[SlowButSure]

Well, let's say the shine is off my 2007 Jeep Compass. At first I was all excited about it's features and it's price but now... It's a squeaky, springy pile on ill fitting parts that just can't be fixed.

1 - I have taken it to the dealer ( who is - surprisingly most cooperative) they changed some sort of bushing rod on the rear suspension twice on each wheel and still it creaks and groans like an old metal bed spring. I have given up on it.

2- Every now and then when I need to accelerate I will push the pedal forward and it can take up to 10 seconds before the transmission (CVT) grabs. It's kind of scary. They tested it and the can't reproduce the action, so they can't fix anything until it fails or shows up on that little black box of theirs.

3- The driver control of the rear window is also intermittently failing. It goes down but to bring it up I have to go back and use the control on the rear door.

4- The trim between the front and back door keeps popping out of it's retaining plugs anytime I brush against it. The dealer just keeps popping it back in - He showed me how to do it so that I don't have to drive all the way to the dealer just for that.

5- The rear brake drums are all rusted I don't know what that will end up doing.

6- The handle to lower the backrest is so badly placed the only way to access it is to open the door.

I have a few other gripes. but what mainly gets my goat is that it was bought brand new. maintained as per the jeep maintenance schedule and still I feel as if I am driving a garbage can.

I have had other Jeep and Chrysler products and none have been as shamefully shoddy as this car.

So it may look nice in the showroom and it may run fine for the first year but it shouldn't be considered for anything else than a two year rental. Use it and hand it back.

But then again pretty soon we won't have anyone to hand it back to.

I guess I will have to look at imports. Domestics just don't cut it anymore.

 

[cylonrader]

How Many miles do you have on it?

 

[SlowButSure]

Not that much

29000 miles.

 

[SlowButSure]

Popular mechanics got it right - Unfortunately

I found this today. I guess I feel morose about my Compass but they are right.

THE ARTICLE READS

1. Jeep Patriot, Compass and Dodge Caliber

Back when Daimler was running the show, there were two design exercises for a Jeep based on the Dodge Caliber. One was a more traditional boxy Jeep, while the other was a sportier "soft roader." Chrysler couldn’t decide which one to produce, so instead, they built both. Between the two, the Patriot is better. But neither one registers a blip on the mediocrity scale. And neither one offers the kind of off road capability real Jeeps needs to remain authentic.

go toopularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4315314.html?nav=RSS20

 

[i2canoe]

So sorry to hear how run down you Compass has become, my own is, although slightly less milage but the same year, standing up very well. To me it has not lost any of the newness or quality I enjoyed from the day I brought it home.
Could the condition of our Quebec roads be so much worse in your area?

 

[SlowButSure]

Thank you for your solicitude

Hi I2canoe
Thank you for your solicitude. (Whew! big word, for me).
Although the roads around St-Gabriel "doth sucketh immensely" it cannot be the cause. If it were so the the Rio, Firefly, Focus, - and Calibers- etc... would also be in such a state and all cars around here are still riding squeak free.
I was riding around Laval this week and it seems that even when I passed a painted line my car squeaks. Although it is still beautiful from the outside.
I still believe it's because of the mediocre workmanship. (Parts and labor).
I don't want to harsh other owners mellow but just the same, it's a Chrysler, not a jeep.

 

[Jeepster2]

My 2007 Compass was a used car buy. It has 46,000 miles on the odometer, and feels like new! Maybe I'm just lucky..

 

[SlowButSure]

Visited the dealer - He will change more parts

Hi! Jeepster2.

I wouldn't say you're lucky. Just that you are getting the value you paid for in your car. And as soon as my Compass stops being a squeaky toy I will be happy again.

I've been to the dealer again ( I can't believe the good service I'm getting - he is exceptional).

Last time he changed parts in the rear suspension that looked to me like a boomerang. This time he will change parts that look like a dog bone in the back and in front some sort of part that he calls a table. He believes that the parts are not designed for cold hard winters. The round rubber bushings that hold the rods to the car become loose and you can move them around with you're fingers. That shouldn't happen. It should remain rigid. (As you can see I'm no mechanic. I don't know what the parts are really called. Hence my feeling of helplessness when the car doesn't function correctly )

The noise has been worsening. Now that the squeaks are identified I get a groaning sound at stops and lights. As if the body wants to keep on going a few inches when I stop.

I'm confident the dealer will find the problem. He should get an extra star for service. The crappy parts aren't the dealer's fault.

I'm nearing my 60,000 km warranty limit soon. He offered to sell me a year extension on the warranty. But then will he be around that long.

Should he ever be closed by Chrysler, I will try to find a car in his new dealership that fits my needs. Unless he goes to KIA... That I just can't.

Cheers

 

[Jeepster2]

SlowButShure, I'm going to be under mine soon to change the oil. I will look at the rear suspension setup too and check out the design & bushings. I am not experiencing any of the problems that you have mentioned yet, but I have only owned it a short time.

 

[SlowButSure]

Dealer fixed the problem

Well here's to my dealer. long may he reign.

They changed the front tables on the suspension ( a sort of three pronged piece.) They also changed parts on the rear suspension and reassembled all the suspension.
So the squeaking has stopped and the constant banging over every dent in the road has gone. It is like when I bought it two and a half years ago.

I ride more than 800 Km a week and I am not annoyed by my Compass anymore. I hope it lasts till the end of the rental period.

Then I will be looking seriously at a Forester or an Outback.

Thanks again to my dealer. He deserves his five stars.

 

[Feel for life]

Glad that all seems fine for now.......hope it holds up for you.........