Review a '02- '07 Jeep Liberty

I have a Jonesin' for a '02- '07 Liberty to replace my '02 GP, will be the DD. The GP has been great but at 86K is hitting it's nickel and dime phase. No other smaller SUV really piques my interest. I've owned the XJ and hope the Liberty would live up to the Jeep name. Summer is the best time to shop for a winter rig.

Online reviews call it a capable off-roader which should? translate well to winter driving in Pa. PennDot is not the greatest at snow removal and road treatment. Liberty has an estimated 20 mpg highway, not that great in comparison to the GP which pulls 26+ consistently in city/ highway but is for E36 M3 in the snow. I have a 30 mile round trip commute now so the lower MPG will be an accepted compromise.

Usually owners here rave about their vehicles but I've seen no love for the Liberty yet. So, is it capable? Any mechanical issues I should be wary about? Do the MPG numbers hold up? Preferred trim models? Most likely will be the 3.7L w/ auto although manuals are out there. Not concerned about any towing as I have a truck for that.

While there are E36 M3loads of Liberty's out there and many in the 100K+ mile range I've seen (and missed) a few in the 40's so I'll be shopping in that range.

TIA

Worked at a Jeep dealer for many moons. Stay away from the 02-06 versions, that was the one with the lower ball joint that's known to separate, covered by recall F23. The recall doesn't address the root cause of the problem which is that the joint is installed in such a way that the weight of the vehicle is always trying to pull the ball out of the socket. The later ones have the lower ball joint flipped over and aren't prone to that.

There's another recall on 'salt state' vehicles for failure of the rear control arms due to corrosion.

They also had the typical Chrysler spun sugar window regulators, particularly the rear windows.

Body control modules would do this weird thing in that the various warning lights and chimes would go off randomly. There were a couple of software updates for that but when I left Jeep in '09 they still did it.

The 3.7 V6 has been known to have valve rotators stick, this leads to leaky intake valves and a rough idle. Transmissions and axles seem to stay together OK.

To me, at 5'11" and ~210 pounds the interior is cramped. That may or may not be a problem for you. I found it odd because the Liberty is damn near as big as my Trooper but is much more cramped inside, at least to me.

I can't image going from a 2002 Grand Prix to a Liberty, any year, and enjoying how they ride & handle. Girl I'm seeing has one, we took it on a ~5 hour round trip run a couple weekends ago. With the A/C on it pulled 18.5 mpg, which she thinks is the best it's done (my driving, not her, she's kind of a maniac). Slightly odd ergonomics, the reach for things just seems a little off.

My Olds did alright through one PA winter with all season Bridgestones, have you considered a good set of snow tires on dedicate wheels if you aren't there already? I just think a tippy vehicle like this isn't really a great idea for commuting in snow in vs something a bit more stable with AWD and a manual transmission.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

Geezus... after all that it might just be a deal killer.

Why not just get another XJ? For the money you'd spend on a Liberty of that vintage, you could get the nicest XJ in the world, and there's NOTHING the Liberty does that the XJ doesn't do better. Literally nothing.

Couple words come to mind when I hear "Jeep Liberty": Ball joints, slow, poor MPG, and junk.

Haters.

Actually this was my wife's Liberty when I decided to take it on a trail run. It performed great. This was a 02 Limited, all stock. We got it new right after 9/11 and put 120K miles on it before trading it in 2007. The only thing it ever needed besides regular maintenance stuff was that the rearend gears got chewed up. It didn't happen until it had over 100k miles on it and until after a couple more trail runs, so my wife of course still blames me. I just replaced the rear gears and we got another 20k out of it before we decided to sell.

The foot wells in the Liberty are a little narrow and the back doors are a little small. It was just my wife, me and our 90 lb lab when we had this car so I can't speak of car seats or rear passenger room. The cargo area was fine for just the three of us on long trips. I don't think we ever used the roof rack. I'm not sure on the tow rating, but ours towed a U-haul car trailer and a old 911 from SC to WV with no problems. Ours also had heated leather seats, which were AWESOME. Seriously, they would burn you if you let them.

I was never a fan of the regular Cherokee. I like the Grands, but the reg ones never did it for me. I like to think of the early Libertys as a testing ground for the 4door Wrangler. The rear doors on the Liberty are very similar to the ones on the new 4door Wranglers. And window controls on our 02 were on the center console near the cup holders. Just a weird place for window switches if you ask me. My 07 Wrangler had window controls on the dash right below the stereo which was also weird for me. MPG on the Liberty was about 18 city and 23 highway. I think we averaged closer to 21 highway.

And maybe its just me, and maybe its because it was my wife's car, but I totally see these as chick cars. Every time I see one on the road I expect it to be a female driver. 95% of the time I'm right.

In reply to Ranger50:

I thinks I have just ended my Liberty search.

Any suggestions on used smaller, capable/ reliable AWD/ 4WD SUVs or vehicles in the $12-14K range? Other makes or Jeep models? Subies?? berkeley I dunno

I have a '02 Silverado 1500 4X4 for serious snow but it mostly sees truck/ towing duty.

Are FJ Cruisers in that price range yet?

Buy three low miles XJs?

Something I forgot: the diesel version got good mileage and all, but was prone to disassemble the torque converter. There was a recall for that, forget the number, which involved a revised torque converter.

The bad part was it also involved a PCM reflash which lowered engine power output so the converter would live. The letter sent to owners spelled this out and man NO ONE liked that. I drove a couple before and after, they were reasonably zippy pre reflash but after... I swear I could run faster 0-60.

The only other problems I saw with diesels was carbon accumulation in the EGR tube (carbon in diesel exhaust? Who'd a' thunk it?) and homemade biodiesel could attack the piezoelectric injectors to the tune of $800 each.

OBTW: the Liberty is called the Cherokee down in Oz. Guess it's not so politically incorrect down there.

On your question about other SUV's in that price range, the Xterra might be a good one to look at. Not as quick or tow capable as some others but pretty reliable. You might even find a nice supercharged one in that range which would take care of the lack of snap problem.

I owned a 2002 Liberty for over 8 yrs. and 73 K miles. It's main purpose was to tow my race car, which it did very capably. It had a transmission valve body failure shortly after i got it, covered under warranty. Two different ball joint recalls, No problems after the last one. gas mileage is not it's forte. 19-20 unloaded on trips. 12-15 towing . I found it to be very reliable after the initial problems. Never got too far off road with it, unless you count lakes.

On the original Cherokee: that thing felt like it had less headroom than my Jensen Healey. And yeah you smartasses, I mean with the top up.

Curmudgeon wrote: Something I forgot: the diesel version got good mileage and all, but was prone to disassemble the torque converter. There was a recall for that, forget the number, which involved a revised torque converter. The bad part was it also involved a PCM reflash which lowered engine power output so the converter would live. The letter sent to owners spelled this out and man NO ONE liked that. I drove a couple before and after, they were reasonably zippy pre reflash but after... I swear I could run faster 0-60. The only other problems I saw with diesels was carbon accumulation in the EGR tube (carbon in diesel exhaust? Who'd a' thunk it?) and homemade biodiesel could attack the piezoelectric injectors to the tune of $800 each. OBTW: the Liberty is called the Cherokee down in Oz. Guess it's not so politically incorrect down there. On your question about other SUV's in that price range, the Xterra might be a good one to look at. Not as quick or tow capable as some others but pretty reliable. You might even find a nice supercharged one in that range which would take care of the lack of snap problem.

Buddy has a supercharged one...

Likes to spit exhaust manifold gaskets, basic maintenance sucks, and it gets like... 12mpg.

In reply to Curmudgeon:

One of the recent diesel rags did an aftermarket converter for the 42RLE in a CRD Liberty along with a PCM flash. The result was better then the factory effort, but it still sucked.

I've had pretty good luck with mine. It's an '06 Sport with the 6-speed manual (rare!),Command-trac (regular part-time 4WD in plainspeak) and few options: factory skid plates, hitch and tow wiring, and block heater (didn't order it, it was on the car). So far I have 106K miles. My driving is 70% paved rural two-lane, and 30% unpaved, steep rural roads, often in 4wd.

I regularly get 22 mpg highway, and around 18 overall, including the 30% steep dirt roading. It works well in off road situations, BUT, with the skid plates that decrease ground clearance, it really needed a lift to travel the Jeep trails in my part of southwest Colorado. A 2.5-inch lift took care of that - springs and shocks, go with Old Man Emu parts. Rear is fast and easy to install, front is a PITA, but I got it done with hand tools and moderate cussing, so now I have about 9.5 - 10.0 inches clearance under the skid plates. Not as good in snow as my '91 Toyota 4WD pickup, but pretty close with good studded snow tires.

Problems: I've been lucky. I know about the reported problem areas, particularly the window regulators, but so far (knock on wood), my problems have been limited to a front driveshaft CV and a couple of power steering pumps - the original lasted 85,000 miles, the aftermarket replacements have been problematic. Brakes last about 45,000, pads are easy to change. The engine uses no oil at all between changes.

I plan to keep it another 100,000 miles; repairs are cheaper than a new truck. My last trip - 1200 miles, mixed roads including some 4WD and strong headwinds, and some city driving, netted 19 mpg overall; usually I get about 21 on trips. I don't have to do hardly any real city driving, but the couple of times I have, it's pretty dismal, I'd guess around 14 or so.

My last SUV was a '99 Isuzu Amigo V6, which I loved - absolutely trouble free for 125K miles, similar mpg to the Jeep, very capable off road after a 2" lift, which was susper easy - new rear springs for $180, then readjust the front torsion bars, a 1-day project. The last-generation Rodeos were the same mechanically, and would be worth a look if you're looking for a cheap, reliable SUV. Not going to be a gas sipper, though, but not bad if you can find a manual.

The XJ Cherokee is another good vehicle, but not as good on gas.

I'm getting 22mpg highway with my Cherokee now that it's had a tune up.

I suppose around town you've got it beat, though. I'd attribute that to your transmission choice.

I do like the later V6 Amigos, they just don't have enough room inside. EDIT: 98-99 were Amigos, after that they were called Rodeo Sport for some reason. The 2.2 4 cylinder was a TURD. The 3.2 DOHC V6 was pretty punchy and a 3.5 Trooper motor is a pretty easy swap.

Jim Pettengill said: My last SUV was a '99 Isuzu Amigo V6, which I loved.

Oooo, I'm not sure about the 99 bodystyle, but I had a 95 1/2 Isuzu Rodeo, 4wd, 5 psd, V6 in college. Now imagine the crazy college kid who only cares about picking up chicks, bumping system, driving over and through everything, and thinks every where he goes has to be Mach 40, coupled with as little maintenance as possible because your too busy chasing girls, and you get my old Rodeo. I drove that thing like I stole it, hauled around drunken friends, full kegs, construction supplies, and the earlier mentioned 90 lbs of slobbering wet black lab in that thing for four years. If someone dared me to drive over something or through it I would. And no matter what, I could not kill the Rodeo. Plus State Trooper Bird of the GA highway patrol can tell you that a Rodeo can do 97 mph down I-95...

I got the Rodeo off a lease in 1998 and it had 22k miles on it. It was eventually traded on the Jeep Liberty, and when it rolled into the dealership it was at 215k hard hard miles, and still had a faint smell of stale beer and wet dog coming from the cargo area.

I'm not sure if the newer body styled Rodeos can handle the abuse my 95 took, but I seriously tried to kill that thing and it just kept right on kicking...

I had a '94 Rodeo S 2WD V6, great truck. It just ran and ran, the only reason I sold it was because I bought my Trooper. I had customers like octavious who just beat the cowboy sh!t out of them and could not kill them.

Never liked the Liberty. Cramped, tippy looking, crappy gas mileage. The Cherokee was far superior.

Having now purchased a mall-rated Patriot, I feel it is the logical successor to the Cherokee where the Liberty fails. Roomy, economical, drives more like a car. Got mine with a proper stick shift so can't comment on the weirdo CVT. High 20s mpg makes many alternatives look silly. Looks Jeep-y where the Compass looks, well, stupid. It may not have quite the off-road prowess of the Liberty, but for someone who probably will never flip the 4wd interlock switch, who cares?

Curmudgeon said: I had customers like octavious who just beat the cowboy sh!t out of them and could not kill them.

My bad...

If it helps I learned my lesson and I don't do that anymore.

Oh no, don't take that the wrong way. It's a testament to how well the things were built. Isuzu built them to be flogged, if you were nice to them I think it sorta pissed them off.

My wife has had an '04 Liberty she bought used, but it was less than a year old with 9,000 miles when she acquired it. She has put 90k miles on it in the last 8 years.

We need to take it in to be checked for the rear control arm recall.

It's had brakes done on it, and the usual maintenance, and I had to replace the power steering hoses. Aside from that, we've had none of the problems that Curmudgeon mentioned.

Like him, I'm about 200lb, and 6'0". I don't find it a comfortable vehicle. My wife doesn't drive manual cars, and when going on trips I would rather do all the driving than drive or be a passenger in the Liberty.

Aside from that, it's fantastic. It does well in the ice and snow Kansas City gets. The part time 4WD is quite useful.

The gas mileage is nothing to cheer about. She's seeing 16-18 now that the driving only city. On a mostly highway drive it was 24-26.

We're talking about a Wrangler hard top to replace the Liberty in time. The Liberty replaced a '99 Cherokee. I'm now convinced that Jeeps are pretty good.

As a similar vehicle, are these stretched Vitaras, known as XL7's, any good?
The Vitara/Tracker seems capable and I think the stretched wheelbase may improve the street ride.
Pricing seems reasonable.
'03 w/119k and $4,900 asking price.
http://york.craigslist.org/cto/3193035849.html

'01 w/ 97k for $4k
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/3138239339.html

They were sold as manuals as well.
In general, they seem like an overlooked model.

Looking further brought out this:
Masterkit1 2" Body Lift
1" coil spacers with stock springs
1" spidertrax wheel spacers
Stock 16x7 wheels painted black
265/70/16 BFG AT
http://bbs.zuwharrie.com/content?topic=38261.60

What little I know about Suzukis is via fixing them through my job. The frames are weak in accidents. We actually had one tear when it was being straightened (in a way that wouldn't have done anything to any other vehicle). Suzuki's parts supply sucks, and I agree with The Truth About Cars that they are on a death spiral in this country. A local dealer took on the franchise last year, and dumped it again after 6 months when Suzuki wouldn't give them the promised shared advertising money (that they already had spent) nor could they seem to provide them with any cars. Too bad, as they do have some good product.