Comparing my 2016 GT to my Jeep Renegade Trailhawk

J

jjp735i

Member
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CX-5
So we just adding Jeep Trailhawk to the family. I have to say I'm impressed with Jeeps quality. Everything about it is nice. It has a nice ride, seats are very comfortable and was very easy to find a nice position. I'm back to driving the CX-5 because spouse likes the Jeep better :( , originally bought for me, lol. Now I'm torn about trading in the Mazda and getting another Jeep. I know this is a Mazda board, but after 3 weeks if driving the Jeep and now back in the CX 5, I'm missing it.

If you haven't driven one and are looking for a small SUV I would drive one. It feels much roomier then the Mazda, probably because it is a bit wider.

And I can tell you the uconnect system is much nicer then the Mazda infotainment system. At least you can use the touch screen all the time.

Plus I just love the fat steering wheel in the Jeep.
 
Styling wise I bet that the Jeep will look dated fast. The Mazda will age like most japanese cars do.
Glad to hear that Jeep upped its game when it comes to build quality though.
 
My colleague just purchased a Renegade Limited and I have similar thoughts as the OP. Ride is solid, seats are comfortable, and I like the technology (especially the display between tach and speedo). The only shortcoming in the technology department is a small screen for backup camera and display. That said, I like almost everything else about it. The only question I have is about resale - which will better hold value in the long run? Given some of the Jeep reliability concerns, I give Mazda the edge.
 
I'm not to concerned about reliability, I think it will hold up fine. the 2.4 tigershark has been around for a while and just gets updates over the years. As for resale, another one I'm not to concerned about, I keep my cars 6-10 years so they are not worth much anyways after I'm done with them.

The Jeep has a 6.5 inch screen, which doesn't seem much smaller then the Mazda. I bought the Mazda after lots of research and thought it would be great, but after 10 months, I'm just not that thrilled with it. Maybe I'm just realizing Mazda isn't the car for me.

Thanks for your opinions though. Probably make a decision soon.
 
I was going for the renegade initially. 1.4 turbo with manual tranny and AWD? Yes please. I saw this at an auto show and I thought the trunk space was a bit compromised from the big wheel wells. I carry a lot of equipment so I need the trunk space. Pricing was just right as well. On road handling and suspension feel was no where near as good as the Cx-5 though.
 
jjp735i said:
I'm not to concerned about reliability, I think it will hold up fine. the 2.4 tigershark has been around for a while and just gets updates over the years. As for resale, another one I'm not to concerned about, I keep my cars 6-10 years so they are not worth much anyways after I'm done with them.

The Jeep has a 6.5 inch screen, which doesn't seem much smaller then the Mazda. I bought the Mazda after lots of research and thought it would be great, but after 10 months, I'm just not that thrilled with it. Maybe I'm just realizing Mazda isn't the car for me.

Thanks for your opinions though. Probably make a decision soon.
Click to expand...

I keep my cars around for the same time period as well, but I don't drive that much so I take resale value into account (~8K a year for me / ~10K for my wife). My wife's Freestar was 10 years old when it permanently left our driveway and despite only having 86K miles, it was heavily rusted and required $700+ in repair annually. I sold it on my own and bought an Odyssey as replacement.

I like the CX-5 - it does everything well and I could likely be content owning it for 6 - 10 yrs. That said, I don't get the sense that I/my wife will grow attached to it they way we did with some of our other vehicles. We have unfortunately become brand agnostic.

Wishing you best of luck w/the decision! Heck - maybe they'll give you a good deal if buying a second Renegade. Do let us know what you get for trade-in if going that route...would be interesting to know.
 
nubbers I like the CX-5 - it does everything well and I could likely be content owning it for 6 - 10 yrs. That said said:
This is how I feel about the CX-5 also, no attachment. I think I need something I'll be happy with in the long run.

Thanks, jjp
Click to expand...
 
As car brands go, Fiat and Jeep are the last ones in reliability. I wouldn't consider it at all, but that is just me.
I personally like, only the rear of this SUV.
 
tibimakai said:
As car brands go, Fiat and Jeep are the last ones in reliability. I wouldn't consider it at all, but that is just me.
I personally like, only the rear of this SUV.
Click to expand...

+1
While Chrysler quality is below the industry, Fiat is at the very bottom. Renegade has more Fiat components than any other Jeep.
On that alone, I will not get one.
While the 'Trail-hawk' badge is appealing, I have no real use for it and would prefer the better fuel-economy associated with less hardcore hardware needed for that badge. Better road handling is definitely more important for me.
Lastly, the Renegade does not look good to me.
 
Jeep is doing fine, but I think they have problem with their 9 speed transmission or something. Congratulation for your new ride, if you don't like and afford to get a new in short time, do it then. Life is short so be happy. I am thinking about trade in for a 2017 audi a4, it really looks nice and better tech than cx-5.
 
Plus let us NOT forget the 2016 Grand Cherokee fails the Moose Test in Europe and ends up rolling over during evasive driver maneuvers.
 
Enjoy the Jeep, it should be quite good for offroading. You're definitely giving up on-road handling, and reliability to the Mazda though.
 
hek8560 said:
Jeep is doing fine, but I think they have problem with their 9 speed transmission or something.
Click to expand...

The ZF transmission is hard to configure right for a vehicle. With bad configuration you get suboptimal day to day driving experience, recall (to change its programing) and annoyances. However, I don't know if it is unreliable.
However, the whole vehicle is unreliable being from FCA.
 
Jeep is known for recalls. I like their styling but I couldn't take them seriously. I think they've come a long way. I knew several engineers that used to work for them and the stories id heard made me never want one of their vehicles. However that was about 15 years ago. Still see a high amount of serious recalls. Plus they just killed poor checkov that kid was cool.
 
Well my sister has a 2012 Fiat 500 and has not one problem in the 4 year of ownership, my sister in law drives a Jeep Compass for the last 3 years and not one problem and my other sister in law drives a 3 year old Jeep Cherokee she loves it, not one problem. So based on personal connections to 3 people owning new Jeeps, I'm confidant mine will hold up just fine. People hated the CJ-7's for reliability and mine ran and ran and ran until the floor rusted out.

I still like my CX-5, just don't think it's as great as all the reviews I've read.
 
Jeeps do sell well, as their brand loyalty is quite strong despite their poor reliability ratings.

The Jeep Cherokee, Compass and Patriot are all on the Consumer Reports don't buy list.
 
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