2005 liberty limited 125K miles

bigbillyboy · **Joined:** Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:10 pm **Posts:** 75

I'm looking at buying above listed car. There is a chance I can get it for about $9K. I'm pretty handy and work on my own cars. I currently own a mercedes diesel and Excursion with the PSD. I've read a bunch on the forum, but just wonder how many people have high miles on their Jeeps. I think I saw one guy on here with 170K, and another with 140K. My guess is, properly maintained, you could get 200K out of the little liberty. You guys agree?

Thanks
Jason

stoutdog · **Posted:** Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:41 pm

You should easily get 200k out of it. If you don't know the maintenance records of this particular vehicle, I would recommend doing a whole lot of work asap: all new fluids/filters, serpentine belt, timing belt, clean the MAP sensor, replace the CAC hoses if they are oily, etc. After that, I'd start to consider any tunes/mods.

geordi · **Posted:** Mon Jun 21, 2010 11:38 pm

Stoutdog is bang-on with his suggestions. For the battl..... Negotiations, :lol:

you should be certain to mention each of these items ESPECIALLY if you can't get a confirmed service history. By confirmed I mean that it comes from the DealerConnect system at any Chrysler dealer, and you get what is called a VIP report. Anytime a dealer tech does more than identify the exterior color, they are supposed to record the mileage and what was done in that system. Warranty status is irrelevant, they are supposed to do it anytime they touch the vehicle.

So... IF you can't get that report that states unequivocally when the timing belt was changed... Start moaning and complaining that you will need to IMMEDIATELY pour $1000 into the truck for the belt service (Don't be scared off, the members here can help you with this and it won't cost anywhere NEAR that amount) and see how much you can get pounded off that number. Play mechanically dumb, that will help you in the battle. Don't forget about the water pump which is also part of the timing belt service (runs on the same belt drive) and is NOT suggested to skip that at this advanced mileage. That adds about $250 to the timing service, which is why it gets close to the $1000 mark, when labor and shop supplies are factored in. IIRC, the book time for the timing belt and WP is something like 4 hours. The rest of the stuff isn't usually considered a big-ticket maintenance item, so they are much less likely to give a crap about those, OR take off anything in response.

Good luck at the battle!

onthehunt · **Posted:** Tue Jun 22, 2010 10:11 am

Anything made in the last 20 years will last 200,000 miles if well maintained...

geordi · **Posted:** Tue Jun 22, 2010 12:58 pm

onthehunt wrote:

Anything made in the last 20 years will last 200,000 miles if well maintained...

Correction: Anything in the last THIRTY years. My family has had the following vehicles, and NONE have less than 100k on them except for my CRD and my motorcycle:

83 Lincoln Town car 250k miles, interior still in excellent shape, exterior, not so much. (rip)
89 Lincoln Mark VII, 205k, wrecked by a jerk with no insurance, totaled. (rip)
90 Lincoln Mark VII (mine) 140k, sold and still on the road afaik.
90 Holiday Rambler 30' RV Chevy 454 engine... 150k+ (not sure how much) but driven recently when I moved back from Virginia to Georgia)
94 Chrysler Town and Country minivan, 220k, still owned b/c of a title issue. (6 bank buy-outs, nobody knows who has the title anymore)
96 Jeep Grand Cherokee I-6, 145k, sold to a friend in Texas. She sold it again a few months later (money pit cursed vehicle, but she got a husband from the parts counter)
97 Jeep Grand Cherokee V-8, 210k, still owned and driven daily.
01 VW Jetta TDI (mine) 150k, sold and still on the road - new owner said it is MUCH faster than his existing twin car, yet has lots more miles
05 Jeep Liberty CRD (mine) 85k currently. Still owned and driven daily.
06 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, 105k, still owned and driven daily.
06 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, 115k, still owned and driven daily. (Yes, we have two of them)
07 Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive, 6900 miles.

Wow... That is a long list. But the truth of it is, if you maintain them, anything mechanical will offer you a good service life. The warranties of 100k from the manufacturers are designed around a mindset of "If they only put gasoline into it and not do ANYTHING else... How long will it last before blowing up" and the answer is... Just about 100k. Should you actually do some maintenance, the service life will easily be double that. For our diesels... I would be confident in saying add another 50% at least, so 300k is not out of the question. It turns slower and runs cooler than a gas engine, both of which put less mechanical stress on the metal parts of the engine.

bigbillyboy · **Joined:** Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:10 pm **Posts:** 75

Is there any way to easily tell if the timing belt has been changed? The car is not local, so I need to have someone else inspect it. It is for sale at a car lot, not dealership, and I want to give specific direction to the person inspecting it.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Thu Jun 24, 2010 12:37 pm

I think you should "assume" that it's not been changed. You definetly want to safe rather then sorry on this engine :shock:

GreenDieselEngineering · **Joined:** Sun Jun 07, 2009 5:10 pm **Posts:** 1111

No way to tell without pulling the front timing cover - 2 hours. 9 times out of 9.1 the timing belt has not been completed, when not coming from a dealer.

Big Ugly · **Joined:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 12:13 am **Posts:** 52

I have the '06 with 177K on it. My biggest worry at this point is that the turbo is gonna take a crap. I would hope the VM diesel will get at least 300K miles on it. That is my goal before even considering getting a new ride and if it is still running well I will keep it longer.

The timing belt with the water pump should cost you well below the $1000 mark if you buy the parts yourself from MoparPartsAmerica online. The dealership will rape you if you buy the parts from them. MoparPartsAmerica sells the parts wholesale. You will save at least $200 on parts alone buying them yourself. I found that out when I had mine changed at just over 100K miles. The dealership had already ordered the parts and then I found out about MoparPartsAmerica. I took their prices in to the dealership and told them they needed to come down on the part cost. They got within $30 of the total part cost so I was happy.

bigbillyboy · **Joined:** Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:10 pm **Posts:** 75

Thanks to all for validating what I thought. I've already started beating the guy up for it. He's "sure" it's been done but can't provide any proof. I told him my offer is based on immediately doing the timing belt. Read the how to on it and it doesn't seem any more complicated than other timing belts I've done.

By chance, does anyone have access to carfax to run a vin report? I suppose I could spend the $35.00, but i'm a cheapskate

Vin is:1J8GL58565W635692.

The rest of it seems to be in very good shape. I got a bunch of pictures and it is totally stock and VERY clean.

thanks again for all the great help. Hopefully I'll be on here more often soon

Jason

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Sat Jun 26, 2010 10:42 am

Don't put too much faith in Carfax :dizzy:

My future daughter-inlaw was sitting in her Passat stopped at a traffic light. A celphone mama in a Chevy suburban crashed into the rear of her slamming her into the car in front. All three cars were totaled and in Ohio that should mean a salvage title :shock:

A recent carfax on the VIN shows the Ohio Passat :cry:

is now in Pensylvania and has had "MINOR damadge to the front and rear" :-)r

A year ago Feburary I bought a very clean 00 XJ and went to the dealer to get a key fob programmed. Doing a carfax on it showed it originally was a 8 year lease and it had been taken it into the dealer before the date I bought it. In actuallity I bought and paid for the jeep before the small lot I got it from had obtained the title from the Hundai dealer where it had been traded in at.

Is there such a thing as an EIGHT YEAR LEASE :?:

And do dealers play games with titles :?:

So take what they say with a grain of salt :BANANA:

bigbillyboy · **Joined:** Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:10 pm **Posts:** 75

Well,
I think I'm going to do it. Got the seller to within $400 of what I was wanting to spend, but it has many options that I wasn't necessarilly looking for like NAV, leather and sunroof. The price takes into account the t-belt and the mileage, and the fact it's 800 miles away. I'm flying out Tuesday, and am looking for any suggestions about CRD specific items to check prior to forking over the check.

I'm pretty excited to be joining the CRD family. I'll post some photos when I get back.

Thanks for all the valuable info here on the lost forum

Jason

geordi · **Posted:** Sun Jun 27, 2010 5:46 pm

Easiest and fastest things to check are the CAC hoses.

Open the hood, (use gloves b/c they WILL be nasty) and grab both big hoses coming from the intercooler and squeeze them all over. You are feeling for any soft spots or holes which would indicate that the hoses are done. They rot out from the inside due to the CCV pumping oil into the turbo and through the intake.

Also check the airbox-to-turbo hose, that has a bad habit of rotting off right at the turbo inlet b/c that is where the oil collects. The hose is NOT insulated and is a plain rubber composition... Which turns to black jello after marinating in oil. Yuk.

Replacement of the hoses is about a $300 parts collection (that is whether you get the aftermarket upgrade OR the uprated factory at wholesale). The airbox hose is $45, no upgrade that I am aware of.

If the vehicle has had an EHM for any significant length of time, the hoses may be OK. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a screwdriver with you and pull these hoses off and have a good look inside them - They will probably be oily, but not excessively so. The CAC hoses have an interior color of orange, and on mine (with an EHM) they still collect some oil, but it is not a thick coating on the hose.

Pulling off the airbox hose at the turbo will also give you the option to finger the turbo compressor (WITH THE ENGINE OFF!!!!!!!!) and feel for any play in the shaft. There shouldn't be any at all. It should rotate freely and smoothly, but not wobble side-to-side or end-to-end.

Check the oil level, but don't be worried if it is a little below the "full" on the dipstick - The dipsticks are WRONG and all you do by filling it right to the top is put that extra (above the actual full for the engine) into the CCV and the intake. The engine will naturally find it's own full level which is below the dipstick marking.

That is about all I can think of right now, if you are driving past Savannah on the way back, send me a PM and I can have a look-see too.

2005 liberty limited 125K miles

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