Jeep Liberty as a TOAD?

[Fred Hulse]

Hi Jim Scoggins
We have a Liberty CRD purchased this early summer,
previously we had a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The transfer case is manual and is towable.

Our Jeep isn't a Sport or Limited,but has cloth seats and the bumpers and
fenders are not painted but the gray plastic?

It would be good to have skid plates,but not necessary
for us anyway.

The engine is made in Italy and used widely in Europe for various applications,
including Chrysler cars and vans and and of course Jeep. I read somewhere the
company is a joint venture of Daimler and Penske.

I don't know of any suspension issues and would think this is the same Liberty
as when it was first introduced some years back.Seat spotting is not an issue as
any cloth seat is subject to this problem.Leather would be better for us,but
there weren't any around when we bought our Liberty.I haven't thought of
Scotchguard,but it may work.
I am working on some solution to the brake noise and have concluded it is the
material they used on the pads and may change the pads later to see if it
helps.I live on a graded road and that doesn't help either.I found that blowing
out the brake caliper area with compressed air is the best way to keep it quiet
for about a week and then it comes back gradually.Chrysler will fix
this,eventually.The initial 6000 miles it used up 2 quarts of oil and I thought
2 quarts was too much,and talking with the service writer at 2 Jeep agencies it
is normal for the 12000 mile break in period.
I am deep into my second 6000 miles and there has been no oil usage yet.

The service interval is 6000 miles or 6 months,they are using Mobil One
synthetic so an oil change at the dealer is costly.I have found the oil at
Costco or Sams Club for about 4 dollars a quart.

I have become accustomed to the feel of the Liberty and now really enjoy driving
it.At first I was comparing it too much to the Grand Cherokee but have let go of
that thought.

I think for our purpose,the Sport whatever model ours is badged is more
suitable.If only that the cladding is not painted and if it gets beat up from
towing,the cladding and/or bumpers are just replaced without any painting.

Hope you enjoy your Jeep

Fred & Jeanne Hulse
Morristown,Arizona
1997 Wanderlodge PT41

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]