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Turning Circle: 35.9 ft
That's for the 2002 Jeep Liberty Limited 4dr 2WD SUV (3.7L 6cyl 4A); details here:
Steve
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Vans, SUVs and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
The Liberty's rear seats do fold down although not completely flat and you might have to move the front seats up a bit to accomplish it. You can't have it all. You can have no rear seating room and lots of cargo space or a smaller cargo area and roomy rear seating. Actually you CAN have it all if you move up to the suburban or excursion monstrosities and spend twice as much.
Drew
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Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
I wouldn't speak too soon--from what I've been reading on the Jeep boards, quality is nothing to write home about, especially since D-C came into the mix. Perhaps they improved it with the Liberty.
I still think any V-6 "cute ute" is a relatively good buy, though, compared to the bigger, more expensive vehicles. I have a real problem sinking more than a quarter to a third of my home's value into a depreciating asset.
I've had a Jeep Liberty for almost 3 weeks now. I've also taken the Ford Escape on a nice long test drive, and I have also driven the Hyundia Santa Fe at length. I can tell you that as far as quality the Jeep has them all beat. The Escape feels tinny at best. It doesn't feel nearly as solid as either the Santa Fe or the Liberty. As far as on road behavior, the escape is the quickest and probably most nimble, due in no small part to it's light weight. It's also loud. It didn't smoke either the Santa Fe or the Liberty in handling, and as far as ride is concerned, both Liberty and Santa Fe put the Escape to shame. Liberty has a very controlled ride, similar to what you might expect from a european sport sedan, and the Santa Fe similar to luxury sedan. A softer ride. For your money, they're all close but the Jeep delivers something none of the others can claim. It CAN go off road and run circles around the competition in rugged terrain. It gives you both abilities without sacrificing skills in either catagory. That is what makes Jeep special. That IS what makes it BEST.
The wife wants the Liberty, but I see the Santa Fe as a lower priced, good quality, 5 yr warranty, still cute (yes, the Liberty is better but Sante Fe holds its own) with solid pick-up.
It all comes down to - does the Liberty work ?
So far all early indications are very positive, as to quality.
Bob
The wife wants the Liberty, but I see the Santa Fe as a lower priced, good quality, 5 yr warranty, still cute (yes, the Liberty is better but Sante Fe holds its own) with solid pick-up.
It all comes down to - does the Liberty work ?
Matt
Matt
I used to own an 89 Cherokee. There are MANY Jeep Cherokees around here (Albuquerque,NM). I believe the Cherokee offered great value--roomy, go-anywhere capability, tow capacity, pretty comfortable, and not-too-bad gas mileage, all for a reasonable cost. I think the new Liberty will do that, and in spades, too. The new Liberty was built in a state-of-the-art factory. I went and looked at Jeep Libertys again last night. Fit and finish are quite good, if not excellent; much better than the Cherokee. Chrysler built 1200 pre-production models for testing. I believe I could live with most of the Liberty shortcomings (limited area behind back seats, back seats don't fold flat, only fair gas mileage). The trade-off allows 210 horsepower, 5000 lb.tow capacity, and a low-range transfer case for greater out-of the-way treks than other similar size vehicles. Plus, there should be MANY after-market accessories for the Jeep. A plus for the VUE is dealing with Saturn, a company that I believe receives very high customer satisfaction ratings--unlike Chrysler, which collectively--and in my own experience--is lousy.
Reservations I have about Liberty--gas mileage, reliability and rollover potential.
As to mileage, over a 100,000 mile and 10 year use, 20 miles per gallon versus 25 miles per gallon would take an extra 1000 gallons, or 100 gallons a year for a ten year period ($150 +/- per year, not too bad). A low-restriction air filter and cat-back exhaust could improve the mileage some.
As to reliability, I have never seen a comprehensive review of this subject, in which severity of car use is weighed in with breakdown rate. I have owned over 50 cars/trucks and ALL of them eventually need brakes, alternators, water pumps, etc, even Hondas and Toyotas. Jeeps and other utility vehicles may receive harsher use.
The Liberty is quite high, and appears subject to greater rollover capacity. I hope someone tests for this as well as front end and offset safety crashes.
I do not know much about Saturns, but think they initially were quite good, then reliability was said to fall off. Maybe the VUE will change that trend. I plan a trip to the local Saturn dealer to see if they have any VUE news.
The Liberty looks to be an outstanding vehicle; it will be interesting to see how reliability fares on this machine....
Many readers are curious about the rollover tendancy of this vehicle. I must say, I felt confident in the curves and took them MUCH faster than I should have. I felt like I was in FULL control. I also tested creep mode in 4W Lo which was pretty cool. Overall, an excellent package. I think DC MUST have tested how this vehicle would handle in emergency manuevers. I should hope they don't want a repeat of the fiasco with their Mercedes A (mini) introduced in Europe a few years ago.
Also looked at the Escape and had a brief test drive. The interior was BORING and the exterior simply reminded me of a scaled down Explorer
(Y-A-W-N). Though the Escape does have nice zip, it was NOT as solid as the Jeep. Road noise was very prominent and it didn't even have 4 Lo!!
I have an order placed and will keep everyone apprised of the process.
just my 2 cents.
~alpha01
That is not necessarily a good thing...
Sometimes it is good to know when you're gonna go...
Matt
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
http://www.money.com/money/depts/autos/onwheels/archive/0105a.html
Matt
Bob
Matt
"
Thank you for your e-mail to DaimlerChrysler.
The sunroof for the Jeep Liberty is currently avaialable for ordering. The anti-lock brakes are estimated to begin production mid August.
Keep in contact with your local dealer for newly released information."
and this one from Jeepwarehouse "
Thanks for visiting our site.
The Sunroof is back in the order system, but coming through slowly. The ABS
is currently on restriction with an estimated availability date of August
13th. This would mean that an order placed now could not be scheduled for
built until after that date. By that time I would expect that the backlog of
Sunroof orders will be pretty current.
"
Hope this help clearing the issue.
New styling, available 5 speed. True off-road performance. Proven reliability.
See it:
http://www.grubbsauto.com/index.html?/nis/xterra02
$25k + or -.
I think it is the best value.
Just my 2¢.
Didn't want to come accross like I didn't think so. Very capable vehicle- hard decisision.
Bob
I have had GREAT success with my Nissan product, vs my 2 Jeeps.
I think it is a great vehicle for the money- decked out 5sp about $25k. (no leather).
If I had more confidence in Jeep- I think I might go that route- I really like the road manners of the Lib.
Painful choice- but Nissan wins for me.
What I like about the liberty is the drivers seat and overall style.. of course 4wd and v6 no question. It drives very nice but not "better" than the x. The tire looks nice from the outside but, when it comes to driving it is better underneath for viewing the road. the x takes more of a tough look pertaining to the outside looks and you would expect the 180. and since the most the suv sees is a dirt road in respect to 99.9999% of drivers the fantastic liberty off road capability is negated by the fact that it is almost never used to its potential. when it comes down to it noone wants to break there toy doing something stupid on a back road so they are unlikely to push it hard.
in closing with my 1.5 cents the x and lib are very close on the spec sheet and once the power situation is addressed things will change fast...someone else said somthing to this effect already and I am just agreeing.
I hope typing this letter has concluded my decision making about the two!!!!
The X requires you to stop and engage 4wd. And no driving on dry pavement.
(kind of like Jeeps "Command Trak" on the Wrangler.
I have a Grand Cherokee with "SelecTrac" and do like the option of throwing it into fulltime 4 on the fly and drive on wet/dry/snow with no worry of damage.
But somehow the "X" still gets my vote.
I favor the Liberty. It's a clean-sheet design, whereas the Xterra is basically a parts-bin special. I really think Jeep engineers went out of their way to create a new and better mass-market SUV. Nissan, on the other hand, did a masterful job of taking the rather primitive mechanicals from the Frontier, and came up with a very successful vehicle.
The real advantages I see of the Liberty are: available full-time 4WD and coil rear springs. I also think the styling and details are great.
I really don't like the Nissan's stepped roof or roof rack. The stepped roof prohibits a sliding moonroof. The available roof basket make use of the moon roof just about useless. The "beefy-looking" roof rack is only rated for 100 lbs., whereas the Liberty's roof rack is rated for 150 lbs. I really don't like the rear seat on the Xterra. The way it folds screams—CHEAP!
Bob
It's one of northern new england's largest multi line car dealerships with stores in vermont and maine also. I talked to majority owner's brother in law and he just wants to move as many cars/trucks as possible for a reasonable markup plus holdback. Didn't care that it was a popular car. For any of you in area they have a website
www. berlincity.com
Talked to a dealer here in North Conway, NH that told me that they wouldn't sell for less than sticker and that dealerships in Mass were selling them at 3-4000 above msrp.
Only negative is that i won't see my jeep for 2 months
I did a bit of comparing last week, and the Liberty has as much space behind the back seat as the RAV, while having a 6 inch advantage in wheelbase. Odd, huh?