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How my friends & I bought 3 blue Jeep Compass SUVs together

7th January 2022, 15:08 by Rahul Nagaraj

I had already booked the Kia Seltos, before my friends and I decided on the Compass.

BHPian aayusht recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

The Three Blue Jeep Compasses

The need for a new car:

While the itch to buy a new car was there for the past few years, the actual decision to buy a new car started evolving around the time when my previous vehicle a Hyundai i10 started giving a little trouble and showing its age. The i10 Era (base model with 1.1L iRDE engine) was the first car that I purchased in December 2009 (manufactured September 2009).

It was around June 2021 we started thinking about the new car purchase a little more seriously. My parents were the ones who pushed me and my wife to start taking this seriously after discussing that the i10’s poor & worn out suspension, ineffective AC, slightly worn-out tires all need to be fixed.

The requirements:

Automatic transmission (non-negotiable)
Petrol (NCR's 15 vs 10-year rule on Petrol vs Diesel); we maintain our cars fairly ok and retain them for long
Budget of around 15-16L for a new car (on-road Delhi/Haryana). This was slightly extendable to 17-18L as well, but preferably not more (we had other financial commitments also on the roadmap).
Not too many gizmos. Given a choice, I would prefer analogue dials over digital dials. However, most C or D segment cars would likely have a few attractive gizmos even for the base variant, hence was primarily aiming at the cheapest automatic or
2nd cheapest automatic of any car.

Which new Car:

For a while, I was keen to get the 5th Gen Honda City and had test driven it on a very short drive around the time my father in law purchased the CRV in October 2020. I thought that the V CVT variant was well within our budget and was like a no brainer choice for us.

However, my wife was very clear that she wanted an SUV and was totally against sedans. So, the Honda City was deprioritized.

Our first and only preference for the SUV was Tata Harrier and that is also in Black (I know, it doesn't meet the petrol criteria). We didn't even test drive it when we had more or less made up our minds to buy the car. But just for the sake of clearing any minor doubts, we test-drove the Harrier just for formality purposes. We found the car very big, especially for someone moving up from a Hyundai i10. On the 2nd of August 2021, we went to the Lajpat Nagar Showroom to book the XMA variant. We realized that we couldn’t stretch the budget for the Dark edition which was a cosmetic upgrade and other features which we could live without. We negotiated on the XMA and were about to close the deal and asked the advisors that we will need 1 more day to finalize the deal. We were planning to just do a comparison of Harrier quotes at a few more dealers.

However, when we got to my in-law's place, we were reminded about the difficulty in selling their Diesel Vento in Delhi/NCR. People lowballing the price of a very well maintained Vento because it was 8.5 years old (PS – my in-laws sold the car later on to someone in another city outside NCR for a much better price through OLX). However, the car scrappage rule at 10 years made us wary of buying a Diesel car (Harrier).

Other alternatives:

Creta’s cheapest automatic seemed to be too expensive compared to Seltos

Duster / Kicks – for some reason did not explore them much; we had a Duster in our family and were not too happy with the interior quality & had the impression that Kick's wont is too different.

We had not test-driven Hector for two reasons - totally my personal aversion to the brand (apologies, but no disrespect to those who bought it) and the fact that it was relatively new and unproven in terms of after-sales etc. (KIA being a sister company of Hyundai- I had more faith in it).

Also, at that time, the Kushaq was not launched but I was unsure of it anyways.

After the internet and team-bhp scans, our primary shortlist was the Kia Seltos (and we were clear we wanted a black colour). Despite my reluctance to a CVT transmission, I still preferred the IVT variant since it was cheaper than the GTLine which had the DCT transmission. I did not even want to test drive the GT line since I knew it was not in my budget. We test drove the IVT variant car and found the first dealership experience a bit disappointing. We went to another dealership and again had a not so great experience either (the dealer said – if we want to buy a car, we need to take the insurance from them & not outside). But by this time we were irritated with the whole delay in our car buying experience and the lack of options. We booked the Petrol IVT HTX in Black and agreed to sell the i10 to the dealership's team. We were given 5 months of waiting time and our i10 was taken by them right away.

When we booked the Seltos the Sales advisor told us that the car can be delivered in 3 months but just because they needed to keep some buffer, they have documented 5 months. We thought we may get the car by October 2021. Soon after I posted a query on team-bhp and got the confirmation that the pressure tactic used by the dealer to sell us the insurance was wrong. I escalated this and got a call back from the customer relationship team informing me that the insurance would not be mandatory from Kia. We also got the message that the timeline originally communicated to us – for December 2021 delivery would not change (and in hindsight, I feel it may have even gotten longer).

A little twist in the tale (the three Compasses)

Around this time, my close friend who had a similar budget and had plans to buy an SUV was also doing research. He had not test-driven any cars when I had booked my Seltos. When we informed him of the insane waiting time, he picked up momentum to test driving. He always had dreams of buying a Jeep Compass and due to the high cost, had been exploring used ones on online portals. However, I discouraged him from buying a used car from unknown people. I am ok buying a used car from someone we would know or through reliable references. I even searched for Jeep Compass on his behalf on the team-bhp classifieds but couldn't find one in Delhi or Gurgaon.

Around the end of September 2021, my friend started test driving cars and one of the cars he test drove was the Kushaq. He was praising it and encouraged me to test drive it as well. We both went to the Skoda showroom in Gurgaon and test drove the 1.0 AT and enjoyed the driving dynamics but did not like the interior finish or the inside space. My wife and I did not find the Kushaq worth the price. On top of that, the car was too new and we had started hearing stories of a few niggles and a couple of other major problems. Kushaq was dropped right away. Had it been priced 2 Lacs lower I may have considered it after initial niggles were sorted out. After test driving the Kushaq, my wife and I started exploring other cars (while still waiting for the Seltos which was booked about 2 months prior). We test drove Taigun right after its launch, test drove the Seltos GT line since we felt the HTX IVT underwhelming and just wanted to try it out. I must have driven the Seltos IVT and GTline back to back 2-3 times from different dealers. Reluctantly I test drove Hector as well. The wife was very keen to consider Hector thanks to the fancy features, the large tablet etc. at a price point similar to Seltos HTX. However, I wasn't keen to get a Hector. We asked the MG team to send the car over to our home so that our parents can also test drive it and share a second opinion. In-laws also did not like the Hector and mentioned that the ride quality is boat-like and the interior quality just felt that it may not last long. We decided to drop Hector as well and continued waiting for Seltos. I never liked the looks of the Creta but just to rule it out, I had checked over the phone the price and waiting period. It confirmed my initial assessment and turned out to be pricier than Seltos with more fancy features. Since I wasn't too keen for fancy features, I just never test drove it. By early October I had started taking the low safety ratings of Seltos more seriously and was thinking of reconsidering the Harrier again.

My friend test drove the new Jeep Compass despite it being over budget and told me that since he doesn't want to cross the 20L mark, he was considering the manual variant. At that point, I had not even test-driven the car and was hoping that there may be the possibility of getting good discounts on the automatic variant if I go and try to negotiate. We also did not want to cross 20L but had a very clear plan that we want an automatic transmission. I had also felt that the Jeep would mean a higher maintenance cost.

We were curious and thought that there is no harm in test driving the car. However, it was getting a bit difficult to get a test drive car especially due to the weekend rush. We called 2-3 dealers in NCR over two consecutive weekends and all mentioned that test drives on short notice won't be possible but they were keen to offer me a test drive on the weekdays. Due to work commitments, we were not sure if all of the members of the family would be available on a weekday. Finally, my wife and I went to Moti Nagar Delhi - almost 1 hour from our house to test drive on the 3rd October. We loved the car (1.4L Auto), especially the planted feeling. Due to traffic and narrower roads in Moti Nagar we couldn't really drive it fast but still could feel that it is a segment above Seltos/Hector/Kushaq. We went back to the Kia showroom where we had booked our Seltos. Test drove both the HTX IVT and GT line yet again. The HTX IVT that we had booked felt underwhelming compared to Compass and the GT Line costing over 20L did not feel worth the price despite lots of fancy features and a more powerful engine. My wife and I debated - stay with HTX IVT and don't stretch budget or stretch but only for Compass (the difference was about 5lacs). Next weekend - on 10th Oct we booked the Compass in Galaxy Blue and also cancelled the Seltos booking. The dealership experience at Landmark Jeep was fairly decent. Puneet and Shoaib were courteous throughout & did not pressurize me for taking insurance from them. I got an indication that the galaxy blue was going to take longer than other colours, but we were keen for the Galaxy Blue only. We were told the car can be delivered in about 2 weeks, but due to limited production of the Blue colour, we ended up getting the delivery a little later. During this time, the Landmark team encouraged me to consider other colours but we were too stuck on the Galaxy Blue. The Color looks royal & similar to the blue of the Mercedes & BMW. Sadly, we didn't get enough discounts, but then we were very keen to get a good car and the Jeep definitely is one.

My friend who persuaded me to consider the Compass also booked his in manual variant in Galaxy Blue. Coincidentally, another friend of his booked his Compass in Galaxy Blue. We all were waiting for 3 Jeep Compasses in Galaxy Blue colour (all the 3 cars were different variants – mine was Sports Auto, my friends’ was Sports manual and his friend got a Longitude Auto).

During the weeks when our Compass was getting delayed we started reconsidering the Harrier in the Dark edition. We had set a mental cut off date for the Compass- If it doesn't get delivered in 2021, we cancel the booking and get a Harrier.

On 13th November we were told our car has been allocated and en route to Delhi. I wanted the car delivered on 19th November due to the auspicious day (Guru Nanak Jayanti). I also got the payment process completed within 3 days including a loan from SBI (Landmark helped me here). I took the insurance through the dealer despite it being 3K more expensive than exactly the same (yes I compared) insurance coverage (all riders same) directly from ICICI.

I couldn't do the PDI despite being aware of the fact that it is highly recommended. I had a lot of office work those days and didn't even see the next weekend free. I don’t regret the decision of skipping the PDI, but feel that this is something I should not have skipped.

We got the car delivered at home on 19th November instead of going to the dealership.

A couple of things were missed at the time of delivery- mud flaps, FastTag, a mistake in the insurance documents, but they all got resolved in December. At the time of delivery, the odo reading was about 40km (I don’t remember exactly).

Experience so far:

Driven about 800km since the day it was delivered. Got the fuel topped up but forgot to take notes for tracking mileage. First time in my life the fuel top-up cost me over 5K (those days the petrol prices were closer to Rs105 in Delhi & the new car had almost no fuel).
It has been my wife who has driven the car to her office most of the time. I got around to driving the car over the last 2 weeks when driving around to parents and in laws place or running errands.
I recently got the fuel topped off again and this time I have started noting (in a small notepad) the mileage (in Km) when I am getting the fuel refilled. Next time I would be able to confirm the mileage in KmPL. Barring 1 or 2 odd instances, I have not really pressed the pedal to the floor. I try to not go up to 3K RPM. Since the gear indicator feature has been deleted, I don’t know which gear is the car running in, but I am guessing that just over 2K RPM it upshifts.

What I like about the car:

The car feels very comfortable driving & has a number of useful features such as all-disc brakes and solid architecture. It feels as comfortable as a CRV. More spacious than Seltos for the three of us sitting in the back (for ref, some of us in the family are a bit heavy
Certain features are really great - the engine auto-stop to conserve fuel. Though it gets a little irritating at times in stop and go traffic. Based on the traffic situation, we switch it on or off.
I really like the electronic handbrake and how it auto engages when put on Park
The super clear rearview camera (even in the base Sports variant). It is clearer than the one on Honda Jazz and Honda CRV. I can’t recall the clarity on the Seltos, but I am sure the Seltos would be further clearer
It's a Jeep.

What I do not like about the car:

At times it feels like the car does not respond appropriately to the accelerator. I have tried depressing the accelerator slightly more but the car feels sluggish. However, if I give it a little time and if a couple of times I rev up the RPM (either on neutral or in drive more), after that the car becomes peppy. Therefore, not very clear on how to maintain that fine balance of avoiding making the engine rev too much and keeping the engine on the boil all the time versus getting that extra power when I occasionally need to overtake. At times even the rev ups don’t make the car responsive & it just creates a sense of worry that there is something wrong with the car. My friend who drives the manual does not share this feedback. He seems to be happy with the responsiveness of the manual. I feel that the auto gearbox may be trying to optimize the gear shifts and hence I may at times not get the quick acceleration if I have not primed the car ahead. (any suggestions from the team-bhp community?).
The car is overpriced. At this price, there are a few basic missing features such as a rear parcel tray and a TPMS (yes, I think should be present even in the Sports variant). Also, after market accessories are only available with Mopar and their products seem to be pricy.
From what I have heard/read on the Delhi NCR Jeep owners WhatsApp group, the maintenance may not be cheap always.

What I have done since the car has arrived:

Got a DDPAI dashcam fixed. Had originally done a DIY job, but later on, I took someone’s help, later on, to tuck inside the wiring.
Bought a car shampoo (brand – Formula 1, not sure how great it is) & did a thorough cleaning over the holidays (spend about 2 hours in the process)
Explored the options of Ceramic coating but found it not worth (they don’t really protect the car from scratches as the ceramic coating is generally 2-3 microns). If someone actually wants to protect the car from scratches, then a PPF coating might be better but for a Jeep Compass, it would cost me approx. 70-80K or more. After stretching our budget, not comfortable spending another 70K on PPF right now.
Got a photoshoot of the 3 Jeeps & it turned out to be an awesome sight with the three Jeeps in Blue (photos below).