[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by civic-sense

The good news is the Compass is no Jeep. The platform is borrowed from Fiat 500 and the engines are Fiat too. So no worries.

Platform borrowed from Fiat 500? That does not sound right. 500 is that tiny 3 door retro hatchback they once tried to sell here in India for 30 odd lakhs. Compass is so much bigger in every way possible. The 1.4 Multiair might be shared. But I really don't think the entire platform can be common.

[civic-sense]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Platform borrowed from Fiat 500? That does not sound right. 500 is that tiny 3 door retro hatchback they once tried to sell here in India for 30 odd lakhs. Compass is so much bigger in every way possible. The 1.4 Multiair might be shared. But I really don't think the entire platform can be common.

Fiat 500L to be exact. Thats the longer 500. Even the punto, linea and the renegede share the platform. Anyway, what i meant is that the compass is a fiat, not jeep.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Fiat_Small_platform

[reddevilgautam]

Another news report declaring that Compass will be priced at 15 lacs, or lower. The source is a Jeep dealer.

http://www.financialexpress.com/auto...-lower/732493/

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Had to wait for 3-4 families to finish their inspection before I got my chance. Never seen more than a family (which in itself is rare!) in an FCA showroom ever!

Looks like you were there just before us. We reached at 4pm. Khan_sultan, Jaggu, Ampere and myself.

Never seen such a huge crowd when the dealership was Fiat. It was packed!

Ok so this car has crazy hype around it and rightly so but let me give some points from our collective observation.

Exterior:

• It has presence. Definitely more than Creta but the XUV and Hexa are more imposing. The car has a similar flair the Ecosport had when it was launched. It reminded me a lot about what the Ecosport hype was in 2012-2013. The hype around the launch the crowd at showrooms, the interest levels. It's like the ecosport from 2 segments up.
• Fit and finish is impeccable. The door beadings, the plastics on the roof rail, the rubber seals, bonnet cowl. This didn't look like a car that was made in Ranjangaon that too from the same plant that makes the Punto and Linea.
• Doors feel heavy and solid. This car is heavy! Close to 1.7 tonnes is actually overweight. We make fun of Tata not being able to do weight reduction in a modern car. Jeep is equally worse or well off depending on your preference.
• The design elements all come together to stand out like the squared off wheel arch, the roofline and the front grill.
• The front piano black grill with the 7 slats looks super imposing.
• Size wise it doesn't look much bigger than the Creta. Similar to what we know on paper.
• The imposing front design fools you into thinking it's bigger than what it actually is.
• In essence it is a compact crossover fighting above it's weight. Depending on the pricing we will come to know.
• Those looking for a full sized SUV look elsewhere. This is compact inside out.

Interiors:

• Again the first thing that strikes you is the space. IT's not bad but this is not a spacious car. It's comparable to Creta. The rear foot room is for sure better in the Creta than this Compass.
• Interior plastics are impeccable. The soft touch finish on the top half of all 4 doors and dash are superb. Fit and finish all round is excellent. Feels nothing like a Fiat again.
• Down below is regular cheap hard plastics but draped in white. Along with white leather = Royal Pain to keep clean.
• Dash board piano black does not look great.
• No auto dimming IRVM
• Front seats have excellent travel. Can go really low down and high up and fore and aft as well. Along with tilt telescopic steering you can get a perfect position. Nice!
• The blank buttons on the steering are a serious eye sore.
• Door sills are super wide. To get in is a pain for elders. The floor is also higher than even my Ecosport.
• Rear ingress is not good. Door opening is not wide and the wide sill makes things difficult.
• Rear seats are comfortable with good underthigh support. But they are more upright than what I like even in the last position.
• Strictly a 4 seater. Middle row seats even get less seat base length and the contours make it uncomfortable for the fifth. The bench isn't wide. The Duster is better here.
• Legroom is good. I could sit behind myself, but footwell space is reduced due to the door sills which slope inwards. You can see this by the size of the rear mats which are really small.
• Major ergonomic flaw for tall people. I'm 6 feet tall. I raised the rear headrest to the highest position and the bottom corner edge of the headrest pierces my neck spinal bone. I can't sit behind in this car effectively ever. Ampere and Jaggu didn't have this problem.
• In summary, the interior quality is excellent just like the exterior but this is not a full size SUV. Strictly compact crossover. The XUV and Hexa are in a diff league and if you have a Creta you probably will find space similar or even tad lesser.

Misc:

• ECU located above the engine in firewall. I didn't like the position due to heat. It's right above the engine and I know ECU's are sealed with heat sinks and I test such components inside the ECU at 125-140C but I also know they work best at room temp or cooler. Jaggu said good for water wading which I agree but next to battery is better position imo.
• Full plastic cladding in all 4 wheel arches.

In closing, this car's success is all based on the price. It has it's work cut out. The brand is far from established and more worrying is the Fiat after sales.

The price will make or break this car. Tucson pricing = very difficult. Overlap with Creta and inch close to lower variant of Tucson and it could just click.

An example is Ford. In 2013 they pretty much owned the compact crossover with Ecosport. Even then all they managed was 5K units. The Brezza came and went to 9-10K units instantly even though imo the Ecosport is the better car. The Creta is very well established but the Compass is the superior vehicle on paper and to touch and feel and from what Jaggu says after his drive, even to drive

Personally, I would love this to replace my Ecosport next year or the year after depending on when I succumb to temptation. It's a perfect upgrade but price is the key.

[arun_josie]

I got a chance to check Jeep Compass today @KHT Prime, Bangalore.

Here are some of my observation,

Likes:

• Its a looker.
• Cabin is spacious, but its strictly a 4-seater as the width inside is less. Rear leg space is good.
• Seats are comfortable and the under thigh support is excellent.
• Doors feels a little heavier than Linea.
• Boot door and the bonnet feel heavy as well, especially the bonnet was heavier than the one in Jeep Cherokee which was parked next to Compass. The SA was pointing this to everyone. Cherokee bonnet was having a hydraulic strut though.
• Boot space is good and the boot floor mat is very sturdy.
• The interior and the plastics speak a lot about quality.
• The steering feel was good but I think it is little smaller than my linea steering.
• I liked the gear knob.
• Fuel lid doesn't have a lock, a small push and it opens. But there is a lock inside which can be opened only by the fuel pump nozzle. And if you want to pour fuel from a can, they have given a nozzle+funnel using which you can unlock and pour the fuel.

Neutral:

• Like linea, I liked the driver arm-rest, here we can move it back and forth. But after moving it to your comfortable position, there is no option to lock it. So, I am not sure how this will work while driving.
• The beige seat cover is little whitish for my liking. So, maintenance might be little difficult. My linea is also beige interiors , but its little on the darker side and so we didn't face any issues with it.
• Those dummy buttons on the steering are an eyesore.
• As mentioned by many, storage space is less but not bad, in my opinion.

Regarding the missing features,
I am spoilt by the rain-sensing wipers in Linea, so this is something that I am not happy about. But not a deal-breaker though considering the complete package.

With my linea @ 1,27,000 Kms on the ODO, I will keep a close watch on Compass. Looking forward to do a test drive now.

Some pics:

Good boot space and this floor mat in boot is very thick and sturdy.


Some more storage space on both the sides

There is one black skirt below the front bumper, and from this part the GC was coming little above 150mm(Mobile height is 150mm). When I checked with SA on this, he said this is just for looks and can be removed easily.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Car prices in India have gone beyond reasonable levels, with each new model claiming non-existent premiums - the prime example for this being the Hyundai Creta at nearly 20 lakhs and the Innova at 30. A vehicle I bought in 2012 for 18 lakhs is now in the 28-30 lakh territory for a similar top-spec version.

. You can say that again. These are the two most atrociously priced cars in India right now. Lowest VFM products. Maruti, for all it success, does not get this greedy. Ok, it did, in case of S-Cross but quickly corrected it.

Coming to Compass, it looks a stunner. I wish to see more of these on roads. I'm sick of seeing the same boring usual cars form Korean and Japanese stables.

[ampere]

The price can be looked as the following:

- Compass is smaller compared to Tucson. Tucson is also more comfy, car like and more featured.
- So if one wants to buy a 2WD version, why would one buy a similar priced Compass if not a Tucson.
- If thats the premise, FCA should price it way below for the proposition to be compelling.
- On the lower side, Creta gets a good bench mark. But now by the same space argument, both are in similar league.
- Now with that premise, FCA mostly should play the compass against the Creta with some nice offers so that a large part of Creta buying population can come to them.
- Hence I do expect some good initial offers played against Creta and well specc'ed 2WD way below Tucson.
The question becomes tricky with the 4WD versions though. Cant comment on that part of the story as I cant read that part of the book.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Looks like you were there just before us. We reached at 4pm. Khan_sultan, Jaggu, Ampere and myself.

Oops. Yes. I think I left the place around 3:30pm.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The rear foot room is for sure better in the Creta than this Compass.

I noted this, but wife was pretty sure it's due to the long seat base of the Compass. I don't remember it exactly, but she does because she particularly checks for back seat on all the vehicles we test.

From the pics available online, this looks possible.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

[*]Major ergonomic flaw for tall people. I'm 6 feet tall.

One more I noted - need to watch your head while getting out of the rear seat. Very easy for taller passengers to bang head on the top, as the height of the door opening is much lower than the roof level.

Originally Posted by arun_josie

As mentioned by many, storage space is less but not bad, in my opinion

It is bad. Only that "we" are used to it - this being a negative with earlier FCA cars as well.

[jbpanda]

Here are some of the pictures I took during my visit to the Gurgaon showroom. They seem to have displayed a Silver vehicle all across. The Black, Red and Blue (in my order of preference) would have been a better choice for the display cars as IMO they look even more appealing and imposing.

I was very impressed with overall quality of the Vehicle interiors and exteriors. As mentioned above, the SA quoted an expected price range of 14 L to 20 L. I had just gone to explore the vehicle as my Brezza has only 11K Kms on ODO but the SAs were very courteous and I even got a follow up call yesterday as to my opinion on the vehicle and plans of booking.

As confirmed by many other Bhpians, rear seat is best suited for 2 adults and a kid. My Brezza's rear seat is more spacious. My father who is 5 ft 10" tall had the steering slightly touching his knee in spite of telescopic and tilt adjustment. Although I did not have any such problems and I am 5 ft 9".

Considering R17 tyres and overall dimensions of the vehicle, I found the GC of 178 mm to be slightly on the lower side. Ritz & Swift has 170 mm, S Cross has 180 mm and Brezza has 198 mm.

I would love to test the power of the Tank with 174 bhp (Diesel) and 164 bhp (Petrol). Of course with the built and weight, it's not a 'kitna deti hai' material but a vehicle to be bought on the basis of its class.

[nsbhagwat]

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

The off center rear wheel is the only eyesore, but again 99% of customers will never notice.

Hi, can you please explain this with a picture and explain benefits / drawbacks of this arrangement?

Regards
Nikhil

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Though my opinion of the F brand is best not published here and Jeep's reliability record is far from stellar, I would be glad if they actually did trigger a price war.

Car prices in India have gone beyond reasonable levels, with each new model claiming non-existent premiums - the prime example for this being the Hyundai Creta at nearly 20 lakhs and the Innova at 30. A vehicle I bought in 2012 for 18 lakhs is now in the 28-30 lakh territory for a similar top-spec version.

It is more than high time for a major price correction in this market, and if this is the vehicle to kick start that so be it. Somebody needs to bring in a healthy dose of reality to the chaps who think up these prices, though it would be hilarious if it happened to be the same bunch who released a rag-top bare-bones Jeep for nearly a crore.

Well said! For me the real puzzle is the optimism of the manufacturers - year after year keep jacking up the prices while offering peanut-jumps in features & tech-density.

I make no bones about being a dyed-in-the-wool swadeshi. With M&M and some of its offerings (the XUV & that old war horse, the Scorpio, come to mind) as well as TM in its new avatar (Tiago, Tigor, Hexa & hopefully the Nexa) offering perfectly adequate examples at mouth-watering prices (the XUV AWD & the Hexa AWD XTA both retailing at roughly 20-21 L OTR as against 30+ for the competition), it is no wonder that their competitors' sales are comparatively meagre in their segments. And as I've mentioned elsewhere, no tech-guru argument will convince me that one lot is worth 10 L more than the other!

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

....Jeep surely has a winner if priced well , it could give Hyundai a real headache and draw people from the Creta and the Tucson. It was really refreshing to see a well finished butch looking SUV after all the dainty soft roaders in the segment....

Sorry, I didn't get that - are you implying that Tucson & Creta are "butch looking SUVs". I thought they both looked like the standard eggs-on-wheels soft-roaders in the segment & neither of them looking anything like an SUV. Leave alone the Creta - the less said the better! - even the Tucson has not yet launched the 2017 AWD option - a cursory surf showed the last entry as "Hyundai Tucson all wheel drive variant to be launched in May 2017". Doesn't speak too well about Hyundai's plans to leave the "hatch-on-steroids" gravy train & enter the real SUV space.

[Arjun Reddy]

Originally Posted by shashanka

Sorry, I didn't get that - are you implying that Tucson & Creta are "butch looking SUVs".

Lol. It's the other way around. The Compass is the butch looking one. Read again.

@nsbhagwath

Here is the pic. Not probably the best angle, if you notice the rear wheel , it is probably much closer to the wheel arch cladding towards the front than the rear. I see no purpose for this or guess that they had to stretch the rear a little or make that portion slight higher to get the departure angle right.

Attachment 1650955

Edit. The pic doesn't show up. Just see any close up of the rear wheels.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by Arjun Reddy

Lol. It's the other way around. The Compass is the butch looking one. Read again.

Oops! Sorry, my bad! The Compass is butch-looking, no question.

[TopSpeeder]

I used to enjoy driving Jeep Cherokee during my US longer trips (Boston -> Maine) , those days I used to think when we are going get Jeeps in India.

Jeep announced compass, lots of excitement, after missing Tiguan just because of the high price, I wish VW set 30L OTR for ComfortLine of Tiguan.

We three(Myself, Parth and Guru) potential compass customers Visited KHT, Blr on 20th June, 04:00 Pm with lots of excitement and plans on booking Compass on revealing day.

Like everyone said, Great build and quality, people already talked and agree for that.

But space and size is what puts us off from booking.

Front seats are fine, not great in my opinion.

Rear seats just for 4 people and may be for small kid.

My purpose of this 20L+ car as family car, not for two people off roading all the time

I don't only India dimensions are small or other country too?

My friend(Parth) is 193cm, Notice his head is almost touching the roof. Less leg room, notice it's hitting the front seat.

Also clicked a pics when three people sitting.

I felt my Vento rear seats are more spacious than this inside, less up straight then compass.

I was trying find what I'm going to get for the upgrade apart from price
+ Greater looks
+ Off road capability
+ Good or same as Vento build quality
+ More powerful engine
+ Additional features
+ Better front seats

What I'll be missing
- Less width of rear seat
- More up straight rear seats, I didn’t feel comfortable.
- Yet to be established service network
- Unknown long term maintenance
- One of the sales guy mentioned what I see is Mid variant (Actually Top variant), also mentioned top variant gets 19" alloy, Probably he didn't know I'm member of team-bhp
I came to know sales people didn't get any training, why?

After visiting Jeep Compass, I visited VW for Vento software upgrade, noticed Tiguan Comfortline is much better than Jeep compass on features and interior, probably everything in my view

Now all three end up looking at Creta and with half hearted..