Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

I had this car for 9 years, and it never gave me any trouble at all! Great in the snow too!

Faults:

28000m - Transmission "kicking" while shifting. Fixed by dealer at no cost, no problems since.

45000m - Power rear window failed, leaving window loose in the frame with no ability to move it. Purchased aftermarket part and repaired it myself, but I fully expect the other window to fail at some point.

50000m - Cracked radiator. Replaced through 3rd party mechanic for $300.

55000m - Check engine light due to gas-cap leak. Replaced with aftermarket gas-cap for $15.

60000m - Speedometer intermittent failure. Traced to wiring harness on rear diff. Replaced with new harness (and strengthened it) for $35. Horrible design where the e-brake cable rubs against the speedometer wiring.

General Comments:

After 5 years of ownership, I still love this Jeep. I picked it up to replace my 1998 Wrangler, primarily for a more comfortable ride that's still tough enough to handle foul conditions.

The problems I have experienced (while mostly trivial) have always been due to poor design, never through wear or abuse. Items like the speedometer wiring or the window regulators do not have the durability you'd expect from a brand like Jeep. Luckily, since it's a Jeep, it's easy enough to fix it in your own driveway to avoid absurd dealer service costs. For example, the Chrysler dealer wanted $90 just to diagnose my speedometer problem, even though it was clearly a $30 part and less than an hour work.

Power is great (220 hp) and ride is luxurious, but MPG is pretty sad. I get at best 20 mpg highway, and mixed driving gives me around 12-14 mpg. I'd happily sacrifice a few HP to get better gas mileage.

Faults:

Replaced radiator five times in the last 2 years. Mechanic checked for a bad head gasket. It's good. Cannot find the problem that causes the radiator to go bad. So, I'm stuck with with a lemon.

Faults:

I am very disappointed with my 02 Jeep Liberty overall. I researched for several months before buying and thought I had a winner. Well I was wrong.

I have always maintained my vehicles. I even paid over a thousand dollars for a complete tune up when it reached 35,000 miles, but that didn't stop me from having to shell out $1,900 to have the transmission totally rebuilt at 58,000 miles, and since I bought the SUV when Jeep only offered 32,000/3 years for the warranty, they refused to extend it.

Also during that time I have had every window mechanism fail except for the back hatch, and at $350+ to fix each one, it is really given me a case of buyers remorse. Not to mention just today I spent $95 bucks for a driver side seat belt because a spring that costs maybe 50 cents failed.

General Comments:

If it wasn't for all the mechanical issues, I would have been very happy with this car.

It has ample horse power for its size. Although when the road is wet traction can be an issue, and I have tried several brands of tires with no success.

The seat are comfortable, the layout of the cabin is a little cramped for anyone over 5'11.

Faults:

My lower ball joint on the drivers side separated while driving on I-77 south of Charleston WV. I crashed into a concrete wall. It was fixed. And fixed again. And again and again.

Now the upper ball joint/control arm has broken. Jeep would not do anything (big surprise!). I have joined the investigation into the Liberty that the NHTSA has going. I too feel that Jeep should have replaced my Jeep after the accident, but they would not. Lawyers I talked to said there was no sense in a lawsuit as I thankfully was not hurt.

I tried to trade it in, and the Jeep dealer where I bought it would not give me anything for it because it had been wrecked! Their defective part caused this accident, and I'm left with a car that is worthless!