Advice Please

[Dann]

Hello all. I'm a new member but not a Jeep owner yet. The reason I'm here is
i will be in the market soon for a SUV and was looking at the Liberty. I want a
smaller SUV instead of the Bus size, Gas guzzling SUV. I really like the looks of the Liberty. I will be looking at a used Liberty, Say 05, 06ish. So what i want to know is how reliable are they and known issues with them. Also what should i look for when i am checking one out. and what kind of gas mileage can i expect.

Thanks, Ill be looking for your feedback.

 

[Luke]

1. I LOVE my Liberty
2. Reliability has been amazing .. no issues. (1 rear caliper, 1 water pump)
3. I did not buy it for the gas mileage... You can easily get better mileage with a newer half ton pick up.

In short ... It's a Jeep thing. Once you test drive it you either won't like it .. or you will fall in love and none of the mileage issues will matter.

Good Luck!

 

[Dave]

1. I LOVE my Liberty
2. Reliability has been amazing .. no issues. (1 rear caliper, 1 water pump)
3. I did not buy it for the gas mileage... You can easily get better mileage with a newer half ton pick up.

In short ... It's a Jeep thing. Once you test drive it you either won't like it .. or you will fall in love and none of the mileage issues will matter.

Good Luck!

Ditto, except I LOVE mine more and still have the OEM water pump....LOL

Dave

 

[Porkchop]

Gas mileage don't know what your talking about. And it's a JEEP and once you get the bug it never ends Oh did I say it's a JEEP

 

[martin_metal_88]

Liberty are awesome.
They're unique to drive and so powerful even if they are small.
They also are very nice on reliability, if you take care of it you wont have issue, and if you have some issue, it will be in the list of common issue. So it's easy to fix. Yon wont buy it for gas economy, you buy it because it's a jeep ad it's capable of doing anything you throw at it.

 

[WickedBruce]

I had an explorer that took a crap on me. I had a wide range of selections, as budget was not really a concern. Test drove tons of cars, trucks, and SUV's. Drove the liberty once. Took it home the same day. Also. It has 4 wheel drive. And it's a Jeep. And its amazing. And it has 4 wheel drive! You can do anything you want with it. You can take it anywhere. And it has 4 wheel drive!! I love my liberty. Give her some lift and some new shoes and she'll do you proud.

Also as a sidenote: She has 4 wheel drive.

 

[nws2002]

First...the KJ is heavy for its size. Part of that has to do with the fact that it is a real SUV and a very capable off road vehicle. The big downside is gas mileage in the 15-18 MPG range in the city. If your main focus is gas mileage and you just want the look of an SUV, you might be happier with something like a Honda CRV or Ford Escape. You could also check out the Jeep Patriot or the Compass, I believe they started with model year 2007.

FWIW though, the Liberty brings a lot to the table. It is very fun to drive, can haul quite a bit with the rear seats folded flat, and is great in the snow. It is also a breeze to park, even parallel park. Mine is an '04 with just over 130,000 miles. No major problems yet, and the previous owner lives next door to me, and I know she never had any major issues either. If you are handy, they are also pretty easy to work on yourself.

Consumer Reports hates the KJ and KK, but I trust very little of what CR says.

Finally, it a Jeep. Either you'll love it or hate it, but they didn't compromise the Liberty's off road abilities for on road comfort.

 

[Cerberous]

I drove my '07 KJ off the lot brand new. 6 years later it's still getting me where I want to go without question. She's gotten stuck here and there (my fault of course) but never left me stranded because of mechanical issues.

I had to replace my window lift motor and while I was at the dealership I was talking to the Service Rep. He noticed my lift and mentioned that the Libby doesn't get enough credit, then laughed and he said he's never seen one towed in. They just come in for maintenance and to get the windows fixed.

I agree with everyone else, the only way to know is to try it. It's a JEEP, it's got 4 wheel drive! Enough said.

 

[Thelt]

Gas mileage will not be great. I am getting about 16 mpg in mixed driving. It is small which makes it nimble but it does not have a lot of room. It is very capable in stock form but not easy to modify. The driving position and seats take some getting used to. Be sure you drive one first, you may not care for that part of it. Overall they are good little vehicles.

 

[wheeee32]

Loved mine the day I drove it. I miss the gas mileage from my previous car but that isn´t what I bought my KJ for. It is a champ in bad weather and snow is a playground with good tires. Only issue I've had is the common one with the windows but that is an easy fix and if you use the upgraded parts it won't be an issue anymore. Just take care of it like any other car and it will last you a long time. Oh! The day after you have a Frankenlift installed on it, you'll swear you are riding in a cadillac:favorites37:

 

[Kirksjeep]

Bought our 02 Renegade new off the lot and 11 years and 212K miles later we still love it. For the $ it would be hard to find a vehicle that has treated us this well.

 

[hectikart]

I just hit 90,000 today and in the past 4 months have spent around $3000 between the radiator and rebuilding the upper engine.

That being said...I still love my KJ, and my next vehicle will be another jeep. Besides really one major problem (dropped a valve that lead to the upper engine rebuild) it has been great and very reliable. And I especially love it in times like this weekend...Blizzard here in CT and I have gotten around no problem while others are stuck, and sliding all over the place.