This is the heart of the matter. There are plenty of people who don't have problems, but you don't hear from them on the forums because they have nothing to report. I'm one of those people - 25,000 miles with barely a hiccup. I took it in a couple times early on complaining about the tranny shudder. But after learning that the dealer had no fix for that I just decided to live with it and not do the things that make it shudder. Other than that - no problems whatsoever.

So just keep in mind that the purpose of these formus is to report problems and explore fixes. But you'll rarely hear about the trouble-free vehicles out there.

Opinion alert: For me, the only mod that is absolutely positively necessary is the addition of skidplates. The oil filter is simply too vulnerable with it.

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05 Liberty CRD
00 Jetta TDI
99 E300 Turbodiesel
82 300D Euro

For what it is worth, I have an 05 CRD, purchased in Nov '06. We have put to date 59,567 miles on it, with no problems. It is in now for the torque convertor recall and ball joint recall. Everything works, still original brakes and tires (although new tires are in the near future). We have off-roaded it (mild), driven through streams, and hauled stuff with it, lots of road miles (I had a 130 mile R/T commute for a while). No mods to it at all, although I understand why folks have done them. The only difference is I went to Rotella in a heavier weight, as I didn't like the 0 weight oil.

This has been a very reliable vehicle, and I am hoping that it will continue to be such. I figure by the time I am done with it, it will have hit 200K, although I have moved and the long commutes are gone.

LMAO!!!

I was going to say... and they all SMELL... Oh he said noses.. not the other end... well noses smell too!

Seriously, I think the '06 model "may" have less issues than the early '05 model.

It is fun to drive, I love the looks I get when I pull up to the diesel pump and, all things considered, unless there was another [Toyota] diesel offered in this vehicles class I would buy the CRD again!

I have no mods and Libby has almost 20K miles on the clock with no problems...

Almost forgot, any manufacturer's dealer will try to blame a mod or find something to not cover repairs under warranty. It is however VERY dealer specific. - As for biofuels... see my siggy.

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2006 4X4 CRD Limited Dark Khaki Build Date 03/06 - Her daily driver

Yes I'm old enough to know better

Thanks for all the great replies.
I'm leaning towards the 2005 for one simple reason-it's the only one that has that sweet DCX 7/70 powertrain warranty.
Sooo, since I will probably have to ship it up here to Ecotopia (Seattle, WA has the highest concentration of biodiesel users in the country, hence diesels are rare and overpriced), I'm looking for a one owner '05 with under 30k miles and maintenance records for around 16k or so. I've seen several, but the right one has yet to come along.
I'm comfortable getting the recall stuff done and doing a couple of the mods that are easy to change back in case the rig has to go back to the dealer. Btw, if you have a fuel-related problem and you run biodiesel, many TDI biodiesel owners have simply drained the tank and refilled with dino before going to the dealer. Hey, they screw us, why not give it right back?

My service rep wasn't too worried about bio. Just told me he didn't want to see any french fries floating in the tank. My salesman actually gave me a business card from "Grease Car".

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Dave

'06 CRD Limited, Lt. Khaki, MOPAR Slush Mats/Skids, DrawTite Front Hitch, Mag Lite, Yakima Bars, Thule Bike Rack, Fumoto, ORM, 245/70 Revo 2

Wish list: Lift, Boulder Bars, Something Bigger in the Front and Back, More Lights