My libby is growing on me.
Especially now that it's lifted and has bigger tires.
I got into mine by accident...meaning, my pickup truck (Mazda B2500 - basically a Ford Ranger...
) was totalled in an accident, and I needed a new vehicle quick.
This one year old used 2005 Jeep Liberty Renegade came along at a very fair price, due to my father having a good friend who owned a Chrysler/Jeep dealership. It was part of a rental fleet in Hawaii for the first year of it's life. Had 20K miles on her when I took ownership.
I actually wanted a vintage Cherokee...I'd always had my eye on one of those. (Still do...kinda.) But there were none to be found that were appealing to me, and I needed something quick.
The only other vehicle that really appealed to me at that time was the Nissan XTerra. I saw the Jeep Liberty as a very similar vehicle to that one - size-wise, and engine-size-wise, etc. I didn't want a huge SUV, due to the lack of parking spaces to accomodate them, and my smaller than average garage. Besides, I've always liked Jeeps, so I took the chance on the Libby.
It's been a good vehicle. We've towed a Pop-up tent trailer around the state with it, done some fun off-road adventures, lots of camping, road-trips...
My only complaint with it is the interior is too cramped for my family and all our stuff. The classic Cherokee's were a lot more "square," and seemed to have more interior room - especially in the cargo area.
Also that center-rear mounted spare has caused me lots of grief with towing, cargo racks, bike racks. That was a purely aesthetic choice, I'm sure, to keep the rugged image of the classic jeeps - but it's a poor design for functionality, IMHO...
In general though...I do like (and almost love) my libby!
