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What’s it like?
Originally launched in 2007 as Jeep’s smallest model, aimed primarily at customers who would drive on roads rather than off them, the Compass was superseded in that role by the Renegade which arrived in 2014. That allowed this second-generation Compass, which appeared in 2016, to push up in scale, where it now challenges the midsized crossover likes of the Ford Kuga, Opel Grandland, Hyundai Tucson, Skoda Karoq and more. Ironically, what the Compass now trades on is the claim that it is a better off-roader than anything similar, some models proudly wearing Jeep’s ‘Trail Rated’ badge which is reserved for some of its most serious 4x4s.
Which model to go for?
The second-gen Jeep Compass, as part of the wider Stellantis group, shares parts with other models from marques such as Fiat and Alfa Romeo. That gives its styling a vaguely European air, despite the fact Jeep is an American brand – and it has some of the company’s long-held signatures, such as a seven-bar radiator grille and squared-off wheel arches. It was mildly facelifted in 2021 and then was given a smattering of new technology in 2024, but the recipe has stayed broadly the same for the last eight years.
While there are a wide variety of engines for the Compass worldwide, closer to home you’re most likely to encounter the 1.6-litre turbodiesel, making up to 120hp, which is known as the ‘M-Jet’. It’s a fine enough drivetrain, although not the most cultured diesel in the world. Jeep also offered the Compass with a powerful plug-in hybrid variant, which teams a 1.3-litre turbocharged petrol engine with electrical assistance. It’s not only the most powerful Compass you can buy, but also the only four-wheel-drive version, with the badging ‘4xe’ (which is pronounced ‘four-by-E’).
However, it’s expensive even second-hand, so the best bet is the later 1.5-litre mild-hybrid petrol model that Jeep added to the range in 2022, which is named the ‘e-Hybrid’. This provides good fuel-saving driving manners with more refinement than the turbodiesel, so it’s the best version to be going for.
Does anything go wrong?
Jeep hasn’t always had the best reputation for reliability, and nor for that matter do either Fiat or Alfa Romeo, but much of the technology on the Compass is used elsewhere in the Stellantis group and it’s dependable there, so the Jeep should be no exception. No significant issues appear to have surfaced with this second-generation car so far, which backs that theory up.
Jeep issued nine recalls for the Compass during its life, which were for: battery jump-start issues; airbag bolts; the wiring of the daytime running lamps; a transverse control arm; water getting into the battery on the e-Hybrid; the rear seat-back locking mechanism; rear brakes; wiper arms; and curtain airbags.