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Oil Change

December 11th, 2007

Well I don’t have much to post. I’ve been meaning to make an appointment and get Jeep to look at the buzzing/rattling I hear. It sounds like an exhaust shield rattle. I don’t know if that’s actually the problem or not. Also, there’s a noise when going over bumps.

I changed the oil on the Compass last night. Got the filter from Jeep and the oil is Quaker State 5W20 from Canadian Tire.

That’s all for now :-)

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Jeep Compass - Cloud Rider Grille Insert

October 26th, 2007

Check out my new Cloud Rider grille insert. The pictures didn’t turn out all that great because the Jeep is icy, dirty, and it’s night time. I’ll see if I can get some better pics later.

You can buy them from http://www.cloudrider.ca - here’s the direct link:
http://www.cloudrider.ca/screens_show.php?vhcl_mke=Jeep&vhcl_mdl=Compass&vhcl_yr=2007

and here’s a better picture from their website:

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Jeep Compass Accident Photos

October 7th, 2007

Well here’s a few pictures of my Compass as it was being fixed.

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My Third Paint Chip in only 10 Months

June 16th, 2007

Gee, I really should update my blog more often. Sorry folks!

I washed the Jeep to discover yet another paint chip. What’s with DCX paint? This is the third paint chip in the 10 months I’ve had the Jeep.

This time I went out and bought the right touch-up paint from the dealer. Last time I picked up touch-up paint from Canadian Tire but it didn’t match very well (it was too light).

Anyway, this paint chip was on the front driver’s side wheel well. Here’s a before picture:

And here’s an after picture:

It doesn’t match 100% but it does look better. And hopefully it doesn’t rust. Wow, the blue looks very different in those two photos. In the first photo, I didn’t use the flash and I had the garage door open (natural sunlight coming in). In the second photo, the garage door was shut and the flash was on. But the color definitely looks like the first pic in real life :-)

Oh yeah, I’m at 16,550 km now. I’ve changed the oil since my last blog post. Again I used the Mopar oil filter and I used Castrol 5W20 oil.

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Another paint chip & a mileage update

April 10th, 2007

Well there’s another paint chip I just noticed today (after a wash). It’s on the edge of the right front wheelwell. Well I have touchup paint so I fixed it up right away. What’s with this paint chipping so bad? That’s the second paint chip in an odd spot in the last few months. I can’t recall ever having a paint chip before that wasn’t on the front of the vehicle (from rocks).

Also, after 12,200+ km, I have an update on the mileage. The Jeep Compass 2.4L 4WD CVT is rated for 28 city, 34 highway MPG (Imperial).

I’m averaging 20.1 mpg in the city and 26.8 mpg on the highway. What a big difference from the rated numbers. On the bright side, a recent tank broke the 30 mpg mark on the highway. And one other highway tank was 29.1 mpg. I haven’t done as much city driving recently so I don’t have a good recent city rating.

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Cool Jeep Compass Video

March 22nd, 2007

I thought you guys might be interested in this:

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Ah! The First Rock Chip

March 6th, 2007

Well I do have some news to report. I got my first rock chip in the windshield… and the first paint chip by the window behind the rear passenger door. I’ll see if I can get a photo or two for you folks.

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Not much to report

January 18th, 2007

Well I thought I’d post to say I don’t have much to report. Not much new on the Jeep Compass front. If you read this blog, you should also read our forums as well, and get involved. The forums are a lot more interactive.

http://www.myjeepcompass.com/forums/

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Nokian WR Tires Installed (Review)

December 9th, 2006

So I got the Nokian WR tires installed yesterday. My initial thoughts are that they are heavier than the stock Firestone tires so they have a little different feel. Plus they didn’t notice a night-and-day difference in terms of traction. I had expected them to stick like glue, but I was deliberately trying to spin the tires (yes, all 4) on the slippery roads.

I didn’t get to drive much yesterday so don’t take the above opinion as gospel. Once we get more snow and I drive on the new tires, my opinion of them might change.

I bought the Nokian WR tires because there are two people that I work with that put them on all their vehicles and they swear by them. The Nokians are an all-weather tire that are better in winter traction than all-season tires. The beauty is that you don’t need to swap them out in the winter, you run them all year long. Plus they have a 100,000 km treadwear rating.

I’ll post more in a future blog entry or forum topic. So check back in a few weeks when I’ve had a chance to run them on the highway and around town in various weather conditions.

p.s. I’m up to 6,600 km now. Also, now that the weather has warmed up a bit the liftgate seems to be latching properly. I’m going to keep an eye on it and if it gets cold and doesn’t shut right, I’ll get it into the dealer.

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My Jeep broke!

December 6th, 2006

Let me take you back to Saturday evening around 8pm. I’m out of town. The weather is a bit windy and -31 degrees Celsius. Wow, it’s chilly. I put some things in the back of the Compass and close the liftgate. I close it and it didn’t feel right. So I open it again and close it. Same thing. I guess the lock/latch got frozen. So I borrow some lock de-icer. Still no go.

The latch would “catch” on the first click, but wouldn’t latch fully closed. I’m now thinking can we drive in -31 on the highway and not get carbon monoxide poisoning or have the hatch rattle itself silly. Luckily my brother in law managed to get it fully latched closed. He pushed on the bottom centre of the liftgate and it clicked closed. The interior lights went out. Whew!

So when I got back home I checked again but the latch is still not working right. Now I definitely have a reason to go to the dealer. The latch must be adjusted/fixed.

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An oil change… finally!!

November 23rd, 2006

Well today I finally had enough and changed the oil myself. I bought the filter from the dealer (part#04884900AB) and picked up some Quaker State 5W20 oil.

So the first oil change was at 6,030km, and the original oil was BLACK!! I’m definitely going to change the oil every 5,000km or so.

Now for the whole story….
I was out of town from Nov13-22 so I didn’t have a chance to get the oil changed. So today I phoned one dealer and they said they’re not open Saturday due to inventory. Then I phoned the other dealer and they’re all booked up Saturday. The soonest they could do it is December 2, but that’s too late. So I phoned a quick-lube place and they said they don’t know what filter to use and I’d have to bring my own filter anyway. So I decided to just do it myself. I picked up the filter after work, then the oil later.

I put the Compass up on ramps, drained the old oil (which was very dirty), then I tried to get the oil filter off. Man it was welded on!!! I struggled getting it off. In the end I did get it off and the part number matched the new filter. The original filter has the words “factory installed”, FYI.

I spent $12.10 on the oil filter, and I had some Canadian Tire money, so I paid just $7.38 for the Quaker State 5W20 oil. So it only took an hour of my time (to buy the stuff and change the oil), and it cost $19.48. That’s a lot cheaper than the $35 plus tax the dealer wanted and $38 plus tax that the quick-lube place wanted. Maybe I will do all the oil changes myself after all. The filter is really easy to get at. If I can continue to get cheap oil through Canadian Tire, I’ll probably do that.

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4,700km and an oil change

October 31st, 2006

So the Jeep is at about 4,700 km. Not bad considering we’ve had it just over 2 months :-)

According to the owner’s manual, my driving habits dictate I can use both Schedule A and B (a 5,000km and 10,000km oil change interval). In the winter, the temperatures drop below 0 degrees C, so I should use schedule B (5K oil changes). But during the summer, I can use Schedule A (10K oil changes).

Well I’m old school so I plan on changing the oil every 5,000km regardless of the time of year and driving styles. We’re taking a short highway trip that should put the mileage at about 5,100 after the weekend so we’ll get the first oil change next week.

Look for more discussion of my oil change in the Jeep Compass Forums.

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3,600km and a DVD player installed…

October 15th, 2006

OK folks. The Compass is up to 3,600km, by the end of next weekend, it will be well over 4,000.

I installed an overhead DVD player for the rear passengers about a week ago. I had to drop the entire headliner. I was a bit nervous due to the fact that there are two side airbags… but it went well. The DVD player only needs three wires hooked up. A dome lamp, a battery positive, and ground. So far I’ve only hooked up to the dome lamp (at the rear of the headliner). I’ve got to wire up the power now. That shouldn’t be too hard… I hope.

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Update on my brake problem

October 4th, 2006

OK, so I thought I’d update you guys on my Compass brake problem. It went away. Yup, it just went away. So now I don’t need to go to the dealer until the first oil change (fingers crossed :-) )

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Full 2007 Jeep Compass Specifications

October 2nd, 2006

I’ve added the DCX media kit on the 2007 Jeep Compass. Check it out:
http://www.myjeepcompass.com/press/20060901-jeep-compass-grows-brand.php

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Mine is 1 of 135

September 25th, 2006

I put together a page that tracks the Jeep Compass sales, broken down by month:
http://www.myjeepcompass.com/misc/compass-sales-figures.php

It turns out that my Compass was one of 135 sold in Canada in the month of August. Cool!

2,500 km and a problem!

September 24th, 2006

I’ve had my Jeep Compass for about a month and a week now. The other day it developed a noise from the rear brakes. When I’m backing up and apply the brakes, there is a short noise. I suspect the problem is a bit of dirt or a rock stuck in one of the pads/rotors. But I have a warranty, so I’ll let the dealer figure it out :-)

As an aside… the Compass is SOOOOOO dirty right now. It rained for days on end last week and then I went through a bit of mud, and then some time in the last few days I got some road tar on the jeep. Argh, I guess I’ll be cleaning it tomorrow night.

Oh, one more thing. I went to Canadian Tire today and picked up a 7″ widescreen DVD player with overhead mount. I had some Canadian Tire money so in the end it cost me $130. So now there will be some ICE (In Car Entertainment). I hooked it up briefly in the house and it works great. This unit is portable so you can take it out of the Jeep and plug it in at the house or in another vehicle. That’s pretty handy!

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Highway mileage - 30mpg

August 23rd, 2006

So the first highway trip of 282 km resulted in a mileage of 30mpg. That was with the air conditioning on, so it’s not too bad. The downside was that there was road construction so there is now tar on the sides of the Jeep.

We’ve had it under a week and it’s already got a bit of tree sap, it’s got dirty, bugs all over the front, and now road tar. Argh, I better buy that paint sealant soon :-)

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First fillup… sorta

August 22nd, 2006

So tonight I filled the Compass up with gas. I drove 151.2 km in four days. It took 18.716L (@$1.149/L) for a total of $21.50. That works out to 22.8 mpg (Imperial). That was 100% city driving with some lead-footed-ness.

The Jeep is rated at 28 mpg city and 34 highway. Tomorrow is the highway trip… stay tuned!

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My New Jeep Compass

August 19th, 2006

I’ve had my 2007 Jeep Compass for about 24 hours now. I think it’s at about 303km now. I’m busy getting this site going, I’ll post more later.

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