It’s the start of 2024, which means that every automaker under the sun is busy publishing reports on how many cars they sold last year. As in any business, there are winners and losers, but there are also some genuinely strange artifacts that appear from beyond the grave. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Stellantis reported the sale of one singular brand new Jeep Patriot, a head-scratcher if ever I’ve seen one.
In case you haven’t been keeping track, and I really can’t blame you, the Jeep Patriot exited production the same year “Closer” by The Chainsmokers hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Yep, that’s 2016, a full seven years prior to the end of 2023, during which time we’ve seen entire vehicles go in and out of production. The Aston Martin DB11, Chevrolet Bolt, Infiniti Q60, and Toyota C-HR did all that they needed to do in the time between the end of the Patriot and the most recent reported sale, and those cars definitely weren’t limited-run models or insignificant.
The Jeep Patriot wasn’t exactly Chrysler’s crowning achievement, but it was cheap. For a while, it was the cheapest crossover you could buy new, so it shouldn’t be surprising that it sold well. After all, some people just want an inexpensive box that can move them and all their stuff at 70 mph down an interstate, and the Patriot did just that. Unusually, its second-last model year was its most successful ever. Sure, supply was built to ensure a limited 2017 model year run, but selling 121,926 examples of a car first produced in 2007 some nine years into its production run is a feat on its own.
In all fairness, the Patriot wasn’t all bad. It was exceptionally practical, the available tailgate-mounted speakers were neat, and the seats were unusually plush for such a budget-oriented car. Amusingly, you could also option it in a complete technophobe spec, without so much as air conditioning or power windows. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that basic cars were truly and completely basic.
Weirdly, the Jeep Patriot isn’t the only zombie Stellantis product that saw a year-over-year sales increase in 2023. Sales of the Chrysler 200, a midsize sedan that exited production in December 2016, were actually up year-over-year with four reported sales in 2023 versus three in 2022. It’s not like Stellantis is making more of them, so where are these cars coming from? Is it just a matter of reconciling old reports, or have there actually been a handful of brand-new Chrysler 200s stashed way in back of at least one dealership?
Either way, if you happened to buy a brand new Jeep Patriot in the fourth quarter of 2023, we’d like to hear from you. Assuming this is the actual sale of a physical car within that reporting period, there has to be one hell of a story involved. It’s not uncommon for sales of a discontinued model to linger a year after production ends, but a sudden re-emergence on the sales charts seven years after the end of production borders on necromancy, as a model name cast to the depths pops its head above the surface for one last gasp of air.
Photo credits: Jeep, Chrysler
Top graphic images: Jeep, Yulia Gapeenko/Vecteezy
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I’d argue FCA should’ve updated the Patriot as a basic Bronco Sport competitor instead of its focus on the the overpriced Grand Cherokee wannabe Compass.
Part of the Patriot’s charm relative to the Compass was its lack of refinement going hand-in-hand with its truck-like styling. An updated Patriot would’ve had the current generation Compass’ faults, but its assumed to be rugged styling and Kia Seltos/Honda HR-V equivalent pricing would’ve been more forgivable.
Just watch, whoever bought this will hermetically seal it for a few years and then list it on Bring a Trailer
Which would you rather buy, a seven-year-old “new” Jeep Patriot or … I can’t even imagine the other possibilities that led to this choice. Maybe it sold in N. Korea or some other backwater Stan.
Funny you mention N. Korea. I am a farmer and one of my tractors is a Hesston/Fiat 80-66DT. It’s a 1984. New Holland eventually started building -66 tractors under license in Turkey all the way up until 2014, with a final run of a couple hundred completed in 2015 for, you guessed it, the North Korean market. The hermit kingdom sure has weird buying habits.
A head-scratcher, all right. And those Patriots don’t seem likely to attain stature of any kind comparable to, say, the now legendary Lancia Stratos. Just less than 500 road-going Stratoses (Stratii?) were produced from 1973 to 1975 but inexplicably sold so slowly some were still available as new from the dealers in 1980. Now those typically go for prices in the half-million-dollar territory. Go figure.
I’d love to know the story behind this. My friend a few years ago bought a new 2-year-old F-250 that had been sitting on a small dealer’s lot. He got a great deal on it. Still, that’s only 2 years of the truck sitting. Did that Jeep truly sit, unattended, for 7 years? What would that do to the fluids?
I wonder if it was a dealer-used model that somehow was sold as new despite being used periodically by the dealer.
Maybe a retirement gift for their seventh-best sales person?
As long as it doesn’t have a CVT or sunroof, I’d buy a new one in a heartbeat.
Having its twin that hasn’t left me stranded yet, I’d love to get one. I personally think it looks better than the Compass too.
Na, they are junk regardless of transmission. I had one as a beater. They eat motor mounts, eat suspension components, constant interior squeeks, and the AC blew up. Mine had a random stoplight stalling issue which I think I fixed by cleaning the throttle body but not totally sure that was what was causing it to be honest. Might have just gone away. The CVT never had an issue!
But yea, they were $19,999 new which to be fair would be great if it was a reliable box. Unfortunately they aren’t.
EDIT: jogged my memory. The automatic window motors burned out too – had to roll them down due to said AC dying. AC died twice through the years…
They have random stoplights where you live? That sounds confusing.
Only things I’ve replaced are spark plugs and a coil (detailers spraying water onto the engine), a throttle body (couldn’t go over 30, but dammit did I still go places with the light on!), my drivers seat (I’m bigger, had the seat in an odd position plus I sat oddly), tires, brakes, filters, and wipers.
A/C works fine, the interior doesn’t squeak, and the suspension seems to be fine. Motor mounts are eh.
2023 Stellantis Press Release: Jeep Patriot sales up Infinity% in YOY sales figures!
I hope you’re able to dig up more about this situation. Could it be new-old-stock discovered in the back of some dealership? I’m intrigued.
I’ve heard different things depending on brand. At one point I was going to buy a F-150 that was 2 model years old. Turned out the warranty started when the truck was sold to the dealer, thus it only had a half year left on its bumper to bumper warranty. Of course the dealer was willing to sell me an extended 5 yr (from start of factory warranty) warranty to get me up to 2.5 years of coverage. I didn’t go for it.
What is common when it comes to warranty of new cars. From dealer date or from customer sales date?
The dealer was lying to you about that truck, or it had been titled.
Warranty starts when the car is sold to a customer. I bought a new car that was 2 model years old and enjoyed the full warranty.
Thx for your reply. What brand did you buy?
I did buy a Subaru once and later when I needed some warranty work, the dealer (not the purchasing dealer) said that my warranty had started 2 months before I bought it. Wasn’t a big deal since I was still covered, but it seemed to confirm what I experienced with Ford. I checked with Subaru corp and they responded with a “depends”. It depended on when the dealer submitted some form to Subaru based on, I think, whether it was going to be test driven/demo vehicle/ some other reason, not when it was sold. Really was the decision of the dealer to report warranty start date. Purchasing dealer never responded to my questions. My car had 5 miles on it when I drove it off the lot.
This was FCA, but I believe it’s the same for all brands, and possibly a regulation.
The warranty starts the day the customer buys the car, not when it shows up at the dealer. If the dealer said it only had half a year left on the warranty, then they were either lying to you to get you to buy the extended warranty, or it wasn’t actually a new truck and the dealer had titled it.
I bought an old stock F-150 and got the full warranty from the day I bought it.
A timeline of boxy little “Jeeps”
2007-Patriot enters production
2014-Renegade enters production
2016-Patriot sales “stop”
2023-(Possible) last Patriot sold
2024-Renegade sales “stop”
2???-Last Renegade sold
Based on the backlog of Renegades, I’m going with at least 2050.
Also
1983 XJ Cherokee production starts
2014 XJ Cherokee production stops
2015 XJ sales stop, probably
I’m not saying that dealerships are shady, but I am saying that finding ways to move sales around to minimize tax burden might create some interesting accounting. And I don’t know how the LIFO inventory accounting works at some of these places, but could that have contributed to this? (Seems like it couldn’t, since I would expect LIFO to apply by model, not just to the entire inventory, but I don’t know how much flexibility they have with that.)
Hey, what does my relationship status have to do with anything? 😛
Although to be fair it’s probably a reasonable guess that the person who bought it is, in fact, single.
Probably. or soon to be single.
Ha, that’s how I read the title, too. CATCH OF THE YEAR RIGHT HERE, FOLKS!
I am trying to fathom the price I would pay for a new Jeep Patriot. I cannot bring myself to an actual number without stopping myself. I doubt It would be in the 4 digits.
I’d consider the low 6 digit range, as long as at least two of those digits followed the decimal.
My best friend in high school had one of these and liked it, but has finally acknowledged the rose-tinted glasses he’s been wearing of conflating memories with the mechanical reality.
In addition to recalls and general Jeep quality issues, I was stunned to learn he was getting something like 18 mpg highway, with a 14-gallon tank, while I could get 17-18 mpg in my conversion E-series, with a 33-gallon tank.
The Patriot did make some list of “worst cars” of some years or brands, didn’t it?
Wow, 18 is worse than my Liberty did with a bigger engine and even worse aero profile.
My Lincoln Town Car would do an easy 22mpg highway in steady cruising, and it had one more seat than that Jeep, and probably a higher tow rating and more cargo space
I think they were service department loaners that never got titled, so they can still be sold as new vehicles.
…that tracks for half a second before I wonder what self-respecting service department would use a 7-year-old car for a loaner.
I mean, I just had a loaner from a Toyota dealership and they had a 2023 Corolla for me. I figured everything was still selling quickly, but nope, I guess supply is at a point where at least that was feasible and reasonable for them.
Well, if it’s a Stellantis service department, self-respect is already out the window, so…
No idea what’s going on with the 300s but right away I thought the Patriot had to be a never-titled, always dealer-plated parts runner.
I briefly worked at a car auction between jobs a decade ago. This auction handled a lot of Chrysler off lease products, probably all for southern Ontario. It was either these or the compass (maybe both) that I hated because the plastic box under the steering column came down so far and had such sharp corners that I would often bang my knee on it getting in. No memory of how they drove or anything, but because of that one design flaw I have a true hatred of these.
I’ve had dozens of these as rentals over the years, and the later, post-CVT ones aren’t terrible. They were practical, cheap transportation. I can think of a lot worse vehicles for the price these were commanding.
Five brave adventurers have finally completed the dungeon below Wolf Chrysler Dodge Ram Jeep in Ogallala, Nebraska. After defeating Glorious Defiler Ghost of Jurgen E. Schrempp. Our five heros roll for their reward. The healer takes low roll and receives a new Chrysler 200. The DPS/off tank warrior receives the other. The tank, who is now getting divorced due to this raid, gets the new Jeep Liberty. The Wizard who spammed fireball the entire time, and the Archer spamming arrows from 40 yards away both received new Vipers. These all counted as new sales in Q4, as the dungeon was hiding by the developers.
Comment of the day!
If the person who bought that new Patriot is reading this, I’m so very, very sorry.
“With 25% up in sales y-o-y for the 200, it seems Chrysler is BACK AT IT” say the upbeat headlines
If these trends continue…ayyyyyyyyyyy!
These things are even more interesting in Europe, where batches of unwanted, old but new cars are then often shipped off to some tertiary market. If the Swedish Daihatsu importer has fifty Applauses sitting in a lot, just ship them all to Iceland or whatever. Ireland often receives such leftovers from British importers.
Moving cars from state to state is less noticeable, but I am sure it’s very frequent.
I think I remember a bunch of new Rovers and MGs being “sold” in 2007, two years after the company went out of business, because there was some new emissions or safety regulation coming into effect that meant dealers wouldn’t be able to sell them as new cars beyond a certain date and had to register them and sell as used cars
In my reasonable fantasies, there’s a new Ford Fusion with a manual transmission somewhere out there, waiting for me to find her.
And I mean reasonable both in terms of not a fantasy about finding a low-mile, one-owner Pantera or something, but also that mass-market, orthodox cars with manuals are probably the least likely to sell/mostly likely to be left over.
I snatched up a manual Fusion in late-2014 when I heard they were going out of production. Oddly enough, a few of the dealers in my area thought likewise so there were 8(!) to choose from.
That makes me so happy. Hope she is/was enjoyable.
I got my 2010 Focus with a similar mindset – the model was on the way out and I got a screaming deal on it b/c the dealer was desperate to clear out the 5spd one that nobody wanted.
It was a great car, but life dictated that I sell it, which I did to a friend about 9 months ago. At least I know it went to a good home, and he has to offer it back to me first if he ever looks to sell.
Funny you’d mention a 5 speed Focus, I bought a 2013 5 speed Focus hatchback brand new and had a family member ask me why I wanted it with a manual. Good thing I did, as I really dodged a bullet with the faulty 6 speed DCT that Ford was putting in those cars at the time.
And Ford was really pushing the powershift back then as the performance thing too from what I recall. I’m amazed that more than a decade later there’s still a furor over it.
Mine’s a sedan, the only style Ford offered when I got it…I’m jealous of your hatch, as that’s what I’d really have wanted.
Yeah, the 2012+ Focus was a big part of Ford’s global “One Ford” initiative that they backtracked on 5 years later. I’m pretty sure that it was designed by their UK team or something like that.
The hatch was nice; better looking than the sedan, more space, and shorter to boot, so easier to park. Mine wasn’t an ST, but I made a few tasteful mods to it and even got some more power out of the 2 liter. It was a hoot to drive in the canyons at 9/10ths; few people expected the ordinary looking hatchback to carry that much speed in the corners. One time I drove it so hard chasing down some muscle cars that I completely smoked the brakes by the time we were done!
The Focus was one of those “more than the sum of its parts” kind of cars. I still miss it.
Nice. I have the era-appropriate SVT suspension kit sitting a few feet away from me waiting for installation, but I’ve never done anything with the engine on mine.
I keep hoping for that perfect Flex out there. For some reason that’s my golden god car of that era.
I got a 2019 Flex SEL AWD last year with 29k miles. Great car, really liking it so far. Such an unappreciated vehicle that never sold as well as it should.
My family had a 2010 Flex. Only thing I truly loathed was the recurring breakage of the 60 side middle row latch. Broke three different times. First time under warranty; second time cost ~$700 to repair; third time we just never folded it again.
If I ever bought a Flex again (….which, why would I when a Sienna gets better fuel economy and is roomier? But I digress) I’d only want one of the ones with the middle row center console, so that both sides get the AutoFold button.
Mine has the 2nd row captain’s chairs sans console, so hopefully I’ll miss the latch breakage issues you had. So far, the only big issues I’ve been told to be aware of are water pumps (a known failure point on the NA 3.5) and the PTU. But so far, no problems and it’s been a great family car.
Yeah, you shouldn’t have the latch problems, then.
Ours was FWD so can’t comment on that.
We had the NA 3.5l as well. Ours died around 180,000 miles…apparently coolant got into the engine somehow. Or something similar that would’ve required a new engine.
My dad seemed convinced it was because of the several ~10-hour nonstop drives he did to Maine from Pennsylvania (or vice versa) at 80 mph a few weekends a month for several months. (I feel like that’d only be slightly undesirable but not cause such a severe issue, but I digress.)
Was a nice car while it lasted, albeit we seldom exceeded 20 mpg.
I’ll admit I didn’t like them when they came out, but then they steadily grew on me.
The funk factor alone is so charming…seemed an early example of what Jim Farley would eventually term “working in the white space” between existing vehicle styles.
Plus, how many other new models actually get their name across the front?
Still a better decision than buying a new Hornet
I rented a Latitude trim Patriot with snow tires in Whistler BC. around 2016. This model had the 6 speed automatic. Both multiple soon to be driving daughter and I rather enjoyed the vehicle. I never really understood the hate( early CVT equipped one notwithstanding). It was a perfectly fine entry level CUV that was unstoppable in thick snow.
It’s basically a vehicle where every corner was cut. They fall to pieces in a myriad of ways.
2 Vipers sold in Q4 as well!
Discerning consumers if you ask me.
In other news, you now have 3 Vipers?
Haha, some people seem to really enjoy collecting multiples of the same car, but it’s not something I really understand or have any desire to do.
Variety being the spice of life and all that.
Yeah, I don’t see much point in it either. I want different cars, different colors, and different experiences. I have never even owned another of a car I’ve previously owned, even several generations apart.
One of my friends and his wife both happily drive identical (except for color) Ford Edges. Neither of them is a car person, as if you couldn’t guess, but it still makes me shake my head.
Well you don’t have fighting spouses about who drives what car or needs a new one
Or do things the chaotic way: Own a variety of cars, but multiples of them.
Evil laugh.
All 100% identical!
And when one becomes inoperable due to neglect/crazy neighbors/mold/design flaws, simply buy another example of said car, knowing that this time will be different*.
Thomas is calling on all true Patriots!!! Stand up and show your Patriotism!