Used 2016 Jeep Renegade Latitude 4dr SUV 4WD (1.4L 4cyl Turbo 6M) Consumer Reviews
I LOVE THIS CAR!!!!
I did what most of my family and friends would describe as an insane amount of research before I purchased this car. I had a 2009 Ford Escape, which I absolutely LOVED and bought when I first moved down here to DC 5 years ago. A co-worker offered a good price, and I wanted 4WD so enough said, I needed a new car. I opted for the Renegade after I saw about 7 hours of reviews on YouTube and took into consideration the size for living in the city, and the capabilities for when I won't live here anymore. It looks terrific at off-roading and is a nice, boxy shape, even a bit smaller than my Escape. I don't like the swoopy new SUV's that really aren't adventure-capable. The Latitude 4x4 was in the price point I needed, including all the features I wanted (power sunroof, heated seats (and steering wheel!), temp spare tire). The slightly smaller size is better for street parking for the time being, and the back-up cam is a pretty sweet feature. Although I only bought the car yesterday, I wanted it enough to fly up to Boston to get it (from DC) and I drove it down here last night and spent all day in it today. All 8 hours yesterday were comfortable, and the windshield rain sensors are incredible. It was super safe driving in the dark on the highway in the rain. An avid camper, hiker, and adventurer, I know this car will handle everything I need: Assateague over-sand days at the beach, and winter camping in Pennsylvania snow-covered forests. I will update this review after I've done a few of those activities. DISCLAIMER::: In my "insane" research and in chatting with a few people I saw on the street with a Renegade, I gathered that the automatic transmission lacks mojo on the pickup. That's why I opted for the manual / stick shift. I have had ZERO problems with that getting from Boston to DC and dealing with ridiculous DC drivers. It's quite zippy. The fuel economy is about the same as my 4cyl. 2wd Escape, which is really nice because I do commute to my job every day, and it's nice to know that for my weekend adventures I won't be blowing through cash on gas. Overall the Latitude 4x4 is packed with what I'd call Varsity features for a pretty good deal. If anyone else is ditching an old Escape looking for a new adventure vehicle and doesn't have a $50K budget for a Grand Cherokee, the Renegade is seriously worth considering. I did consider buying a used Grand Cherokee and still opted for the new Renegade. The features and the newness for the same cost are totally worth it.
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This vehicle is underrated
We've owned a Renegade Latitude for several months. We had a Subaru Cross-Trek but it was a dog, no uumph whatsoever, even with the 5 speed. We test drove our Renegade with 1.4l Turbo engine and 6-speed standard transmission and were blown away, bought the vehicle on the spot. It has plenty of get up and go...up hills, passing on windy two-lane roads (we drive in the mountains quite a bit) and accelerating well in 4th or 5th gear (e.g. no need for down-shifting to pass most of the time) We've had it off-road, it's rugged but comfortable. It has great ground clearance and we can launch our sailboat much more easily than with our Subie or, earlier, Compass and RAV4. Sound system is great, navigation, sun roof, storage...all more than satisfactory. This is truly the best SUV we've owned out of about 5 dating to 1987. We see the Renegade as a marvelous hybrid of Fiat/European sophistication in engine and drive-train coupled with Jeep utility and fun. After 2+ years we still love our Renegade. It is amazingly versatile—hauling stuff, people, trailers in all weather. Fun to drive and consistent MPG around 30.
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- Latitude 4dr SUVMSRP: $13,48843 mi away
- Trailhawk 4dr SUVMSRP: $10,99923 mi away
- Trailhawk 4dr SUVMSRP: $8,99519 mi away
Jeepetto 2016 Latitude 4x4 Manual 1.4L Turbo Beast
Jeep and FCA have come up with a very nice and well equipped CUV. Make sure to go with the Turbo 1.4L engine and a manual transmission and you get a excellent driving vehicle as well. None of the automatic transmission horror stories to be found in this set up. Car is peppy, and has good handling for a vehicle with a slight CUV lift. I went with the Cold Weather package. Interior amenities are plentiful on even a stock Latitude model. The package just checked all the marks for a truck that will be used in the Colorado mountains. Look forward to doing some mods on the engine and exhaust, to pull even more pep out of this little Jeep. The Fiat turbo 4-cyl found in the Abarth is very tuneable, and has a excellent after market. I will utilize this once Jeepetto is fully broken in. We also picked the car out in the very nice Anvil Grey offered just in 2016. Good call of jeep to make this color for all the renegades and not just trail hawks Around town getting 24 mpg, with a ton of spirited driving. I received a great deal from Autonation Jeep West. So overall the value is totally there. Hope to have many happy years in my turbo jeep.
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great value, fun to drive, a few minor faults
I have driven my Renegade 500 miles at this point and find I am loving it more than I expected. I had eliminated most models and was down to the Renegade or a Subaru. I am short (5'2") and found that with the Subaru's in order to put the clutch to the floor with my short legs it required me to be right on top of the steering wheel. With Renegade I can put the clutch to the floor without being right on top of the steering - maybe that is due to the excellent design of the telescoping and adjusting steering wheel. With the manual transmission the Renegade is plenty peppy. I have seen lots of reviews stating they have not been able to replicate the sticker EPA. My sticker said 24 city, 31 highway, average 27. I am exactly 27.5 at the moment. The Renegade looks like a cute little toy in my mind (probably because I am used to my crossover which seems to be twice the size) and the design features are fun - my teenagers especially like them. The heat/air conditioning controls are intuitive and easy to use without taking your eyes off the road. The dashboard is visually easy to follow. The radio entertainment system is likewise easy to use and my Latitude comes with a free year of Sirius XM radio for added fun. There are both USB and Bluetooth connections. I have chosen to dedicate an MP3 player with all my favorite music connected via USB permanently and have had a few glitches trying to work this out. I think it is finally working but it has been a little frustrating at first. The bluetooth with my Windows phone works fine for calls but I also use my phone with Cortana for hands free texting and so far this has an odd glitch. It can totally understand my voice when dictating the text, but it can't seem to understand my command to send the message. Likewise it can't understand my voice when I command it to read a message. Their hands free texting requires a subscription to UConnect. I am used to attaching my phone to a car vent holder in the center panel and attaching a charger, but the center vents in the Renegade are recessed in such a way that the charger doesn't fit. I'll have to look at finding a new phone holder that extends out farther than my current one. The backseat doesn't have cupholders so this was actually almost a deal breaker for us since I have kids and we are often eating on the run. However I did find some "Faguan" cupholders that attach to the headrests and are able to holder even the giant drinks from McDonald's, so I am hopeful this will solve the problem. I had also expected many more USB/charging ports. Again, with kids in the back seat, they are always fighting to charge their technology - especially on road trips. I had to buy a few extra long chords and splitters to solve this problem. Speaking of road trips - that might be difficult with the size of the trunk. Every day grocery shopping will be fine. And if I am hauling something without passengers in the back there is plenty of room if the seats are down. But otherwise I find the trunk small and wish it were another foot deeper. I may end up fudging a shelf as I've seen some people do online because there is plenty of height storage - just not floor storage. The trunk claims to already be "two level" where first there is a pump/sealant system rather than spare tire in a styrofoam holder, then a top carpet, then maybe 4-5" or so (I didn't measure so that's a guess) and then the floorboard. You can pull the floorboard out and place it down right on the carpet and eliminate that smaller 4'5" storage space if you wish. I personally did not feel comfortable with not having a spare tire so paid the extra $360 for a spare tire, jack, and tools which, when I receive it, will end up replacing the space where the pump and styrofoam holder are. The dealer told me they aren't sure when it finally comes in if it will fit completely within the same space as the styrofoam holder or if, in addition, it will eat up that 4'5" storage area. Speaking of small, the gas tank is small 12.7 gallons so more stops at the gas station. Steering is tight and shifting is easy. In fact almost too easy - there is an electronic emergency brake (strange) which doesn't work to do hill starts on extreme hills. Instead, they built in a "hill assist" so you don't roll. Kind of takes some of the skill out of it for me. Nonetheless it is so fun to drive I have forgiven them. Paradoxically the vision is both excellent and horrible. The view out the front windshield is awesome (at least for my height - taller people may be blocked by the mirror) but the front side has horrible blind spots. The back sides are the worst blind spots - overcome when backing up by using the camera BUT in New England we have intersections where roads can join at less than 45 degrees and if you are looking over your right shoulder to see oncoming traffic you cannot see at all. Seats are comfy. Cute style. Overall high fun factor.
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A blast
--Update to reflect winter driving, April 2018-- I live in NW Indiana, in the lake effect zone from Lake Michigan. We did not have the snow that Erie had, but it still set a record for this area. The Renegade handled it very competently. There are a few tricks one has to learn, the extra resistance created by the snow and the small piles left by snow plows require more gas to spin up the turbocharger a bit, but that's just part of learning the car. The ability to lock the 4x4 into snow mode was especially useful in town in this regard, the extra bit of predictability is useful. I made a number of trips along a road that is subject to drifting for a considerable distance. Those used to snow country will be familiar with having moderate drifts along one side pull the car into the drifts. The snow mode negated that concern, I could run with the right side in moderate drifts with the left side on the road with no noticeable pull, and this with the very average stock 16" all-season tires that came with my relatively bare-bones Latitude. It's not a Trail Hawk, but I didn't want that. The winter did decrease gas mileage somewhat between running locked into 4x4 and the general increased resistance, but not by that great an amount. It's a light car, and so different that driving a 4x4 F-250, but still effective. --August 2017-- Over six months in now, and still very much enjoying the car. Driving has been heavily oriented toward country roads, and the mileage reported by the on-board system has been steadily climbing, even with steady use of the air conditioning. The torgue-heavy 1.4 allows a wide range for gears above first, which is probably much of the reason for that. My original review has a minor error, saying that I could accelerate up a moderate hill in 6th at 40mph, in reality it was 5th, and it would be more accurate to say that I could feel the engine pulling the car up rather than bogging down. No real problems with the fit and finish, the car is still a blast, can be driven economically but has the power to merge easily. My one complaint is that the window tint for the front part of the cabin is very slight. I have found myself running the air conditioner on a 66 degree F sunny day when I wanted to leave the windows up. --ORIGINAL REVIEW-- First, recognize that I've had the car for 6 weeks, so longer-term aspects of ownership are not covered here. My review will be largely experiential. I'm 65, and I wanted a car that was fun to drive and practical, and I don't know that I could have done a better job. The 6-speed is easily managed, and the little engine growls, with an impressive amount of torgue. I experimented at 40 mph going up a moderate hill in the snow in 6th, and the car was able to accelerate. Gets into the illegal territory quickly. I've had the opportunity to drive the car on dry roads and snow/slush, and it handles both well. I like the ability to lock the car in 4wd, having had a scary experience several years ago with a CR-V that decided to kick in the rear wheels when I was not expected it. The car will run find on regular, but really shines with premium. Mileage with premium is sufficiently better that if it were still at a 20 cent premium it would actually be more cost-effective. The current 50 cent premium makes driving a little more expensive, but I manage to talk myself into it. As the car is relatively short and a 4 door, the door opening is on the small side, but navigable. If you're having the urge to have fun but can't afford to commit money for a summer car, this is a good bet.
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