Jeep Liberty 4x4 review

[Cujet]

This week, I rented a jeep liberty 4x4. It has the classic 3.7L V6, which is near gutless. Overall, it's designed to look like a Jeep, with rough-n-tough styling everywhere. It just looks cheap to me. And the interior seems no tougher than any other, more modern product.

In a nutshell, the Liberty is a new production "Bronco II". It rides like the short, stiff trucklet that it is. It's responsive enough to be, uhhh, not unpleasant. The drivers feet have limited room, due to the huge transmission tunnel. But, that's OK too. Dare I say it, it's fun sometimes. With a more responsive engine, this thing could really be a blast in the right conditions.

But, a quick glance underneath illustrates why it feels like and performs exactly like an old Bronco II type truck. That's exactly what it is. With a large solid rear axle, stout suspension components and decidedly heavy duty construction. It really is "un-modern" and built with "heavy duty" in mind.

I don't believe it's actually any better than modern vehicles. Just constructed the "old school" way. In contrast to a Ford escape ecoboost, the liberty is likely not better for the average user. The ford simply works far better. But, if you need that old school toughness, such as for mild off roading, carrying stuff (great interior volume) and or blazing around the farm, the liberty may have a place in your garage.

They are reasonably inexpensive (used) and are rated to tow 5000 pounds. About 20MPG, driving carefully.

 

[bullwinkle]

If the newer Escapes are anywhere near as bad as the older Escape/Tributes, the Liberty would be a much better choice. The 3.7 may not be as tough as a 4.0, but I can't believe it would be near as bad as a DI Ecoboost.

 

[eljefino]

I had a 2.4 liberty I got on surplus from work. That was pretty slow! Glad they still make gutless vehicles, though.

Read a review where they didn't want it stealing sales from the Grand Cherokee, so they couldn't make it longer or wider for interior room reasons. But they had carte blanche to build "up".

 

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
If the newer Escapes are anywhere near as bad as the older Escape/Tributes, the Liberty would be a much better choice. The 3.7 may not be as tough as a 4.0, but I can't believe it would be near as bad as a DI Ecoboost.


The 3.7 isn't powerful, but it's at least pretty durable. They don't seem to hold up much (if any) worse than the 4.0s.

 

[demarpaint]

My wife and I love ours.

 

[IndyIan]

My sister had a loaded one with the V6 and the 6spd manual. And now she has a mid range one with the V6 and automatic.
With the manual its kind of a fun truck, sort of like my Tracker but bulked up a bit. I guess in this era of 280+hp V6's its a bit gutless but its fine for normal driving.
I think its like a lot of Chrysler products, a little bit less polished than the Toyota or Honda version, and a bit thirstier, but gets the job done for most people who don't obsess over magazine ratings and small differences.
Also they did have the diesel for 05-06 which is rated for similar mileage as my Tracker and I get 27-30mpg on the highway.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Last year when my parents were car shopping they were considering a 2012 Libby and a 2013 Escape.

The Liberty roade a bit more like what they were used to and my father liked that it had a real 4x4 system. I like the 2nd generation Liberty styling ... it should have been the 2002 Liberty!

Ultimately the Escape won out - the problems they had with the 08 Wrangler scared them into not buying another Chrysler product.

There are a few things that their Escape does better - having AWD as opposed to 4WD it's much more reasonable in snow.

Sure would be nice to have a port injected engine with 4 speed automatic (with drain plug!) and real 4x4.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
My wife and I love ours.


That's kind of what I was trying to say. It's the right vehicle for some people. I owned an 89 Bronco II (when they were new) and absolutely loved driving it. It could tow anything, go anywhere and drove properly. Even on two wheels! (not reliable though)

The Liberty is that interesting combination of tough, capable, sufficiently fun, just comfortable enough and inexpensive. It's certainly as tough as a little SUV could ever be, short of making it out of a solid block of steel.

 

[gofast182]

I've driven two in the past and found them to be rubbish. The V6 was gritty and unrefined, it got terrible MPG, the handling/road feel was downright scary on a nighttime trip across the Merritt Parkway in CT, and the shape of the floor created an uncomfortable driving position. As with most of these vehicles they won't see any conditions worse than a dirt road or grass parking lot so the compromises aren't nearly worth it IMHO.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
My wife and I love ours.


That's kind of what I was trying to say. It's the right vehicle for some people. I owned an 89 Bronco II (when they were new) and absolutely loved driving it. It could tow anything, go anywhere and drove properly. Even on two wheels! (not reliable though)

The Liberty is that interesting combination of tough, capable, sufficiently fun, just comfortable enough and inexpensive. It's certainly as tough as a little SUV could ever be, short of making it out of a solid block of steel.


I hear ya. I test drove the Escape, for the record I'm a big Ford fan. The Escape was OK, I wanted real 4WD, rear wheel bias, which is why I bought the Jeep. I'd buy another Jeep in a heart beat. As always opinions vary.

 

[440Magnum]

The Liberty is more "comfy" than the XJ Cherokee it replaced, and is a little less offroadable without the front solid axle. It was a step in the direction of what the market wanted, and a step away from being a "real Jeep." The result is something that does nothing very well. The old XJ is a rough-and-tumble beast that's skittery and bouncy on rough highways. It actually corners well on smooth roads (a solid-axle benefit is very flat cornering so long as neither end of the axle experiences an upset due to a bump.) But its unstoppable and EXTREMELY maneuverable offroad. In fact I've had no other vehicle with a tighter turning radius than a Cherokee. The Liberty compromises on a lot of that and is better behaved on-road for sure. Today it comes off as uber-unrefined, but you really should compare it to what it replaced back in 2002. Its never really fair to evaluate a vehicle at the end of its production life.

The 3.7 engine is better offroad than on, but the new 3.6 trumps it both places. No tears shed over yet another sawed-off V8 (90-degree V6) going out of production... I've never liked any of them very much. Not the Chevy 4.3, not the Chrysler 3.9 nor 3.7.

Whether the new Cherokee that replaces the Libby is a step in the right direction is, to me, an open question. I strongly dislike the fact that its an Escape/Explorer type setup- namely a FRONT DRIVE vehicle with a front-biased 4 wheel drive option. The good thing is that the 4wd is much more than just an afterthought like it is on an AWD minivan... but not much more.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Those new escapes look like they would blow up into pieces in less than a year. aRE THEY NOT THE LOWESt RATED cuv FOR RELIaBILITY?

 

[Vikas]

Has the Liberty become a "man's car" after the make over?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Those new escapes look like they would blow up into pieces in less than a year. aRE THEY NOT THE LOWESt RATED cuv FOR RELIaBILITY?


Mechanically they are quite reliable.

Easily defeated people are easily defeated by the infotainment system. If my aging parents can figure out how to operate the infotainment system .. .I don't see why it's such a big deal?

It's actually the hottest selling cute ute on the market right now!

 

[kkreit01]

I had one for a few days as a loaner (while ours was in the shop). The one I drive was a base model (very primitive) 2010, with 50K mi. It had so many creaks and rattles. It was truly the worst vehicle I have driven in years. The ride and handling was horrible. It was similar to driving a vehicle out of the 80s/early 90s. I could easily see why it came in last in every comparison test. I'm short, and the very narrow driver's leg tunnel was uncomfortable for me. It did have a 2 spd transfer case.

 

[Hokiefyd]

My folks owned a 2003 Liberty, and the new one apparently shares all of the same attributes that the old one did. I find very few reasons to prefer a Liberty over a JK Wrangler, though I concede that during the TJ years, the Liberty did fill that gap between a 2-door Wrangler and a 4-door Grand Cherokee.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
My folks owned a 2003 Liberty, and the new one apparently shares all of the same attributes that the old one did. I find very few reasons to prefer a Liberty over a JK Wrangler, though I concede that during the TJ years, the Liberty did fill that gap between a 2-door Wrangler and a 4-door Grand Cherokee.


All of the above.

Now that the 4-door JK is available and has decent power with the Pentastar, the Libby's reason for existence ceased to be. A 4-door JK is bigger and a whole lot heavier than the old XJ, but to date it is by far the closest thing to a direct replacement.

I spent a week with a high-mileage 3.8 v6 JK 4-door last summer and other than the lack of on-highway passing acceleration, I found little to complain about. Its rough, it rattled a little (not much,) the removable hard top squeaked occasionally (not loudly). No problem, that's a byproduct of what makes it capable. Its got solid axles at both ends like an XJ, and unlike the XJ the coil springs in back and much longer arms up front really settle it down. Of course the fact that I was driving it on the Big Island of Hawaii probably improved my attitude to the point I could have been driving almost anything and still have had a smile on my face. Except maybe a Prius.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Except maybe a Prius.


Ha ha!

I've been much more impressed with the JKs I've driven than I expected to be. My folks' former TJ was lifted, was very rough and tumble, and rode like a pure dump truck. It was capable, sure, but it wasn't enjoyable to drive. Compared with the TJ, I "get" the Liberty. It's still not a good small SUV, but it's not much worse than even a stock TJ.

The JK completely changed all of it. The ride is...is...NICE. The 3.6L is a fantastic engine, but I even prefer the 3.8L over the old 4.0L wheezer. As we both agree, it made the KJ Liberty obsolete overnight. I do suppose the Liberty is likely lower to the ground and is a bit smaller than a 4-door JK, so it'd be easier for some suburban families with infants, etc. But still. The JK is so much more compelling...and apparently for most people. If the Liberty continued to sell in strong numbers, I suspect Jeep would keep it. But it hasn't, so they aren't.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

The back seat is bigger on the Liberty than the XJ it replaced, the ZJ, WJ and 4 door JKs.

TJ and XJ back seats are completely useless and the front leg room and head room is not that much. Definitely more in both generations of Liberty.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
The back seat is bigger on the Liberty than the XJ it replaced, the ZJ, WJ and 4 door JKs.

TJ and XJ back seats are completely useless and the front leg room and head room is not that much. Definitely more in both generations of Liberty.


Never had an issue with back seat room in the XJ, though we never put more than one person back there for long trips so they could take the whole space. My problem with it is the RIDE back there due to the short, stiff leaf springs and light weight. If it had ever gotten the trailing arm/coil suspension from the ZJ, it would have been significantly better. I figure the main appeal (to some) of the Liberty over the 4-door JK is height and on-highway factors. Not the least of which is probably gas mileage- the JK is *heavy* since its still a body-on-frame.

Sorry, Hokifyd, can't agree that the old 4.0 is a "wheezer." Both it and the 3.8 are tractor engines, but its got such a smooth low-end that for me it wins (slightly) over the 3.8 despite the 3.8's higher rating. I like them both, honestly, but the 3.6 is just in another class altogether.