The 2020 Jeep Renegade is a compact crossover SUV with some off-road flair in trademark Jeep style. While it offers overland capability and baby Wrangler looks, areas like practicality, comfort, and safety leave something to be desired. We give it 5.2 out of 10 overall. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
After a visual refresh last year, the Renegade receives just a handful of changes to the Sport, Latitude, Trailhawk, and Limited Renegades. It adds new packages for 2020, including one that makes automatic emergency braking available on all but the Trailhawk. It also gains a new 9-speaker Kenwood audio system.
Renegade buyers will undoubtedly be drawn to its mini-Wrangler looks, complete with an upright grille, boxy shape and fender flares, and rugged-looking plastic accents on the capable Trailhawk model. It’s an undeniably charming SUV, and the interior follows suit with grab bars, a traction setting knob, and air vents that resemble motocross goggles.
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With a 2.4-liter 4-cylinder as standard, the Renegade makes a respectable 180 horsepower, but its power delivery is sluggish through a 9-speed automatic transmission, and above all, the engine is noisy (not in a good way). An optional 1.3-liter turbo-4 (standard on higher trims) helps with motivation, but noise is still prevalent. All-wheel drive is available, as one would expect on any Jeep model, and the Trailhawk is as capable off road as small crossovers come with its higher suspension, low range gearbox, hill descent control, and 50/50 front-to-rear torque split.
Though boxy and upright, the Renegade is not as spacious as some curvier competitors, especially in the rear seat. Material quality is good, however, but sound deadening could use a major overhaul, as the Renegade is tiresome at 70 mph.
Safety leaves something to be desired too, for while not all crash test results are available, the Renegade receives only four stars in frontal crash tests from the NHTSA. Active safety features such as automatic emergency braking have expanded availability on the 2020 model, but they’re still not standard unlike some of the Renegade’s key competition. Fuel economy is mediocre at best, trailing behind its main rivals by 2-4 mpg combined.
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