My daughter bought a new one back in 2016. So far, a rear brake caliber fractured. Almost cost her a nasty accident. Lost braking. The oil pan had a bad leak. She had a extended warranty, it just ran out.

 

Yeah the 15/16’s seemed to have some kinks to work out still, I had a nasty trans code thrown that terrified me and the stock motor mounts are garbage. Otherwise, it’s been pretty solid. I drive it hard and all over the place so it’s held up really well all things considered.

 

I would love love love a manual 1.4t renegade. Imo the Renegade should have been a Fiat and the 500X a Jeep (with grills and badging suitable). I think more Fiat buyers would have bought than Jeep buyers. The boxy style is more Fiat style quirky and rear hatch interior more useable. Yeah the 500L was supposed to cover but no 4wd. I 5hink Fiat and Fiat north america lost its way on the hype of the return of 500 that they forgot that Fiat buyers also want practicality as well as value yet fun

 

They made it for europeans to push the Jeep brand over there, it did really well so they launched it on our continent and it did super well. There was a few years where every other car I saw was a renegade.

 

The 500x rear trunk is just a bit too small and i think that really limits its appeal for Fiat buyers. I think Fiat overestimated 'style' and 'design' over practicality for its buyers. Yes, some buy Fiat for italian style but more would have bought if more practical. This could have extended Fiat presence in north america a small bit more and then they should have come out with a larger suv

 

They could have used the Giulia Stelvio platform for a Fiat suv. Make it more boxy, more spacious cargo area, more fuel efficient (taller gearing, less power than Stelvio etc), and maybe also used the body to share with a new lower priced jeep thats bigger than cherokee but small than grand cherokee, and maybe for Patriot replacement...

 

Fiat could have done a lot of things. Even a minivan based on caravan like VW minivan on caravan platform and engine. They could just copy vw van with fiat badging and grill and unique colours and trim details etc. They already have that van ready to go. I would think vw specd its owns shock and spring rates, transmission steering throttle programming, etc. If good enough for german vw...

 

Although i like the 500l, i think just to weird and ugly for north america. Plastic windows efc don't help image of durability and although i love the dct auto, it was obviously painful for many owners in addition to mechanics and technitions. Fiat north America also clueless what dct is and how it works and how needs be driven or serviced. Most Fiat staff in north america are chrysler people and they just see Fiats as fragile european niche vehicles for quirky people

 

Our 2014 500L was a piece of junk. The DCT suffered catastrophic failure, 300 miles from our house. Took a month for Fiat to get a replacement. No one services transmission. Any car, any type of transmission. There were so many electrical gremlins. We trade it off in less then 9 months. For a reliable Kia Soul. In 2015 Fiat installed a traditional automatic transmission.

 

But I think like 5% of them sold in the states are 1.4t multiair with a 6spd. I was a salesman at a VW dealership and was bummin because all the cool Tiguans were auto/DSG and I stumbled onto the Jeep.. I unfortunately sold my R32 golf and was stuck in a ratty old Subaru Forester for a bit, but the renegade fit the bill when it was time for an upgrade! - also this was before the golf all-track was around, else I’d probably be in one of those haha