Been working with maddog STS to do a custom shifter for my 2014 jeep patriot. It has a helluva weird looking shifter but we made it work. I imagine he could also do calibers (srt4 maybe?) as well. They function the same but the shifter base and cable retaining is a little different. It's pretty much perfect now. Not too short but not too long.
https://youtu.be/1jpNEI9Z9Gw
Everyone i've ever seen driving a manual Patriot drives the piss out of it, and that makes me happy.
Dont push the red button.You hear me?
Chuck does awesome work!Dont see too many stick compass/patriots!
The only reason I bought the patriot is because it was available with 4wd and manual trans in a base model.
My wife had one with the CVT.I absolutely hated that thing.If they would have had one with a stick at the time we would have bought it.Traded it in on a 15 legacy.Originally Posted by thedon809
I looked into buying a FWD stick Patriot several years ago, impossible to find one up here in the northeast. Its like all sales managers automatically check off "4x4 automatic" when doing an order. I understand you want to appeal to the largest group.. but still.
Found one down in N.C. but Chrysler refused to honor the $3000 in rebates available because the dealer was not in my zone? w.t.h.
Lost sale for Chrysler and I ended up in a used stick Neon which served me well for 5 or 6 years and 40,000+ miles and I think I might have actually made a slight profit when I sold it.
Working on clearing the decks.
I don't think there is a single vehicle that can compete with the patriot for the price. I paid about 18.5k and it gets over 25mpg beating on it(30+ on highway), tows 2,000lbs, has 9" of ground clearance and is decent off road. Only options are 4wd(4wd automatically comes with the 2.4l and rear disc brakes) and power locks/windows. I added the oil cooler and mopar hitch+wiring.
The price is the only thing that keeps it selling. I know many who had one and hated it. If it were priced the way the wrangler is done, it would never sell.....by that I mean over-priced.
Bryan
86 GLHS #161, 2016 Impala
SDAC National Member, SDAC Buckeye Chapter Member
A man has got to know his limitations.....
I feel like the Patriot is what the first Liberty should have been, and it should have been called Cherokee.
Dont push the red button.You hear me?
I had a 07 Caliber with the 2.0L and CVT. Once I got used to the CVT I loved it. Was a fun car to drive. Unfortunately it ended up with an electrical problem which kept draining the battery overnight. Over a month spent in dealership for diagnostics and replacing parts and they never figured out problem. Dodge bought it back from us for full MSRP plus the mods we had installed. Ended up getting a '05 Town & Country Limited as during that year we had a new addition to family and the Caliber just wasn't big enough for a rear facing car seat and comfortable front passenger.
Probably because they got the incorrect transmission and engine. The 2nd gen patriots are also much nicer and better build quality than the 1st gen patriots. They have their problems like any vehicle. Most common being ball joints, sway bar links, and tie rod ends. Typical mitsubishi design problems just like my old sebring coupe. I have only 3 complaints. I wish it had the 2.4 tigershark with more power, torque and even better MPG, 6 speed manual instead of 5 speed, and finally it would have been nice if they dropped the KL cherokee 4wd system with true 56:1 low range. With those additions it would be the ultimate small independent suspension equipped off roader. The wrangler is nowhere near overpriced. Find me a better off road vehicle for 24k msrp, I would like to see it. Nobody is pointing a gun to peoples heads telling them to get fully loaded 4 door rubicons.
You tell me where you can find a 24k wrangler on a lot? I know how hard they are to find, I spent 2 months helping a friend look for one when her 98 was dying.
We didn't just look five miles out, either. I do have to give the newer years a higher rating, like you said. Most of the others were 2011 or older. Good point on the transmissions, too.
Bryan
86 GLHS #161, 2016 Impala
SDAC National Member, SDAC Buckeye Chapter Member
A man has got to know his limitations.....
We have several 24k wranglers on our lot, but we aren't a small dealer either- we have 60 wranglers in stock at any given time.
On a 13-14-15 Patriot you will be replacing lower ball joints every 30k miles. Nothing you can do about it- the ball joint is too small to carry the load of the vehicle and it wears out very very quickly. its pretty easy to replace the control arm though- i can get it done in about 30-40 minutes.
Other thing ive noticed- the rear drum brakes wear out extremely fast, like lining worn down to less than 1mm in 20k miles kind of fast. It's not random either- every single one of em does it i see about 4-5 of em a week. just had to do drum brakes yesterday on a 2014 with 18k miles on it so the car would meet certified pre owned standards. Front pads still had 6mm of lining left but the rears shoes were worn down to the point where i had to fail the car on state safety inspection. no bluing or other signs of people driving around with the e brake on either.
I do see a lot of these- i inspect and service 4-5 of them a week. They are a popular car due to the price point and being able to get 4WD.
They are also a popular car for people to buy and decide they dont like it after a few months and trade it in on something else. Im sure if the Renegade wasn't so ugly people would be doing the same thing- buy it cause its cheap then decide it sucks and get rid of it.
Oh well, no hair off my behind, just means more gravy in the used car trough.
My patriot came from a dealer 300 miles away. Try finding a 4x4 5 speed patriot in the south LOL. The newer ones also sit a lot higher than older ones. They look less like a wagon and more like an SUV.
- - - Updated - - -
I haven't seen the ball joints fail that early. Earliest I have seen is like 70k. As far as drum brakes, I hate them but I haven't seen to many issues out of them. That's why I got rear discs. I just adjusted some rear drums on a 2010 patriot with 115k and the shoes were original. But we don't sell jeeps so we don't see as many as other dealers. Calibers were basically the same anyways though.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
