Jeep Renegade?

[Eagle]

I saw one on the road a couple of days ago, saw something that looked sort of "Jeep-like" about the grille,, and had to look it up and see what it was. I guess I've been out of the loop -- who knew Fiat was building "Jeeps" these days.

 

Does anyone know anything about them? If I needed an economical commuter heap with 4WD for winter, would a Renegade be tolerable, or would a Patriot be a better choice?

 

I can't find fuel mileage numbers for either vehicle on Jeep's web site. Are they that ashamed of the numbers?

[Dadinator]

Fueleconomy.gov

[Incommando]

They are having problems with the auto tranny in the Renegade.

[M1A1TankerTom]

My wife has a 2015 renegade trailhawk. She loves it. She is getting 31 mpg on the highway. We have about 7K miles on it with no problems.

 

[M1A1TankerTom]

Oh, and it's definitely no Comanche, but we have taken my wife's offroad a bit and it does surprisingly well.

 

[xjrev10]

We test drove one this weekend for the wife. It was a plain Jain Renegade. I didn't like it. She wanted more fancy options and we might be driving a new Dart home today. We can't swing the 30gs for a Trail Hawk currently.

 

My take is is the only ones worth owning are the Trail Hawk models, Renegade or Cherokee. Patriot/Compass are cheaply built and feel that way. We owned a 2014 Patriot for a year.

[shelbyluvv]

We have a KL Cherokee Trailhawk and love it. The V6 and FACTORY tow package are the way to go. The Renegade is cool but it is grossly under powered. We average 22 combined and 28+ HWY in the KL.

 

 

They look damn good with the "Aussie Lift" and slightly bigger tires too!

 

[HOrnbrod]

Hey Eagle - this is what you need.   :rotfl2:   Attractive, great mileage, and free pizza for five years. Can be easily modified to look like a 2-DR Renegade too with a little vertical grille work and a roof rack.  

 

[dasbulliwagen]

Some models do come with the at first troublesome 9 speed auto. They are supposed to have fixed the issues with them by the point of the renegade release so they might be ok. I am though starting to see issues with the 2.4 multiair engines wirh oiling issues... either low oil pressure or oil consumption. These engines are totally dependent on oil pressure for intake valve actuation. If oil gets too low it can lose prime and thus compression and quit running. This happens at just over 2 quarts left in the crankcase or at around 4 psi or less of oil pressure. Oh and the renegade is made in Italy if you didn't know. Let us know what you end up doing.

[xjrev10]

We have a KL Cherokee Trailhawk and love it. The V6 and FACTORY tow package are the way to go. The Renegade is cool but it is grossly under powered. We average 22 combined and 28+ HWY in the KL.

They look damn good with the "Aussie Lift" and slightly bigger tires too!

What's a Aussie lift and any idea on tire size? I thought we couldn't lift these things.

[shelbyluvv]

The Aussie lift is simply sliding the front struts down 3/4", replace the factory bolt with a new one and torque to 80 ft lbs. The rear is as simple as putting a 10mm spacer on top and under the rear coils. Have it aligned and enjoy your 1.5" lift! For $60 you can have a lifted KL.

 

Tires range seem to be hit or miss on fitting. 255/70r17s may fit but can require wheel spacers or grinding of the pinch seam.

[Eagle]

Oh and the renegade is made in Italy if you didn't know. Let us know what you end up doing.

 

Yes, I knew it was made in Italy. The notion of buying a Fiat at all wasn't one I was ready to jump into. Once I realized what a Trailhawk would cost ... not gonna happen. I'd be much happier finding a 4-cylinder XJ and rebuilding that for fuel economy, and I could do it for probably a quarter of the cost of a new Renegade. Plus not be paying property taxes on a new, $30,000 vehicle.