Blind to the Value

As equipped, our test Patriot Limited 4x4's price was $29,700, and people found that hard to stomach. Dig deeper, and you find the base price for this trim is $24,550, which is a bit lower than that of the CR-V's and Tucson's higher trim levels (see them compared). The roughly $5,000 difference amounted to our Patriot's long list of options, including the automatic transmission, a moonroof and a premium stereo with unique flip-down rear speakers in the liftgate. There's also remote start, Bluetooth phone connectivity, HomeLink, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a cargo cover, roof-rack crossbars, a readout for the tire pressure monitoring system and more. The in-dash multimedia system included a well-executed navigation system with a free year of Sirius Traffic Service. It also featured both analog and digital jacks for playing and controlling audio sources and for loading songs and photos onto the onboard hard disk drive.

It's actually a lot of features for the money, but there's such a disconnect between the price and the perception of quality that people seemed blind to the value of the added options. If this doesn't illustrate the importance of aesthetic quality, nothing will.

    See also:

    Driving the Patriot
    The Patriot's smaller engine — a 158-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder — is technically an option on the Patriot Sport with front-wheel drive, which subtracts $200 from its suggested retail ...

    To Enter Remote Start
    Press and release the REMOTE START button on the RKE transmitter twice within five seconds. The parking lights will flash and the horn will chirp twice (if programmed). Then, the engine will st ...

    Recreational Towing — Four-Wheel Drive Models
    The transfer case must be shifted into NEUTRAL (N) and the transmission must be placed in PARK for recreational towing. The NEUTRAL (N) selection button is adjacent to the transfer case selector ...