The wife has begun contemplating what will replace the late Joy the Fiat. Top of list is another 500, but today she asked about Renegades. I couldn’t find any obvious red flags so I assume it will at least hold up as well as the 500. What do we know about them.
She’s also looking for suggestions. Her requests are cute with some personality, smallish, decent gas mileage. She likes hatchbacks and small SUVs. What might we want to look at?
My local Buick dealer is offering new Encores for $16k. Seems like a pretty good deal.
In reply to mtn :
I thought so too but she doesn’t think we’re old enough to be a two Buick household.
Wally said:In reply to mtn :
I thought so too but she doesn’t think we’re old enough to be a two Buick household.
I'm a 28 year old considering a Lincoln. Don't know what that says about me.
It’s a fiat 500x dressed up as a Jeep. Make of that what you will. If I may, what happened to the 500?
I build one on the jeep site, but by the time I’m done(Trailhawh, open roof, etc) I’m at base wrangler prices.
Brian said:It’s a fiat 500x dressed up as a Jeep. Make of that what you will. If I may, what happened to the 500?
I build one on the jeep site, but by the time I’m done(Trailhawh, open roof, etc) I’m at base wrangler prices.
My wife finally had her first accident and totaled it. I like the X too but she hasn't seen it in person and in pictures she thinks it looks like her car with a thyroid problem. A few of the dealers here have deals on the Renegade if i can find one in a color and package she likes.
I personally think that if you're going to get a Fiat, you should just get one that admits it's a Fiat. Especially for how much you/your wife/nieces and nephews loved the Fiat.
They do bitchin stoppies.
You used to (and possibly still can) make them do a stoppie.
That's pretty much it.
VW Golf?
I sat in a Renegade and the interior was pretty nice. And it came in actual colors! It had these brown and white leather seats, and orange anodized accents everywhere. I liked it.
Wally said:The wife has begun contemplating what will replace the late Joy the Fiat. Top of list is another 500, but today she asked about Renegades. I couldn’t find any obvious red flags so I assume it will at least hold up as well as the 500. What do we know about them.
She’s also looking for suggestions. Her requests are cute with some personality, smallish, decent gas mileage. She likes hatchbacks and small SUVs. What might we want to look at?
DD#1 just bought a 2013 Ford C-max SEL. It's a hybrid, but not the plug-in Energi. It's smallish outside, biggish inside, a 5-door, and very nicely appointed. It is a fantastic commuter and runabout. It's very pleasant, smooth, and responsive to drive, but it still returns over 40 mpg in mixed traffic.
I don't know if it has 500-level personality, but it's styled nicely enough for what it is:
She paid $12,000 for a 60,000-mile creampuff 2013 with all the options. For another $5k you can get a practically new loaded one, or probably an actually new one in lower trim.
Find one you like, sit in it, then drive it. If everything fits,you must commit.
After giving my SO that advice I asked her why she bought the Civic. "Because it fits"
2018 Elantra GT Sport
201HP of 1.6L 6 spd manual transmission with a multi link rear wrapped in an attractive 5 door body starting under $21k and with a bitching warranty.
Or the new corolla wagon thingie.
I had one for a rental car a few months back, and was SHOCKED to not hate it. Seriously.
Pros:
Cons:
I drove it on two separate 4 hour runs, and I would have asked for one again at the rental counter. Please understand that I strongly considered posting this information under an alias because that's downright embarrassing. But true: as modern, soulless cars go, this one had a little character and was interesting.
In reply to Mezzanine :
i will say that the twin sunroof option does give them a nice proper "jeep" feel that buttons up into a quiet, comfortable utilitarian box. FCA reliability is the only thing that keeps me from recommending one, that and the fact the $20k buys A LOT of used Honda Element and E Camper conversion.
Mezzanine said:I had one for a rental car a few months back, and was SHOCKED to not hate it. Seriously.
Pros:
- Able to adjust the seats to find a comfortable position
- phone integration worked without internet research...which is required among about 45% of rental cars out there
- AWD selection options: I took it off road in mud and snow, and it did amazing
Cons:
- Styling is...unique
- Interior had lots of body colored accents that just felt boy-racer and a little silly
I drove it on two separate 4 hour runs, and I would have asked for one again at the rental counter. Please understand that I strongly considered posting this information under an alias because that's downright embarrassing. But true: as modern, soulless cars go, this one had a little character and was interesting.
I was going to post exactly this. Wasn't excited to get it, but was pleasantly surprised. I doubt I would ever buy one because Jeep quality and ugly, but it was a nice driving car. One of the better rental cars I've had lately.
captdownshift said:In reply to Mezzanine :
i will say that the twin sunroof option does give them a nice proper "jeep" feel that buttons up into a quiet, comfortable utilitarian box. FCA reliability is the only thing that keeps me from recommending one, that and the fact the $20k buys A LOT of used Honda Element and E Camper conversion.
The new Ford Escape I had on loan while the FoRS was in for its recall had a lovely panoramic sunroof, plus it was a pretty decent rig to be in (for a relatively inexpensive CUV). Had a friend with a '14 RAV-4 borrow it and she's thinking it might be the replacement for her cherished RAV-4.
I've not heard a lot of good things about the older rebranded Jeep stuff, the only decent ones seem to be the Wrangler and Cherokee, the rest are gussied up cars that can't really do what jeeps are expected to do. It sounds like the 500 based ones are slightly better than the outgoing Caliber versions.
Oh, might want to check out the Kia Niro. Starts at 23k; gets 50mpg combined.
I showed her some of her other options. Blah and blah. I wonder how much extra it would cost some of these companies to pick a few more colors and add a bit of personality to their design.
That Elantra Sport is a fine looking little machine.
I rented the Jeep Renegade Trailhawk for a week. It had the 2.4l Multi-air. Not sure if that meant supercharger, turbocharter, or direct injection. Either way, it didn't feel spunky.
The transmission did some funny stuff occasionally, like a random hard shift.
Storage kinda sucked for a square vehicle.
Front visibility is impacted by the huge A pillar.
I had a 500x for about a week and was very pleasantly surprised by it. Granted, it was in Italy and had a diesel paired with a manual trans, but it was a pretty fun little car with enough space for me, my wife, and our 8 month old, plus all our luggage for a 2 week vacation.
My friends have a Renegade and like it. They got the Trailhawk version though. I haven’t heard any complaints from them. I will also note that they came from a Nissan Cube to the Renegade. Don’t know if it was really an upgrade, but the Renegade is a good looking CUV.
If she's looking for "funky" is a Kia Soul out of t he question?
pheller said:had the 2.4l Multi-air. Not sure if that meant supercharger, turbocharter, or direct injection.
Hydraulically actuated intake valves. Its a technology Fiat brought over with the 1.4 and it was adapted to the 2.4. Pretty cool stuff. As of 2015 (when my knowledge of such things stops) the multilift function wasn't used in the US. Cool video
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