I have a 2002 Jeep Liberty Limited, I have fallen in love with this Jeep, it has 123,000 mile on her. I am sinking $1,700 into her for; Paint, Body, Lift and Tires. Is it worth it? Getting worried and I will explain why.

This was my peace of mind. A 1998 Dodge Ram 1500 3.9 V6 auto 2wd. This truck is abused to its limits.
-125,000 hard miles
-9800 miles on oilchange-black and a quart low
-pulls 6 cars,trucks,SUVs on a trailer (2 at a time) 40 miles every week
-Tranny has slipped for over 2 years now
-Has been driven hard and literally beat with everything (baseball bats, golf clubs, sticks, ect.)
-Cracked manifold, taped on battery post and rag for airfilter
after all this she still runs and could be fixed cheap, but I could care less if it caught on fire and burned down as I have no money in the truck, but it is reliable.









after all the abuse to the Ram I was certain that the Liberty which gets taken good care of ( oil changes every 3000 and fluid checks and changes) would last for ever.

My concern is I am seeing alot of post and topics like: Blown Engine, Dropped Valves, Busted Transfer case and the list goes on.

Am I being paranoid? Can't afford the 1700 for lift and body and then spend another 3000 on engine..... I need peace of mind.....inspiration.

_________________
2002 Jeep Liberty Limited aka "The Repo"
Support your local Repo Man-Miss two payments

I know exactly where you are coming from, but you have to put it into context.

When I was a mechanic people used to ask me what was a reliable car, but I told them I really couldn't tell them because I only saw the ones that were bad. I could tell them which ones to avoid...

That being said, I get worried when I read all about the blown heads, blown transmissions etc, but I think you have to keep in mind that those who post on here are posting because they have a problem. There a plenty of posts for meet-ups etc. Also, the tenor is less of aggravation and more of pride. It was this forum and others that convinced me that I would feel comfortable buying a used KJ.

_________________
2002 KJ Limited 3.7
Completely Stock
215/85R16 Kevlar

Its like anything else in the world, you only hear the people who complain, have a problem or just like to hear themselves complain
You don't hear from people who take good care of them jump in every day to go to work, ply on the weekends etc
I know of plenty that have 100,000 miles up to 195,000 and no issues
Mine has 166,000 and not one issue to speak of

_________________
MUDD'S MOTORSPORT'S We do IFS lift installs ,
03 OVERLAND EDITION /Kilby-Skidrow-Mopar-4XGuard skids/ 2.5 inch TOTAL CONTROL JBA coilovers -JBA Arms/MOABS-31 FALKEN WILDPEAK AT3W / 4.10's etc, 04 Kilimanjaro Edition loaded, plus 05 KJ limited

Forum's are actually not a good place to find reliability info.

The Data is statistically self-selected to a small subgroup of the overall population.

LOST probably has 100 - 200 active posters, Liberty sold somewhere around a million worldwide.

internet forum members/posters are overwhelmingly male
Liberty purchasers were primarily female - (why they sold so well).

the folks that have problems - post a lot more questions/comments - than folks who aren't having problems.

_________________
2005 CRD
stuff
Skeptic quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur

I have an 02 with 145K on it. I bought it about 3 years ago with 85K on it and I knew it wasn't babied. Lots of brush rash. I don't baby it at all. I drive it alot and although I have a slow leak in a headgasket due to an overheat, I'm planning on fixing that and driving this thing for another 145K at least. It's a capable little vehicle and a heck of a lot of fun on and off the road.

I see KJs all over the place (daily) and those with problems as seen in forums like this are clearly such a small percentage of the overall market. I always have piece of mind when I look in the driveway. I've put well over 200K on a few vehicles over the years. A couple of which didn't rate real high on the reliability meter. Having done some work them and on this vehicle from time to time I can tell its a pretty well constructed vehicle. I haven't had any WHY'D THEY DO THAT or PUT THAT THERE moments like with my current toyota or subaru or all those old GMs I've had.

I say take a chance!

_________________
02 Limited 179K (GONE)
05 Limited 71K (DD)
Lots to do... too little time.