I think the Patriot and its ugly sister, Compass, will go down in history with the 80's-90's Cherokee as The Jeep That Runs Forever. Although they are much more of a street vehicle, I see people are getting a heck of a lot of wear out of these Jeeplets.

My Son loves his patriot, wishes for a bit more power but does love it. Drove awesome this weekend up the mountain to go skiing.

I wonder how the sales of these are...maybe they sell better in snowy climes...I see very few of them around here...the dominant cute utes here seem to be the Rav4 and CR-V...

My Son's Patriot is a Trail Rated version which he tested out this summer and went off road and it proved to be very durable. No scratches or dents but did get a rock chip in the paint on the drive home from another auto throwing a stone. Jeep built the FWD bias 4x4 Patriot very well. I like the space inside for big guys like me.

I couldn't get used to the CVT, and I was looking to save money on fuel, which I have in spades with my VW diesel. The conventional automatic on the new ones remedies one of those issues... not sure if fuel economy goes up considerably with the new tranny.

But I still think the Patriot is a sturdy little vehicle that deserves respect for what it is, instead of being reviled for what it is not.

It would be nice if they offered the Patriot with a diesel...the Compass is offered with a 2.2 CRD in Europe..

They are both much better than the new Jeep.....

I like CVT transmissions, but those CVTs in the Jeeps just weren't any good at their task.

Dave, I disagree... the new Cherokee is very good.

I think the new Cheerokee is pretty awesome, I was not a fan at the begining, but after seeing it in person and being able to check the auto out, the trail hawk is awesome.

http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/82320-2013-seattle-auto-show/#

It comes with a 6 speed auto now with the CVT required for certain 4x4 packages, I think.

I couldn't get used to the CVT