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Who is Happy with their Jeep Liberty CRD?
Im a potential 05' Limited owner. But after reading these forums I am very cautious. I know complaints are always the loudest so I was wondering who was actually happy with their CRD? Thanks in advance.
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I have run B5 and B20 Biodiesel pre blended at the pump from day 1. Currently I have 11000 miles and use oW-40 motor oil changing between 3-4 k. I plan on changing the fuel filter once a year as I have done in all my vehicles over the years regardless of mileage. Perhaps this helped me avoid the problems others have had?
I do get a bit of smoke if I accelerate abruptly. I have driven diesels for years, all smoke if heavy throttle is given or air filter is restricted or clogged.
I highly recommend the Diesel Libby for extended interstate highway driving at 65+ mph. Mine maintains her speed well on inclines.
I get about 25mpg mixed and often 30+ highway low load.
I would go CRD Libby again
FE is wonderful. Over the past two weekends my wife and I drove up to New York City and Western Massachusetts respectively. In both cases A/C was used for the greater part of these trips and we averaged more than 28 MPG overall for both and greater than 29 MPG for some segments. Must use speed control otherwise the CRD will run away on you. When I commute to work in D.C. metro traffic, I get between 22 to 24 MPG.
If you purchase a CRD, make sure you have a good mechanic/dealership. That will make all the difference in the world.
Good Luck on your decision.
If you do not need the unique combination of capabilities of the CRD, just walk away. If you do, then be willing to live with the unique combination of irritating qualities
It is good in town, on the highway, on grades, towing and terrific in heavy rain. My wife and girls love it, too.
Mileage is 19-22 in town, 25-27-29 on the highway at 75-65-55 respectively.
But, I have several recalls to follow-up on including one
received today on the heater blower mower. I am not wild
about possibly having the engine detuned because of the torque converter recall.
Our local Jeep dealer was sold to the Dodge house so I'm not sure about that situation. I do plan on purchasing an extended warranty as the 2006 came only with a 3/36 warranty.
I have used the Diesel Kleen additive from day one in generous portions, buy diesel from busy locations mostly Murphy at Wal-Mart, have the oil changed every 6500-7500
miles and every other oil change have my mechanic inspect
the engine and undercarriage. Worth every penny, too.
BTW, the CRD calls only for synthetic.
Biodiesel is available here but only at 100% and I am not equiped to mix it at the moment so stay with regular diesel.
There has been considerable discussion about jerking on this forum and other forums concerning mostly the Liberty CRD, some VW TDI and other. There is apparently jerking (passengers would not know if vehicle or driver) and JERKING (passengers would wonder WTH!) both frequent and rare. It has been blamed on the torque converter clutch, fuel system, fuel, air in the fuel, EGR valve, cruise control, computer, and other.
I have had several instances of JERKING over 40k miles after hard acceleration up an interstate onramp to 65 or 70 MPH and setting the cruise immediately. The JERKING lasted maybe 5 or 6 seconds. If I accelerate up an onramp with overdrive off and set the cruise at 65 or 70 MPH and wait 5 or 6 seconds before turning overdrive on I never get JERKING.
Once in a while I get subtle jerking when running at 45 to 55 MPH in hilly terrain with cruise on and overdrive off. I am not sure, but in either case I don’t think cruise has anything to do with it – I think it has to do with transition from load to no load where systems are not responding quickly enough or over responding. When driving with my foot with cruise off and overdrive on or off while making changes in throttle setting slowly and deliberately I have NEVER had jerking or JERKING.
On another forum writers claim much success eliminating jerking (don’t know which kind) by bleeding the air from the fuel filter head at the bleeder screw. There has been some discussion about where the air comes from – poorly sealing filter, fuel hoses not clamped properly and a defect in the filter head itself causing air to be drawn into the system. Don't know if this info is good or not.
Apparently, a good working CRD is borderline okay because it doesn't take much to make one not quite okay.
Back to the CRD. I've had all the various TSBs and recalls done. And they themselves don't bother me. At least it shows that DC did attempt to fix some of the initial shortcomings in the Americanized version of their CRD.
But I AM troubled by the condescending attitudes of the tech writers at my local 5 Star dealership. It seems that if you take the time to read the various CRD forums and show up at your dealership as a relatively informed customer, you will be immediately treated as if you are there for the sole purpose of trying to pull the wool over their eyes or something. NOT ONCE did I receive an understanding remark from a tech writer with regards to my concerns over TSBs, needed re-flashing of my ECM firmware, or even the recalls for ball joints and the TC (F37) recall. They could do better - they SHOULD do better.
The irony here is that ALL owners end up spending more time dealing with tech writers than they ever do with sales people. So you'd think Chrysler would realize how important that relationship could be for repeat customers. While I love my CRD and plan to keep it a long time, it will be a much longer time before I buy another new vehicle from this Jeep/Dodge dealership.
I would accept giving back 50 HP out of the 150 I have for an old fashion diesel with a chain driven camshaft. This would save a lot of money and I usually never use more than 100 HP anyway!
Taking donuts may help their attitude too.
Having had two new jeeps in the past as well as Mercedes diesel vehicles too, the Liberty CRD just made sense to us.
Mileage really depends how you drive it, my wife gets 27 mpg hwy/country driving. I get 20 driving the way I do like I'm in a race to get everywhere, very hard on the pedal.
3 week shop visit (no loaner car) to take care of the worlds largest cricket noise that was living under the hood of my car. Idler pully (not a mechanic so bare with me) after they figured out what it was they had to wait to get a replacement, and damaged the radiator while doing installation or removal of old idler pulley.
EGR valve was completely clogged took approx. 1 week to fix upon picking up my liberty from the shop, I put it in drive only to hear cricket again. ((Loud cricket too, suspect the worlds largest cricket!)) Brought out service manager to hear the noise, had to open hood and leave it in drive with foot on brake (was tempted but didn't run anyone over LOL). So it's scheduled to go back in. Only got 200 miles before factory warentee is over! On way home, cruise control dissapeared!
Oh service tech when listening to cricket noise at shop mentioned that the P something (Computer) had to be replaced. Great! Perhaps they replaced it with one that doesn't understand cruise control? Dunno, but I do need my cruise control back, suspect it will take another week or two to even get that part fixed, it's parked in my driveway and I have been carpooling to work. Some new car! I loved it up until about 1/2 a year ago!
Am researching lemon law now :lemon: , hoping that I can get my repurchased. I would trade it in for another car but I'm slightly upside down on the financing note. Grrrrrrrr hate dealing with car issues, that is why I bought a new car instead of a used car!
Grrrrrrrrrrr
Angry Liberty owner in Washington state! :lemon:
They're not booking well. If you love it buy it. Usually doesn't make sense coming off of a lease unless it's a foreign make that residulizes well.
If your overall mpg is 24 mpg then you are doing pretty good. I don't think anyone is getting much over 25 mpg for an overall average - certainly not 28 mpg. If you are only getting 24 mpg highway while driving on cruise between 65 and 70 mph then there is something wrong.
As far as your lease is concerned you know your vehicle and what it's worth. I would be hard pressed to pay $15k for a CRD off a lot right now, but I would have no problem paying $15k for mine since I know the vehicle.
I have not had the EGR or torque converter/pump problem. One really weird problem happened when my water pump sprung a leak and pumped out most of my coolant without any overheating registering on the gauge. The "low coolant" idiot light came on but it was the middle of the night in winter so I tried to drive to a service station. I pulled over right away when my heater started blowing "COLD AIR" but still no overheating indicated by the gauge. I ended up with a blown head gasket, engine knock, and wasted turbocharger. My Jeep Dealer replaced the entire engine and turbocharger under warranty at 36k miles. All I had to pay for was a serpentine belt (wear item). I did get a nagging CEL for the turbo boost pressure sensor quite a few times afterwards, but I learned that I need to clean that sensor by reading posts in this forum. I recommend that you invest in a thorough inspection by a good diesel mechanic before you buy a used CRD.
Mine has no irritating qualities. I am sorry to hear yours has.
I did NOT like the factory tires. I drive easy, with only 35,000 miles on the Jeep and more than half the tread remaining they were getting slippery in the rain.
So I chucked them and bought a set of beastly General AT tires. Big difference. They are a bit noisy but man do they bite. Mud, snow, rain, ice, nothing fazes them. I rotate all five tires so the tires really only had about 24,000 miles on them.
OOPS, I forgot. The beloved optima battery gave up the ghost after only five years. I almost got a hernia pulling that thing out. But with Wisconsin winters I reckon that is hard on the battery. So I kind of forgave that.
There was a recall for the EGR which was replaced at about 20,000 miles and the new stainless steel one is still working fine with 75,000 miles.
That thing starts and runs perfect.
I am concerned about the hose that feeds oil to the turbo. It leaks right through the rubber kind of like sweating. It makes me a bit nervous to have oil that close to the turbo. Anybody else notice that?
ball joints replaced
turbo replaced
windshield washer pump replaced
brakes don't stop in emergency situations
I've had to replace the crappy stock booster hoses with high quality Samco at half of the stock price. Anyone seeking to demystify the maintenance of this vehicle should join LOST Jeep Forum, a wealth of info and insight on this unique vehicle.
I have had problems with my turbo, transmission pump, elec system, and all 4 windows. 2 windows completely replaced and 2 worked on. Worn sway bar links and bushings. And a few more!
My warranty is at the purchasing dealer and not knowing when I purchased they did not have a diesel machenic, until recently, I bought my crd in July 2006.
I had a friend that bought a Sport CRD 2 days later and has not had all these problems.
If you have any info on getting the rare parts, please post them!
The size is great for me and my mutts, just wished I didn't have so much trouble!
:confuse:
So, a couple years ago, I bought a used '05 Liberty CRD unseen off of eBay at a dealership some 750 miles away. I flew up there and drove it home - awsome! Tons of power, my best diesel ever. I transferred the warranty (7/70K) and gave it to the wife to replace our (yucky gas) minivan. She loved it too. Since we've owned it, we've had 4 EGRs and the brakes done twice. Maintenance is every 10K at the dealership. They did the "recall" TC 37, and the car is no longer peppy. Had I known tey were just going to detune the engine, I would have passed. Still, even at 80% power, quite worthy of a truck.
Then one day, while I was driving in Atlanta, I spotted an identical CRD on a used car lot. I asked how much, and they said $5K less than what I paid for my wife's. I bought it on the spot. Sweet! But off the lot I knew, it didn't have the power of my other CRD.
Out of the nine months I have owned it, the Atlanta model has been in the shop for 6 of those months. EGR's, turbos, hoses, every computer and gateway, every firmware patch... nothing resolved its issues, until some bright whipper snapper found that when he mashed on the wiring harness a certain way, the car would blow fuses and set fault codes. Eureka! A quick wire patch and she sprang to life - well almost.
She shudders and has a loss of power when taking off from a stop after towing some weight for an hour or so. So the dealership has offered to rebuild the transmission and I'm installing a Suncoast Torque Converter and shift kit, and she should be as good as new.
Some would ask, "Why spend all that time and energy?" Well, these cars are awesome! There is no diesel out there that fits the bill of a compact SUV, 5000# towing, nimble, 4WD (full and part time) and descent mpg.
I'm also planning on installing a Green Diesel Energy ECU upgrade to restore my power, reduce my EGR wear, and minimize my tailpipe particulate. If my CRD survives the upgrade, my wife's will be next. That way we will have two matching, perfectly tuned CRDs, and we will have reached Nirvana.
Who is happy with their CRD. I am, twice.
Flash
Any suggestions ??
Thanks for the help
Thanks for any info you can give me.
The old belt looked brand new.
I asked them how much for an oil change and they quoted me $250.00...
A message to the young people out there who are planning to go to Medical School. STOP !!!
Go to Jeep CRD Mechanics school....$400.00 per hour is hard to beat.