Great car, but the rear control arm failed resulting in an unstable driving condition and a knocking sound generated from the defective control arm(s). The problem was found during the normal tire rotation.
The rear tire could be moved w/an in/out play due to the defective upper control arm. The mechanic stated that this has been a common problem with the Patriot's with 40-70K miles on them. This vehicle has 42,000 miles and has not been abused, driven off road, very limited city driving (stop/go), all highway miles. It seems to me that a vehicle should not have a problem of this sort (if at all) until 100-200K.
I have been unable to find any reference to this problem on the internet which is strange since the tire shop here has fixed several Patriot's in the past 6 months. The vehicle's problem is not covered by the "Lifetime Warranty" and there is currently no recalls. The Dodge/Jeep dealer would replace the defective parts for $600 per side. The local service center did the repair for less than $200 per side.The problem was caught early w/no resulting accident, just unstable driving environment. Looks like a design issue to me.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Great car, but the rear control arm failed resulting in an unstable driving condition and a knocking sound generated from the defective control arm(s). The problem was found during the normal tire rotation.
The rear tire could be moved w/an in/out play due to the defective upper control arm. The mechanic stated that this has been a common problem with the Patriot's with 40-70K miles on them. This vehicle has 42,000 miles and has not been abused, driven off road, very limited city driving (stop/go), all highway miles. It seems to me that a vehicle should not have a problem of this sort (if at all) until 100-200K.
I have been unable to find any reference to this problem on the internet which is strange since the tire shop here has fixed several Patriot's in the past 6 months. The vehicle's problem is not covered by the "Lifetime Warranty" and there is currently no recalls. The Dodge/Jeep dealer would replace the defective parts for $600 per side. The local service center did the repair for less than $200 per side.The problem was caught early w/no resulting accident, just unstable driving environment. Looks like a design issue to me.
- Gary H., Troy, MT, US