As the result of a long drawn out divorce, I now have 2 vehicles. One is a 03 Excursion 4x4 6.0L (mine) and a 06 Liberty Sport CRD 4x4(was hers, I got stuck with it after the divorce cause she didn't want to make the payments). As a single guy, I can’t justify keeping both, so one of them has to go. I am trying to decide which would be best to keep as a daily driver/BOV. I do my own repairs/maintenance, but some of the bigger things I leave to the pro's.
I love the Excursion on the Highway, it has seating for 8 and tows up to 11k lbs, but the turn radius is rough in tight spots, just like the F250 w 7.3L it replaced. The Excursion has a 6.0L, with the risk of EGR cooler failure. So an EGR repair/delete is in it’s future. It also has mediocre takeoff compared to the F250, so it will be getting gauges, exhaust, head studs and an SCT if I keep it. I think it is coming up on needing balljoints.
The Liberty CRD is smaller than I want, but is all I really need for me so down-sizing to the Liberty is appealing. The turn radius is good and ease of parking is nice. Highway handling is squirrelly, probably because of the 225/75 16 Goodyear Wranglers. I know that supposedly the Liberty in general has a horrible reliability record . A bigger concern is finding affordable parts, or even to find a knowledgeable mechanic willing to work on the engine(I am too chicken to do the timing belt in 20k miles). I am having issues w leg/ hip pain after driving the jeep for longer than an hour, so the drivers seat needs changing and it needs a dvd player for my son. My mom is 84 and wont ride in the jeep, she says it is too small and unsafe. I have done the ORM and EHM mods and the mileage got almost 2mpg better. If I keep it it has a GDE hot tune and a tcm tune in it's future.
The mileage advantage of the jeep never materialized. I have gotten between 17.1 and 21 in the jeep hand calculated. After verifying using GPS I found the speedometer in the jeep was showing almost 7% higher than actual speed. And between 13.9 and 18.7 in the Ex, also hand calculated and GPS verified. I tend to mix city/highway, then every other weekend (visitation) I put about 700 miles on whatever I am driving. Best I can figure, that’s maybe 600 a yr saved with the jeep on fuel (20K miles a year @ $3 gallon), but I am not sure that makes enough difference with the trade-offs to be worthwhile.
I don’t really wheel offroad, but I do drive on a lot of dirt/fire roads and hunt/camp. Hoping to get a small camper (R-Pod maybe) soon to start getting my son involved also. And it would be nice to keep pre-staged in case of a weather related or regional bugout.
And as the economy is big for everyone right now, I can afford to drive either SUV, but would prefer not to keep up both. So I am going to get rid of one of them. I like the Excursion and the jeep, my mom and 3 yr old don't like the jeep and it is smaller than I am used to. So I have been waffling for 3 months as to which to keep. The jeep was supposed to get 26ish mpg and didn't come close. While I am not strapped for cash, if I get rid of the either of them it does free up about 400-500 a month for other things. Unfortunately, neither is paid for. I wish I hadn't gotten rid of the F250 or that I had found a 7.3L Excursion. I got tired of looking and took a decent deal on the one I have.
I realize no one can tell me what to do, but I am looking for suggestions especially seeing as how a few of you here have a lot of experience with the CRD libby and some have downsized from a fullsize diesel truck. I am not considering buying another vehicle, only which of these 2 to keep. I need to keep a backseat, 4x4, and I am a bit of a diesel nut. If Jeep made a diesel Rubicon Unlimited JK I would change my mind in a heartbeat and get rid of both.
_________________ WK CRD, hot, OME lift, quadratec hard rocks, duratracs, MBRP DPF back exhaust,
SOLD-2006 Red CRD Sport 4x4. Hot, Fumoto, Weeks stage 1, ARP studs . SOLD-2006 blue CRD Sport 4x4. Eco, Fumoto.
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