Jeep Renegade Review & Prices

Ask anybody to sketch a 4x4 and they’ll probably draw something that looks a bit like a Jeep Renegade. This boxy little off-roader has all the features you’d expect to find on a hardcore Wrangler, just condensed into a bite-sized, city-friendly package.

As a result, it stands out from the likes of the VW T-Roc, Seat Arona and Suzuki Vitara like a man in a Victorian diving suit on Brighton beach.

Step inside and you’ll be greeted by bundles of chunky details. There’s a massive grab handle above the glovebox for the passenger, contrasting metal-effect trims on the dashboard and doors, and even a fake mud splatter on the rev counter in high-spec cars.

While the Jeep Renegade’s styling is certainly cheerful, most of the materials just feel cheap. At least you get a decent-sized touchscreen with smartphone mirroring as standard, and there’s a decent amount of seat adjustment to help you get comfy in the front.

Sadly, this roominess doesn’t extend to the back seats, where tall passengers will feel their knees brushing up against the front seats. The Jeep Renegade’s cuboid body does at least mean there’s plenty of headroom to go round, and you can lift in a large baby seat without feeling like the hunchback of Notre Dame.

This middle-of-the-road practicality theme runs through to the Jeep Renegade’s boot, too. Sure, it’s wide opening makes it pretty easy to load, but plenty of equally dinky SUVs have bigger load bays.

The Renegade is a bit like a kid who's put on an incredible hulk costume for Halloween. It looks like a seriously chunky off-roader, but in a cheeky, charming way.

There are two engines - a 130hp ‘self-charging’ hybrid, which with its ability to run for short distances on electricity alone, is worth a look, but it’s also worth noting that it’s not the most refined powertrain in the world.

There’s now a 240hp plug-in hybrid model available too, which can run for up to 26 miles on battery power. Provided you can plug it in and charge it up regularly, that’ll offer even greater fuel savings than the hybrid, but you’ll pay a fair bit extra for this model.

Out on the road the Jeep Renegade’s appeal waivers. It isn’t as comfortable as many other small SUVs and it tends to lean more in tight corners. Head out onto a motorway and you’ll notice a fair bit more wind and tyre noise than in most alternatives too.

Still, if you’re often off-road and want a distinctive, rugged small SUV that stands out from the small SUV crowd, the Jeep Renegade is well worth a look. Make sure you check our Jeep Renegade deals pages for the best prices.

The Renegade is a very well-specced car for the money, making it one of the more attractive small SUVs pound-for-pound. 

S models come with far more standard equipment than the name suggests. You’ll be treated to dual-zone climate control, heated leather front seats, a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a secondary 7.0-inch instrument display, satellite navigation, tinted windows, plus front and rear parking sensors as standard.

Then there’s the smart Upland, which is similarly equipped but comes with bronze body highlights and unique wheels.

Next up is the Trailhawk. This comes with the same 6.5-inch touchscreen, seven-inch instrument display, satellite navigation, tinted windows and leather seats as Limited models but offer upgraded underbody protection – in case you fancy taking it off road – hill descent control, a tow hook and exclusive decals on the bonnet as standard.

The Renegade is fun round town, but don’t expect it to grip the road like a limpet

In town

The Jeep Renegade’s high driving position and large windows give you a fairly good view out over traffic. However, its wide front door pillars can produce awkward blind spots at junctions and the thick frame around the rear window can make parking in tight spaces a slightly nerve-wracking experience.

Thankfully, all Renegades barring the entry-level model come with rear parking sensors as standard and you can have a reversing camera and blind-spot monitoring as an option.

On the motorway

The Jeep’s stocky body might help it stand out in the car park, but the Renegade’s bluff front end and upright windscreen create a lot of wind noise at motorway speeds. That said, it feels stable and well-planted for an SUV and will cruise all day if asked to.

On twisty roads

The Renegade feels slightly out of its depth on a twisty country road. It leans heavily through tight corners and its steering doesn’t inspire much confidence; despite feeling quite weighty.

Sure, the Jeep Renegade doesn’t wallow enough to make your passengers feel car sick but it’s nowhere near as fun to drive as a Ford Puma or Seat Arona. It tends to shake and shimmy over lumps and bumps too – especially at slow speeds.

It’s easy to get comfy inside the Renegade but cabin storage is a bit limited

There’s a decent range of seat adjustment in the Renegade so it’s easy to get comfortable up-front – even if you’re over six-foot tall. Its boxy body offers decent headroom, too, and the rather upright windscreen and large side windows make the cabin feel impressively airy – even without the optional panoramic glass roof.

All models come with electric lumbar adjustment for the driver’s seat as standard to help make long journeys as bearable as possible. The standard seats are comfortable enough but could do with extra side bolstering to hold you in place in tight corners.

You can pay extra to get eight-way electrically adjustable seats in higher spec models if you’re looking for even more scope to find your ideal seating position.

The Renegade isn’t exactly awash with storage cubbies but there’s enough space for a few family bits and bobs dotted around its cabin. The glovebox is relatively roomy and each of the front door bins is big enough for a large water bottle.

There are two cupholders and a large central armrest behind the gear lever with a small storage tray underneath. It’s just about large enough for a smartphone but not deep enough to hold a drinks can.

A small tray below the centre console comes with a USB port and 12V socket as standard but again, it’s not quite deep enough to stop your phone sliding out in sharp corners.

Space in the back seats

The rear door bins are nearly as big as those in front but their slightly awkward shape means they can’t hold particularly tall bottles.

There’s enough room in the back seats for two adults to get fairly comfortable, but a Suzuki Vitara is slightly more spacious. Headroom is generous but legroom is tight for passengers over six-foot tall. Carrying three abreast is even more of a struggle thanks to the narrow central seat and the large lump in the rear floor that cuts into foot space considerably.

You can fit two child seats in the back of the Renegade but the fiddly ISOFIX anchor points are slightly tricky to access. Thankfully, the Jeep’s tall roofline and wide-opening rear doors make it easy to lift in a child seat, or a child, once you’ve fitted the base.

Boot space

The Jeep Renegade’s boot can carry 351 litres of luggage. That’s slightly smaller than the 375-litre Suzuki Vitara’s and significantly less than you can fit in the Peugeot 2008’s 410-litre load bay.

Fold the Jeep’s rear seats down (which you can do in a 60:40 split) and you’ll have access to a more spacious 1,297-litre boot. That’s 297 litres more than the Fiat 500X on which the Renegade is based.

All models come with a handy 12V socket in the boot and you can choose to fit an adjustable false floor as part of the Function Pack. This can be flipped to offer a wipe-clean surface instead of the usual carpet – ideal for carrying muddy boots or even muddier pets. The Function Pack 2 on Limited and Trailhawk models also brings useful 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats, allowing you to seat two people while also laying long items through from the boot between them.

There’s barely any boot lip to lift heavy items over – provided you add the optional adjustable floor – and the rear seats fold almost completely flat, so it’s a breeze to slide bulky boxes right up behind the front seats. The front passenger seat folds forward as standard, too, so you can carry exceptionally long items without having to drive around with the boot lid half-open.

The Renegade’s quirky interior touches and hard materials are an acquired taste, but at least it stands out from the drab interiors you get in most small SUVs

Chunky grab handles, large air vents and a tall, upright windscreen that offers a great view of the road ahead all help the Renegade to stand out from the crowd.

A few neat touches – such as the mud splatter printed on the rev-counter in off-road-focused models – might not appeal to everyone, but they make the Renegade more memorable than your average small SUV. It also has several images of Jeep’s seven-bar grille logo stamped around the interior, so you’re not likely to forget what car you’re driving.

The Renegade’s dashboard plastics are reasonably soft but the door trims are hard and scratchy and the switches lack the solid, mechanical feel you’ll find in a Suzuki Vitara. It’s all functional rather than flash, but at least it feels like it’ll stand up to a good few years of abuse.

The Jeep Renegade's cabin looks unashamedly chunky, but this rugged theme doesn't extend to its switches; many of which feel a bit cheap 

Every Jeep Renegade now comes with an 8.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system. It’s reasonably bright and the mostly colourful menus make it fairly easy to read, but it doesn’t respond to your inputs quite as quickly as the screens you get in a VW T-Roc and Skoda Karoq.

You do at least get a set of physical shortcut buttons as standard, which is handy because the on-screen buttons are quite small and fiddly. Speaking of which, these rather small icons can make it a bit tricky to input an address into the standard sat nav, but once you’ve entered an address, the directions are fairly easy to follow.

Happily, though, this system also comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard so you can instantly feel at home using your favourite navigation apps directly on the car’s built-in touchscreen.

You can also download Jeep’s Uconnect app, which allows you to send sat nav directions from your phone to your car or check how much fuel you have left in the tank without leaving the house.

Pick a high-spec Limited version and you also get a 7.0-inch display nestled between the instruments. Just like the central display, this is right, clear and fairly easy to read – even in direct sunlight.

The Jeep Renegade has conventional heating and ventilation controls on the centre console – unlike some cars fitted with touchscreen infotainment systems. These make it dead easy to tweak the cabin temperature without taking your eyes off the road.

You can get the Renegade with two engines: a self-charging hybrid and a plug-in hybrid. You can also choose between a manual or automatic gearbox and front- or four-wheel-drive – depending on which powertrain you opt for.

If you’re on a budget and know you’ll spend most of your time pottering around town, you’ll likely be best served by the 130hp self-charging hybrid thanks to its ability to run for short distances on electric power alone. It suffers from a lack of refinement at high revs, but it’s ability to comfortably return 40mpg is an added bonus.

The full-fat plug-in hybrid offers even more punch thanks to its 240hp output. That said, its 26-mile electric only range is pretty poor compared to some alternatives, and you’ll pay a hefty premium to get your hands on this model.

The Renegade has a three-star Euro NCAP safety rating. It performs quite well in a collision but was deducted points for pedestrian safety and a very limited suite of active safety features. Active safety features include lane departure warning and AEB but the very latest in driver assistance systems simply aren’t there.

Every new Jeep comes with a three-year, 36,000-mile warranty, which is the basic level offered by manufacturers. There has been one recall regarding the front seat occupant sensors in 2019 models. It’s an established model with a pretty good reliability record.