commander/'new liberty/and grand cherokee were all on a chasis still!!!

3
 
If forced to choose, then 2.

Well I certainly like the styling of the Patriot more than the Compass, it looks pretty rugged and tough and the name is way cooler than most other small SUVs. While the Compass styling isnt great, Jeep could have done worse I guess, just look at the new CRV. But still I want a real Jeep, the Grand Cherokee SRT8!

3
  
If I had to make a choice, I'd walk.
 
I could probably run the Rubicon faster than anyone could drive it anyway. ;-)

2
 
Unlike the the Compass, the Patriot can be optioned with an off-road package that includes a low range.
 
The Patriot can do everything the Compass can and more, so why have two? Also—and I've said this from day one—the Compass muddies the off-road image that Jeep has worked so long on. It was a bad marketing move, and I hope Jim Press and company drop it from the line-up.

daytona, as cool as the SRT-8 is, I would venture that it isn't a "real" Jeep. That front air dam and mortar-sized center tail pipes would be level 6 toast out on a trail.

3. A Jeep is not a Jeep if it doesn't have solid front and rear axles, and a true transfer case. If they want something that "looks like" the Cherokee they should have just brought back the Cherokee.

If I were to be forced to drive one of these, I would go for the Patriot.
The Compass is a top contender for " The Ugliest Car Ever Built" title.
At least they are cheap.... I think this one of the main reason to buy one. Oh wait, .... this is THE only reason ....

So current tally is
15 #3's
4 #2's
4 #2's if they were forced to choose one but would otherwise pick neither
1 illegal #5 vote
 
The Compass has no love. Someone must like the thing.

I'm sure someone trading up from a Chrysler K-car, Renault LeCar, Pontiac LeMans, or Pontiac Aztek would love the Compass.

They should just give the compass a faster back and call it the Eagle after the long lived AMC wagon.
 
I like the Patriot better, but i'd still rather have a used Cherokee.

1
 
I like the looks of the Compass. I like the Patriot too but I think that the Compass looks better.

3. Definitely 3. Both of them are cute-utes minus the 'cute' part.
 
I have owned a Cherokee for 10 years and would never replace it with one of these pieces of junk. They have poor offroad ability and poor onroad handling relative to their class. And almost everything else in their class is much less homely.

Speaking of the Patriot, when the hell is Edmunds going to post the Full Test?