[Behemoth]

This is going to be a long story and will chronicle the rise of our SILVER SURFER - aka the Jeep Compass LTD 4x2 in Silver. I hope that this Ownership thread will be helpful for all the TBHP members and readers considering the Jeep Compass !

A little bit of background first:

We are a family of 2 + 1 kid (10 Year old) and really love cars. All of us, including my little one is obsessed with cars and can rattle of Power Figures, Torque figures, 0-100 times and what not of so many different cars.

Most of the cars that we have owned so far in our family have been Driving Oriented cars and we appreciate Build Quality, Stability, Driving dynamics and Safety as the prime considerations whenever we are choosing a new car.

Some of the cars we have owned in the past:

Ford Fiesta Diesel (Old gen) - this was a gem of a car with very sorted performance and great driving dynamics and after driving it for 5 years and 60K kms, I sold it to my Cousin, who drove it for another 3 years (and 50 K Kms) and then sold it further ahead.


Next Came the Honda Civic (parallel to the Fiesta for some time). We bought the Civic 1.8V AT Pre-worshipped for a great deal and drove it for 2 1/2 years . That car was awesome and really impressed us with the road holding, the interiors and the sheer driving pleasure. However, the Civic AT is an absolute Petrol Hog and used to give us a mileage of only 6-7 Kmpl and driving almost 60 Kms every day was becoming quite expensive.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...km-driven.html

After the Civic came the Skoda Yeti 4x4 Ambiente variant, which we bought in Dec 2010. The Yeti , while being quirky, was a very capable car (for our purposes) and we had gotten it at a great price of 15.4 lacs on road at that time. The Yeti really did its duty very well and I drove it for over 6 years and more than 100,000 kms and then sold it in Oct 2016 at a decent price (around 47% of what I paid). I do hope that the new owner is also taking as good care of it as I was!
The Yeti was a really very difficult car to replace and it took us more than 9 months to find the right replacement - which you can guess!

During the Yeti ownership period, we also bought the Skoda Laura in between (in 2012) to replace our Honda Civic.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...aj-motors.html

The Laura joined us and soon became a trusted companion for us. In the 5 years of ownership, it has covered 45,000 kms and is still running fine, though recently after the Software update (EA189) the idle vibrations have become really high and troubling. And I have raised it to the Skoda Technical team many times, but they are unable to resolve it and are giving other reasons like the DMF is failing. Anyway, this story is for my Laura thread and I will post more details of that ordeal on that thread (don't want this ownership thread to become another Skoda Bashing thread please!)

So after having being pampered by so many great cars, the search for our Yeti successor was extremely difficult. There were some very clear mandates given by the Home ministry on the must haves:

Good driving dynamics,
Silent and powerful diesel engine,
Heavy Build Quality and safety
Leather seats (this is MUST have for her!)
Leather steering wheel.
Hill Hold Control (my wife has a phobia of rollback on inclines, even after driving for 15 years!)
4x4 (Desirable, but not mandatory) since we had hardly taken our 4x4 Yeti to anyplace where the Yeti could prove its mettle.
Sufficient space for 4 + luggage for a long weekend trip (and hopefully a Ladakh road trip next year!)
Distinct styling and Character (this was very important, as my wife absolutely will not let me buy a car which is run of the mill and which everyone has!!)

So the search started and contenders were as below:

1) Renault Duster / Nissan Terrano - We saw them but were instantly shot down due to lack of safety and the interiors which appear to be a 2 decade old design!

2) Isuzu D-Max Vcross - We evaluated this very seriously and even went for an offroad 4x4 event too. We liked the truck , but for city use (in Gurgaon) it is just too huge and cumbersome with huge blind spots (sideways as well as rear) and you may just end up running over some small car because you didn't see them! So we decided it was not really for us.

3) Isuzu MU-X - when this was launched, we were quite excited by it and went to see it. In terms of overall appeal , it was quite like the old gen Fortuner and looked rugged and capable. The let down was the sluggish gear box which sucked the engine power and made it quite a slow performer.
When the price was announced, we were a bit disappointed as we had expected it to be within 20 Lacs ex-showroom for the 4x4 variant and it came out much higher than that. Isuzu did some wrong positioning here and instead of creature comforts like LED TV, Start stop and Cruise control , they should have just come with a capable 4x4 at a good price (like the Vcross) and people would lapped it up. So the MU-X also got dropped from our list like a hot potato.

4) Audi Q3 / BMW X1 - We did evaluate both of these options too and liked the new BMW X1 a lot due to the good amount of space inside and the engine performance. However, our weekend drives involve going to all sorts of places in UP (in Laws place) where taking a car like an Audi / BMW would be a nightmare and we would be worried sick for the car all the time if we bought a 40L car. So we thought that let's be a bit practical and buy something that we can take comfortably there!

5) Toyota Innova Crysta - This was also a worthy candidate and was the Head's clear choice with a 20L kind of budget. But my wife was very clear that it is not a self driven car and if I drive it, I would become a "Cabbie". So we kept on deferring the buy decision and did not take the plunge for the Innova.

6) VW Tiguan - we even considered the Tiguan at one point of time before the launch, but the Launch price shot it outrageously outside the ball park and honestly I would not pay that kind of premium for the very plain looking Tiguan irrespective of the VW build/ features. I had also seen the Tiguan on road in Shanghai and it does not look exceptional at all and looks like just every VW car on the road!

7) Skoda Kodiaq - This was one of the strongest contenders and high on our desirability list. We loved all the online review of the car and were eagerly waiting for it. However, seeing the Tiguan pricing, we lost all hope of it being priced sensibly!!

8) Jeep Compass - this car entered our consideration list very late and honestly we had very little expectations of it being priced sensibly!! However, when we saw the car on June 20th, we really liked it and seeing it with my engineer's eyes, I could tell that Jeep would pitch for a value for money proposition with the Compass to build a larger base in India. So we decided to make our booking on that day only and made an online booking. The Model we booked was the LTD (O) 4x4 in Minimal Grey. So then started the long wait of prices being announced - and boy when they were announced, I was pleasantly surprised and Jeep had infact launched at a price of 70K lower than what I had guessed for most of the variants! So I was happy that Jeep had done a very sensible thing and priced the Compass for a volume game rather than a Niche game. This is very important for their success and network in India as with a Niche game, the Compass would not succeed in bringing volumes and hence there would be very little network and then very poor service and so on! So it would have become a chicken or egg story. I am happy that Jeep priced it well and now they will build more dealerships and hopefully also a good service network all over India! I wish them great success in this endeavour and hope that FCA do crack it this time on their third attempt! FCA has always had good driving oriented cars with good build quality and high safety, but it has been let down in India by its sales and Service network. The partnership with Tata also did not augur well for them and they did not gain anything from that partnership and probably lost more.

So the winner in this race became the Compass!

Now came another decision point - We had booked the 4x4 LTD (O) version, but recently in Aug first week, I came to know from the dealer that the 4x4 version deliveries would only happen starting from October and may not happen before that.
In the meantime, the Government is ready to throw another spanner in the wheel by announcing the additional cess from 15% to 25% which would take the GST rate to 53% from existing 43% on the Compass! This is absolutely ridiculous and the Government is just too greedy and keeps on increasing taxes and does not focus on reducing Corruption and increasing Accountability of public money spending. They have taxed people to death and expect that they should pay even more. Anyway, I am sure that is a sore point for all of us salaried people and I will not elaborate it more.

Consider this: The Compass 4x4 LTD (O) would cost 22.8 in Gurgaon (on road) with current Cess structure and if the Cess went up, the rate would be around 25.2 lacs on road!
Now with the impending Cess increase, we came into a dilemma and if we waited for the 4x4 variant, it would come to us at a landed price of 25 Lacs plus.

The other option for us was that we could dilute our booking to the LTD 4x2 variant and get the delivery asap due to our early booking. The LTD 4x2 would come to us at a landed price of 20.3 Lacs, which meant a saving of nearly 5 lacs over the 4x4 version at the Hiked price. So eventually head won over heart and we diluted our booking to a 4x2 LTD version.
Sadly, we did lose the 4x4 capability and the Six Airbags became 2 and the Xenon Headlights became Halogen and the Black roof became silver!
The Xenon Headlights and the Black roof are definitely solvable after market, but the 6 airbags and the 4x4 are not !

It was a difficult compromise for us, but sometime budgets also play a significant role and stretching it that much extra becomes challenging!
So the final decision was taken and we opted for the Jeep Compass in LTD 4x2 Trim!

The car was taken under our Company lease program through Clix and though it take a 10 day process of follow up with them to get the car registered in their system and do the process with the dealership, it was overall smooth. Insurance was taken from Bajaj Allianz (not Mopar) and costed around 56K with Drive assure. The car cost us on road 20.3 Lacs, including Gurgaon RTO and registration, Insurance and Handling Charges. No discounts were offered (expected!).

The current warrranty is 3 years, 100,000 Kms and there will be an option to extend warranty by 1 year / 2 years which will be available later. The dealership did not have the details of the extended warranty yet and that will be shared with me when available. I am planning to take the 2 year extended warranty.

So now let me introduce to you our Jeep Compass in Minimal Grey - AKA the Silver Surfer!



We took the delivery of our Silver Surfer on the 27th Aug and reached the Dealership around 1:00 pm. The car was ready and some of the accessories which I had asked for had been provided. I got the Carpet mats (3900) and the car cover (3900) and the Divinity Idol. I also asked for the Black Roof Wrap (10900) and the HID lamps (they will confirm on this later).



The roof wrap could not happen yet, as the weather was rainy and only once it becomes dry, will they be able to install the roof wrap. The HID lights should be possible, as the Headlamp setup already has the Motorized Shutter system for Beam cut (you can actually hear the Shutters when the High beam/ Low beam is switched). I just need to confirm on the bulb type for the low beam to make the change.



Now coming to the car and my initial experiences with it, over the past 24 Hours. During this period, we drove the car around 40 Kms, with 50% by me and 50% by my wife. She is really besotted with the Compass and it was literally Love at first sight for her with the car. She loved the Evoquish looks of the car and it is almost like a poor man's Evoque (pardon the analogy!) . We had even considered the Range rover Evoque , but found it way too cramped and for that kind of money, it was way over our budget (Angoor Khatte hain!)




The Compass does look a lot like the Evoque in terms of design language and especially with the black roof, it does look very similar.



When we visited the showroom for the Delivery, my wife saw the red colour of the Compass for the first time and she was really impressed by it and asked if we could change our choice of color to Red instead of Silver (But I am not keen on Red as it is too flashy, I prefer more subtle colours! But we did not take that discussion ahead and were content with the Silver we were getting!)

Engine

The Engine in my Compass is diesel with a capacity of 1973 cc (thankfully less than 2L !) unit generating a peak power of 173 Ps at 3750 rpm.
The Torque is 350 Nm from 1750-2500 rpm
The claimed fuel efficiency for the 4x2 variant is 17.1 Km/L

The Compass is extremely comfortable to drive and the engine is noiseless (from Inside) and there is barely any engine or wind noise at constant crusing speeds of 80-90 Kmph. We have not tried higher speeds yet (at least in first 1000kms) as we do not want to take it higher than 80Kmph so that the engine can be run-in well. The run in period is crucial and it is best not to exceed 2000rpm / 80Kmph in the first 1000Kms. Even though modern engines are already Factory run in for 100 Hours (Most manufacturers do it now), I still follow the practice of running in my cars for 1000Kms before we do any spirited driving with them.
The Compass has a very linear acceleration and the car reaches 80-90 Speeds within no time.The best part is that even at these speeds the ride is extremely composed and stable.

The Engine is quite smooth and does not have a turbo kick like the Laura and Yeti used to have, The Torque curve is much more gentle and one does not feel the sudden surge and acceleration. From Inside it can barely be heard at idle and only when you cross 2000 rpm, do you hear the noise in the cabin, else it remains almost inaudible. The degree of noise dampening in the Compass is very good and you are isolated from the exterior noises to a very large extent. Even the Windshield is made of Acoustic glass which helps cut out external noise.

Safety and braking
The best part of the Compass is its build quality and one can actually feel that the panel which make the vehicle are heavy and strong. Personally I prefer a car which has a heavy build quality and the Compass excels in this front. The Doors, Tailgate and Hood are really heavy!!!
In safety systems it has:
ESC (Electronic Stability Control - Prevents vehicle rollover at high speeds if turned suddenly and aids stability at high speeds)
TCS (Traction Control - controls slippage on the wheels to improve traction)
ABS (Anti Lock Braking - Prevents brakes from locking in emergency braking conditions)
DST (Dynamic steering torque - this increases Steering assist to correct for understeer/ oversteer)
2 Airbags ( I had wanted 6 as in the 4x4 variant, but in 4x2 variant they give only 2 - WHY??)
EPB - (Electronic Park prake) - there is no handbrake lever and the parking brake is electronic and applies automatically. (This will take some time getting used to!)
EBD - Electronic brake distribution - This ensure Brake force distribution on all wheels as required
Hill Start Assist - Automatic braking on inclines to prevent rollback when you release the brakes
Keyless Entry and Start
Frequency Selective damping - Adaptive damping on the shock absorbers which improves the ride quality.
Isofix Child seat mounts - meant for mounting child car seats in the rear.

The Braking is quite effective , with the Compass stopping quickly and straight without any sideways movement or drama. It has ventilated disc brakes in front and normal disc brakes in rear.The Electronic park brake can also be used as an emergency handbrake system and if it is pulled when driving, it brings the car to a hard stop very quickly.
However, for people with small kids, please be VERY CAREFUL that a child does not pull it in the middle of the road as it may cause a very serious accident.

The ORVMS are foldable and offer a decent view of the sides, as they are multi curvature (more convexity on the outside to give larger view). The IRVM is a little small and has a huge base - some people will find it a huge distraction, but I have gotten used to it already).
The Wipers are frameless and efficient in wiping and clean almost 80% of the windshield, but I didn't like the fact that they are visible in the resting position. Both out Laura and Yeti did not have wipers visible and they were hidden from view.

These are just some of the features I have mentioned, and there are many more!
I will not go too much into the features of the Compass (as that has already all been covered with the amazing Compass official review by Omkar and Jaggu
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...al-review.html)
but will share my personal experiences with the car over my ownership period.

In terms of interior space and comfort:



The Front seats are quite snug and form fitting and comfortable and it is easy to find the right seating position. The leather though is very light coloured and I will need to get it coated with some protection to prevent it from getting dirty!



A lot has been said about the rear seat width and the legroom of the Compass and most people have complained about there not being enough space for three passengers - well in my experience, it is not that bad and actually is far better than our Yeti.

In the Yeti, the transmission tunnel had been extremely high and also the AC vents protruded completely into the centre passengers leg room. However in the Compass, the transmission tunnel is not that high and the Vents are also positioned further forward, which does result in decent legroom for the centre passenger.



Most cars in this category, the Yeti, the Tiguan, and the Q3s, the X1s , even the Evoque all have very high transmission tunnels and very poor legroom for the centre passenger.
The cars which actually have very good legroom and space for the middle passengers are the Hondas (Jazz, Civic, City) and the Hyundai's (Creta). If you are regularly going to seat 5, it may be better to buy one of these cars instead as the Compass will not meet your requirements!

The area where the Compass really excels in is the Driver Engagement and Fun to Drive quotient. The Compass is clearly a car meant to be driven by its owner and enjoyed. You will not derive any fun from sitting in the back seat of the car, but when you sit in the driver's seat, you will end up grinning!
The overall driving dynamics, steering feedback, suspension setup and driving position is all meant to give the driver an engaged and thrilling experience.

We had enjoyed a similar driving engagement best in the Honda Civic that we had earlier (though that was in a different way!). The Compass also gives a similar driving engagement, but with an SUV style.

Somehow when you are driving in this car, you feel as if you are floating high above the ground and no amount of bad roads and potholes can break your stride.

It's not that this car is invincible , but you feel so cocooned and protected sitting in car, especially with the sturdy build quality and you feel much safer than in a sedan. The roads in Gurgaon are just cratered with 6 inch potholes everywhere after the rains and it is seriously a torture for the cars driving on these roads every day. Even our Laura has taken quite a brunt and now after 5 1/2 years, it has started complaining.

The interior headroom is just about fair and will be sufficient for people upto 6 ft. People taller than this may face problems in the front, if they raise the driver seat. The headroom over my head (I am 5'8") is around 3 inches in my preferred driving height and incline. Taller drivers will need to lower the seat and push it back to generate more head room.

One thing you realize when you see the car - it is not very tall, but it is quite high off the ground. This means that the actual body cabin is not that large in height on the inside (compared to the Yeti).

The Yeti had a very tall Body and was also lower to the ground. This way the inside space of the Yeti (in terms of headroom) was huge, but this made the design very boxy.

The Compass is not at all Boxy and is very curvaceous. This takes away the interior space, especially the headroom. Another thing that is quite different is that the Compass doors don't go as high as the roofline and there is a significant drop in the roof line where the Doors open.





One needs to bend down to get into the Compass, whereas in the Yeti, the Doors opened as high as the roofline and we did not need to bend down to get it.

Getting into the Compass, one has climb in (as it is quite high off the ground) and also bend down one's head! Taller people will face more of a challenge in this aspect. I am 5'8" and did not face too much of an issue.



Boot space and practicality:
The Boot while on paper is 438L, but somehow it feels much smaller. The parcel shelf when removed does liberate a bit more space and as there is a reverse camera, it would still be safe if the rear view is obstructed with luggage, but I personally don't prefer that unless there is an emergency!
The Spare wheel is a space saver Steel wheel, and is 215/55 R16 and is smaller than the main wheels.
The rear seats are split 60:40, which is good for carrying large items once in a while.



In the Yeti, even above the parcel shelf there was a good amount of space and vertical height and the rear windshield was large and flat. In the Compass the rear Windshield feels small and the rear view is obstructed by the rear headrests.

AV experience



The 7 Inch Unit in the Compass is advanced and features Android auto integration and has most of the features that a user would require in day to day usage.
In terms of sound though, I like the sound clarity and bass effect of the Laura (& Yeti) as it is punchier and cleaner in Vocals. The Compass AV system , while more advanced in features does not match the sound quality of the Laura's. I have also noticed that while in terms of touch it is sensitive enough, there is a little delay in processing the inputs as the processor seems to be slow.
Will share more on this as we use it more.

Ride Quality and Tyres
This is one of the strong areas of the Compass and the ride is supple and pliant at most speeds.
At slow speeds 20-30, you do feel some of the road undulations filter through, but once you are above 40, the adaptive suspension really comes into play and the road undulations are well suppressed. The ride is very well composed at highway speeds (we drove it till 90Kmph so far and have not gone farther yet, as it has covered only 130 Km so far and we do not want to go beyond 2000rpm in the run-in period)
There is some amount of body roll at low speeds compared to our Laura, but less than our Yeti. The Yeti comparatively had a very stiff ride quality and you could feel all the jerks and stones on the road.
The Tyres are 225/60 R17 Firestone Destination tyres (all season), but these are not AT Tyres - if anyone wants AT tyres, it would be better to go for Yoko Geo ATs for better offroad capabilities.
I feel that the Compass in the standard version will not be great in offroading due to the 17 Degree Approach angle and the extremely low front air dam - it is really too low and will not be good in real world off roading. Serious offroaders should maybe wait for the Renegade or Compass Trailhawk versions.
In the Current form it , it is best suited for City Crater roading and mild Village roading!

Airconditioning and Lighting
We found the AC quite effective so far (It has not been too hot though here in Gurgaon in the past few days!) and will have to run it for some more time before I comment on its effectiveness.
It is a dual zone ac where separate temperature settings can be done for the left and right side and it accordingly maintains the temperature. The display of the AC settings is also shown on the AV system under "Climate"
There is also a good amount of Ambient lighting in various areas of the Compass - the centre cupholders, the Door Pockets and some other areas. It is done with very subtle white which looks very nice.

The headlights seem to be effective and there are two bulbs for High and Low inspite of there being only one projector lens in each headlamp. The High beam lamp is offset to the side of the lens while the Low beam one is directly behind the lens. I am planning on upgrading the low beam bulb to a Osram Xenarc 4000K one. Even in the owners's manual the bulb types mentioned are 9005(HB3) for Low beam and H11 for the High beam. If I replace the Low beam with HID, I will need to get Osram DHB3 HID kit in 4000K, which should work.

Overall Practicality/ Design

A lot of elements in the Compass are more tuned with Design and less towards Practicality. In the Yeti, it was completely tuned towards practicality and much less to design. Only in the newer generation of Skodas are we seeing a marked shift towards a much more expressive design language.

However in the overall Design/ Practicality balance, the Compass fares well and does offer a compelling solution for most buyers. The Compass also is currently cutting edge in terms of design language and modernity of the exteriors. In the interior design, it is good when it comes to seating, but in the dashboard area, it could have been better (I don't like the cheap black Piano finish surrounding the AV system!)

People who love cars and enjoy the thrill of driving a car with good dynamics, road holding, engine response and tons of style will enjoy this car.
People who want a chauffeur driven car with leg room and creature comforts, please look elsewhere!



Quick Summary
Likes
High Riding position,
Engaged Driving Dynamics,
Good Steering feedback and control,
Good suspension setup
Slick Gearbox
Modern Exterior design, attracts lot of attention!

Dislikes:
Light colour Leather seats,
Piano finish around the Music system
Minor rattles from Front Speedo Console
AV System sound clarity (will wait for speakers to burn in more though)
IRVM Base huge
Wipers Visible in resting position
Dummy buttons on Steering , no Cruise control
2 airbags in 4x2 variant instead of 6 in the 4x4 variant in the LTD trim.


The Jeep Compass is a class leader in Design and Build Quality and excels in the Driving Dynamics. Honestly in the 15-20 Exshowroom price bracket, there are very few cars that can match the build quality and style quotient of this Car. The Creta does try, but now it is looking dated and badly needs a design refresh. The Creta does everything moderately well, but does not delight the driver, and the Compass strives to do just that!
With the Compass design and pricing, Jeep have set the cat in the bag for all manufacturers and hopefully it will wake up all the others to offer better designed products at aggressive prices. We should hopefully see the Renault Captur, the New Creta and many more joining the race. The Duster / Terrano while very good in ride quality, are too outdated in technology and interiors.

I Will continue updating this ownership thread with more of my experiences as we continue to drive the car over the next few years! I will be happy to answer any queries from TBHPians on the Compass and my experiences!

[.anshuman]

Note from Moderator: Thread moved here from Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing it with us

[iTNerd]

Congrats Behemoth for your JEEP! Finally, there is a worthy contender for a Yeti's replacement. I am too contemplating a replacement in a year time, and I will wait to get a full picture on your and others ownership experience. Wishing you a lasting niggle free ownership.

[uday.ere]

Congrats Behemoth on your Silver Surfer. This is a strong contender for me as well with a very similar wishlist as yours

Wishing you many many Happy Miles with it. Congrats also on being the 1st on Team-BHP to come up with an ownership review. Enjoy the thrill of the Compass.

Edit : is the Key-Chain (Jeep Grill) an accessory you bought or complimentary for all new owners?

Looks like you took a wise decision to buy before the Cess hike of 10%. This has been approved in the Cabinet meeting today as per a new report in TOI.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...w/60289746.cms

Cheers,
Uday

[jacobvarughese]

Many Congratulations Behemoth on the latest acquisition, and wish you millions of miles on this beast- quite a terrific name too, Silver Surfer !

Out or curiosity, any particular reason why you didn't consider the XUV500 as a candidate?

[jpm]

Congratulations Behemoth on your Jeep! Your reasons for choosing the compass sound like hearing my own mind voice. Exactly the same thought process that I had.

Wishing you many happy miles ahead!


------

OT, you paid 20.3 L OTR. OTR in Tamil Nadu is 21.90L for the same trim. 1.6 Lakhs just due to differential taxes is absurd. Wonder what are people in KA paying? What will happen in 10 days time after GST revision? India's tax system is silly.

[bhuvan_prasad]

Congratulations on the car!! It looks fabulous. You're getting the roof wrap done with FCA?

Agree with you on the piano black finish around the touchscreen, it looks a bit tacky when combined with the smallish screen. It should have been half its current size in width, with the rest of the space going to a larger screen.

The leather and colour looks nice in the pics. Does it feel plush? The colour is going to get dirty easily, but regular interior detailing should take care of that.


Wish you many miles of happy motoring, and hopefully get to see your car in Gurgaon sometime soon.

[Jaggu]

Congratulations, you got a really engaging car there! Personally i also prefer the subtle shades of silver and white, with darker roof wrap this car would look a million bucks more. Do get it done, a friend has done the same here and used 3M for this.

Nice crisp initial review, do keep us posted on the updates as you gather the Km's.

cheers
Jaggu

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congrats! The first ownership report on the forum, and in good time. Wishing you a great many miles with the car.

Please do continue to document the updates here on a regular basis. Your thread could (and surely will) become a decision maker for many, who are impressed by the official review, but still want to decide based on the good or bad experiences faced by the initial users.

[Behemoth]

Thanks everyone!
I am not quoting your individual queries (as I am replying from my phone)
To answer some of your queries :
Yes the Jeep keychain was part of the gift box which contained chocolates and the keychain. I think it should be for all deliveries.

I have experience with an XUV (with my BIL) and wanted something fresh and aggressive in design. The XUV is a bit dated now and should be refreshed soon with a new face. We really don't need a seven seater too. What probably made the XUV out of our list was the last point of my wife's criteria list, which was that the car should be rare and exclusive!

Thanks Jaggu for your compliments! After yours and Omkar's official Compass detailed review, mine is just a small drop in comparison to the ocean of info that you have shared!! Thanks for the extremely detailed official review!

[GTO]

Congrats Behemoth! I just love the Compass - great choice. Thanks for sharing a thoroughly unbiased review.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

The other option for us was that we could dilute our booking to the LTD 4x2 variant and get the delivery asap due to our early booking. The LTD 4x2 would come to us at a landed price of 20.3 Lacs, which meant a saving of nearly 5 lacs over the 4x4 version at the Hiked price. So eventually head won over heart and we diluted our booking to a 4x2 LTD version.

I'm usually a fan of the fully loaded variants and believe that every SUV must have AWD / 4x4. However, the GST hike has today been confirmed and I completely agree with your reasoning. If you aren't going to offroad, why pay 5 lakhs more!

I also asked for the Black Roof Wrap (10900)

14k or so with the pillars IIRC. Would suggest going for that.

During this period, we drove the car around 40 Kms, with 50% by me and 50% by my wife.

Why am I not surprised. Every woman who saw our test Compass fell in love with it.

I still follow the practice of running in my cars for 1000Kms before we do any spirited driving with them.

Likewise . And once you start increasing the revs, do so gradually. I spread it out over 500 - 1000 km (by the end of 2,000 km, I'm redlining).

The area where the Compass really excels in is the Driver Engagement and Fun to Drive quotient.

So agreed! That wonderful engine, sweet EPS, tight suspension & solid stability make it fun-to-drive. I had a blast with it on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Forget Italian or American, the Compass feels very 'German' on the highway.

The Boot while on paper is 438L, but somehow it feels much smaller

As we mentioned in the official review, leave the specs aside. Boot space is strictly average.

At slow speeds 20-30, you do feel some of the road undulations filter through

Even I didn't like its low speed (10 - 30 kmph) ride quality on broken Mumbai roads. The lower variant with 16" rims should be better though.

Wish you many years of peaceful ownership with her. Please do keep updating this thread on its long-term reliability, dealership experiences & maintenance costs.

[swami69]

Congratulations on your Silver Surfer. Great review of the car and it looks lovely in Silver shade. The black roof and pillar (as suggested by GTO) will make it even better. Drive Safe.

Swami

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

This is going to be a long story and will chronicle the rise of our SILVER SURFER - aka the Jeep Compass LTD 4x2 in Silver.

Congrats Behemoth on your SILVER SURFER, and for being the first one to post the JEEP Ownership on the forum

When the initial promos were out of the Compass, I for one really thought it looked quite ugly, and a lot like the Mahindra TUV 300. But I have honestly fallen in love with the Compass, and I think the reason is that it looks so much like the Grand Cherokee.

Wish you a very happy motoring, and many a mile "Surfing".


OT: I just bumped into this video on Youtube that really shows the performance prowess of the 2L Diesel in Compass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDOeZBucJtQ

This is just mind-boggling numbers for a small SUV

[S.MJet]

Many Congratulations Behemoth on your Silver Surfer and thanks for a very informative and unbiased review.
Compass looks great in silver and will look even better with blackened roof.

I currently own 2012 Punto and will be looking for an upgrade in a year or two. I am quite accustomed to Fiat driving dynamics and solid build, I am sure Compass in these areas is a couple of notches higher. Though it is out of my budget, will be closely watching your and the official review thread, may be Renegade makes it to my garage if priced with similar aggression.

[behaln]

Many congratulations on your new ride. Wishing you safe and trouble free ownership. Shall await your updates on the roof wrap. Do get it done asap. It will visually enhance the appeal of the car.