[DogsRule]

The pricing of the Latitude with options made it close to an immoral act for me to give the go-ahead. And no configuration seemed to make me happy.

But I seem to be OK with 2 variations now. Based on changing to the 1.4 and manual tranny.

The base 4x4 sport with 5.0 radio and MySky come to about $23.5 and the Latitude roughly apples-to-apples come to $2k more but has lots of other things naturally.

All I had to do look at my driving patterns and I'm OK with the 1.4 setup.

I live 2 blocks off an expressway and I travel constant speed 50 miles to work 2 blocks off the expressway. That's 90% of my driving. Six months in heavy snow / six months warm and dry.

So revisiting the 1.4 seems to have allowed configuring to something very close to a happy medium.

 

[bwbike]

If I buy one, it will have a manual transmission. I'll wait until I can drive one to see how lively (or not) the 1.4T is.

 

[jazzlvr613]

Obviously for a lot of us certain compromises have to be made to stay within our budgets.

Unfortunately, a lot of this has to do with the manufacturer's attitude in bundling mandatory options.

I really only would want one option on a Latitude (other than 2.4 Auto) and that's the Safety-Security Package. My Mazda has BSM and Cross path and I think it's great. Since I can pretty much see what's going on in front of me I don't feel the need for forward collision protection, Can't say the same for blind spots or backing out of a parking space that's pretty much of a crap shoot.

Trouble is you want that $600 option package and you have to buy an additional $1300 in options some of which I could never use (Can't use Remote Start since my car is parked in a parking garage more than 200 feet from my condo.) This sort of thing is why cars get priced out of reach. The mandatory purchase of unwanted options.

So in the end if I want a Latitude I can afford I have to forgo the one option I really want. But it keeps the price around 24K (fwd) which is doable.

 

[Eric5273]

Yeah, I wish they would allow the safety & security package with the manual transmission.

 

[andrew_l_s]

Yeah, I wish they would allow the safety & security package with the manual transmission.

In Europe you can even get collision mitigation with a manual, it stalls the engine when it brakes but hey.
Man do I wish we could get a loaded vehicle with a stick over here...

 

[RaceAddict]

In Europe you can even get collision mitigation with a manual, it stalls the engine when it brakes but hey.

Can you imagine if they had that in the USA? It would incite riots for "faulty" something or other.... the reverse of Toyota's so-called unintended acceleration. LOL

 

[andrew_l_s]

Can you imagine if they had that in the USA? It would incite riots for "faulty" something or other.... the reverse of Toyota's so-called unintended acceleration. LOL

Probably hahaha!! Somehow "engine stalled, push to restart" flashing in the instrument cluster just wouldn't be enough for us dumb Americans xD

 

[Eric5273]

I understand why certain features cannot be had with a manual transmission, like that one, or like remote start. And I'm guessing the keyless start/entry system probably uses the remote start system to work, so I can understand why those 2 items are packaged together. But how about the stereo upgrade, or the security alarm, or the blind spot monitoring? No reason why those should not be available.

 

[Koily]

I don't understand why certain features cannot be had with a manual transmission, especially remote start. In fact, it is a bone of contention with me that the only way I can get remote start on a vehicle from a dealer is if I get an automatic. Don't want an automatic dammit.

Grinds my gears.

 

[arild]

Every combination of powertrain and option probably needs design, development and lots and lots of testing. In other words, with every combination the costs increase. And these costs need to be earned back. If Jeep don't believe they will sell many enough of the combinations, it makes no sense in investing in the design, development and testing.

 

[RaceAddict]

I don't understand why certain features cannot be had with a manual transmission, especially remote start. In fact, it is a bone of contention with me that the only way I can get remote start on a vehicle from a dealer is if I get an automatic. Don't want an automatic dammit.

Grinds my gears.

Remote start on a manual is not a simple thing. In an automatic, it's basically a plug and play module... for a manual it's a hugely involved process. (And there are significant safety issues, which is probably why manufacturers don't want to do it since it'll open them up to a world of litigation if anything does wrong.)

 

[SubVet]

Remote start on a manual is not a simple thing. In an automatic, it's basically a plug and play module... for a manual it's a hugely involved process. (And there are significant safety issues, which is probably why manufacturers don't want to do it since it'll open them up to a world of litigation if anything does wrong.)

For example, leaving the transmission in 1st gear with no E-brake, remote starting it first thing in the morning and lurching it through the garage wall and into the kitchen or across the parking space and into the car in front of it.

A friend of mine had remote start installed by the dealer in his Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT back in 2002 before taking delivery of it. The detailer finished detailing the car and pulled it around front of the dealer and parked right outside the front window (in a marked parking spot). The salesperson received the keys, said "here you go... oh wait. we installed the remote start for you as requested. Check this out." pressed the button on the fob and lurched the Eclipse right through the front window and into the showroom (detailer parked it and left it in 1st gear without the e-brake).

The salesperson just sat there with his mouth hanging wide open...

 

[RaceAddict]

Clearly installed the wrong way. Hah! He got off lucky... windows are cheap, legs are not. If someone's walking between you car and another and it lurches forward while you try to remote-start it... goodbye legs, hello wheelchair.

It can be done though, but like I said... not a simple install. More sensors, switches, relays, etc. I've had remote starts on manual cars for the past 10+ years with no incident. It's not a perfect system though... you have to go through a process before shutting off the car, etc.

 

[Koily]

I'm aware that it is not a simply plug and go like in an automatic, and am also aware of the complications that can arise if the car is not "set up" properly in terms of leaving the brake off and the car in first gear. Still, as has been said, it can and has been done. I'd be willing to sign a waiver if I could get this done via the dealer. It would make life much simpler. IJS

 

[Eric5273]

I don't understand why certain features cannot be had with a manual transmission, especially remote start. In fact, it is a bone of contention with me that the only way I can get remote start on a vehicle from a dealer is if I get an automatic. Don't want an automatic dammit.

Grinds my gears.

I once asked and was told by a dealer in New York that it was illegal to install a remote start in a manual transmission vehicle.

 

[RaceAddict]

I once asked and was told by a dealer in New York that it was illegal to install a remote start in a manual transmission vehicle.

It's not illegal... unless it's a local/state thing (on which I couldn't comment).

To me, that just sounds like "We don't want to bother" or "we don't want our name at the top of the invoice for the starter if something unfortunate ever happens".

 

[Koily]

To me, that just sounds like "We don't want to bother" or "we don't want our name at the top of the invoice for the starter if something unfortunate ever happens".[/QUOTE]

^ THIS! I had a remote car starter put into my last MT vehicle (G5) at the dealer level when I bought it. They, of course, had to send it out to get it installed but they got it done for me before I took ownership of the vehicle. About a year or so later, I turn off my car and the engine is still running (hadn't used the remote start for about 10 months). As the car was still under warranty I had it towed to the dealer and they told me "we think the problem is with the car starter, and in order to maintain your warranty we have to disconnect it, or if the same problem happens again, you'll have to pay".

Needless to say, I wasn't too happy about this, especially since the salesman I dealt with was no longer there and nobody could tell me who actually installed the starter.

If it's done on a manufacturer level, I wouldn't have had the problem of warranty/no starter or cold car. I'm in Alberta... sometimes it's **** cold here 6 months out of the year; I wanted that starter but had to disconnect it in order to maintain my warranty.

Left me PO'ed.

 

[rambo]

Yup, it's a big nightmare to work with remote started on manuals. I recall having friends with manual transmission vehicles equipped with remote starters that'd be full of bugs when trying to start.

 

[WXman]

On Cherokee, you get remote start with the Cold Weather Package (which is the best value among all the packages offered...you actually really do get awesome content for $800). On the Renegade the packaging is quite a bit more complex. Go figure....

 

[KAMS_JEEPS]

Keyless go and Proximty entry

Does anyone have any idea if the Jeep Renegade Latitude/North Edition in the 1.4 litre manual transmission come with keyless go proximity and push to start feature instead of the manual key? I am not asking for remote start, just the feature for having your keys in your pocket and opening the doors in close proximity so I wont have to fetch for my keys?