Jeep Avenger
REPORT 4
£39,600 OTR/£42,125 as tested/£448 pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
Is a Jeep not designed to go off-road still a Jeep?
DRIVERS
Jack Rix
IT’S BEEN A MONTH TO FORGET FOR THE AVENGER. YOU’LL RECALL the heater was on the blink Then the lane keep assist had a meltdown insisting on nudging me to the right whenever the cruise control was activated even if the lane assist was switched off The car is now back with Jeep having its ECU scrubbed out and new software poured in
Funny how a couple of niggles switch your outlook from all sunshine and roses to highly suspicious because right now I can’t stop finding things that irk Let’s start with the range Jeep’s WLTP claim is miles but we all know that’s not attainable in the real world I’m seeing miles indicated on a per cent charge but that’s ambitious in this cold weather more like miles if I drive like a saint Which I don’t
I’m also getting irritated with the cupholder situation There’s a big storage bin beneath the iPad cover style folding magnet cover thing fun at first will probably look shabby in a few years’ time but put a water bottle in and it rattles around everywhere and blocks your hand’s path to the wireless charging mat right at the back Beneath the armrest there’s more storage with moveable dividers but they don’t lock a bottle in place More rattling Door pockets look good but aren’t deep enough to take an average width hydration vessel It’s driving me mad I like the shelf though that’s useful
Did you know that Jeep wasn’t going to bring petrol and hybrid versions of the Avenger to the UK initially but changed its mind? This could be a problem because while I love the serenity and silkiness of the EV powertrain do I love it enough to swallow a k price and kg weight difference? More on that next month because Jeep is sending me the petrol version while the EV gets fixed