Recommendations .......... (in other words, my 2 Cents)
I would strongly recommend a used "CERTIFIED" Liberty from a 5 Star dealer. Anywhere from '03 - '05 with low mileage ..................... why?
Because they're all vertually identical ............ no major upgrades. To my understanding, the '07 that's about the come out has the option for tire pressure check "thingy" and side curtain airbags that deploy when rollover is detected, and standard Stability Control.
My '03 has everything except the Side curtain airbags that deploy on roll-over, and the tire pressure checker. Every other option, I have. Those options just weren't available in '03.
I have Stability Control and Side impact airbags ........... I was lucky to get one used where the original person that bought it was concerned about safety.
But, if you don't plan to be in a roll over, or don't mind having to check your tire pressure manually .............. I'd go "CERTIFIED" used.
When you consider the fact that there's no difference mechanically, give or take a tweak here and there, you'll be served well by allowing the original owner to take the depreciation hit.
If you're absolutely going to buy new, then definately wait a couple more weeks 'til the '07's come out, and buy a new '06 ............ As soon as the dealers take delivery of the '07's, that immediately drops the value of the '06's. I used to work for Mopar, and in the car industry, they have to get rid of the previous year's stock BEFORE the new models arrive. Why? 'Cause why would you buy an identical vehicle that has the exact same warranty, and looks the same for $3K more? Especially when they're sitting in the lot parked right next to one another, and the customer can compare for him/herself .............. New cars from previous model years KILL new model sales ........ unless the new model is a complete overhaul ........... Like they'll do next year with the '08 Liberty. For this reason, that's why at this time of the year you always see factory 0% financing ........... the TV commercials will say it's because the dealer has the clear "lot space" or inventory, but that's BS .......... the Car companies just can't afford to have identical vehicals at 2 price points.
The reason I chose a "CERTIFIED" '03 was because depreciation usually levels off after 3 years on "most" cars.
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Lastly, about the sound system:
I have the Infinity Speakers in mine, (most Limiteds come with them) ................ Only thing I did was change the head unit from the stock 6-disc to the Chrysler RB1 nav radio, and threw in the iPOD integration kit. .............. when it comes to base and clarity, it's the best sound system I've heard in a car.
When in college in the mid-late 90's, I did an internship with Chrysler as an engineer ................. I worked in acoustics. ( didn't learn much though ....... mostly ran around filing reports and getting coffee). But, I did learn this: Starting in the early 90's, car manufacturers did studies and began to realize that they were losing a lot of money due to the fact that a lot of younger buyers were swapping out head units and speakers for better quality sound. That was a time when car manufacturers considered sound systems to be a necessary evil, and ceded the audio business to the after market.
I don't know why car companies don't market their top of the line audio systems more when selling to younger audiences ............ it would be a huge selling point.
Since, they've all invested millions of bucks in acoustics engineering. So starting in the late 90's when they designed cars from the ground-up, they included acoustics engineering on the build teams. Top of the line FACTORY audio systems now even take into consideration sound quality differences between identical cars with clothe and leather seats.
I say all that to say to make this point .......... Unless you take your car to a top notch professional acoustics engineer to replace your factory "top of the line" sound system ........... (and NO, the tech at Circuit City doesn't qualify as a top notch professional acoustics engineer) ............. then you're probably wasting your money.
If you're looking for more power, then sure, the guys around the corner at the local car stereo shop can give you that .......... it'll also probably rattle all the crews loose in the doors.
Top of the line Factory Sound systems are designed to sound excellent no matter where you're riding in the vehicle. They perform all these tests to ensure that. They take all these recording devices and measure output and destortion at more than 100 positions in a vehicle at various levels of power, base and treble to check for sound homogeneity and clarity.
Here's an example ............ I think the Infinity Speakers are made by Alpine for Chrysler ........... and I know the RB1 is made by Alpine. If I took those out, installed a similar Alpine system with the similar watts, etc .......... it wouldn't sound as good as what I've got now ............ because those new speakers wouldn't be designed and tuned specifically for the shape and contours of the Liberty. I could probably get them to sound better ............ but I'd have to spend a lot of money to get the new system tuned and adjusted for optimization. And when you consider what a real sound engineer costs ............ it ain't worth it. Remember, the guy at Circuit City is the guy who flunked outta high school.
