I have a 2005 KJ Renegade. I absolutely love it. Love everything about it. However, the lease is up soon and it's time for something new.

I took a new KK out for a few hours last week and was dismayed at the cheap plastic interior, specifically the door panels. My Renegade's doors are at least 50% leather. New Liberty? 100% plastic. Very very dissapointed in the finish work. Even the plastic in my KJ seems "nicer" than the plasic in the KK.

Am I alone here? My bud just bought a Hyundai Elantra, whose interior puts the new Liberty's to shame. What is Chrysler thinking?

Does anyone know of any aftermarket alternative that could possibly get me into a KK? I'm wondering if the MyGIG/Nav and SkySlider roof would distract me enought to live with the Fisher Price Edition KK?

I guess I'm getting spoiled in my old age? Maybe a step up to the Commander is in the cards.

I thought exactly the same thing ,cheap looking plastic in every direction .It's sad when hyundai looks to have used better quality materials than chrysler.The plastic in our kj's isn't the best of quality ,very easily scratched but in terms of looks it appears to the eye to be made of better quality materials.

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2004 2.8 crd Limited

Buy out the KJ at lease end then if you really like it as you say.

The Renne's are nice.

Besides, plastic is in all vehicles.

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05 BLACK KJ - 42RLE & NP242
Skids, Hooks, Bent Rock Rail, Lifted, A/T's, etc.
NY and PA and Florida ONF Special Custom Organic Trail Rash

As a former KJ owner (03 Rene, 07 Limited), I have to agree with your observations regarding the interior. However, after purchasing my KK, I couldn't be happier. The ride quality alone makes up for the cheap plastic interior (also, if anyone hasn't noticed, there isn't much of a dashboard in the KK). Add to that the amenities that you receive with the purchase (fancy stuff you don't need on the trail i.e. memory seats, MyGIG, auto climate control), and the KK wins hands down for the price you will pay. The boxy look has grown on me even though I hated it at first; now I can't seem to stop myself from turning around every time I exit the vehicle to marvel in it's aesthetics.

KK seems fine to me. The way I see it, plastic is alot easier to clean than other stuff. And, the ride is alot better than my previous vehicle.

_________________
-08 KK Bright Silver Met.
Mopar front tow hooks,
Mopar Skids
Curt class III/IV hitch, and wireing
O.K. Offroad steel reciever shackle
Zune 80 gig for the tunes,
(Do Jeep slush mats count?)
Life size Amstaff terrier bobble head in rear seat

In all european reviews Jeep vehicles are heavily criticized for the extremely bad and cheap finishing. American vehicles in general are not well regarded as to the finishing compared to Japanese and European standards, but Chrysler/Jeep are among the worst.
This added to the general low build quality and unreliability, it will remain a minor brandname overhere.
If I decide to trade my KJ for again a Jeep KK, it will be thanks to the modest pricing (low US dollar) and unique design (I don't know an equally compact 4-door true offroad 4x4).

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KJ 2.8 CRD auto 2005
Cherokee (France)
OME shocks, King Springs +2"
Mopar skid plates (3x)

i'll stick with my kj rene, i couldnt give up my rene to go to a sport or limited.

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2004 Liberty Renegade
Silver, loaded
Full skid plates
255/65/16 yokohama Geolander A/T-S
Tow hooks
Flowmaster super 44

Pure economics, I'm afraid. I'm getting such a great deal on a new vehicle, it would cost me more to buy out the lease than to lease a new one. Plus, my baby is worth about 3 to 5 grand over the buyout, so I'm hoping to sell 'er and make a few bucks.

And I do agree that plastic is in all vehicles, of course. I do think it's a bit overboard in the new Liberty. My love of Jeep's will never blind my ability to pick them apart, especially in the face of plain ol' CHEAP materials.

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2005 Liberty Renegade - Every option

one thing i've noticed about foreign cars with "nice" interiors and American cars with "cheap" interiors. for example: My mom got her '02 Sequoia in mid '05, I got my '02 KJ in late '05, both with about 50k miles on 'em. Her Sequoia's interior seemed better finished than that of my KJs at the point of purchase...

After about 3 years on both vehicles, I've put 50k on mine, she's put 75k on hers (that we've both put on) the KJ's interior looks MUCH better, as far as normal wear and tear goes (and I'm a lot rougher on my KJ than she is her 'yota), so which one is REALLY higher quality? the upholstry on the Sequoia's seats looks like ratty mouse hair, the carpet's crap, yadda yadda. Look at all the spiffy interiors in Audis and BMWs and Benzes...then look at a few that are 5 years and 100,000 miles old, and compare it to a 5 year old, 100,000 mile American car. Pretty poopy lookin the Germans are, ain't they?

it's sad that all anybody cares about is how the interior looks when the car's new, and not what it will look like in 5-10 years. Simplistic plastic is fantastic! Go KK Go!

[/soapbox]

I will agree my KK has a ton more plastic than my old mazdaspeed but it is also 10x easier to clean. So now I don't have to worry soo much about the dirt on my hands or mud on my boots when I get it. To me easier to clean wins over leather.

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08 KK OEM skid plates, JK winch bumper w/ Hella 500s, K&N filter, JKS front discos, black out headlights w/ fogs added, blacked out & euro mod tail lights, Curt Hitch w/ oem wiring, OME Springs, JBA UCA & top plates, Cabin Filter Retro Fit, Custom Fender Mounted Light Mounts w/ Hella 500s, ATH roof bars, rear flush mount LEDs

It wasn,t just JEEP getting bad reviews because of plastic interiors , it was all CHRYSLERS products in general.....even their new minivan , which BTW chrysler owns 29% of the WORLD market in, was criticized for having a poor fit and finish as well as too much plastic, same with their 2 new cars avanger and sebring......I guess its cheaper to produce, and I also agree with toy4everyseason that it is 10x easier to clean and make look new again as well as replace it you do damage it.

I think plastic belongs in a Jeep or a mini-van. Sometimes, however the way Chrysler does it looks too cheap. I looked at a Compas and the plastic edges did not even line up-- the seams were visible. That is not excusable.

Frankly, I would like to see rubber zip out flooring you can hose out in them come standard too.


But in a Chrysler... cheap plastic is always a sin. Chrysler should not be bottom feeding with plastic interiored anything.

FWIW, my wife and I passed on going with a Buick (which is her preferred manufacturer) because as we call it, "too much bling". There is faux chrome everywhere. And where there isn't faux chrome there is plastic or poorly padded leather. Even our 2004 Buick Regal had a much nicer interior. With two dogs which we regularly bring along with us the new Buicks screamed "scratch me!" and so we decided to pass.

No, the inside of the Liberty isn't posh, but it's not supposed to be. A bit more plastic than necessary but I've looked around and I've seen vehicles which supposedly are build on interior quality look worse than the Liberty. And I actually like the pseudo carbon fibre dash trim in the center unit.

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2008 Jeep Liberty Limited - Silver Metallic
Auto Transmission, Selec-Trac II, 16" Wheels (Wrangler SR-A), Factory Skids, Tow Pkg, MyGig, Premium Group II, Sunroof

ThunderbirdJunkie:
Look at all the spiffy interiors in Audis and BMWs and Benzes...then look at a few that are 5 years and 100,000 miles old, and compare it to a 5 year old, 100,000 mile American car. Pretty poopy lookin the Germans are, ain't they?
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That's complete Bull Crap and you know it, I drove a '92 Audi 80 last week and the interior was as fresh as new and just in case you are woundering, it had over 250.000 Miles on the clock and still running smooth and rust free.

The plastic in the KJ was already cheap stuff but at least it did not rattle but the KK is wall to wall cheap plastic of the quality (and shape) of a 1970's Korean walkman.
Even Chrysler managment agreed in a memo leaked to the press last year that their interiors where inferior to the competition.

Newyork Times:

"But I was overwhelmed by the cheap look of the cabin, which provided all the charm of being seated in a plastic bucket. In addition, it appears that when the design team did the footwells they took “footwell” literally. These are so narrow that it is best to put one foot there at a time. The owner’s manual offers no suggestions about what to do with the other limb"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/autom ... ref=slogin
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http://www.leftlanenews.com/chrysler-to ... riors.html
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http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2 ... ankru.html
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The cabin is covered with cheap plastic that rarely seen anymore in Europe but not in the States, especially is in Chrysler’s showroom. Quality of assemble falls behind competition. Dash and controls are simple and function-bias, but it seems lack of any more sophisticated gadgets, say, satellite navigation. Well, I know this is the United States, but at least there must be a place reserved for the installation of such equipment for the overseas market. For those who’ve seen Fiat Multipla and New Beetle, the cabin of PT seems lack of design and color.
http://www.autozine.org/html/Chrysler/PT-Cruiser.html
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http://www.leftlanenews.com/chrysler-wo ... edans.html
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Just to name a couple, I bet you won't find this kind of complaints about Audi or BMW.

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The most repeated sentence I heard from my dealer was "I'm sorry YOU are not happy with our service" so it was still my fault.

I'm not going to defend plastic, but I think it's a bit unfair to compare a $30K SUV against a BMW or Audi. Take a look inside a $40K Buick Enclave which doesn't have half of Liberty's off-road capability. True, you will find less plastic to be sure (although lots of faux chrome), but again, at a cost of off-road performance.

A little more of an "apples to apples" comparison needs to be made here I think.

Edit: *Buick Enclave, not Escalade*

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2008 Jeep Liberty Limited - Silver Metallic
Auto Transmission, Selec-Trac II, 16" Wheels (Wrangler SR-A), Factory Skids, Tow Pkg, MyGig, Premium Group II, Sunroof

WTF is that? Caddy?

_________________
-08 KK Bright Silver Met.
Mopar front tow hooks,
Mopar Skids
Curt class III/IV hitch, and wireing
O.K. Offroad steel reciever shackle
Zune 80 gig for the tunes,
(Do Jeep slush mats count?)
Life size Amstaff terrier bobble head in rear seat

LOL - that is what happens when one posts on cold medicine!

I mean Buick Enclave of course.

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2008 Jeep Liberty Limited - Silver Metallic
Auto Transmission, Selec-Trac II, 16" Wheels (Wrangler SR-A), Factory Skids, Tow Pkg, MyGig, Premium Group II, Sunroof

When I first started looking for my latest ride I was thinking the Patriot or the Compass for the mileage but I just couldn't accept all that plastic feel so I finally decided to go used and found my 05 Limited instead. Payments are less so the difference goes in the tank.

_________________
Jason
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Good Job. Sure hope you are feeling better.

_________________
-08 KK Bright Silver Met.
Mopar front tow hooks,
Mopar Skids
Curt class III/IV hitch, and wireing
O.K. Offroad steel reciever shackle
Zune 80 gig for the tunes,
(Do Jeep slush mats count?)
Life size Amstaff terrier bobble head in rear seat

if it was bullcrap and I knew it, don't you think I would have posted differently? And I'm sorry, but posting links to other peoples' opinions to disprove my opinion is not a way to prove me wrong.

Every 100k mile Audi, VW, Benz, BMW, Saab, et al, has a worn out looking interior that looks like it belongs in a late 70s Oldsmobuicillac (not that you know what that means, being Scottish and whatnot), as far as wear is concerned. Simply put, you cannot refute my own findings, beliefs, and observations based on the findings, beliefs, and observations of others when the subject matter is SUBJECTIVE. Low quality is a FEELING, not a FACT. Are Ferraris high quality? if so, why do they have to be serviced every 6,000 miles beyond simple fluid changes? SERIOUSLY, dude.

Yes, NEW, the Europeans are light years ahead as far as interior fit/finish WHEN NEW...but my 100k mile KJ looks better than my grandfather's similar mileage, similar vintage Audi TT, and looks better than most other 100,000 mile cars I've seen/driven in terms of wear.

Don't tell somebody their opinion is wrong. I'll tell you that the Audi 80 is an enormous heap of crap, and it's still not wrong because it's AN OPINION. I don't know how things work over there in Engl...er...the UK...er... Scotland, but here in the USA we have this guarantee called the First Amendment, which allows me to voice my SUBJECTIVE VIEWS, even if nobody else shares them.