When the 2006 Detroit News Automotive Consumer Panel spent a couple weeks test driving the 2007 Dodge Caliber in the spring, they gave the feisty little Neon replacement a glowing review.
An amazing 10 out of 10 panelists said they would recommend the Caliber to their families and friends, while six out of 10 said they would consider buying one themselves.
But things turned ugly when the panel, which includes a Southfield hair stylist, a University of Michigan freshman and a Detroit bus driver, got behind the wheel of the Caliber's sister vehicle, the much-anticipated 2007 Jeep Compass.
After putting nearly 2,000 miles on three Compasses over the course of two weeks in July, an equally amazing 10 out of 10 panelists said they wouldn't buy the compact SUV, which is Jeep's first front-wheel-drive, car-based model.
Only two out of 10 said they would recommend the five-passenger Compass to their families and friends. And one of those, 21-year-old Detroit resident Meah Khrysteana Tweh, said she did so with reservations and thought it would be suitable for a “mature” audience only.
The panel not only hated the newest Jeep, they expressed concern that the car-like vehicle — which the Chrysler Group describes as a “breakthrough” product — was pointing the brand in the wrong direction.
Detroit architect Andrew Hetletvedt, 32, castigated the Compass for “unnecessary sissy-ness” and said that while Jeep is “one of the strongest names in American motoring,” the Compass was “spiritually wrong.”
Some worried that the Illinois-built Compass was poised to damage the reputation of the storied Detroit brand, which has its roots in the battlefields of World War II (curiously, the new car's basic architecture was engineered originally by Japan's Mitsubishi). Panelists appeared to be strongly at odds with Chrysler executives such as Trevor Creed, the company's senior vice president of design, who said the Compass “offers the credibility and characteristics associated with the Jeep brand name.”
“Jeep, to me, no longer can justify having that 'rugged' reputation attached to its brand name,” wrote Michael Lysaght, 18, the U-M freshman, in his driving log. “A Jeep is supposed to bellow 'run me into the ground.' Instead, this Jeep says, 'You guys want to go to the mall?' ”
Detroit bus driver Julian Franklin Jr., 51, a self-described Chrysler booster who drives a 1996 Dodge Intrepid, put it more simply.
“That thing is ugly,” he said. “It really is. It just didn't do anything for you.”
The Compass, which starts at $15,985, including a $560 destination charge, is on sale now.
The panel took turns spending three days each in one of three Compass models provided by Jeep, all of them equipped with optional four-wheel drive. They included a $26,180 Compass Limited 4×4 with eight options, including an $800 power sunroof, a $1,150 continuously variable transmission and a $460 premium sound system with nine speakers and two flip-down speakers located in the tailgate. They also tested a $21,185 Compass 4×4 with two options and a $23,185 Compass 4×4 with nine options.
The panel seemed as shaken by their reaction to the Compass as they expected Jeep to be.
“The whole time I was driving it, I kept saying to myself, 'This is all psychological,' ” said Amy Bowman, 32, a Royal Oak teacher. “'It's the same as the Caliber.' Then I went to a Bonnie Raitt concert with my girlfriends and all three of them said, 'This is not a Jeep,' including one who drives a Jeep Cherokee. They didn't like the Compass, either.”
Still, Bowman was the sole panelist who said she would recommend the Compass to family and friends without reservations, even if she wouldn't buy one herself.
“It's a nice vehicle that gets good gas mileage, is stylish and comfortable,” she wrote in her log. “It is priced very competitively.”
The other panelists weren't as kind, compiling a long list of Compass transgressions, which included an underpowered engine that was too noisy, a boring exterior, no standard compass, limited rear cargo space, uncomfortable rear seats, and an iPod holder that didn't hold the new video iPod.
Many of them said they were initially drawn in by the “face” on the Compass, which hews to classic Jeep looks, with a signature seven-slot grille and round headlamps. But the design seemed to fall apart for them from that point, with a rear end that some complained looked too similar to the one on the Caliber.
“The Compass has no 'wow' factor,” said Shaniya Jarrett, 34, a Detroit insurance executive who drives a 2005 Dodge Durango. “And the Compass just doesn't have the 'meatiness' of an SUV in terms of size or cargo space.”
Many of the panelists griped about the lack of power in the Compass.
The vehicle is outfitted with a twin-cam 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 172 horsepower and 165 pounds-feet of torque. The Compass comes with a standard five-speed manual transmission, but all of the test vehicles were equipped with the optional continuously variable transmission, a type of automatic transmission that uses belts and pulleys instead of conventional gears. The test Compasses had EPA ratings of 23 miles per gallon in city driving and 26 mpg on the highway.
“The Compass sounds like a dying zebra when you turn the ignition,” wrote panelist Paul Tassi, 19, a U-M junior. “It needs a lot more power for how heavy it is. I literally think my (Ford) Focus accelerates twice as fast with 50 less horsepower. In addition to the engine, the steering is kind of loose as well.”
Tassi said the iPod holder in the center console wasn't wide enough to hold his new video iPod. And he disliked the open storage compartments that allowed passers-by to see his gear.
“Just give me a freakin' regular center console,” he said.
Zora Callahan Jones, 48, a Detroit teacher who drives a 2004 Cadillac SRX, put 690 miles on her Compass driving her 85-year-old aunt Bernice Carter to Columbus, Ohio and said afterward that “the road trip in the Compass left a lot to be desired.”
“My aunt was complaining about the lack of room in the interior and trunk,” Jones wrote. “The Caliber was a much better ride and far exceeds the Compass in style, room, interior features and comfort.”
Southfield hair stylist Wendy Anderson, 53, echoed Jones' words.
“They should have stopped at the Caliber,” she said.
Her husband, panelist Rick Anderson, 52, a Ford pipefitter, concurred, saying that the cost of the Compass was his first reason for not buying one. The second reason?
“If I want a Jeep,” Anderson said, “I'll buy a real one.”
