CTC Review: 2007 Jeep Compass

[CD_Editor]

Picture Gallery:  2007 Jeep Compass


Day 1:

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Built off of the Dodge Caliber's platform and as the first Jeep to be built using a car-based architecture,  the 2007 Jeep Compass is Jeep's first official entry into the crossover market.  It's also the only Jeep in the lineup to not get the Trail Rated designation, the new 2007 Jeep Compass is certainly more car than Jeep.More ...

[mdxtasy]

That's one awkward looking vehicle.  Kinda like a teen hitting puberty.....

[AVToller]

That's one awkward looking vehicle.  Kinda like a teen hitting puberty.....

I saw one in person yesterday (just the outside) and thought that compared with other recent products from Jeep/Chrysler it looked quite good. Mind you, I'm not REALLY disagreeing with your assessment. 

[mdxtasy]

That's one awkward looking vehicle.  Kinda like a teen hitting puberty.....

I saw one in person yesterday (just the outside) and thought that compared with other recent products from Jeep/Chrysler it looked quite good. Mind you, I'm not REALLY disagreeing with your assessment. 

The Jeep products are odd.  I see a lot of Commander's on the road, not ugly but not great.  I saw a 4dr Wrangler too, neat.  This is the only ugly thing in their lineup.  Not a cute ute at all. 

[Northernlights]

This Jeep looks terrible! It has no flow!! No appealing lines. Topped off with an even cheaper looking interior. Come on Jeep, wake up. Your capable of so much better.

[Blueprint]

This is Jeep's Aztek.  This vehicle is a mistake, from the day it was approved for production. 

I saw its twin brother the Patriot at the Montreal Auto Show, and that's the one that should have been offered in the first place.  The Patriot looks better in person than in pics, with modern Cherokee styling, utility and low price.  Crowds flocked to the Patriot, leaving the Compass alone.

If the Compass had the underpinnings to match its rally-car looks, it would be another story, but as it is...

With the Patriot now in the pipeline, my advice to DC is to drop base Compasses and build one to Caliber SRT4 specs.

[Blueprint]

That's one awkward looking vehicle.  Kinda like a teen hitting puberty.....

I saw one in person yesterday (just the outside) and thought that compared with other recent products from Jeep/Chrysler it looked quite good. Mind you, I'm not REALLY disagreeing with your assessment. 

The Jeep products are odd.  I see a lot of Commander's on the road, not ugly but not great.  I saw a 4dr Wrangler too, neat.  This is the only ugly thing in their lineup.  Not a cute ute at all. 

The Commander is a relative flop and according to a news story analysts expect DC to drop it after m.y. 2009.

[Bullet Blue]

The Caliber is much more appealing in the looks department in my eyes. Which really isn't saying much at all....

Those front turn signals looks like pieces of styrofoam or something. This Jeep is not for me.

Still, I'm interested to hear some dirving impressions and maybe a comparo to the Caliber.

[UmroAyyar]

Agree with Bullet Blue, Calibre is much more better looking, this is Jeepized version of it, bulked up. I like to see what James is going to do with this in winter.

[Beetlejuice]

Here is a great review from Driving Television.

http://drivingtelevision.com/CarReviewVideos.php?ccID=15

[curls]

What the heck is that gaping hole in the passenger dash?  Is that a space to hide your face when trying not to be seen in this thing?

Dodge / Jeep / DC can't make a good looking vehicle to save their life (or brand). Yuck!

[mdxtasy]

Wing, the price you must pay to get the keys to the Porsche.   

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I hated this vehicle in photos, but not so much with some colours in person. I don't really like it, but don't hate it either. I also don't know why it exists.

I thought this would be the cheapie Jeep, but then they price the Patriot even less than this Compass!!! The Pariot actually doesn't look half bad, and probably has more interior room being so boxy. And for the record, I really like the new 4dr Wrangler.

Thing is, the Caliber doesn't offer the interior space you'd think it would. The Compass has to improve upon it, and the Patriot I'd imagine one-ups it further. Regardless of how cheap the interior looks and feels (to me, Chrysler's at the bottom of the barrel so far as interiors go, while also offering some nifty little features other manufacturer's aren't which is the tradeoff) there's nothing else on the market I can think of that comes close to the pricing of these pseudo-SUV-thingies. Even the Tucson/Sportage are over $20, and the SX4 is micro-sized in comparison. So, these Jeeps have the lower end of the market to themselves, and at $17-20,000 they're not bad vehicles, but when you're up over $25 it's just too much. They do have a lot of inexpensive option selection, so you do your picking wisely.

[Zombie]

I think I like the Caliber a bit better but they both are just OK looking.
The Nitro on the other hand looks awesome Jeep need to build something along the same lines (since that is usually what Chrysler does).
It is to bad the interior looks like crap. Well, I do like the cooler in the glove box thing and I think the drink holder can both cool and heat.
The Caliber and the Compass are both very different (in a good way) then the car that they replaced the Neon, man I hated that thing.
Worst front end ever!!

[vwcedric]

Having looked at the patriot and the compass at this years auto show...I really did'nt get why DCX made two version of this car. To me, the Patriot looks awesome, really great classic lines.  But then my wife though the compass was better looking!  I have yet to find a girl that hates the compass.  In the end I think its a good idea now.  One for the guys and one for the girls.  I found the compass/patriot interiors to feel less cheap than the calibers...maybe its because you expect a more rugged interior on a jeep. One question, where are the stearing wheel controls?  on the back? Its also nice that you can get NAV on these cars...but at close to 3k for that option...it make little sense on a 20k car. I find that at around 25-27k the Patriot limited is a good deal. 170hp, AWD, great looks, decent amount of storage, leather, all the toys...parked next to my 35k jetta 2.0T...seems like a much better bang for the buck.  You can get a 20k rabbit, but its to bare bones of a car for me.  I need toys! 

The Nitro is good looking but mpg really sucks...your getting HEMI mpg with V6 performance.  Mind you with a loaded Patriot pushing 28-29k...the 32k Nitro SLT looks attractive. You can only get a manual in basic psec on the Nitro though.

[Leviathan]

  Nope, dunna like it. Seen a couple rolling around in town so someone is buying them. Oh, and the fricken bobble head doll ads on TV and flash ads on sites like this are most irritating  The Patriot has much better styling, though, and I'd have to kick its tires if I were looking for a car today.

[jww]

I didn't necessarily dislike or like the Compass when I first heard about it. Like previous posters, I wonder about the logic of this and the Patriot - but judging by some remarks about women liking this vehicle, I guess we should chalk this up as one for the marketers. I'll be interested to see how it comes out after 4 days of real-life testing though.

[ngm]

I have a Jeep Liberty and the same steering wheel audio controls - they are mounted behind the steering wheel.  Honestly, I've tried a few different ones, and they are the most intuitive and easy to use buttons around.  It's just easier to manipulate with multiple fingers than just your thumb when driving.

Of course, if you have paddle shifters (not on Jeep products of course), that complicates things.

Oh, and my best friend bought a Caliber when it first came out.  I wouldn't pay the premium for the Compass, with essentially the same platform and a better / available AWD system.  Interior quality is not very good, engine feels smaller than it is for its HP rating, and CVT does not live up to gas mileage expectations.  On the other hand, a well optioned SXT Caliber w/ upgraded stereo, steering wheel mounted controls, ABS, etc. is under 22K w/ tax.  Not a bad value overall for the Caliber.

[David]

It's funny that people mention that many women find the Compass better looking, because I've yet to find any of my friends - both male and female - that find the Compass attractive.  The Patriot's looks appeal more to most of my friends.  I would say that there may be a target demographic reason but we're all young urban dwellers (20-30 year olds in downtown Montreal) and apparently the Compass is supposed to target our particular demographic....

The (few) times I've seen the Compass on the road it's mainly been older women.  The younger end of the Baby Boomer generation with a recently emptied nest...

[UmroAyyar]

The new RAV4 has the external antenna in almost the same position. I found it annoying to get around to scrape the windshield after freezing rain.