2008 Jeep Patriot 4x2 Limited

     Since we now have a child, we need something a bit more baby friendly, so my wife traded in her 2004 Volkswagen Beetle Convertible in on a 2008 Jeep Patriot. The car was pretty well equipped and overall we're really happy with it. The negotiations took forever (we spent about 8-9 hours at the dealership), but we got a very favorable deal. This Jeep IS front wheel drive, and it's not the 4x4 edition, but it's still pretty capable at least for what we need it for. It has a 2.4 VVT inline 4 producing nearly identical horsepower and torque numbers to my Solstice. It's got a 5-Speed manual, 17" wheels, leather seats, powered moonroof, power windows / door locks / mirrors, MP3 / CD player with Auxilary inputs, built in XM / Sirius, and about a dozen other little features like a 120 volt outlet. It'll work well for hauling the baby around, and it'll give the Crown Vic a break. What's better, is that it doesn't LOOK like a "mommy car", and looks a bit more aggressive / hard core than some other comperable SUV. We paid $13,600 for it, and at present time (June 2009), NADA lists it at $16,900 clean retail. We got $10,000 for her Beetle.









7/12/2009
- Below are a series of pictures of my wife's 08 Patriot that were taken prior to us picking it up. These were the auction pictures that were shown on eBay.
























10/12/2009
- Fuel economy has been pretty good. We've never seen less than 23mpg average in city driving, and regularly get over 30 in highway driving. The car feels much nicer than it is. I don't mean that as an insult. I'm aware of the fact that it's an inexpensive car, so I'm impressed that it feels nicer than it should. The front tires were a little worn from the previous owner, so I ordered a set of GENERAL ALTIMAX HP tires. They came in the size 215/60R-17. They've been pretty good. Since they are direcctional and grooved, they have excellent wet adhesion as well. Also changed the oil and filter. I used Royal Purple and noticed an improvement in response. When we take it for a road trip in the next couple of months, I'll get some MPG numbers.