After years of lurking on this forum on and off, the stars finally aligned and I was able to add a CRD to our fleet of vehicles this weekend. I remember test driving one when they first came out in 2005 and loved it. Over the years I've test driven others now and then, but just never pulled the trigger. I've always liked Diesel vehicles and certainly wish we had more choices here in the US, especially smaller utilitarian type vehicles or smaller trucks with Diesel. However, I'm certainly not one to buy a new vehicle and most of my vehicles tend to be older and usually issues well documented or sorted by the time I buy them.
Around 2007 I bought my first Diesel which was a 1998.5 Dodge Ram Cummins 3/4 ton truck with 5spd, 191k miles, extended cab & long bed. I loved having that truck although I really didn't need a 3/4 ton truck, as I certainly wasn't towing anything that heavy. I tried to make use of it though towing motorcycles out west a couple times with buddies and weekend trips here and there. It was great to put anything I wanted behind it and not even stress it in the least, but it wasn't very practical though and got to a point where it sat more than I drove it and sold it in 09. I definitely regretted it and almost tried to buy it back when I saw it for sale again a couple years later, but decided against it.
In 2011, we had sold a Jeep Cherokee 4x4 (XJ) my wife had been driving and I told her her next vehicle had to be more fuel efficient since she loved to gallivant everywhere and the 16mpg jeep (on a good day) was killing us. She decided she wanted a beetle and I knew they came in TDI, so we went shopping. We first bought a 2000 Beetle TDI 5spd (142k) that was supposed to be hers, but after a month of fighting over who got to drive it, we decided to just go buy another one and found a 2001 Beetle TDI 5spd (149k) that was a bit nicer with leather and sunroof and that one became hers and I took the other one. Both Beetles had been treating us good, but then late in 2014 I totaled my wife's beetle in the rain when we were coming back from a trip. She decided she wanted a mini cooper to replace it even though I offered to give her back the 2000 Beetle.
The 2000 Beetle has been my car and was the one we put the hitch on to tow our dirt bikes & dual sports. It does okay with 2 smaller bikes and still gets great mileage towing, but 2 larger bikes is a bit much and you certainly are working the car and the gear box. It's fine if you don't get in a hurry, but it's certainly no speed demon towing. So, I've been on the hunt for something a bit better at towing, but not getting totally crappy mileage every time you drive it. The selection of vehicles that can do that is slim. I had almost given in a couple times to just picking up a 1/2 ton pickup since I wouldn't drive it that much, but I just couldn't do it. I even contemplated another 3/4 ton diesel, but again didn't want to go down that road. That kept leading me back to the Liberty CRD's or even the early generation Cherokee CRD's, but the Liberty's were more in my price range I wanted. I do have to admit that I'm kind of a manual transmission snob and really am not much a fan of auto's, but I'd knew I'd have to make an exception for the Liberty. I guess since the Mini & Beetle are both manual, I'll still get my fix of controlling my own gears.
I'd see good deals on CRD's pop up locally, but 9 times out of 10 they would be trade-ins to dealers with absolutely no history on what had been done including the timing belt. I was surprised how many owners were oblivious to things like that if I happened to find a private seller sale. That pretty much leaves you having to go through everything when you buy one. While I'm a decent enough mechanic on the bikes, I wasn't certain I was ready to tackle a Timing Belt, ARP studs and other things I see many of you guys doing with the CRD's, although I'm sure at some point I'll start having to dive into this thing, but at least I know there is a great support forum
. I know Geordi doesn't live far from me and that was an option to use his services if it was over my head, but when I saw a member on here selling a CRD that basically had had everything it needed done to it, I decided it was finally time to bite the bullet.The Jeep was located in Missouri 11 hrs away from me, but I've flown and driven half way across the country for bikes so this was nothing new to me. I called the seller to discuss the jeep and right away had a great feeling about it. We talked on the phone about everything he had done to it, and he answered all my questions about it. I think I spent one night sleeping on it and discussing with my wife and then we both decided I would be kicking myself if I didn't get it. I called the seller on a Friday evening and told him we'd be leaving first thing Sat am to drive out there and get it.
I wanted to drive the Beetle out there since it does the best on fuel, but my wife said since I'd be driving the Jeep back, she wanted her Mini. I actually can't complain as we can get 35mpg+ with the Mini on the highway and it actually rides and drives pretty nice. It also has working cruise that my Beetle doesn't and I had just driven to TX and back in the Beetle so I was okay to enjoy the Mini for this trip. The drive out there was uneventful and we rolled in about 6:30pm local time at the seller's house. I did a test drive and everything was exactly as expected. We made the deal and we were headed home after a bit. We knocked out a couple hours towards home before getting a hotel for the night.
This was in the hotel parking lot the first night
Next to the Mini. I guess we like Blue.
I think that's a KK Liberty next to us too or maybe the Dodge Nitro? Not sure.
The next morning, we woke up to a balmy 17 degrees still in Missouri. The Jeep started up with no issues which was nice. The drive home went well too. I was able to log 25-26mpg running a pretty swift 75-80mph on the Jeep, sometimes faster although the Eviac was showing between 30-32mpg which I figured was high. Funny thing with my wife following me in my draft most of the way, we actually pushed the Mini over 38mpg one tank and 40mpg another tank. I had to remind myself a few times though that I was in a top heavy short wheel base jeep and not a Mini Cooper that's like a roller skate on wheels.
The sellers ad listed all this stuff done to it which was really the key for me. This was going to be a turn key Liberty that I could enjoy right away.
Quote:
All fluids changed
New battery
New starter
New turbo inlet hose
New turbo-to-intercooler hose
New HDS Model 001 thermostat
New metal glow plugs
Remanufactured cylinder head
New cams
New rocker arms
New rear main seal
EGR/FCV deleted
ARP head studs
New head gasket
New water pump
New timing belt and idlers/tensioners
GDE ECO tune (will include HOT tune and flasher)
38k mile transmission installed 1k miles ago
PML deep sump trans pan
Flowmaster DBX muffler
Updated MOPAR fuel head with new filter
2 new BOSCH fuel injectors
New Goodyear tires installed about 2k miles ago
New brakes front and rear
New front wheel bearings
New front suspension bushings/ball joints/tie-rod ends
New touchscreen radio with integrated Bluetooth calling and audio
New underseat subwoofer with controller
New battery
New starter
New turbo inlet hose
New turbo-to-intercooler hose
New HDS Model 001 thermostat
New metal glow plugs
Remanufactured cylinder head
New cams
New rocker arms
New rear main seal
EGR/FCV deleted
ARP head studs
New head gasket
New water pump
New timing belt and idlers/tensioners
GDE ECO tune (will include HOT tune and flasher)
38k mile transmission installed 1k miles ago
PML deep sump trans pan
Flowmaster DBX muffler
Updated MOPAR fuel head with new filter
2 new BOSCH fuel injectors
New Goodyear tires installed about 2k miles ago
New brakes front and rear
New front wheel bearings
New front suspension bushings/ball joints/tie-rod ends
New touchscreen radio with integrated Bluetooth calling and audio
New underseat subwoofer with controller
This was a couple of the seller's pics
