Now I know some people think the Jeep Compass is ugly. Obviously I can’t say that because I bought one 
This has to be the ugliest Jeep Compass accessory ever…. it’s chrome hood vents! Wow….
from http://www.automotiveconcepts.net/store/Jeep-Compass_product_37337.html
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
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:
Well here’s a few pictures of my Compass as it was being fixed.
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.
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.
I thought you guys might be interested in this:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 )