A Strange Fiat Appears

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
08/25/2017 at 12:10 • Filed to: None

After completing our !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , two of the three of us were quite sensible and disposed of their cars. I won’t go into spoilers, but both the 4Runner and the Jeep are where they should be.

That said, both participants are now in mourning, to the extent that they now don’t see the possibility of not having an off-road vehicle in their lives. Taylor, of the 4Runner, is looking at buying, wait for it, another 4Runner. George, of the Jeep, wanted, you guessed it, another Jeep.

George had a bit of a problem on his hands, however. He has two cars: a 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit and a 1991 Volkswagen Cabriolet, AKA the Bumblebee. The latter is a “forever car” and cannot be ejected from the fleet. The former is a dependable, presentable daily. He doesn’t want more than two cars, at the moment, and doesn’t want to replace the Rabbit with a 1996 Jeep trash-can as he does, occasionally, need to look professional and doesn’t think rolling up in that would make a great impression. The Bumblebee could work for that, sort of, but needs about $2k in work to get to that status. (New top, AC fix, new wheels, etc)

This, somehow, led George to look at new Jeeps. He wanted something small, practical, and with good ground clearance. The Wrangler was out for a variety of reasons, mostly being rather expensive and not terribly practical. The Cherokee and Grand Cherokee were both too big and too crossovery. And apparently there is another Jeep too. Patriot maybe? Doesn’t matter.

Ultimately, the Renegade caught his eye. Yes, it is a crossover, technically. Yes, it is mostly a Fiat. Yes, it is built in Italy. No, it doesn’t actually have a transfer case or proper low range. THAT SAID, it is smallish with good cargo room, gets decent gas mileage, is reasonably Jeep-looking, is available with a removable roof, and in the Trailhawk spec actually has 0.5” more ground clearance than his old ZJ.

We went out and test drove a couple… and now he owns one.

The Good

It is good looking, in my opinion, economical, surprisingly inexpensive, well equipped, and allegedly pretty good offroad.

The Bad

I wouldn’t expect much out of the reliability, the towing capacity is low, it doesn’t have a “real” low range, the top spec engine is still pretty slow, and I’m unsure of how the Jeep “community” feels about them. Not that either of us really care.

Living with it

He has had it less than a week and so far he really likes it. Having driven it a couple of times I can say that I am impressed by the low end “pep” and drivability. The 9-speed automatic tries its best to make the most out of a smallish engine and mostly wins that battle. That said, I did catch the transmission off-guard a couple of times and had to wait impatiently as it tried to decide what to do.

Cargo space was good, though things got a bit tight after a fairly small Costco run and some stuff needed to go in the back seat, which is fine. People space is also good. The front seats have plenty of room and the back seat is good enough for most uses, though I will say I wouldn’t want to be stuck in them for more than a few hours.

Overall

I like the Renegade. In a sea of generic garbage it stands out as a beacon of hope. Sure, it is cheap and not made very well. Sure, the styling may be writing checks I’m not sure the off-road ability can cash. Sure, it is a FCA product made by Italians and as such will be about as reliable as a ripe avocado. All of these are minor nit-picks. Most cars have cheap fixtures and how many Jeeps actually ever go off-road? And yes, this ripe delightful car will soon turn into a mushy lump… but that is what warranties are for!

So yeah. Good for him. I think this car will be a good fit for the next couple of years and I am happy to have it in the driveway.

DISCUSSION (7)

For Sweden > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
08/25/2017 at 12:51

They’re all good Jeeps

AndyG_UK > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
08/25/2017 at 13:02

My brother has had his (bright orange) Renegade TH for getting on a year now, being UK spec it has to gutsy 2.0td, and he loves it. It’s surprisingly competent off road, pleasant to drive on road, looks cool, is comfy, has been reliable’ish (had a EPS issue during it’s PDI and common to them issue with the DAB\GPS antenna), if they did the TH spec with the 1.4 turbo I’d have one.

Pic of it on his drive next to my Leon -

Kinja'd!!!

Chariotoflove > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
08/25/2017 at 13:03

I had a Patriot, I think, as a rental. Those small gauges with the tiny font unreasonably bothered me.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
08/25/2017 at 13:41

I had a trailhawk Renegade for a rental and I kind of liked it. It drives way better than it should considering it’s short wheelbase and elevated stance. It was also comfortable for me as a tall person (6'4"/193cm)

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > AndyG_UK
08/25/2017 at 14:28

Oh man! We really wanted an orange or a lime green one, but there weren’t any close by. Very sad. He ended up with “Anvil” which is a really pleasant blue/green gray color.

We don’t get any of the good engines here, just the 1.6T and the 2.4L.

carcrazydan738 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
08/25/2017 at 15:28

I currently have a red trailhawk edition for a rental and I like it, it reminds me a bit of my Honda element, being boxy shaped and smallish. I wish mine had the removable roof panels though. Even though it may be in the crossover world to me it’s more micro suv and to me it’s the Chihuahua of suvs and more a throw back to the Jeep Cherokees of the late 80's to early 2000s.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
08/25/2017 at 15:51

That should be a 1 4L Turbo FYI! Same engine as in the Abarth!