Jeep Compass review

There’s a decent amount of room for an average-sized family in here. Four will be comfortable, five might end up with there being a few arguments in the back. The seats up front are decent and supportive, and the rear seats will stretch to accommodating a couple of adults too. 

The interior design and material quality is another area where the Compass doesn’t live up to its sharp exterior styling – it’s class average at best in here, and the whole layout feels a bit old-fashioned. That has a benefit in terms of the fact that you still get buttons to use, but the plastics are on the durable side and there’s little to uphold Jeep’s idea that it should be a premium sort of brand. 

Does it have the neat little easter eggs like the Renegade?

Sadly you don’t get any of the fun little touches to be found in the Compass’s baby brother – the Renegade has fun little Jeep logos and heritage nods plastered about the cabin, but there’s nothing of the sort inside the Compass. This car is altogether more grown-up and serious minded, even if that doesn’t translate to an upmarket feel. 

What about the tech?

The touchscreen is a large 10.1in system plonked on top of the dash – it is fairly easy to navigate with sensible menus. If there’s one niggle it’s that not much thought has been put into adapting the car for driving on the other side of the road. We tried the car in top spec trim and the button to turn on the heated steering wheel was a stretch away over the side of the screen. This is the sort of minor detail that fancier rivals get right. 

Sensibly, the touchscreen isn't overburdened with functions best left to hardware switchgear. The climate controls are on the console, albeit duplicated on the screen if that's your preference. Above them are buttons that let you defeat the lane keep assist and ESP, as well as those for the parking aids. Then the 4WD system controls.

What about storage space?

The boot itself is broad and can be optioned with a wipe-clean floor. With a full-size spare there’s 368 litres of space back there, but go for a tyre inflator kit and you can up that to a healthy 438 litres. This does lag behind the competition, mind – you’ll find 520 litres of bootspace in the Peugeot 3008, 504 in the Nissan Qashqai or 521 in the Skoda Karoq.