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8 key updates on my Jeep Compass 4x4 after 10,000 km on the odo

18th October 2022, 14:32 by Rahul Nagaraj

I have been getting around 11.25 - 11.5 km/l of fuel efficiency for the past few weeks now.

BHPian Pancham recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

ODO: 10,160 km
Day: 320

Part 2 of the update took more time than I had anticipated. Few developments over the past few months:

1. DEF Warning: The most dreaded problem of modern BS 6 engines (at least for me personally) - One evening after returning from the gym, I see this warning (exhaust fume) on the dash. My heart sank but then I realized that the warning was for low DEF liquid. Funnily, the DEF tank still had around 35-40% of the liquid left. In short, I will have to fill up every time the DEF tank is at 50%.

Another thing about this, which surprisingly, nobody talks about is the DEF cost. So I have an 11-litre DEF tank which I was told will last for 7000kms. When I did the Zanskar trip it was 4000 km for a tank full which is understandable because of the mountainous roads, change in altitude, etc. But in the city, it seems I will get around 6000km for a tank full. A jar of DEF costs around INR 100 per litre. So that is around INR 1,100 for a tank full which runs for around 6,000 km. Not a lot but still an additional cost regardless.

(Excuse the blurry pictures please)

2. Paint Protection Film (PPF). I don't want to brood about this anymore. Back in May, I got PPF done for the bonnet, side fenders, bumper and side mirror. The brand is "Ceramic Pro" and I got it done from Tee Car in South Delhi. They are also known as Ceramic Pro South Delhi. And dear friends - it was EXPENSIVE. Around 720-750 per sq. ft. is expensive. The experience has been disappointing. Since day 1 the PPF there were several glue marks on the PPF and I have highlighted this. I have only received assurances that it will go away and if not, it will be replaced. But I have kind of given up. I have already driven twice from Gurgaon to Delhi (70kms round trip) to follow up on this but it's too long a journey and a waste of time on weekends. Let me share a few pictures - you can see the PPF peeling off from the bumper and the dirt accumulating.

Overall, I am not touching Ceramic Pro again. There are some benefits still - I am sure it is protecting the paint (hopefully) and there won't be any paint coming off if, in future, I take the PPF off but after this experience, you never know. Just a sad, disappointed customer of Ceramic Pro.

3. Air conditioning. The AC performance has come down. Not sure why - probably due to the Zanskar trip. The car had to endure a LOT of dust and the AC was on almost all the time. Nowadays, I have to keep the fan at 3 or 4 minimum. Will get this checked during the first 15k service due in November 2022.

4. Rattle in the rear right-hand side door. Yes, I have them too. But, there is a caveat. This started while returning from the Zanskar trip. The car was put through a lot and perhaps it was just too much for the car to not rattle. Surprisingly, I don't hear the rattle anymore. Having said that, Delhi has some good roads. I drive around 75kms daily on the near-perfect tarmac. So have to test it out on bad roads to see if the rattle is still there. There was a sunroof rattling noise which I had mentioned earlier. That is not there anymore.

5. Wheel alignment. The car seems to be pulling to the right and the alignment seems to be the issue. Can someone suggest a good wheel alignment shop in Gurgaon?
I wish we had something like Madhurs (Bangalore) here in Gurgaon.

6. Dash Cam. I have had a dash cam in my cars ever since 2017. And yes, I feel it is a necessity. However, after getting the Jeep I somehow could not figure out how to install one because for some reason I always wanted to get it hardwired. But a car friend of mine was smart enough to remind me that I will lose the warranty if I do that.

Post that, I moved to Delhi but driving a dash cam-less car always made me feel slightly uncomfortable. On top of that, I could not find a half-decent accessory shop which could fit the camera neatly. Again, the Compass does not have a 12V lighter socket in the front. So you have routed the wires under the seat and taken it to the rear seat footwell which is a decent amount of travel. A school friend in Gurgaon told me about Bob's Auto Car accessory shop in Gurgaon. I already had my Viofo A119 v2 (from my i20) and looking at the current Viofo prices I was happy to re-use it instead of getting a new one. Took the camera to them and they did a decent job - except that they left a lot of fingerprints on the A-pillar and they could not fix one of the small plastic panels below the A-pillar. Overall, I have a working dash camera now. They have routed the wire under the front passenger seat and plugged it into the rear seat USB port.

One interesting fact about dash cam memory cards. Dash cams tend to throw a 'format memory card' error if you insert any memory card above 32GB. I faced it too. The solution is to format it through the dashcam and not through your computer.

7. Jeep Life App. The very useful Jeep Life App has stopped working. It shows 'last updated' on Sept 2. Many other members are facing a similar problem. So another thing to fix when I visit the service centre in November.

8. Fuel efficiency. I have been getting around 11.25 - 11.5 km/l of FE for the past few weeks now. It's not a lot but not sure if I can extract more out of a 2L 4X4 AT SUV. Again, I drive on pretty good roads and a lot of it is a highway.

Based on the Drivvo app, these are the figures to date:

Lowest: 7.8 km/l
Highest: 14.10 km/l
Last: 11.51 km/l

That is it for now. There are 2 trips coming up in October so I am excited to put some miles on the car. Happy to answer queries. Thanks for reading. A bathing picture of my black beauty before signing off.