Hey guys. Newbie to the forum, but:

I've been contemplating the prospect of a Liberty CRD for a year+ now, and I'm starting to get more serious about it again. My current DD, typically, is an 08 F-150 XL regular cab, 4.2L V6, 5-speed manual; it's 1 of 3 vehicles we have, none of which is good on gas as the other 2 are a highly modded 96 Mustang GT & a stock 09 Pontiac G8 GT. I typically drive 100+ miles a day for work, and offset the cost some by riding my motorcycle when I can, but I need to make a change to the stable. Alas, I need the capabilities of a truck (or similar), so I can't just replace the F-150 with a fuel efficient car. Sure, I could replace one of the others, but my fiance LOVES the G8, and the Mustang is my baby, so...lol.

Anyway, I have this grand vision of a utility-type vehicle that has seating for 5, is capable of towing 5k lbs, has 4wd, yet can get 25 MPG highway or better. VERY tall order, pretty unrealistic, I realize, but the Liberty CRD seems to be the most likely option to fit that bill. I've been doing LOTS of research over the last year or so, and I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what the pros/cons of the CRD, but I still might be delusional...I have this grand vision of being able to get a Liberty CRD with around 100k miles or less, do the typical standard maintenance & upgrades, get a GDE tune & a Suncoast TC, up the power into the range of ~200 HP & mid-300s TQ, and ultimately have a great vehicle to haul stuff around and tow my motorcycles & boat, all while being able to average mid-upper 20s highway MPG when commuting, AND since it's a diesel, have the vehicle last to 200k and beyond without replacing every part imaginable...how crazy am I? Hahaha.

I test drove an 05 Liberty Sport CRD back in Sept of last year, because it was very close to me, but it wasn't in the greatest shape, the CEL was on, and my fiance was not impressed, so I didn't pursue it after the test drive. I liked it well enough for what it was, but I think I would REALLY prefer a Limited over a Sport. I've never been in a Liberty Limited, so one question I have is, does the driver's seat have lumbar adjustment? My F-150 doesn't have it, and it's one of the few things I REALLY dislike about the truck. Is the Limited trim worth waiting for the right deal on, since they aren't as common?

Some searching via Autotrader finds prices in the $10-15k range, with mileage varying widely, and being a Sport or a Limited doesn't seem to really affect the price that much. Is this range pretty standard right now? I have in my mind that the "best" would be an 06 Limited, just because I've seen mention that those were "more refined", but is this accurate?

I'm sure I'll have many more thoughts/questions...I appreciate any input! It will probably be a bit before I can really look consider examples that I find on the market, as I'm currently trying to sell my F-150, but hopefully this will help me decide/confirm that a Liberty CRD is what I want to go with. Thanks!


Edit: Oh, and just to clarify, I have considered the extra fuel cost that is inherent to diesels here in the US...I have some sort of obsession with the idea of owning a diesel, and again, the Liberty CRD seems to fit my wish-list better than any other option I've found.

All 2006's were limiteds.......and just because its a limited doesn't mean it has leather, and just because its a sport doesn't mean it has cloth.

My 05 sport has every option except for the EVIC and sat nav.

also the leather seats are basically cloth seats with leather, no difference, the leather seats are not even guaranteed to be heated leather either.

Neither cloth nor leather are particularly comfortable, IMO the seats kinda suck. And no, no lumbar adjustment.

Limited doesn't mean much considering that all 2006's were limiteds. In reality the only thing the limited means is a higher price tag, chrome trim, and painted body flares and bumpers. Thats the only real difference.

While you may find in general limiteds have more options, there no reason a sport won't have those same options. And like I said, all 2006s were limiteds, so they are basically just differently optioned.

You can also search craigslist nationwide for CRDs, either type "site:craigslist.org liberty CRD" or "site:craigslist.org liberty diesel" into google, or use something like crazedlist and you can search nationwide that way. Not as slick as autotrader but you will get more results from private parties.

_________________
http://www.Colorado4Wheel.com
"Its not about what you can DO with your Jeep, its about where you can GO with your Jeep."
Knowledgeable - But Caustic

When I bought my 2006 Limited I test drove a 2006 CRD Sport. They had a red one and a blue on on the lot. At least I'm pretty sure they were 2006s. They were new and it was June 2006. Oddly enough I bought the limited mostly to avoid the sunroof (sports had it, limited didn't). The trim levels seem to have a lot of variation in what's provided.

_________________
2006 CRD Limited
SEGR Mod
Saikou Michi Condenser -- Deleted
Samco Hose Kit
Fumoto 102
Etecno1 GX3123 Steel 7V Glow Plugs
GDE FT Eco and Hot Tunes
JBA 4.5 UCAs
OME Lift

My 2006 is a CRD Sport... CRD's were certainly available in Sport models in 2006...

_________________
Mike Rausch
Bear, Delaware
2006 Liberty Sport CRD 253K

You sound like me, I bought an 07 f150 lariet brand new it was an awesome truck but i started craving an suv or shall i say my greater swiss mountain dog "buddy" needed more room so i sold the ford did reserch and wanted CRD for the same reasons room towing and the torque of a diesel but could not find one in or around jersey so i settled on a mercedes ml500 2002. But the itch for a CRD was still there so i sold the ml500 after 7 months and bought my 2005 CRD from a guy in florida and he was nice to drive it up to VA where we me(i live in jersey) I LOVE THE LIBERTY CRD..BUY ONE. It had 96,000 miles and i paid $8000 cheap because of a scrape and dent about a foot long. Keep looking for one its a BEAST

Anyway, I have this grand vision of a utility-type vehicle
that has seating for 5 - No, I don't care how it's marketed it's really only a 4 seater
is capable of towing 5k lbs - Yes
has 4wd -Yes
can get 25 MPG highway or better - your expectations are more realistic that most potential buyers but be aware that mpg is seasonal and you will only achieve this peak for 2 or 3 months of the year. Expect to get high teens to low 20's in the winter months unless you move a lot further South.
VERY tall order, pretty unrealistic - agreed
do the typical standard maintenance & upgrades - this is not a cheap vehicle to run. With limited aftermarket support many parts are dealer only and expensive. The single source supply chain often leads to critical parts on national backorder which can keep you off the road for periods of time. It sounds like you've got this covered but make sure you have a backup plan.

_________________
Share your ideas freely at https://www.facebook.com/groups/libertydiesels/

About comfort, maybe considering a Grand Cherokee CRD that would fit best? I do not know how many were sold in the USA. They may have been limited to only a few years, like the Liberty, also more expensive but better equipped. GDE also has a tune for them, making these even more powerful with the V6 diesel... Again, I did not do any particular research on the history of the vehicle...

_________________
RIP 10/31/2012
Green Metallic 2006 CRD Limited
GDE Hot tune ~ Pre-F37 TCM ~ Transgo shift kit ~ MagnaFlow ~ Homemade Provent ~ OME 2" lift & Airlift ~ Samco ~ Euro TC ~ Lift pump ~ Nylon fan blade & Hayden clutch ~ Etc!

Talk about a tall order...

A diesel is not a gasser. (duh) Upping the power on a diesel is not as easy. You want a power gain of 40 hp...

...this engine will not live long.

It's only a little 4 banger, not a V8.

As was said, I think you will be much happier with a 3.0 CRD Grand Cherokee

_________________
Cherokee 2,5 CRD: sold - Wrangler TJ 2.5: gone - Touareg V10 TDI: new toy

Solo Liberty en Español: Jeepliberty.es

How close does GDE's performance tune come to those power goals? If the transmission and especially the torque converter are upgraded, may do pretty well. It's not that the engine isn't capable of more, it's that the engine was detuned to save the transmission...

? Mark

_________________
--
2005 Liberty CRD
2004.5 Cummins 5.9L TD, F1s, NV5600 6-speed in a '93 GMC Suburban

GDEs tunes even without the turbo upgrade meet those hp/torque specs see http://www.greendieselengineering.com/g ... d=perfComp

_________________
Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

One difference to consider in your deliberation is the '05 models do not have traction control whereas the '06 models do.

_________________
2005 Liberty Limited CRD; Air Filter Monitor; Samco Hoses; GDE HOT Tune; RL037142AA TC; KJ Interior Rack from All J Products; JBA Adjust-a-strut lift and A-Arms; 245/75R16 Firestone Destination ATs on Moabs; ARB Bumper; ASFIR Skids; FS-2500 Bypass Filter; ARP studs.
2016 Grand Cherokee Overland CRD.

Guys, thank you for all the great responses! I apologize for taking a LONG time to respond, things have been busy as hell…



Sam – Thank you for the detailed info! Good to know that the Limited adds little more than cosmetics to the Liberty; I figured it would add some more luxury/comfort, but apparently that’s not the case. I’m disappointed to hear that adjustable lumbar was not offered in any trim; not having adjustable lumbar is one of my biggest complaints about my F-150. That’s a pretty big negative…

Thanks for the heads up on the search tactics. Crazedlist is a great way to search more efficiently!




Thanks for sharing, glad to hear that the swap went well for you and that you’re really enjoying the CRD. Do you do much long distance driving? If so, how is the comfort level, in comparison to your old F-150? Your Lariat certainly had nicer seats than my XL, but I’m still curious.




-Haha, yeah, I suppose in reality, it’s only a 4 seater for any significant distance, but it does have room for 5 for trips around town and such, along with the rear space for dogs/stuff. I realize I’m not gonna pack 5 average adults into it and go across the country
-So, you’re saying that when the weather is colder, the Liberty CRD only averages maybe 20 mpg? That’s disappointing to hear…what’s the temperature point where the mileage typically drops off? Is there logic behind this? I would’ve expected losing 1-2 MPG during the winter, similar to a gas powered vehicle, but not 5+. Is this related to diesel fuel being more viscous? I’m gonna have to research this some more.
-Good to know. I realized that there wasn’t much aftermarket for upgrades, aside from GDE, and I understand that diesels typically cost a little more to maintain, but the idea is that you make-up that difference in the longevity of the engine…perhaps that’s not the case with this 2.8L from VM?




I was actually interested in the GC CRD before the Liberty, and I even test drove an 08 Overland…VERY nice vehicle, incredible interior, but I can’t stomach the sticker price on the ones I’ve found (20k+, even with 80k or more miles), and I’ve seen widespread speculation about the reliability of the OM642, especially in the GCs since the engine has very specific maintenance requirements. Oh, and the fact that DC put a poorly matched 5-speed auto behind the CRD means that it can’t do better than low-mid 20s in mileage. GREAT in concept, I’d still probably buy one if they were more reasonably priced, but seems like the implementation could’ve been better. Hopefully the rumor of a new diesel GC materializes and is offered for a bit more reasonable price. Or, another light-duty diesel SUV entirely, hahaha.




Thanks for the link!




Good to know. I don’t have much of a preference for one over the other, as I’ve gotten by without ESC on 7 vehicles but I have it on my G8 and don’t mind having it.


I'm still interested in a Liberty CRD, and am casually looking, but to be honest with myself, the more I think about it, the more it may not be my most logical option

Sir Sam you say ALL 2006 Libertys are Limited? I guess I have a rare one then because my title says it is a 2006 Liberty Sport. It has the painted grill and black (non painted) wheel flairs. It had cloth seats but I changed them out to leather. From everything I have found there were both Limited and Sport models available in 2006. +

_________________
2006 Liberty Sport 2.8 CRD grey/grey leather seats
EHM, ORM, Front leveling kit
Fumoto F-102
New factory thermostat, new fuel filter head
Timing belt,water pump,lifters,rockers,cams,turbo at 71K again @ 73K

2007 Grand Cherokee 3.0 CRD Limited, Stone White, Gray leather seats
All the bells and whistles
Ehm
2 " Lift, tune coming soon

No I take that back, we have been through this before, in 2006 for whatever reason you could only build them from Jeep as limiteds back in the day.

I was collecting numbers on the production awhile back but I lost my data with a hard drive crash.

_________________
http://www.Colorado4Wheel.com
"Its not about what you can DO with your Jeep, its about where you can GO with your Jeep."
Knowledgeable - But Caustic

Good info True about pricing, though, they are indeed expensive! About an upcoming alternative, I would not even bet a dollar on DCX/FIAT for putting upfront a JEEP product in diesel version. They specializes in hot air emission and heavy manure production mostly, no trust and no faith I actually think Mazda will introduce the SkyActiv-diesel CX-5 and that might prove very interesting...

_________________
RIP 10/31/2012
Green Metallic 2006 CRD Limited
GDE Hot tune ~ Pre-F37 TCM ~ Transgo shift kit ~ MagnaFlow ~ Homemade Provent ~ OME 2" lift & Airlift ~ Samco ~ Euro TC ~ Lift pump ~ Nylon fan blade & Hayden clutch ~ Etc!

As you can see I get lows of ~20 to highs of ~25. My mix is about 50% highway, 10% city and 40% rural roads. The poor FE is a combination of temperature, slow warmups, additional friction, viscous heater, winter fuel mix etc... and I don't even run with winter tires!

_________________
Share your ideas freely at https://www.facebook.com/groups/libertydiesels/

dirtmover - Very nice graph! It'd be great if the ambient temperature was graphed also, might help to see the correlation, but clearly you get the best mileage when it's warmer.

Being in Canada, I'm assuming that you use a block heater when it's cold out? If so, does it not warm the engine enough to get it up-to-temp relatively quickly. If I end up getting a CRD, I will definitely be adding a block heater if it doesn't already have one.

My 70 mile each way commute is 95% highway, so in theory, that would help me maximize fuel economy, but I might still be expecting too much.

I live in new jersey and bought it in Va that was pretty much the furthest that I drove it and it wasnt bad just a little tight. Its not as comfortable as the lariet..Enjoy!!