I'm really happy with my Renegade so far. It's like a TARDIS...tiny on the outside, huge on the inside. Easy to park, lots of fun features, feels great to drive. Surprisingly, extremely capable off-road.
Also FWIW, Cherokees are about the same price (minus packages), they just start a little higher than the Renegade base (with manual transmission). My Renegade Latitude with tons of features was $25.5k; a Cherokee Latitude (a step up from the base Sport model) 4x4 via Truecar is $24.4k (in my area), and if you drop it down to 4x2 Sport, is $22k. I checked out the Cherokee & it was very nice, but I opted for the Renegade because (1) it was smaller, and (2) it was quirky, which fit my tastes better. Basically more of a fat Wrangler than an actual SUV.
I love the Cherokee, I was close to pulling the trigger on a Latitude 4x4. But I bought snow tires for my car, and they'll be just about out of snow tread with this winter, so I decided to keep my car to get my investment out of them.
Used to, I was dead set on getting 1500/150 pickup to replace my Expedition. When the Expedition was totaled, I wasn't in place to get another truck, too many $$$. And up here in the north, what my insurance payout was would only get me a rust bucket compared to the pristine SUV I had bought down south. So I got the Fiesta, which I love. I run 90-95% city, and I managed 32mpg in the summer, and 29mpg in the winter, hand calculated. The consumables (brakes/tires/oil) are cheap as well, which helps because that much city just destroys those items. At the same time, I run alot of miles, about 14-17K per year, again almost all city, because of my job. So the MPG and the consumables are important to me. I was amazed at how much cheaper my life is with the fiesta, vs the 13.5" disc brakes, 1250$ for 4 tires, and average 13MPG the truck was getting. So the wife convinced me to look at SUV's again, because of practicality. I need AWD or 4WD to handle the snow, or at least better ground clearance. Last year I averaged 3 sticks a week. That is where I had to be pushed out of deep snow. The fiesta high centers on *everything*, and in my job, I routinely go out before the plows. The worse the weather emergency, the earlier I'm out on the roads most often. And we go until the county forbids us from going (and even then some of us are picked up by escorts to go in). My Expedition was 4x2 and never had issues. I had Michelin X-Ice 2 all around, and 120 lbs in the back. It never got stuck, even in snow to the hubcaps. It was slow going, but it always would get traction and keep rolling. Not the fiesta, it so much has snow touch the aerodynamic lower lip, and it's halted.
Buick Encore - Loved the Buick feel, but it was wayyyy too cramped!
GMC Terrain - Loved the style, loved the way it handled. But it's 4cyl is anemic, and it's 6 cyl a gas guzzler. One word for it is "dated". It's a great platform but way overdue for better newer engines, and newer dash. 4th place.
GMC Acadia - Sweet! But too pricey
Chevrolet Equinox - Really liked this SUV but it's sooooo soccer dad.
Jeep Patriot - Loved the truckiness of this one. The 2.4L/6spd was pretty smooth, enough power for me. Easy to modify for more offroad trail stuff. Everything about it was functional and practical. 2nd place.
Jeep Compass - Like a smoothed over Patriot, my wife liked it more. I preferred the Patriot.
Jeep Renegade - Sadly haven't had a chance to try one, but I sat in a sold one. The fit and finish was amazing, just like the larger Cherokee. Love the funky look both inside and out.
Jeep Cherokee - I give this third place mainly because of it's cost for features. Though it seems since I test drove it, what you get for the $$$ has went a good ways up. Fit and finish is great, powertrain was smooth. The 4WD in deep snow was as capable as the Subaru Outback I took out that same day. Love the LED's on the front, and actually is probably my favorite of all the SUVs in this list in terms of looks.
Subaru Crosstrek - My number one choice. Felt very powerful and planted. The downfall is rough MPG numbers, and as always with Subaru, alot of $$$ for very little fit and finish. Dealers up north here don't even have to try to sell them, so I would be stuck with the most basic CVT model with no options.
You must throw up a little at kittens, flowers and cute girls then.
I saw a Renegade the other day. It actually looks pretty good in person. Some old fellow driving it. I can see how it would appeal to that demographic - perfect height to slide in and out, good visibility, compact size.
I agree, love the Renegade's looks, inside and out.