ok.. lets hear it

2006 KJ · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 9:57 pm

Just out of curiosity... what is the story behind your liberty? I figure some might have pretty interesting ways they ended up buying their KJ.. or atlesat some good reasons Why you bought your liberty.

jcphoto20 · **Joined:** Sun Nov 19, 2006 1:36 am **Posts:** 507

wife wanted a 4x4 for the snow. i researched everything, the only negative thing about the liberty at the time was mileage. fortunately i fixed that.

anyways, she test drove it with a friend of hers and told me to go check it out.

loaded leather, tow, sunroof, sticker was $31K. it was pouring down rain, we were the only ones there all day, got it for 25K

when i was test driving it tho, i noticed it had about an inch of play in the steering. drove it home, stupid dealer said parttime was the setting you put it on on the street. well anyways, first 100 miles home was on the wrong setting, should have messed it up i guess, but fortunately it was raining and never had any problems with it since, driveline wise.

went back next day to get them to change the steering box. at 2nd oil change at 1000 miles, noticed a big honking bolt was just hangin out of i think it was the front differential to frame, i forget. i was so P.O.d anyways, took it to the local stealership for its first of many trips there. they double checked everything, and retorqued the bolt, said nothing else was loose.

had the local stealership put the upper rear jeep spoiler, took 3 days and another trip for them to almost put it on straight after they initially drilled the holes wrong and put the wrong nutzerts in.

i think this is where they most likely drilled through the wires to the rear interior light, it periodically has come on while sitting there in the garage. instant on, on for about 45 sec then instant off, no fade. a couple trips to the stealership left this unsolved. but no dead battery yet.

had the right front window fall all the way to the bottom when she was driving it one day as it started pouring down of course. took the stealership 5 trips to fix it right.

had the latest BJ recall done, was no play in one original BJ at 45K and negligible amount in other, i feel lucky since others here have had them fail or have horrendous amounts of wear in the first 12K

brakes also, at 50K original fronts only half worn, rear drums way over half left

ive done all the snake oil gas mileage tricks except for cold ram air and a aeroturbine muffler soon coming, and i currently get upper 19s average mileage, almost 25 hwy.

i forgot and left out the whole $700 BCU a week after our 5 year warranty and a week before christmas last year

RQuarte · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:23 pm

KJ is my first car, got it for an amazing deal from some lady in the city, she never put it four wheel drive the entire two years she owned it. Best car i've ever owned. :lol:

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:30 pm

Bought it.. Never had any problems. love it.

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:45 pm

Bought my KJ cause I put to many miles on my '01 Grand.Except 1 faulty belt tensioner(my fault,I wash my KJ to much :lol:

) and the usual LBJ's(now fixed with MOOG's) no other problems that wasn't due to very hard abuse(bushings).Oh I almost forgot the 1 major thing,$5500 dollars in hail damage,got a custom paint job thanks to the insurance company.Compared to all my other vehicles I've owned(except my '96 Taraus) my 13-16 mpg is totally awesome :lol:

.It's a Jeep thing :lol:

!

myjeepwalks · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:45 pm

I traded in my lexus is300 for my liberty. The saleman thought i was nuts. He said "let me get this straight, you want to trade in a LEXUS on a JEEP?" I said yeah i'm buying a house and need to lower my monthly bills. This is the only thing in the price range i want to spend that has what i want. I got it for $15k with a jeep certified warranty that i never even got to use!! Plus i needed something 4wd becuase i had to sell my toyota pickup which was my wheelin machine.

I love my liberty though, even more in about a month when the rusty's lift and mtr's go on! :lol:

No problems except ball joint recall done twice and i had to put front brakes on it and a front pinion seal. I got 85k miles on it now.

tommudd · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:03 pm

I was needing a new vehicle due to 2 things 1) I took a new position at work and would need to move to another part of the state plus use my own vehicle on the job and 2) since my DD was a 95 cherokee with 255,000 on it I knew that I needed something else. Since I couldnt buy a new Cherokee went with the Liberty. Got on line found the best deal I could, down in West Virginia, 250 miles from where I was working, they met me in the southeastern part of Ohio at my parents place and I signed the papers. Up to that point had not even test drove one!! Only thing I asked for was it had to be black or red! Signed the papers, hooked on a trailer and moved with it that weekend. Actually took a new job, bought the Liberty, got married, and moved all within a months time. I think the dealer I bought it from is still on the run, they shut him down a week after I bought mine :lol:

bad checks, etc. BUT A GREAT DEAL FOR ME, LOL . He never did pay the other dealership for mine! :lol:

Mine has never been in any dealership garage. Has been in a local garage two times for alignment, thats it. 76000 miles since September 21, 2004, and still doing great. Besides regular maintenence nothing besides LBGs and rear u joints all done by me. Not putting as many miles on now due to them finally giving me a company car :lol:

elephantrider · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:41 pm

bought an 03 kj renegade ( transimission good ) and put 32k miles on it the first year we had it. traded it in before the warranty expired for an 05 kj sport ( transmission iffy ). been building a trail rig ever since.

if you wanted to get an aftermarket tranny for the kj, what are the options, if any .. ?

humptyjumped · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:44 pm

Got into an accident in my Explorer..... while it was being fixed I got a KJ
as a rental.

I liked the ride so much better in the KJ that I sold the Exploder (4 trannies)
and bought a KJ!!!

AndySRT · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:59 pm

well i have always been a mopar guy and my SRT-4 just wasnt cutting it on jobsites. I orginally wanted a XJ but they didnt get the mpg i was looking for. I had heard about the diesel liberty and desided that was the best buy for me considering i put put close to 36k miles a year on any car i use for work and fun. I was one of the ones that made fun of the KJ before i bought one tho. wow was i proven wrong they are plenty capable..

spencevans · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:19 am

I rolled my LX450 four times off the freeway doing 75. I don't recommend falling asleep at the wheel but I did walk away. The vehicle was totaled and I was in the market for a new vehicle. I had test driven a libby when they first came out and I was really impressed with how they handled. I also fell in love with the way they looked. Nothing out there looks like the libby. They are very cool unique little Jeep. When they came out with the diesel option I had to give it a look because I am a diesel junkie. And well, the rest is history.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 1:12 am

Had been watching several wrecked diesel KJs at the auction ever since they came out, on the 4th one to come into the auction I finally won the bid.

First liberty I own and I get to weld in large sections of new body for it...... :roll:

BVCRD · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 8:27 am

Went down to drive a Ford Escape. It was doggy. Drove a KJ 3.7. Same dog, different breed. Drove CRD. Signed on the dotted line.

D.M.B.K.J.52 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 8:30 am

Flew back from Italy on Sept. 11, 2001 and bought ours on Sept. 17, 2001. Absolutely love it!!! Test drove a (shall I say it?) Nissan Xterra and the Libby and needless to say we opted for the Libby. Best decision (minus the last 5 years worth of payments) we ever made. Now that it is paid off, it's time to go up with it after I get back from Afghanistan.

peej07 · **Joined:** Sat Mar 31, 2007 8:37 pm **Posts:** 8

Me and my wife have owned 8 jeeps over the last 15yrs. About 2 yrs ago I switched over to an Audi A4 (Great car by the way) but I always had this nagging feeling pulling me back towards the Jeep brand. I work for a local VW/Audi dealership and about 2 weeks ago a customer traded in an 04 Ltd loaded in white with 38k on it. So I thought to myself, self I've never owned a liberty yet I guess now is as good a time as ever. I brought it home that night and after a long talk with my wife I took the plunge! Haven't been happier in a long time I already ordered my lift and new tires. Let the mods begin!

FastTRX · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:50 am

Started driving with a Ford Taraus that was handed down to me from my mom. Had like 180K on it and it ran ok...fun to beat the living crap out of (sucked that is was FWD). Decided I wanted my own vehicle, originally decided I wanted a truck but I started thinking about a Jeep or SUV of some sort. I had always liked the KJs when they came out, so they had always appealed to me. I read a couple magazines about the KJ, including the infamous one that puts the KJ up to the H3, FJ, and X-Terra. Started looking for KJ websites...found L.O.S.T. I searched around and looked at the aftermarket selection for them and to see what owners were doing to their rigs.

Went to an offroad park with a friend of mine to ride our quads about a year ago (ride mx nationally) and I happened to see a group of Liberties on a run. It inspired me, especially after watching them do a couple lines. Soon after I began looking for a KJ. I then found that the L.O.S.T. Midwest group was the group I had seen...so that definitly gave more inspiration, knowing that there were fellow KJ owners who wanted to wheel in my area or atleast close.

After searching for many 02's and knowing what I wanted, I finally found my 02' sport and I'm the second owner. It was taken care of and runs good and for the price I paid I can't complain. I'm in high school and I couldn't afford a new renegade or a newer KJ...but I love my sport. It is soo fun to drive and wheel...its perfect for me.

Ironically...2 weeks after I bought my KJ I was already wheeling it at the Badlands offroad park...

gopherbeats · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:23 pm

I had it narrowed down between the Ford Excape.. and the Liberty. I test drove each.. and man was the Liberty fun! Plus the added fun of being able to join a Jeep club, and more options available to modify my vehicle. the Libby had it sold..

BVCRD · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:53 pm

gopherbeats wrote:

I had it narrowed down between the Ford Excape.. and the Liberty. I test drove each.. and man was the Liberty fun! Plus the added fun of being able to join a Jeep club, and more options available to modify my vehicle. the Libby had it sold..

I was looking at the Escape hybrid although that wasn't the one I test drove. If I lived in Denver or some other metro, I may have considered it, but here, we do very little city driving. We only have one stop light.

pokefan · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 1:01 pm

humptyjumped wrote:

Got into an accident in my Explorer..... while it was being fixed I got a KJ
as a rental.

I liked the ride so much better in the KJ that I sold the Exploder (4 trannies)
and bought a KJ!!!

That's the same thing that happened to me accept I never got my Grand Am back poor guy was totaled :twisted:

but I was quite happy about the news!

Funny thing though, The guy that totaled my car was driving an Explorer.

PBrug · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2007 1:24 pm

I had a '94 Cherokee Sport which had 174,000 miles on it and it was starting to show it's age. I never had any mechanical problems with it in the 5 years I owned it, but it was rusting out and the front window leaked very bad. The wife and I just had our first son in 11/2004 and we felt it was time to upgrade. We had been discussing getting a new SUV, and talked about a Ford Escape, Kia Sorento and other cheaper Ute's. At the time my wife did not like the KJ, so it hadn't been discussed. The plan was for us to get an SUV and once her lease was up on the Ultima she had, she was going to take over the SUV and I was going to get a pick-up.

While doing some research I found the new hood design on the '05 Renegades and loved it. Then in 02/2005 Jeep was running a 0% + $2,000 cash back deal on the KJ so we decided to take a look. We both really liked the new design, and to my surprise my wife loved the look of the Renegade with the lights, rails, fenders, etc... We took a test drive and decided to buy the KJ. They didn't want my old Cherokee, but we got the KJ for right around Invoice plus we got the 0% and $2,000 cash back.

Needless to say shortly after buying the KJ our/my plans changed. The plan for her to take over the SUV was no longer. I told her she could get whatever she wanted after her lease was up and I wanted the KJ as my primary vechicle. She was fine with that as well. My company then switched to company cars so we now have the KJ and a Chrysler Sebring. The new co. car will be either a Dodge Charger or Dodge Nitro, later this year.

ok.. lets hear it

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