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Comments
Icwos: Sounds like you had a frustrating time with that particular dealer -- they're playing hardball with you, and probably thought you would buckle because you wanted the Liberty so much. No need to pay sticker in most areas -- walking away from a bad deal is the most powerful thing a consumer can do. No doubt that the dealer has latitude in crunching the numbers down to something that would work better for you. You might want to check out a few other dealerships or perhaps shop online before giving up -- make the dealership work for your money.
Maybe you need to look at the Liberty Sport instead of the Limited. Negotiating the Capitalized Cost to $26,000 on the Limited with the tow package, sunroof and ABS (3 options you said were missing), might be unrealistic (at least in my neck of the woods, Marin in Northern California). I also would not expect great lease deals on the Liberty Limited with zero down, there doesn't appear to be a need for DC to offer such a plan yet.
What I really want to know is where you live? A sub $350 a month mortgage?? I'm envious.
On the Liberty you would be paying out a total of $15,444 ($429 × 36) while you would pay $14,112 ($392 × 36) on the QX4. The difference is only $1332 and is easily accounted for by the difference in resale (residual) values of the two vehicles.
tidester
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Although there is no 0% financing on the Liberty, I can't help but think that most people are lured into the dealership with the promise of 0%, but few leave with that interest rate in thier pocket. OAC can be a tricky beast.
Try some other dealerships before giving up on the Liberty.
buy a sport, be happy, and call it a day. roll your windows down instead of the roof. my 4x4 sport in silver barely tipped $22000.
Also, Icwos might be one of those lucky people who bought a home well before prices skyrocketed in most markets, or might have a great house with a tiny second mortgage. What's really crazy is that current first-time homebuyers are spending more on an average car than their parents did on nice real estate.
http://www.autointell.com/News-2001/May-2001/May-2001-1/May-02-01-p4.htm
(You have to scroll to the bottom of the website)
Does anyone out there work at the Indiana transmission factory in Kokomo, Indiana and can vouch for the quality?? Also, is it an SAE tranny or metric? I am real close to buying an '03 Liberty, but am really worried about that 45RE transmission. I could barely handle rebuilding the 2 spd. auto on my old '74 hondamatic civic years ago.
To the Infinity owner that was considering leasing a Liberty: I have found with these domestic vehicles that you have to put down a sizeable down payment to start with some equity. Don't lease one, buy one and put down ~7,000.00. This should put your payment more in the ballpark you are seeking and you can sell the thing down the road without worries.
And I thought I would probably have to go with a sport model on special this week for a 2003 for $21,500 which is not too bad at all. I had been hoping the 2002 models were readily available for picking from so I could get 0% financing but that did not happen.
FInally broke down and went to the lot to see if they still had the sport I saw there last week that I was eyeing. Nope. Dang.
Out of the corner of my eye - there was one parked in the used lot. I figured - what the heck - I'll go see.
Just so happens it's a NEW Liberty, a 2002! at the time they unloaded the trucks that was the only place they could put it. Hmm - sticker says $24,900... now things interesting. Ya see - this Liberty has everything I was hoping for from the beginning!
* LIMITED
* ABS
* etc.
I put about $2,000 down and financed for 60 months with a $409 payment. kick butt. The 2003 sport woulda costed me more anyway - and I like the limited more. woo!
As for a Liberty Sport, it does not come with leather, and we have German Shorthaired Pointers. No way would I ever get cloth seats again in a car, besides, we want the heated seats. I could care less about a sunroof, but my Infiniti came Standard with one....... Mr Tidester..... your comparison as to payment amounts would be like calculating the difference between a Kia & Land Rover. Would you pay more to lease a Kia than a Land Rover??? Anyway, my husband informed me he has not given up quite yet..... I told him I did like the car very much, but we work hard for our money, have no one picking up it's expenses, dont know anyone in the business to get a break, so if I have to drive something else that would be OK with me.
Never judge a book by it's cover folks. I know plenty of people in modest neighborhoods that are multi-millionaires...... and plenty of Yuppies with high scale addresses that want to "play the part" of one, if you know what I mean. I take no offense to those who think I was trying to go beyond my means...... We just like to compare prices, options and get a good vehicle for a fair dollar. We are not looking to get something for nothing, nor do we expect to pay top dollar and get less in return.
I'll keep you posted on our outcome. My lease expires soon.......
In reading your posts, it seems that you and your husband focused too much of your initial negotiation on the monthly payment aspect (an important consideration, but not the best way to deal with F&I at dealerships). Also, its worth reconsidering the net cost to you of owning, not leasing, a Liberty after three or so years in light of the *real* market value of used Jeeps -- our local classified ads consistently show significantly less depreciation than the lease guides project.
I have to ask -- why are you considering a lease? Even with a significant tax write-off, they are tantamount to monthly automotive rental, therefore money that will never be recouped. Do you own a business which can constructively absorb that loss, or is this for personal use?
Regarding the mortgage, $373/mo. in 1973 had a very different purchasing power than it does today, especially considering the inflation of the late 70's/early 80's. If you discount car prices for inflation and improvements, today's models priced in the mid twenties are a screaming bargain (historically).
Good luck and keep us posted!
I would agree with some of the others on this board as well, don't give up on the Liberty just yet. Shop around, but don't settle for a car you don't want. Keep in mind the market conditions, however. DC has no reason to discount these cars so securing a low ball deal will take more work and more shopping since prices will vary from dealer to dealer. I don't know if you read my other post on the Liberty Problems board, but it may be difficult, but not impossible, to get a loaded Liberty for under $27000. Have you tried securing a loan outside the dealership? Maybe a credit union, your credit is good, you might be able to secure better loan terms elsewhere.
Settled on a 2003 Limited - white with 27G, ABS, Sunroof, Side airbags, hot seats and went with 17" wheels - which is a new option for 2003.
$28,520 is the MSRP - $25,400 is our driveaway price. Would have liked to get the 0% but really wanted the 4 W disk brakes and 17" wheels.
Can't wait to get it here. After almost of month of "in-person research" I can tell anyone in the Nebraska / Iowa area the dealers to avoid like the plague - and the one to buy from (Woodhouse Chrysler).
Just had a share a bit - thanks to everyone for this forum - it made the shopping a lot easier!
If you know availability, what we want is a 2wd sport, 6 cyl with 5 spd. manual trans, Package "B", limited slip differntial and the in-dash CD player.
TIA
I have a question for you all out there......anyone have the 17" tire/wheel package or have seen it. Is it worth the $895. option price they are asking. I've not seen one on a car. What do you think? Any increase in road noise??? Do you think it would be better handling in rain and winter?
Thanks for all your input. I will keep everyone posted about our trials and tribulations with this Jeep. I will also check out that web site. I checked Carmax.com since Chicago would be the closest.......
Wouldnt you know it, the color I wanted, Lt. Khaki will not be available until after January 1st., so my choice is now for the Stone White.
Again, thanks to all who are helping me out and giving us suggestions....all of which are excellent and will be taken under advisement.
Best Regards
Lee
I don't believe the 17" wheels were an option for the 2001 or 2002 models. We have the standard 16" all-season wheels, they ride real nice on and off road, no complaints so far, haven't driven in the rain yet though.
Have you noticed that Jeep just changed their incentive program -- apparently, 0% is now available on 2003s?!
Thanks for keeping us posted.
Too bad. Guess that means an Xterra for us. No way we're buying an automatic trans. Seems rather disingenuous of Jeep to make it look like the combination is an option when in fact they won't make it like that. Oh well.
What I did want was side-air bags. For some reason, dealers are not ordering Libs with this option. I think the $490 they sticker at is a little high, but I think they are a worthwhile option.
I liked the 17" wheel option since this is going to be a commuter vehicle - and the 4 wheel disk brakes was, I thought, an upgrade from the '02's rear drum brakes.
Course the biggest thing that I found a dealer willing to discount $3,100 off sticker for the '03. I think the 0% on the '02 is causing the '03's to sit and he was wanting to move them. The nicest part was I got the quote the weekend before DC started the 0% on the 3's. It's only for 36 months - but free money is free money.....
Not unheard of, but pretty pathetic if the corpoorate level Jeep reps. mess that up.
Got a call from the dealer today asking that we call because they had some more "info". More to follow I guess.
If you want a 6cyl/MT Sport, the issue isn't whether they make them that way (they are definitely available), it's whether you can find one when you want one and the way you want one in your neighborhood. I suggest looking up dealerships via the Jeep.com website and then checking stickers to see what's available in your local inventory.
only manual sports ive seen were totally stripped down (a/c only) sport 4x4's going for around $20000. and these weren't the lowered, crappy, cheapened up '03's.
a non-lowered 2002 sport is like a gem in the rough.
DC started lowering the Libs in 02. The 03's have 4 wheel disk brakes instead of drums in the rear. Spare tire is now standard full-size.
The only step backwards I can see is that the steering wheel is not leather wrapped unless you get the leather option.
For lack of a leather wrapped steering wheel on cloth interior the whole vehicle is now cheap and crappy?
Discs vs Drums: Matter of preference. Rear drums don't need as much maintenance as discs, so they don't need to be changed as often.
Spare tire?: Always was full size, it wasn't made full size just now. I've had my tires rotated, with the spare included in the rotation. Are you saying that I'm driving on a donut?
I'll follow Tbunder's comments. Get the 02's if you can.
Here's a question for Liberty owners: has anyone attempted to remove the warning stickers from their visors? Messy or easy?
Steve
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SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
i think someone just explained how they have cheapened them up- maybe a better word is --decontented--iow, taking stuff away that really isn't noticeable until you go to use what was there on the prior year's model.
yeah they did add disc brakes in the rear, but big deal. that's just more maintenance in the long run and i bet the braking difference between disc and drum, if any, isn't that great. all 4x4 libs came with full-size spare. but you must remember, the standard tire for a 4x4 lib is only a 215, so putting a donut on for a spare really wouldn't be getting ahead much since the stock 215 is pretty small to begin with. don't know about 4x2's, and don't care.
all libs are nice, but i just hated to see DC lower the lib just to make the media happy.
Just wondering if anyone here is using either XM or Sirius satellite radio? The choice of entertaining radio is not that diverse here in ole Nebraska - and I have been considering the possiblity of adding this feature to my Lib.
Most interested in how you hooked it up - what you had to add or replace to make it work. I have the upgraded Infinity stereo from the 27G package - and the owners manual makes reference to satellite as being an available choice in the mode (along w/ AM, FM, CD etc) so it seems like there is some built-in support - but I can't find any other information about it.
Thanks for any info shared.
Primarily concerned about the metal areas around the radio / climate control and the leather seats. Should I put anything on the leather right away or wait for a while - what is the conventional wisdom?
After all, don't want anyone who spilled hot coffee from McDonalds to turn around and sue the DOT for thinking the consumers may be anything above the least common denominator in the smarts department....
I am curently looking into purchasing the 2003 Limited Jeep Liberty. I was wondering if anyone knew the difference between the 17" chrome weel and tire group versus the all-terrain tires. Are the 17" tires bigger? Will the 17" tires have better traction on the road? Is the $800 option more of an asthetic one versus an added safety feature?
Your feedback would be much appreciated.
Also, I am debating getting a sunroof. For those of you that opted for the option, is it worth the addtional money.
Finally, I thought the LIBERTY was lowered due to safety risks? Some of the posts speak negatively about the fact that the liberty is not as high.
Thank you. I have just a few more decisions to make, including the color, Black or Silver.
The only downside I have found so far is that there are no Aftermarket or OEM tire covers out yet for the 17" wheels - so my back on is currently uncovered. Doesn't look bad, and I know something will come out eventually. If I didn't mind a generic cover I could get something now as well.
Honestly, I don't see the big deal with the Jeep height. There was one test that Automobile or Auto Week did, where they rolled an 02' Sport 2WD. Consumer Reports (who would LOVE to find a way to tip any 4x4) didn't have a problem running the Liberty through the same course that tipped the Isuzu and Montero. It was a PR move by Chrysler to protect a vehicle they have a huge investment in. Handling on the lowered ones is supposedly better and gas mileage went up 1. If you aren't going to take it off-road / rock climbing - you probably couldn't tell it happened.
BTW, mrgallup - whether you have the 16" wheels or the 17" wheels, the Liberty is the same height. The overall diameter of the wheel/tire combo is the same.