Hi again folks, thank you for hosting a proper forum!

Now, I have had up to now 2 Daihatsu 4x4s, Fourtaks, Rockys or perhaps Toyota Blizzards depending where you are, and latterly in the last 5 years 2 Nissan Terranos. These have all been super reliable, except for an abs ring on the newest 2006 Nissan, and the air bag light comes on occasionally.
However I now find myself battling the brown devil, rust! (I blame crappy foreign/chinese steel, these were built in Spain, the 1999 Nissan still has a great chassis) Other than servicing and consumables like tyres, batteries and brakes which I am all capable of doing, including welding, today I replaced a lower ball joint at 162,000 miles.

So, since the brown devil is alive and comfortably inhabiting the Nissan's chassis I'm on the hunt for something else and a few weeks ago I had a drive in a 2004 CRD auto. I thought it was great for comfort, roadholding and power. However, I don't often rush in to things and needed some research, also I like how my current 4x4 is all exterior colour coded and has rear privacy glass so it's looking more likely a CRD Limited would be the preferred choice.

All this has led me to your forum. I realise that its common on forums to find problems yet as someone else says there will be hundreds of thousands of the things on the road quite happily and reliably, no trouble.

It seems the engines are good, given at least basic maintenance. There are people however who can break anything.

I have never actually owned an auto, so, given at least basic servicing, how reliable is that? Can they be repaired or should I stay with a 6 speed manual, but then I would worry about the dmf.

I'm puzzled about the oil additive in the back axle, why is LSD specific oil not good enough?

Apart from live wire, bulb and earth, I'm blinded to the mystery of electricity and I worry about issues here too. What should I look for or can I expect things to go wrong?

Now, my others have all been separate chassis/frame and body like a truck and that means that most components are sturdy, designed for farm use, towing, whatever therefore I'm a little concerned about buying a KJ with 80,90, 100,000 miles only to find it will need a load of bushings, joints, arms when it goes for the annual test. Does it follow that being unibody, the running gear is lightweight? The parts do not seem cheap. My replacement ball joint today was £16. I will not be using it on a farm, only occasional towing.

Thank you in advance for any help or advice you can offer. I have not found much else that appeals.
Regards, Jeff

Not sure about the overseas variants, but the US versions have some quirks that can be fixed given you want to spend the money. These include, but are not limited too, air in the fuel, bad thermostat, EGR related issues, bad CAC(boost) hoses from oil contamination, and head gasket issues. All of these have solutions but it just costs a bit. I have had air in the fuel, but not nearly as bad as some people. My stock T-stat is bad as well and am using a bandaid fix until I get Turbo-diesel-freaks new unit. My boost hoses were soggy feeling but never failed, I just found an unbelievable deal on the Mushimoto silicone hoses and couldnt pass it up.

If it is using the 5 speed auto, the 545RFE, then its a pretty stout transmission and was used behind MUCH more powerful engines and in heavier cars here in the US including the 6.4L 470hp Hemi in various high performance chrysler cars.

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2006 CRD - GTB2056 turbo by Dieselguy86, Eco Trans Tune, Lift Pump, Week's, HDS Tstat, Racor Filter, ARP's, OME 790's+Top Plate, JBA 2.5", JBA UCA, Moab's+265/75R16, ARB Bull Bar, 4.10's, TrueTracs

well yes its nice looking jeep but very expensive to maintain , it is good up to 100 .000 miles after that you need to take a break and buy a lot of parts and go to work , after that you're good to go , but i wouldn't do it again , this is my opinion.

I own two, one from new 2005 and another used from 2010. The 100k exercise with timing belt and other stuff means u have to spend some bucks and some labor if u have the tools and place to accomplish. I ve had diesel vehicles, vw, dodge and Chrysler for about 50 years. But I had a very low cost fuel source. Now fully retired . I will keep, but at some point I lll go to gas. Makes no sense, to me, to pay extra for Diesel engine and more for fuel pump with limited mechanic selection. If I was a family commuter and not long distance towing, I would not buy a used crd diesel.

That depends where you are. In Utah where I live, diesel has been ~20-30 cents cheaper than the lowest grade of gasoline for the last 4 months. Its been extremely cheap to drive my jeep lately.

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2006 CRD - GTB2056 turbo by Dieselguy86, Eco Trans Tune, Lift Pump, Week's, HDS Tstat, Racor Filter, ARP's, OME 790's+Top Plate, JBA 2.5", JBA UCA, Moab's+265/75R16, ARB Bull Bar, 4.10's, TrueTracs

I need to move in UT... Here dsl is about 20-40 cents more than lowest grade gasoline. Still good, considering mileage vs gasoline...

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2005 kj CRD, samco, suncoast tc, provent, Kennedy lift pump, GDE ECO full torque, 2nd gen filter head, 245/70/16 a/t tires, mopar light bar, fumoto oil valve, OEM Skid Plates, ARB Front bumper and HD OME, tru cool LPD47391 40k GVW tranny cooler (stock cooler delete), FF Dynamics e-fan and shroud, rocker arms replaced, HDS2 190F thermostat.

I have 2x 2.8 crd's 2003 auto and a 6 speed 2005. I have owned the 2003 for more than 3 years and have towed over 2 tons over long journeys with ease. Usual problems like replacing thermostat, timing belt etc.. With the face lift 2005 on they had to get through tougher emission levels and with it caused serious problems with early oil contamination, fine as long as oil changes are carried out early and regularly. If performance is not on your wish list go with the pre face lift.

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2005 KJ RENAGADE 2.8 CRD 6 SPEED NP242 FULLTIME 4X4

And to op: this jeep is great, giving you're willing to put some money into it to fix fca (or dca) bean counters goof ups. Torque converter and egr are primary issues for me. Since you're in UK, you may not have out egr issues. Suspension is very reliable in my opinion, but like everything old, it may need maintenance. But once you replace a part, you're very likely to leave it there for a while. I do not know about European torque converters, they may be more reliable than our pos stock ones, most of us replaced them with Suncoast or ram truck or euro torque converter, last may be the part that European Jeeps crd come with.

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2005 kj CRD, samco, suncoast tc, provent, Kennedy lift pump, GDE ECO full torque, 2nd gen filter head, 245/70/16 a/t tires, mopar light bar, fumoto oil valve, OEM Skid Plates, ARB Front bumper and HD OME, tru cool LPD47391 40k GVW tranny cooler (stock cooler delete), FF Dynamics e-fan and shroud, rocker arms replaced, HDS2 190F thermostat.

The Export 2004 CRD tends to have less "nannies" monitoring everything so they they tend to be more reliable.
The 5 speed manual box works fine but I have already replaced my clutch assembly at about 100,000 miles...towing a heavy trailer does that. The automatic has the Euro Torque convertor which is the envy of our USA friends and Export CRDs come with the first generation Racor Fuel Filter head which is much better that the stock USA models.

The turbo is a fixed-vane model (I think this is true of the 2004 model!) so puts out less power than the USA models but likewise it is a lot simpler in operation. Also very easy to disable the EGR!

Not all Export models have the Trac Loc limited slip at the rear...check the rear axle for a label stating if that is fitted.This is not a very popular LSD type but I find that as long as I first put the Mopar additive into the rear diff before adding the correct dynosaur oil then it does work fine.

My 2.5 Export CRD is now 13 years old and I have no plans to replace it....only problems were electrical problems caused by a front collision with a tree which I resolved myself....all the documentation is available here on this forum!

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2002 Export CRD 2.5 Sport

Many many thanks for the kind advice. I am narrowing the search now to a 2005 2.8 CRD. The one I test drove a while back had a limited slip, I felt it binding in the car park. Unfortunately it looks like I may have to go to the UK mainland to find something. If I buy from the south of Ireland there will be registration and import tax implications.

i wouldn't do it again , this is my opinion.

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Just today I have bought a 2006 crd auto on 59,000 miles. It's going to be the weekend until I get a chance to ask more questions but I like the way it runs and drives.
And my wife loves the auto box.