Well, I picked up the ride yesterday and spent a good bit of time behind the wheel - I drove a couple hundred kms..
Compass, limited, cvt, 4x4 is the vehicle in question..
As mentioned in other threads, options included uconnect, full sized spare, conveneince and security groups, 6 disc / boston acoustics speakers. We opted out of the so often seen on the lot chrome wheels and the sunroof, which dropped the price of the car by 1500 bucks.
Driving - seeing other reports of sloppy steering really made me scratch my head. The compass in my view steers pretty crisply, and has less body roll than I would imagine for a CUV.
The brakes so far are fantastic, like they belong on a bigger car.
The CVT is easy to get used to - we have the autostick, I can't see it being used much. Power delivery was fine.
It isnt a high horsepower musclecar and in my pleibian driving, it was more than adequate. Merging at highway speed was good, stop and go traffic was without issue.
Certainly one should not expect a visceral driving experience a la a sports car. You're not in a porsche. You're in a crossover which has a different job and a much lower pricetag than a porsche.
The ride does communicate some bumps in the road, but this is to be expected given that the vehicle has 18 inch rims, and low profile tires. I would not want it any other way, but this fact may have contributed to some reviewers whining about the "rough" ride. The wheel tire / suspension package setup is exactly what I would want somewhat sporty and responsive.
Front visibility is good, side is good, but as many have stated there is a bit of a blind spot on the rear 3/4. Nothing insurmountable of course. Rearviews seems a little cramped through the mirror, but it is somethin I will get used to. All a matter of perspective, I am normally in an f250.
Seating posisiton on fthe road is good. Not rolling on the ground like a comparably priced compact car, but not way high like a larger truck / suv.
Inside - Leather front seats are nice, fairly supportive. I have sciatic nerve issues in my back and I effortlessy rolled down the highway which surprised me. I would have liked power seats, but it isn't a showstopper. the ability to finetune the seating position height was very nice. I would have preferred leather throughout, but at this pricepoint it is fine.
There is no getting around the fact that the dash is plastic. Thankfully it is in any other car in the segment as well. Panel fitment was good, seams were even. Lots of countours which is nicer than an expansive flat platic panel. If they could soften up the feel of the plastic a little bit they'd have a winner. That being said again, not worse than any other vehicle in the segment / pricepoint.
Instrumentation is pretty intuitive and clear. Heating / Vent controls as well are simple, logical and work well.
I insisted on the boston acoustics setup and let me tell you I'm glad I did. The sound is great. I've never been one to spend money on aftermarket systems but I still like to Rock and Roll whilst driving. Bass response is great, the sound is clear, and for a stock system it pounds nicely.
I opted for the 6 disc changer, and I at this point would not recommend it. I would not do it again. Why? Unless I'm missing something, there is not a n auxilliary input for an MP3 player like there is with the stock one. This boggles my mind and I was fairly disappointed in it. I'll look to an adapter of some sort now but that isn't the way I wanted to go. I did a triple take and could not believe I couldn't find it. The controls are good on the 6 disc changer, easy to use, works well without question, but I was put off by spending more money on the upgrade only to lose something that I really wanted. Shame on me for not researching.
Another beef is that indeed the older gen ipods don't fit too well in the flip out holder. DCX, it should not have taken much effort to pull this off properly.
Headroom is very good, step in to the vehicle is low which is also good. It retains 8+ inches of ground clearance - so you get the best of all worlds in a sense.
Utility - Space - looks great, fold flat seats and the back with its rugged floor. The thing seems to have more room inside than the last liberty I drove which is odd, but great for us.
Styling - I was really on the fence about it. It is unique, but seeing it up close and spending time with it - I've warmed up to it. There seems to be some people whining about its looks in other reviews, but I'm pretty satisfied in this department. It can't be mistaken for many of the bland crossovers out there. The paint had some noticeable orange peel, which is not unheard of, but it was more pronounced than I would have thought - maybe because of the color (inferno red).
In summary I'm quite pleased with the vehicle. Pricepoint versus the features you get quite frankly were better than anything else I looked at. Looking at the CRVs and RAV4s, I'd be in for thousands more. I had a turbo subaru forester for example, and although it was more satisfying performancewise and nicer inside than the compass, it cost 10k more. Caveat here, I'm canadian so I go by canadian pricing. The matrix didnt seem to be available with AWD this year and was more car than CUV.
So there is the punchline. A well optioned capable crossover that does its job very well for a bloody fair price. There are some sacrifices with the price of admission for sure..
However the fact that we have a unique, very safe, very well appointed vehicle with AWD and are not facing a large car payment is a nice place to be. I personally am a Mopar man dyed in the wool, but I was very skiddish on this vehicle to start. I can honestly report that I'm now more than satisfied with it.
Compass, limited, cvt, 4x4 is the vehicle in question..
As mentioned in other threads, options included uconnect, full sized spare, conveneince and security groups, 6 disc / boston acoustics speakers. We opted out of the so often seen on the lot chrome wheels and the sunroof, which dropped the price of the car by 1500 bucks.
Driving - seeing other reports of sloppy steering really made me scratch my head. The compass in my view steers pretty crisply, and has less body roll than I would imagine for a CUV.
The brakes so far are fantastic, like they belong on a bigger car.
The CVT is easy to get used to - we have the autostick, I can't see it being used much. Power delivery was fine.
It isnt a high horsepower musclecar and in my pleibian driving, it was more than adequate. Merging at highway speed was good, stop and go traffic was without issue.
Certainly one should not expect a visceral driving experience a la a sports car. You're not in a porsche. You're in a crossover which has a different job and a much lower pricetag than a porsche.
The ride does communicate some bumps in the road, but this is to be expected given that the vehicle has 18 inch rims, and low profile tires. I would not want it any other way, but this fact may have contributed to some reviewers whining about the "rough" ride. The wheel tire / suspension package setup is exactly what I would want somewhat sporty and responsive.
Front visibility is good, side is good, but as many have stated there is a bit of a blind spot on the rear 3/4. Nothing insurmountable of course. Rearviews seems a little cramped through the mirror, but it is somethin I will get used to. All a matter of perspective, I am normally in an f250.
Seating posisiton on fthe road is good. Not rolling on the ground like a comparably priced compact car, but not way high like a larger truck / suv.
Inside - Leather front seats are nice, fairly supportive. I have sciatic nerve issues in my back and I effortlessy rolled down the highway which surprised me. I would have liked power seats, but it isn't a showstopper. the ability to finetune the seating position height was very nice. I would have preferred leather throughout, but at this pricepoint it is fine.
There is no getting around the fact that the dash is plastic. Thankfully it is in any other car in the segment as well. Panel fitment was good, seams were even. Lots of countours which is nicer than an expansive flat platic panel. If they could soften up the feel of the plastic a little bit they'd have a winner. That being said again, not worse than any other vehicle in the segment / pricepoint.
Instrumentation is pretty intuitive and clear. Heating / Vent controls as well are simple, logical and work well.
I insisted on the boston acoustics setup and let me tell you I'm glad I did. The sound is great. I've never been one to spend money on aftermarket systems but I still like to Rock and Roll whilst driving. Bass response is great, the sound is clear, and for a stock system it pounds nicely.
I opted for the 6 disc changer, and I at this point would not recommend it. I would not do it again. Why? Unless I'm missing something, there is not a n auxilliary input for an MP3 player like there is with the stock one. This boggles my mind and I was fairly disappointed in it. I'll look to an adapter of some sort now but that isn't the way I wanted to go. I did a triple take and could not believe I couldn't find it. The controls are good on the 6 disc changer, easy to use, works well without question, but I was put off by spending more money on the upgrade only to lose something that I really wanted. Shame on me for not researching.
Another beef is that indeed the older gen ipods don't fit too well in the flip out holder. DCX, it should not have taken much effort to pull this off properly.
Headroom is very good, step in to the vehicle is low which is also good. It retains 8+ inches of ground clearance - so you get the best of all worlds in a sense.
Utility - Space - looks great, fold flat seats and the back with its rugged floor. The thing seems to have more room inside than the last liberty I drove which is odd, but great for us.
Styling - I was really on the fence about it. It is unique, but seeing it up close and spending time with it - I've warmed up to it. There seems to be some people whining about its looks in other reviews, but I'm pretty satisfied in this department. It can't be mistaken for many of the bland crossovers out there. The paint had some noticeable orange peel, which is not unheard of, but it was more pronounced than I would have thought - maybe because of the color (inferno red).
In summary I'm quite pleased with the vehicle. Pricepoint versus the features you get quite frankly were better than anything else I looked at. Looking at the CRVs and RAV4s, I'd be in for thousands more. I had a turbo subaru forester for example, and although it was more satisfying performancewise and nicer inside than the compass, it cost 10k more. Caveat here, I'm canadian so I go by canadian pricing. The matrix didnt seem to be available with AWD this year and was more car than CUV.
So there is the punchline. A well optioned capable crossover that does its job very well for a bloody fair price. There are some sacrifices with the price of admission for sure..
However the fact that we have a unique, very safe, very well appointed vehicle with AWD and are not facing a large car payment is a nice place to be. I personally am a Mopar man dyed in the wool, but I was very skiddish on this vehicle to start. I can honestly report that I'm now more than satisfied with it.
