Jeep Liberty

The Liberty has a weaker drivetrain, and is known to break very easily. There are many that haver grenaded thier transfercases as a result of a small driving error. The fuel mileage isn't the best from what I hear, but they do offer the diesel, which is a very torquey motor, and is very nice. If she won't be offroading at all, which I doubt she will, as most people who own Liberties do not, I'd say its actually not a bad choice, as much as I hate it, because it replaced the Cherokee.

I can't say much about the RAV-4, except it's a Toyota, and they are generally good vehicles.

 

Brand new Jeep Liberty: $1000 down, $58 a month! HUGE DISCOUNTS!

Car deals: Just $58 a month

Chrysler employee offers set the stage as automakers scramble for a strong finish to '05.

Josee Valcourt / The Detroit News


It's a good time to buy a new car if you didn't take advantage of the industry's employee-discounts-for all deals last summer.

Automakers are hiking rebates again and dealers are touting special year-end sales with an advertising blitz to ratchet up December sales and boost yearly results during the final days of 2005.

In Metro Detroit, select consumers can lease a sport utility vehicle for as low as $58 a month and about $1,000 down.

After blistering summer sales fueled by employee-style discounts for all comers, General Motors Corp. and other automakers tried to woo shoppers in the fall by lowering prices on many 2006 models. But demand fell in October and November, setting the stage for the year-end sales battle.

While the deals may be great, they eat into profits as GM and Ford are struggling to get out of the red.

And they are unlikely to go away. Analysts expect industry sales this month to fall from robust December 2004 levels, and the outlook for 2006 sales is cloudy.

"The consumer spending environment since midsummer has softened," Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Barry said in a recent report to investors. "Our initial estimate is for 2006 sales of 16.8 million units, but we expect aggressive pricing will be needed to achieve that given a weakening consumer."

Nationwide, the average discount per model peaked this year at $3,269 in June and fell to a low of $2,204 in October. But the typical discount climbed to $2,363 last month and is expected to increase to $2,410 this month, according to Edmunds.com and Autodata.

"The war is on," said dealer Alan Helfman of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston, where rebates have reached $4,000 on certain vehicles this month.

At Southfield Chrysler-Jeep, all 32 sales people are working this week and the dealership is open three extra hours some days this month to handle extra traffic, said Dan Frost, Southfield Chrysler Jeep president.

Chrysler employees can lease a 2006 Liberty Sport 4X4 priced at $16,684 for $58.54 for 24 months, with $1,059 down. Employees who live in Michigan can pay a lump sum of $1,669 plus the sales tax. Eligible nonemployees can get a monthly payment as low as $246 with $2,000 down, or $280 with zero down.

GM and Ford have also sweetened deals, with rebates on minivans as high as $6,000 and slow-selling large and mid-size SUVs discounted by as much as $5,000 through Jan. 3.

Still, Merrill Lynch analyst John Murphy says December sales will slip 5 percent for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.9 million units, compared to a December 2004 sales rate of 17.9 million.

Detroit automakers are particularly anxious to boost sales and help reduce stockpiles. Merrill Lynch estimates GM will end the month with 1.02 million unsold cars and trucks, down 50,000 units from November, but 3 percent below its average for the month.

Ford Motor Co. and its dealers are expected to have 742,000 cars and trucks on hand at the end of the month, or 10 percent above average.

Chrysler's sales are expected to drop about 5 percent this month. Last month, the automaker, faced with mounting inventory at storage lots, offered dealers up to $750 for every extra vehicle they ordered.

Edmunds.com, a car buyers' research Web site that collects monthly incentive data, says Big Three sales have increased slightly in December compared to November. The reason: Better deals.

Factoring in the two years of free gas it is offering new buyers, Chrysler is leading the charge with $4,006 in discounts per vehicle this month, compared to $3,325 last year. Ford's incentive spending is up a few dollars at $3,016, while the average GM rebate is down to $3,207.

Japanese automakers have raised discounts slightly this month to about $1,077 a model, Edmunds says.

Jo-Jo Logan, who operates the largest GM dealership in Mississippi, said he's spending more on advertising this month to help clear out models.

In Texas, Helfman said he's "going as hard as I can."

"I bought half-page newspaper ads every day of this week and full-page ads for the weekend," he said. "I've got the radio and TV cranking like crazy. And I'm cutting deals as slim as I can cut them."

 

Yes, it's fine for general driving, but not any offroading other than mild dirt trails. It is safe as well, with evidence http://jeepforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=222562 there. He hit a tree going going about 50 after hitting black ice, and was not injured.

 

I bought a Liberty for my daughter a couple of months ago. My primary reasons for buying were size and they are cheap. Here's my net:

18MPG average on the cheapest fuel you can find

Plenty of power for what it is. I can pull jetskis through the mountains

Much lower quality than Xterra's, RAV, CRV. etc.. Much lower purchase price.

Nothing has broken or feels like it will.

Great heater and A/C

Better in the snow than my F250 King Ranch Diesel

For reasons not clear to me, my wife has ended up driving it a bunch even though she's the consumate MB lover

I'd buy another. It's cheap realiable and nice to have something that's no worries.

 

My wife got her Liberty limited 3 years ago and loves it and to date we have had no problems with it. I have taken it out several times in the snow and it handled great. In the past we have had 3 cherokee's and she was hesitating to buy the Liberty, but after owning one she will get another one in the future.

 

When Autoweek did a review of the first Libertys , they were able to flip it over on the slalom course.

YMMV,

 

Just tell her to get a 2wd Liberty. Everything is cheaper that way!

 

Over 60K miles on my wifes and have had nearly zero problems.

2wd, V6, limited. It's a good size- easy to park and manuever. V6 runs pretty well.

Has turned out to be a low cost per mile vehicle. Plan on turning it over to the daughter in a couple years- seems to be quite durable.

Price is very negotiable- shop around and compare to autobytel.com

 

Ditto. Mine's a 2005 2WD Sport, with the nicer wheels and 'C' package. Zero problems after a year. It's a sturdy truck, nicely designed, holds a decent amount of stuff, tows 5000 lbs, gives a great view of the road and the dealer network is huge. It's much quieter inside than the Wrangler. Servicing is cheap. Nice ground clearance, and it handles crappy roads with no drama. The 3.7L engine has good power -- not sure about the 2.0L four, but I'd be nervous about that engine choice.

I looked at the RAV4, Escape and Land Rover Freelander. The Jeep was the most authentic-feeling of the bunch, and Chrysler rebates and deals made it the easy winner. If you were an offroad buff, the 4x4 version is supposed to be an excellent rock cruncher.

Negatives: fuel economy (using cheap gas) is between 15-17mpg in normal driving, maybe 19-20mpg on all-freeway trips. Rear seat entry is a tight squeeze compared to Grand Cherokee. Also, it is a true truck -- not a crossover-mini-van-o-wagon -- so it wallows a bit over potholes and speed bumps.

I bought the Liberty because I needed a cheap daily driver fast (had just sold my BMW) and I had low expectations. After a year, I'd say in its price category (under $25K) there probably isn't a better choice. I did lease it, so after 3yrs/45K miles it's gone, but an '08 Liberty may be in my future.

 

I have a 2004 Jeep Liberty Renegade. It wasn't so cheap $28k (kind of high for a Liberty..I think), but it is fully loaded and has skid plates and off road roof lights. I take it off-road all the time, and it's great. I've driven many different types of SUVs off-road and this is as capable as any.

Never had a problem. It's been great for the year and half I've owned it. I liked it better than the Xterra, and all other SUVs in it's class. I hate the name Liberty - they shoulod have called it a Cherokee. It is a better SUV than the old Cherokees hands down. And like Bullfighter said it is a true truck, not a cross-over like some of the others you are considering.

I would say 14mpg is accurate, at least with the bigger tires - maybe 19 highway. It's a tank in the snow.

It's worth the money and a good choice.

 

I've seen two rolled over vehicles in my life. Both were liberties.

 

This says nothing about the car, but speaks volumes about the drivers.

 

So you think the Liberty has a weaker Drivetrain than a RAV-4? You couldn't be more wrong.

 

In daily driving you can take freeway ramps at acceptably fast speeds without drama.

Liberty doesn't have stability control, as far as I know, and it's true that SUVs are prone to roll over in side impacts or sharp maneuovres. That's something to think about before going with an SUV instead of a car. But if you're comparing sub-$30K SUVs Liberty really handles quite well in the hands of any rational driver.

If anything, the Liberty seems robust and overbuilt. It loses points on refinement and fuel efficiency -- it's not a silky Lexus drivetrain -- but scores on torque. I'd be more worried about the Toyota, actually.

 

I would agree the gas mileage is not very good, which is why you may want to consider a cross-over type of car.

 

Yeah, I've noticed every 4th trip I make the thing ends up on its roof. Kind of annoying, but you get used to it.

Seriously, the Nissan is probably the safe choice for a street/mall car, but it does look very Japanese. Jeep and Land Rover have the image and are probably more fun to drive, and if you use some common sense they're fine.