New guy here with a quandary

[Infinitrium]

So here's my situation. I've got a crappy little Jeep Compass that I bought back in November 2014 because I wanted something relatively fuel efficient that had AWD for winter driving and occasional light offroading. Long story short, the AWD has really only worked for about 3 months since I've owned it, and I've spent over 2000 bucks at 2 different repair shops trying to get it working again with no permanent success.

In addition to the attempted AWD repairs, I've also had to spend about 1000 bucks on various suspension and brake parts just to keep the thing roadworthy. It once again needs some repair to be roadworthy again, and it'll need an oilpan shortly as well. In my mind, it's incredibly disappointing that the one major feature (the AWD) that influenced my purchasing of it has barely worked at all since I've had it. Really the only 2 things on it that work flawlessly are the seat heaters and the optional Boston Acoustics sound system. I'm strongly considering driving the thing to a scrapyard and taking over my brother's 2004 Z71 Tahoe.

My brother bought it back in early 2012 but he got tired of it and bought a zippy little 2009 Cobalt SS turbo a bit later so the Tahoe has been sitting in his yard since then. It gets started and ran once in a while but it's sat in the same spot for quite a while. It's got almost every option that was available on the GMT800's, plus a set of decent BF Goodrich all-terrain TA's. It's got about 145000 miles and runs good but the knock sensors are dead. It needs a bit of brake work, 2 blown lines up front and a rear caliper and a little body work. Unlike my turdtastic Compass, everything on the Tahoe works. A/C is nice and cold, the leather seats are in fairly good shape, the Bose stereo works great (although not as much bass as the Boston Acoustics in the Compass), ABS, 4 wheel drive.

I just don't know what to do. I'm a bit mental (seriously) and I just can't seem to come to a decision to either ditch or fix the Compass. Other than the much lower fuel economy, the Tahoe has everything I originally wanted in a vehicle at the time I bought the Compass. If you were in my situation, what would you do?

 

[MrBalll]

The Tahoe doesn't have AWD so that's something you will have to consider.
If you put good enough tires on it the 4WD should work just fine. The Z71 would be really nice offroading.
If it was me I would compare the prices of repairing the Compass vs the Tahoe. Whichever is cheaper go with that. Also factor in the fuel efficiency of the two and whether or not you will fix it or have a shop do it.
Being that it is a Tahoe forum I am not trying to steer you away from one, but only you will know what's wrong with both and what it will cost to fix.
Do that and post back in here what the difference is between the two.

 

[Infinitrium]

The Tahoe should be much easier to fix, as well as much easier to find cheaper parts for. For example, I just had to change an alternator on the Compass. The only local used alternator I could find was a 220 mile round trip to pick it up. Total time to remove the old one, put the replacement back in and snake the belt around the pulleys in the extremely cramped engine bay was 5 hours. If the Tahoe needs parts, I can drive 5 minutes up the road to a junkyard and get most of whatever I would need. A friend of my brother has a 2000 Tahoe and he did an alternator in about an hour.

Going forward (I despise that phrase) the Compass will need 2 outer tie-rods, a lower control arm, another rear brake caliper (replaced it once with a new one and it's sticking again), in addition to whatever would need to be done to get the AWD working. It's likely some electrical component but since all the driving systems are interlinked on the Compass, finding exactly what is causing the problem is a major headache and not suited to a backyard mechanic. The AC doesn't work either and since I'm a fat sweaty sack of blubber I really like to have it during the summer months. Oh, also the Compass runs hot in traffic because the primary electric cooling fan doesn't work. Another worry is the lifespan of the CVT transmission. While at the moment it all seems to work well, they aren't really noted for long life especially past 110000 miles which is right around where mine sits. Since all the electrical systems are not working, the torque converter doesn't go into lockup mode which would probably just burn up the pushbelt in the transmission even faster. The intake manifold runners are also non operational. Low speed operation isn't affected but it kinda falls flat on its face at highway speed. The oil pressure sensor is also malfunctioning which disabled the VVT causing lower power and fuel mileage. It gets about the same mileage around town as my dad's 2003 Grand Marquis fer cryin' out loud.

As for fuel economy, my brother said the best he seen from it was 20-21 mpg on flat ground if he keeps it under 65 mph. The Compass when it worked right would do about 25-27 mpg in the same conditions.

 

[adventurenali92]

In my opinion the jeep compass is a pile of scrap metal. I have a couple of clients of my detailing business that have them And they are always in the shop for something. Something is always broken. That to me would be enough to steer me away from them. Like you said the junkyards are always a great option for parts on a Tahoe. That will be a better option for fixes than the compass especially if you're doing repairs yourself. Yeah the Tahoe is bigger and gets worse fuel economy but the 4WD is amazing in the snow on the Z71. And it's a really funny suv to drive. Its a better built vehicle in my opinion. anyways lol.

 

[drakon543]

Jeep compass was junk when they first rolled off the assembly line. Plagued with issues left and right. Id take a tahoe that needs work over a jeep compass with 0 miles on. Get the jeep fixed enough so its good to drive and sell it bound to be someone else foolish enough to buy one . Jokes aside seriously ditch the compass before you find out the engines in those things are trash too.

 

[Fosscore]

x2 above msgs. My eyes were hurting reading your woes with the Compass. Find a way to ditch it. 145k is not that many miles on the Z71 and parts are everywhere with most issues, tweaks, fixes and mods living on this forum. Check out the Z71, compare your $$ cost to fix ratio and go forward. Good luck man.

 

[clandr1]

Here's my input:

Keep the Jeep long enough to complete the repairs on the Z71.

The brake lines/rear caliper should be cheap and easy to replace, then it's just a simple brake fluid fill/bleed job. The knock sensors are more complicated, but doable.

Focus on working on the Tahoe for 2 hours a night after work for a week (or devote a weekend to it), and you should be able to get it all done. Don't forget to clear any codes. Then, once the Z71 is road worthy, shake it down by taking it on a long trip, then driving it to work for a week. Engage the 4WD, use every option/accessory available, and see if it shows you any additional issues through some use. Check the fluid levels before and after you shake it down to see if you're losing any fluids.

If all is well after a week or two, sell the Jeep.

If more problems rear their heads with the Z71 after the shakedown period, reassess at that point and determine whether to fix the Z71 further, or keep the Jeep.