4.5 years with my Jeep Compass diesel: My honest list of pros & cons

Spares are hideously expensive. The clutch replacement along with the pressure plate costed me 1lakh.

BHPian kevinpaulreddy recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I am an owner of Jeep Compass 2.0 D. Having driven the Jeep compass for over 4.5 years, here is my honest take on the car.

I will start with the down sides first as most of you out there would have already heard what this baby can do:

• The fit and finish inside the cabin for a 20 lac plus car is not up to the mark by any standards, especially the doors, the cabin light assembly and the glove compartment. the rattling noise has been there since day 1 and continues to haunt me till date. I would have complained about it for not less than 20 times to the service center in Gurgaon but they were unable to find a permanent fix for it. I finally gave up and decided to not pursue it. This way I keep my sanity because there is no resolution to this issue. I will live with it till I have the car.
• The battery does not last more than 14 months. Nobody is sure of the issue but the battery will go kaput between 12 to 14 months. My most recent battery was an Exide battery with 36 months warranty and they replaced it free of cost after the original one went kaput in 12.5 months. This is my 4th battery so far.
• The 2nd gear has an issue and you will experience lack of torque in second gear. It is a design flaw and there is no fix to it. I have had my clutch assembly and the pressure plate replaced at 96K KM and was hoping that it will eliminate the issue but it didn't change anything.
• The clutch pedal is very hard compared to other cars. I moved from a Mitsubishi Cedia to Jeep Compass and it was pain-full getting adjusted to the harder clutch. In retrospect, I feel I should have bought an automatic transmission.
• Approach angle is horrendous for a car that claims to be an SUV. My brothers Maruti Celerio is able to tackle certain terrain better than the Jeep.
• Spares are hideously expensive. The clutch replacement along with the pressure plate costed me 1lakh. An alternator bearing replacement costed me 13K. A regular service costs about 20k and a major service costs about 45K.
• The headlights are useless (Regular halogen) The throw of the light is inadequate. I do a lot of cross country driving and I struggle every time it's dark.
• The lug nuts had a tin cover welded onto them which did not allow me to use my OEM lug wrench. I got the tin cover removed by a welder and now the bolts are of size 16 and the wrench is size 17. As a temporary fix I bought a size 16 wrench off amazon. As silly as it may sound, it is true.
• Steering rack went bad and it costed 1lac to replace. Jeep does not repair it. It's a known issue and yet they continue to loot the customers.
• A constant noise from the drive terrain that is by design as per the engineers.
• The gear shifter does not feel as snug as you would like a car in this price point. It is very wobbly.
• Engine mount C has been replaced twice already.

Now lets move on to what I love about this baby of mine:

• The driving dynamics are as good as they can be. It's confident at high speeds.
• Steering feedback is top-notch and goes where you point the steering.
• No dearth of torque and once the turbo kicks, it's a wild animal.
• Noise insulation inside the cabin is excellent.
• The seats are extremely comfortable for long drives.
• Gets off the block quicker than you can anticipate and deals with high speeds like a boss
• The music system is excellent
• Built quality barring the cabin rattling noise is very topnotch.
• Excellent on turns making it an ideal car for the hills.
• Hill assist and auto handbrake work well in tandem to make driving effortless on inclines.
• AC is very effective and is still working after 4.5 years and no repair work so far not even a gas top-up has happened.
• Seating position and visibility is also good.
• The materials used in the cabin justify the cost and they have lasted the test of time with negligible signs of wear and tear.
• Excellent road presence.

I will conclude by saying that though there are a lot of upsides to own a Jeep, there are enough frustrating downsides which if not fixed would mean that I personally will not go for a Jeep product in the near future.

Regards,

Kevin