Hey guys, welcome and I'm new to Jeep also.
I'm almost 40 and have had every vehicle under the sun (love cars and bikes).
Have had 5 litre mustangs, BMW X3 and 330xi, Benz C300, GMC Sierra and Chevy S10, Honda Civic, Mazda 3, VW Jetta, and my most recent Dodge Ram. Pretty much all were good cars with little issues outside of the BMW's with their usual transfer case problems (but still amazing cars). Have had about 2 dozen bikes from superbike to KTM/Husky dirtbikes.
I'm in the exact same boat, Compass was not my first choice since I was hoping for something more high-end and more reliable, but I was wanting to buy a manual and in SUV format it is very rare.
So I settled on a lower end car that is not known for reliability (the previous generation compass was probably one of the worst cars made, will see how this one holds up). I was a little scared buying the 2019 compass that I have due to the not so good track record, but figured was my last attempt at a manual vehicle and justified that risk since not really any other options out there in SUV other then maybe Quasquai which was the absolute base-base model and would not get that.
Surprisingly I do really like the look of the car, with the front end being much nicer then the Cherokee with those narrow slit headlights I really don't like; the compass is nice and more like a baby Grand-Cherokee.
The tail of the compass is sexy too, and you can tell was really influenced (or copied lol) from the range rover and looks super sharp. Looks wise the compass can't be beat.
I wanted V6 but they would not offer it in the manual which is a huge disappointment also since the little 4 cylinder in this car does not feel adequate for pulling the weight of the SUV.
So far fuel consumption has been bad and getting worse it seems which is scaring me a little but hoping its just a symptom of the heavy SUV making the tiny 4 banger work so hard all the time and not some hidden issue. Have very low mileage only 2500km range but will see if gets better as the engine further breaks in.
I do love the layout of the SUV, good size and nice looking interior. Even the non-leather base seats have nice 2-tone stitching and fake rubberized material around the door and arm rests to give that leather type feel. Nice touch for a base interior.
The materials are as cheap as you can get, but many cars going this route with the whole limited resources left in this world but thats a whole other discussion
It is nice that it comes with a colour (few colours anyway) touch screen and blue tooth audio, all wheel drive, and the backup camera which none of the above I really wanted since more stuff to go wrong but nice to have anyway.
I have a factory hitch installed to tow around my dirtbike on a tiny little trailer ($1500 from dealer, yikes have done it myself for $200 but wanted to make sure all done by Chrysler to ensure warranty in-tact).
All in all I'm quite happy with the car other then the fact that it is probably by far the slowest vehicle I've owned and the worst on fuel consumption so far (but likely expected with the tiny engine in a bigger vehicle). Havent had many issues, the rear hatch handle fell off is the only thing so far which I don't care about my main concern will be mechanical.
My 2 kids (2 and 4) love the car, not as much as the X3 but they are pretty happy about the compass which is good since I mainly bought it for a family vehicle.
Its definitely nice to have the manual, might be the last I'll ever own since they are becoming obsolete which is quite sad. Maybe in a few years will have to try and find the most analog old school Porsche I can find in good shape with a 6 speed and keep that as a garage queen for as long as possible and watch the Tesla's and Leafs zip by silently.
Nice to be on the forum, hope to learn allot here and pass on anything that I find out and experience over the years with my Jeep Compass. First time jeep owner saying hi !!
Cheers!!