Liberty info

[FlyingWen]

I am thinking of trading in my Xterra for a 04-06 Liberty. I need the info on gas mileage, comfort, cargo space... basically the works!

My Xterra is a pain to get in and out of the back seat. It is almost as if the door does not open far enough to squeeze your foot out.

Any input would do.

Thanks!

 

[mountainpete]

I am thinking of trading in my Xterra for a 04-06 Liberty. I need the info on gas mileage, comfort, cargo space... basically the works!

My Xterra is a pain to get in and out of the back seat. It is almost as if the door does not open far enough to squeeze your foot out.

Any input would do.

Thanks!

Wendy,

Have you tried the back door/seat of a Liberty? If not, try that out before you go any further. From my limited experience with the Liberty, that was one of the things that stands out in my mind. Very tight.

Pete

 

[computeruser]

My mother has an '05 that is getting traded in on a '08 as soon as they bother to build the new one. It has been a good vehicle, mechanically speaking. No problems that I'm aware of, apart from hers being a magnet for idiot drivers who like to sideswipe other cars. I drove it a bit and it was a nice vehicle, though the little screen kept telling you that it needed to go in for service all the time (I'm sure that an OBD code scanner could clear that if you owned one...maybe). Seats were a bit firm for my taste, but overall it was quiet and comfortable.

Here's my take:

The back seat and door is tight for grown-ups. The front is pretty snug, too. Cargo is OK, but I suspect that your Xterra has more interior room. Overall MPG with the 3.7L should be around 16-20, depending on how you drive it. Nice vehicle all the same, though. Front visibility is actually very good, rear is good. Auto trans seems to shift up and down when you want it to, without having to index the gears manually too much. If they didn't still want $19k for it and if people hadn't run into both sides, we would have bought it to replace my wife's car.

 

[Rob O]

We had a 2004 Liberty Columbia Edition, with 2.5" Skyjacker "coilovers" and 245/75/16 MTRs. It was a great little dual-purpose vehicle, with *little* as the key word. The back seats were adequate for our kids but not really meant for adults. And if rear seat ingress/egress is an issue, it'll be doubly so with the KJ; the rear fender cuts severely into the door opening making it a ***** to get in and out.

Happy to address any other questions about it.

 

[stick]

We have an '03 Liberty Renegade. The space in the back seat is still limited. However, it was an improvement over our Cherokee. The Cherokee has more cargo room, but the Liberty has more leg room for rear passengers. Our Liberty gets 18mpg on average with mixed driving. We can get 20-21 on the highway on long trips, but we can also get 14-15 going up and down mountains. I find the seating to be comfortable and the ride is nice. We actually test drove an Xterra when we test drove the Liberty. We found the Liberty to be more comfy and a smoother ride.

 

[FlyingWen]

Thanks so much for the input. I like my X. It is great off-road, but has only seen the trail twice. We also take FlyingWil's Taco.

The X doesn't really have a lot of pick up and if I am going up a gradual or steep hill... Forget about it! I might as well get out and jog.

I am hoping to test drive some today.

 

[adrenaline503]

FlyWen, do have the 6 cylinder?

 

[Big Daddy Chia]

Wen you should check out the 05 Xterra. Its got more power, gets better gas mileage and has more room in it

 

[chet]

I test drove a Liberty CRD thinking it would be an upgrade over our 4 door sidekick. I was amazed to see they were almost the same size! Thats why we ended up with the XL7. not very good off road (no aftermarket) though.

 

[Big Daddy Chia]

I test drove a Liberty CRD thinking it would be an upgrade over our 4 door sidekick. I was amazed to see they were almost the same size! Thats why we ended up with the XL7. not very good off road (no aftermarket) though.

U can get a lift kit and a few other goodies for it.

 

[BIGdaddy]

took an extended test drive with a liberty, before deciding on our LJ unlimited


-rear seat is small, but i fit ok (6'-275lbs)
-ride is squirrelly on the road
-engine is loud on the highway
-load area is pretty small
-its ifs, i.e. a pain to lift or modify

-i didn't understand why i should get 18mpg for a truck that can't hang with a wrangler, but is in the same price range. only thing would be that its easier to get kids in and out of the back.

-if i was going to buy a cute ute, light duty offroader... i think i'd rather have
the patriot's 28mpg and whizz-bang traction control. they're about the same size in my opinion, and i think the patriot offers more bang for the buck

 

[SunDvl]

Our Liberty has been a good vehicle. However it is extremely tight on space. They make decent offroad vehicles but the front diff housing cracks under extreme load (typically when going from no traction to sudden traction). There is a website dedictated to Libertys - http://www.lostkjs.com/forum/phpBB2/

Oh, and gas milage sucks!

 

[jg45]

I have an '03 Liberty Sport with the 3.7L and a 45RFE transmission. This is the transmission that is in the bigger trucks with a hemi. The back seat is a little tight ifthe front seats are all the way back. Mileage is around 15-16 city and 19-21 highway. The main weakness witht he liberty is the D30a front differential. A few people have cracked the housing by getting a wheel to spin then grab traction. The '08 model redesigned this to be stronger. there are several lifts available. The best seems to be the Frankenlift from AllJs in California. Check out LostKJs.com for more information. I like mine a lot, but hopefully will be getting a new Wrangler Unlimitedin a year or two.

 

[grahamfitter]

Thanks so much for the input. I like my X. It is great off-road, but has only seen the trail twice. We also take FlyingWil's Taco.

The X doesn't really have a lot of pick up and if I am going up a gradual or steep hill... Forget about it! I might as well get out and jog.

I am hoping to test drive some today.

Keeping the Xterra is probably the cheapest option unless you can sell it for top dollar to somebody who hasn't just read your complaints about how slow, inefficient and small it is!!!

You probably don't want to hear this but IMHO if you really want a different vehicle you'd be better off with a car. They're more fun to drive on the pavement than SUVs, get way better gas mileage and smaller station wagons are surprisingly spacious inside. I bet a VW Jetta wagon has more useful space in the back than an Xterra or Liberty.

OK, OK, I'm sorry.

Cheers,
Graham

 

[maximumrob]

We bought an '02 Liberty Limited for my wife with 16k miles on it in 2004. It now has 105k on it, and though it has some of the noises associated with that many miles, the structure is still pretty tight.

My wife is HARD on her vehicles, with jackrabbit starts, late braking, taking turns too fast, etc, and every mile has been spent speeding around the suburbs. I expect to get at least another 30k miles out of it.

Has anybody mentioned how small it is yet?



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