CRD Purchase Advice

mcnaughb · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:55 pm

I'm thinking about purchasing a CRD Liberty. My wife likes this car and it will be her daily driver (the gas Liberty is not an option, I already have a 14 MPG Hemi Durango). Besides, I'd like to run some bio-Diesel so I can send my money to some farmer in Iowa instead of someone who would prefer to blow up my house. She has been driving a GMC mini-van for 10 years and she prefers a car with a higher ride height vs. a VW TDI

I'm fairly mechnically capable...I own a set of wrenches anyway, but most major repairs would be done by the dealer or third party mechanic. I do want somethign that is for the most part, reliable.

Would those of you who own this model be inclined to purchase it again? If so, would you recommend the 05 or 06?

Thanks.

chadhargis · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 6:11 pm

I have only had my CRD for about 1500 miles, but I love it.

Some have had issues, but most of them have been addressed with recalls or via warranty.

As with any vehicle, take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt. Some folks expect a vehicle to have no issues for 200,000 miles. Some understand they are machines, and they do break. Some folks decide that something is broken before they ever have an issue with it, others wait for it to break, then replace it with a superior part.

For the most part, I think these things are great little vehicles. I'm getting about 21mpg in mostly city/short trip driving, which is better than the PT Cruiser I had, and MUCH better than my old Ford Explorer V8. In the one highway trip I took, I spent about 300 miles on the highway...and turned 24mpg for the tank. I'll be doing my first full tank highway trip this Sunday...so I'm sure I'll see around 28mpg or so. Can't beat that in a 4300lb 4x4 SUV with the aerodynamics of a brick wall.

I also tow a 5'x10' utility trailer with my motorcycle on it. I figure it was about 1200lbs or so. I couldn't tell I was towing anything! SWEET!! Still got 20mph on that tank with about 90 miles of towing!

I have a 2005, but some bugs were worked out for 2006. The 2005 model with all the recalls done should be just as reliable as a 2006.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 6:16 pm

Plenty to read on this forum and maybe here :

http://www.epinions.com/content_355681996420

techTim · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 6:23 pm

what he said

I towed a 6000# load of sandy loam and the brakes are up to it (barely) but the engine seems to be hardly working!
on long highway trips I average 28.8 mpg, and around town in the mid twenties. can't touch that kind of performance in anything out there! I'll stop yelling now :wink:

look around here for some of the "shortcomings" and I bet you can find more solutions to them than you will know what to do with. I also like giving my money to some local farmer over Mr exxon, feels american to me.

mcnaughb · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 6:55 pm

I see you are in Oregon as am I...did you suffer from the airbox issues regarding rain?

DZL_LOU · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 7:18 pm

There are days when you absolutely love this vehicle.
There are days when you wonder if you should have bought a TDI.
There are days when your other half will look at you wondering why your so obsessed with this vehicle
There are days when you curse DCX for even being associated with a Jeep
There are days when your vocabulary consists of three character acronyms: F37, EGR, FCV, ORM, MAP, MAF, PCM, TCM, EGT...
There are days when you look at your savings account and wish for a new TC, TransGo Kit, Tranny Pump, In Motion Flash, Snorkel, Custom hood with air scoop, MagaFlow Exhaust, ARB bumber, Lift Kit.........
There are days when you think you outsmarted the masses by purchasing a CRD
There are days when you feel as a permanent fixture at the dealership
There are days when you feel victorious at the fuel pump when all other pumps read $3.20/gal

If you can move from emotion to emotion, day to day, then your a perfect owner profile for the CRD.

widowmaker · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 7:32 pm

Lou, you were reading my mind

Well said

KJMedic · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 9:42 pm

I have had problems with mine starting at about 7000 miles but if I would have known then what I know now they would not have been problems. I love my Jeep CRD. I say go buy one and read up on it here on LOST. :lol:

fresh8fly · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 10:40 pm

no regrets here. love it. may be a quirk here or there, but that is with every car. i had complained that i was getting crappy mileage with mine, but on a recent trip, i think the mileage fairy woke up...i'm now getting 28 on trips. very excited. 55,000 on my 2005 and have loved every mile of it. can't think of a more unique suv out there. encourage everyone.

my sister has a 2005 rav4. same size class as a liberty, grated it is "wrong wheel" drive. but what amazes me it my liberty out weighs her rav4 by 1600 lbs!!! i would much rather get into a car accident with 1600lbs more of steel in front of me than recycled beer cans. and we both get the same mileage and have 4wd!!! go figure

DadsDiesel · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 11:06 pm

Dad's two cents,

I have had my Libby since Jan this year. It is my wife's daily driver and I drive it when I can get it from her. We have put about 5K miles on it and it was purchased with 14K on the clock. She babies it and I drive it like I stole it and "chirp" the tires every chance I get. With that combined type of driving we get about 23 mpg. Top speed that I have had her is 100 mph on the freeway.

I plan on running straight veggie in the libby with a two tank system as soon as I find the magical "hidden" spot where a 15 gallon tank will fit without taking up interior compartment space.

The only problem I have had is in the winter when I was out of the country on assignment my wife had a cel and it was the tire pressure sensor. checking the tire pressure "fixed" it. The only other problems I have had is just the worry that I have from reading all the posts here of all the problems others were having.

To evaluate the vehicle:

Interior room leaves something to be desired. A vehicle this big should have more interior room.
Leather seats a little on the cheap side.. BUT it's a Jeep not a Benz.
All creature comforts are nice, GPS, 5 CD changer, power everything, leather.
Ride is that of a Jeep - not a car based "cute 'ute".
Everything WORKS

Acceleration is ok for a 4cyl. Others here report after some "flashes" they had a loss of power.

Would I buy one again??? Hard question. My biggest draw back is the sparse interior room and very stiff ride.

BUT... in the U.S. right now it's the only diesel offering in an SUV of any size short of the $55K VW Touareg.

My advice is to buy an '06 with as late a build date as possible. Most - notice I said MOST of the complaints/problems seem to come from the '05 models.

Remember it is a CHRYSLER product soo.... I had LOW expectations to begin with. I am pleasantly surprised... for now.

I do expect to keep it for a long time so I am not worried about some problems that may come up later in life.

I WILL veggitize it, chip it, bomb it, and have a blast driving it.

It is a fun little car to drive.

Dad

Zonie · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 11:45 pm

I've had the CRD for a year (19,000 miles) and have had a couple of warranty issues. I've done the modifications listed below myself. I've towed a 2000# trailer from WA to AZ, I've had 20 bags (800 lbs.) of mulch in the back, I've pulled a truck out of the ditch. It's smooth as glass on the highway, a mountain goat off road and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Security? I'm a single woman, approaching retirement age. I'm betting on it!

If you're in Oregon, I'd invest $100. in a V6 air box. I spent almost that much in filters in the year before I finally sprung for the V6 air box (and that's just summer monsoons and the rain I hit in my travels.) Average rainfall in AZ is 6" You might see a little more rain than I have....

Bob V · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2007 11:58 pm

mcnaughb, you are where I was a week and a half ago. Wife still loves it! Do a lot of reading here. Knowing that there was a place like this that I could get info at made it an easy choice. I was able to get the repair history on ours, was in the shop 3 times for the glow plugs, but I think it was fixed the last time with a TSB/recall. What year are you looking at? Sport or Limited?

techTim · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2007 12:34 am

mcnaughb-

I just got the lil' libby in early march, searched for months untill I found mine (wifes) in SLC at a toyota dealer for around 3500$ less than a comparable NW one. Got it with just over 8000 miles and have put on around six thousand miles so far. Have replaced the fuel filter once at about the four thousand mile mark, assumed B-20 was cleaning the dinosaurs out of the system, causing stumble and stall. opened it up and found more than a little gray and black crud, but not enough to cause starvation. A couple weeks ago while towing the soil, the thing acted up the same as before, and I pumped the prime pump three times to get positive feedback, and the shaking and no power went away. perfect manners and tons of power. I will be retrofitting the CAT 2 micron adapter and rebuilding the two piece fuel head using a thicker seal, I think that is the cause of a lot of air in the fuel issues, look around and see if you agree. as for the air filter problem, I changed it at the same time as the fuel filter, it was a fram piece, and way junked up, but the same PN as the gas mill. I assume that it was changed at the 8000 mile mark, and looked like a stretch of bad road had been shoveled into it. I will be back to the U-pull-it yard tomorrow to find a gasser air box, sounds like the fix.

good luck with your decision, I would love to find another one for me, OME lift and no extended warranty........ c'mon Lotto .....but no way that will happen. :evil:

My wife and I love it, a bit of research and elbow grease is sure to go along way.

mcnaughb · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2007 1:18 am

Thanks for the replies everyone. In the end it is her decision and compared to the RAV4, it is a truck. But that's a good thing.

Your comments will help greatly in making our decision.

Thanks again.

-Bruce

robert46123 · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2007 8:05 am

The CRD is my wife's daily driver and our weekend vehicle. We bought it new in Feb. '06 and have put 19,000 miles on it. We've had all the recalls and one TSB done to it, and our dealer never had it more than a day on the two occasions we've had it in. I think the people that have had problems with the CRD have had problems with their dealer rather than the CRD. Most new cars have recalls and TSBs that need to be addressed. Finding a good dealer to take care of the issues is another story.

We use it to tow our boat and we tow it behind our motorhome. It's an awesome vehicle for both of those purposes. It's capable off road, and my wife absolutely loves the ESP. (Found in '06 models) She rarely puts it in 4x4 Full Time (SelecTrac) because it's so stable on the road. On the occasion she does put it in 4x4 Full Time she's amazed at how good it is in slippery conditions. It never slips a bit when pulling the boat out of the water even when the rear wheels are immersed in water.

We have been slightly disappointed with the mileage (Sticker showed 22/26), but it's still miles better than the equivalent 3.7 Liberty. It generally gets a tad under 20 in city driving and 23 or 24 on the highway. It does get an amazing 19 MPG on the highway towing our boat! Now that diesel is running $2.65 and gas $3.19 here in Indianapolis, it's really nice to get better mileage on top of that. We run B2 or B5 in it every chance we get, and it's a good feeling too.

Overall, we really like it. She absolutely loves the leather in the limited, and I have a real comfort level knowing she has the ESP and Full Time 4x4 mode available. It's a beefy mid sized SUV, and I feel she's very safe in it.

alljeep · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2007 9:07 am

robert46123 wrote:

The CRD is my wife's daily driver and our weekend vehicle. We bought it new in Feb. '06 and have put 19,000 miles on it. We've had all the recalls and one TSB done to it, and our dealer never had it more than a day on the two occasions we've had it in. I think the people that have had problems with the CRD have had problems with their dealer rather than the CRD. Most new cars have recalls and TSBs that need to be addressed. Finding a good dealer to take care of the issues is another story.

We use it to tow our boat and we tow it behind our motorhome. It's an awesome vehicle for both of those purposes. It's capable off road, and my wife absolutely loves the ESP. (Found in '06 models) She rarely puts it in 4x4 Full Time (SelecTrac) because it's so stable on the road. On the occasion she does put it in 4x4 Full Time she's amazed at how good it is in slippery conditions. It never slips a bit when pulling the boat out of the water even when the rear wheels are immersed in water.

We have been slightly disappointed with the mileage (Sticker showed 22/26), but it's still miles better than the equivalent 3.7 Liberty. It generally gets a tad under 20 in city driving and 23 or 24 on the highway. It does get an amazing 19 MPG on the highway towing our boat! Now that diesel is running $2.65 and gas $3.19 here in Indianapolis, it's really nice to get better mileage on top of that. We run B2 or B5 in it every chance we get, and it's a good feeling too.

Overall, we really like it. She absolutely loves the leather in the limited, and I have a real comfort level knowing she has the ESP and Full Time 4x4 mode available. It's a beefy mid sized SUV, and I feel she's very safe in it.

Please, PLEASE tell me what dealer you use - I'm here in Indianapolis too and you are correct - all of my issues have been dealer related.

robert46123 · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2007 12:28 pm

alljeep wrote:

Please, PLEASE tell me what dealer you use - I'm here in Indianapolis too and you are correct - all of my issues have been dealer related.

We use Westgate Chrysler in Plainfield. The sales experience wasn't the best (My father-in-law works for Chrysler, and we get the "green slip" discount), but I've been pleasantly suprised at their service department's ability to deal with the CRD.

BiodieselJeep.com · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2007 1:19 pm

Our CRD is my wife's daily driver (with 2 kids come this fall :lol:

). From her perspective, she is very happy. Roomy 'nough for us, nice visability, side impact airbags and whatnot with good safety ratings. Comfy. Sunroof makes her happy, possibly the item that help me get my way with the purchase. Plastic interior looks cheap but cleans well, cloth seats have a instant-water marking issue which bugs her (you can read about that elsewhere on this forum). A CRV will ride smoother, but won't pull itself out of a snowy ditch. Overall, my wife really likes the jeep, especially when the snow is falling and the baby is on-board.

One un-mentioned benifit of this vehicle is this very forum. Since you found us, you will soon realize just how amazing it is to have a group on-hand 24-7 to answer every concievable question. On top of that, this forum is like having your own R&D team cranking away to make your Jeep better. For instance, a new CRD owner could gain 4-7 mpg just by reading a few posts (especially on driving style, but also on mods and maintanance). This group of great folks is the best "accessory" you will every imagine...and all free. I doubtthe Honda CRV has something like this kind of following.

If I was a dealer, I would have this website listed on the window-sticker! I actually tried to explain this to the dealer who sold it, but he didn't "get it". Maybe that's why they had to sell the company.

alljeep · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2007 4:08 pm

robert46123 wrote:

alljeep wrote:

Please, PLEASE tell me what dealer you use - I'm here in Indianapolis too and you are correct - all of my issues have been dealer related.

We use Westgate Chrysler in Plainfield. The sales experience wasn't the best (My father-in-law works for Chrysler, and we get the "green slip" discount), but I've been pleasantly suprised at their service department's ability to deal with the CRD.

I'm floored. Westgate is where I've had the 4 worst experiences of my life at a dealership, all with this CRD. Maybe they learned how to work on my '05 and thus you were not the guinea pig. :roll:

robert46123 · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2007 7:31 pm

alljeep wrote:

I'm floored. Westgate is where I've had the 4 worst experiences of my life at a dealership, all with this CRD. Maybe they learned how to work on my '05 and thus you were not the guinea pig. :roll:

Figures. Like I said, for the recalls and the rear brake TSB they only had it one day each time. I also had them swap out the differential fluid while they were at it with the recalls. They did the rear brake TSB after warantee (only 1 year 12k miles for brakes) for only $25 as a good will gesture.

I have to admit, I've been super pleased with them. On top of that, we've just had no problems with the CRD other than the occasional light "shudder" which hasn't bothered us all that much. I got a 5 year 100k warantee, so I'm not all that worried about the shudder as I figure it will play itself out one way or the other. We also got rental car protection with the warantee.

Maybe they did learn alot on your sport!

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