Any of you own one of these? Jeep Patriot, Ford Escape, Honda Element?

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1968FormulaS340

1968FormulaS340

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The wife and I are looking for roomy, fuel efficient, small SUV. Must be 4x4 or AWD. Something I can use for a daily driver and not be afraid to toss sandy dogs into if we head to the beach for a day trip.

We have narrowed it down to these three.

Love the looks of the Patriot, but it has questionable reliability from what I have been reading, (most problems are in the CVT transmission). I have not driven one, yet.

I have driven an 09 Escape. 170hp, i4, AWD. The wife and I both really liked it. Rated at about 30 mpg on the highway (where I do 95% of my driving). I need to test drive a v6. About the same MPGs but 70 more hp.

Last is the Element. Solid Honda reliability. From what I have been reading, owners love them. Huge amount of space for a small SUV. Plastic interior and rubber floor. Worst of the 3 as far as gas milage.


Thoughts, other recommendations?
 
We have a 2009 escape I4 fwd and have had major transmission problems with it. Hopefully it's straightened out now, as it is now out of warranty. Also, we thought ours was peppy when we test drove it, but now are a little dissapointed with it's power in passing situations.
 
340GTSDart said:
We have a 2009 escape I4 fwd and have had major transmission problems with it. Hopefully it's straightened out now, as it is now out of warranty. Also, we thought ours was peppy when we test drove it, but now are a little dissapointed with it's power in passing situations.
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I work for Ford and the 08/09 Escape did have a software issue that caused the transmission to run hot.

If you had the issue taken care of at a Ford dealer you should be good. That's what the service department guys told me anyway.....

Thats good info in the power. I do need to test drive a v6.

What are you getting for gas milage? Is it high 20s like they advertise?
 
My GF has a 2003 Honda Element. She bought it brand new. It has 210,000 miles on it now. Yes, there is a lot of room inside. Can carry a lot of stuff, and the seats lay flat and fold up to sides. It needs CV-joints, they make a weird grinding noise under mild or hard acceleration. When I pulled the valve cover to adjust the valves for the 200K mile valve adjustment, I noticed the exhaust camshaft went slightly flat...This being somewhat of an involved repair, and 400 dollars just for the replacement cam, and $120 for the factory service manual I would need or like to have as I do the repair, I decided to leave it...It runs fine, though...It's very weird that this happened...We are always on top of the oil changes and clean air filters....Good vehicle, but lacks the typical honda fuel economy. About 22-25 MPG at best if ya take it easy...
 
We've had all three (among others) at one time or another. The Honda was head and shoulders more reliable, economic to drive and maintain, and the easiest to sell, afterword. The Jeep was the worst of the three, the most difficult to sell, and we owned it for the shortest amount of time.
 
Frankie said:
We've had all three (among others) at one time or another. The Honda was head and shoulders more reliable, economic to drive and maintain, and the easiest to sell, afterword. The Jeep was the worst of the three, the most difficult to sell, and we owned it for the shortest amount of time.
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Well that is it in a nutshell. It also reflects the research I have been doing.

The wife really likes the Element.

Thanks.
 
I would recommend a Jeep Grand Cherokee. They are not too big and jeep was rated last year as the most reliable domestic car company.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
I work for Ford and the 08/09 Escape did have a software issue that caused the transmission to run hot.

If you had the issue taken care of at a Ford dealer you should be good. That's what the service department guys told me anyway.....

Thats good info in the power. I do need to test drive a v6.

What are you getting for gas milage? Is it high 20s like they advertise?
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That's good to know. We did have it taken care of at the dealer. First time, they did a software update, second time was a full tranny rebuild and new converter, third time was another software update. It is now out of warranty, but all of these issues happened while under warranty.

When we test drove it, it was in an urban area, and the car felt peppy. We should of taken it out on the highway. I knew it wouldn't be like our 5.9 durango we were trading in, but passing situations require lots of space.

It usually gets 28 mpg with combined driving. It is my wife's car and her commute to work is about 25 miles each way.
 
I have had many fords and jeeps I like the jeep and the ford escape yes the hondas are nice but if you get a bad one well lets just say they cost more to fix the the domestic. I have driven the Jeep and i fit which is hard for me because i am a very large person. 6' 8" tall and 310 lbs
 
I have a Jeep Compass, A Patriot with different sheet metal. 2.4 with a 5 speed and have been clocking 30MPG, thats 50/50 city and highway driving. The issues with the CVT are with people slaming from reverse to drive and rocking the vehicle when they get stuck. A co-worker has an 08 Patriot with CVT and has 190K with no problems.
A Patriot is slightly roomier than a Compass due to the roof line, I've hauled engines in it and once a 1/4 scale string bass
 
breakstuff said:
I have a Jeep Compass, A Patriot with different sheet metal. 2.4 with a 5 speed and have been clocking 30MPG, thats 50/50 city and highway driving. The issues with the CVT are with people slaming from reverse to drive and rocking the vehicle when they get stuck. A co-worker has an 08 Patriot with CVT and has 190K with no problems.
A Patriot is slightly roomier than a Compass due to the roof line, I've hauled engines in it and once a 1/4 scale string bass
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Funny you mention poor driving style coupled with CVT failures. I did have the opportunity to talk with a Jeep mechanic and he said the exact same thing.

The Wife and I looked at an Element yesterday. The wife thought it was the greatest rig ever made. She loved the room all over. Space in the front is large and roomy.

Rear seat leg room is ridiculous for a vehicle this size, it's van like.

"The Wife test" has picked the winner. It will be the Element.
 
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