How did you first find your KJ?

[cameraflage]

I have a 4x4 camera case.

Technically, the KJ that I'm currently driving is my second one. The first one was a rental at San Francisco International Airport. My wife and I flew there from Cleveland (and yes, our arms were tired) and were going to head north to Grants Pass, Oregon. We had reserved some sort of small SUV, and had the choice between a Saturn Vue and a Liberty. I initially gravitated to the Saturn, since I already owned one and liked it. My wife, Linda, said "Lets take the Jeep! We're on vacation!"

So we took that silver Liberty and drove it up to Grants Pass by way of Lassen, got it stuck in a rotting snowbank near Crater Lake, and drove it to the top of a mountain to camp in a fire tower. Getting stuck in the snow was a pain, but we attibuted our ordeal to inadequate tires.

And what exactly sold me on the idea of buying a Liberty? My Nikon D70 fit perfectly in the console between the front seats.

After we returned to the Amish Frontier, we wandered into a Jeep dealership to just look around. We already had a glossy sales brochure and had some idea of what we might want. We told the sales guy of our ordeal in the snowbank and said any vehicle we would consider would have bigger tires. And a sunroof. And ABS. And radio controls on the back of the steering wheel. "Yeah, I got one of those right over here," he said.

The Jeep he lead us to was scarlet with grey trim...the colors of my alma mater, The Ohio State University. Technically, its Inferno Red with Graphite, but who's holding a Pantone book? That did it. It was meant to be. We traded my Saturn the next day.

 

[Skeeter_Killer]

Good a place as any to say hello!

My wife and I have talked about buying a new truck for a while. I had an 03 Ranger Edge 2X4 and was realy tweaking for a 4x4. So I went to the Jeep Store in N. Charleston and test drove a Patriot for an entire day, and believe you me am I glad I didn't buy that Barbie toy. Felt nothing like an SUV. So my wife and I noticed an 04 KJ 4x4 and drove the thing. It was suposed to be my wife's truck but after two weeks of driving it she decided that she wanted her old explorer back from me and let me drive the Lib. Best Christmas present ever.

 

[offrovering]

hmm, bought mine for my wife for 1,500 bucks - 2003 that had 63k on it

never really cared for jeeps honestly, but for the price, figured why not, hah.

now looking back, it has been just fine, does a nice job with horrible winter weather, just doesnt do as well as its garage mate...err driveway mate (the other thing doesnt fit in the garage) shhh

 

[Ry' N Jen]

Eehm, I was actually looking for a Grand...

A couple of months before we moved to Spain I bought a '97 Chrysler Voyager with a Diesel engine ( jet another..although the first two were V6 auto's). Bit of an impulsive buy, didn't even testdrive it. Now the old 2.5 VM diesel is really not so good and it died on me while on holiday, a 1000 miles from home... . I needed another car, definitely.

Being used to lots of space I started looking for something the same size but more sporty. Since I've always liked JEEP's I started searching for an affordable model '99 Grand Cherokee 3.1 Diesel ( since gas prices are off the scale over here most people drive diesel ).

To my surprise: Used Grand Cherokee prices are also off the scale over here. Well it's logical I guess, a new Grand will set you back $60K....
So a used one will have a high price as well.

During my search ( mostly on the internet since I have access at work) I came across my KJ. Offered by an official JEEP dealer with full warranty and only a year and a half old. And for the same price as a 5 year old Grand!

Traded in the Voyager for a fair price + a hidden hitch on the kj. Did cost me $33K though. Now I see this SAY WHAT?=?

Anyway here's a pic I took that day, the voyager in the back is my old rig.

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Eh Tony, I think he forgot to add a zero.

 

[offrovering]

Eh Tony, I think he forgot to add a zero.

no, it was one thousand, five hundred dollars - hey, like I said, too good to pass up on.

now the damn thing wont stop puking up the small evap leak code (blarg)

 

[_UnLiMiTeD_]

After reading all these stories i felt the need to share mine!

In october of 06 my mom was in a minor accident with her car because of some silly teenager in a jaguar speeding. So her car had to go in for repair and the company that was giving us the rentals was useless. In a two week span, we had 3-4 different vehicles because they kept needing them back. We first had a sebring (yuck), a neon (omg kill me) and a pt cruiser (talk about gutless) finally the last one we got for a week this time was an 02 jeep liberty sport. My god, everyone loved it, my mom owns an intrepid r/t loaded and she was even thinking of trading it. We loved being higher up, the nice ride, just everything about it. At the time i didnt have my license yet so i couldnt drive it. A few months later i got a car and it was nice, a 93 beretta in mint shape, loved it but then after i graduated in june of 07 and worked full time, i wanted a newer vehicle.

At first i was looking around at mustangs and camaros (typical young guy) Then i realised it just wouldnt be practical for where i live, we get 80% rain here and decent snow in the winter. So i started looking at used suv's for around 8-10 grand range but really didnt find much i liked, so i upped my range to 12-15 grand MAX. Suddenly once i decided that price range, i thought of the jeep liberty because there was some for sale in that range. I travelled all over to look at some, i ALMOST settled on an 03 grey sport with all the options you could get on the sport but the dealership was really jerking me around and wanted almost 18k for it. So i left there very dissapointed and called every dealership and told them to look out for a jeep for around 13-15k.

After 2 weeks i got no response so i went to my local jeep dealer to look around more and thats when i bumped into my new favorite sales person named josh. I told what i have been through and what i wanted and he said "Darren, i promise you, by the end of the week i will find you a liberty" Needless to say a few days later i got a call from josh saying hes got 2 jeeps that came in off a trade both with very low miles. The dealership was going to close in 10 minutes and i lived on the other end of town, josh said he would wait around so i can book a 24 hour test drive on one. When i got there, someone took out the 04 silver renegade (the one i got now) so i took the 03 rocky mountain out. This thing only had 20k kms on it but it had some minor scrapes all around from an elderly woman driver. I decided i didnt like the condition much and returned it the next day where my dream vehicle had come back from its test drive. An 04 jeep liberty renegade loaded! As soon as i seen it, i knew it was going to be out of my price range, i went and looked at the sticker and they wanted almost 25 grand for it! I went to josh and said "hey this is a little out of my league" he said "just take it for a 24 hour test drive and i will get you a killer deal on this.

I took it for a 24 hour test drive and LOVED it, i loved the off road lights, it had 255-65 yokohama geolander A/T-S tires on it which really made it looks aggressive, i knew i had to have it. So i went down there with my dad the next morning to help me out and we went at it with negotiating. After hours of negotiating with the manager i went from the almost 25k sticker price to 17,200 for a mint low km 04 renegade. I could not be happier with my purhcase, i love this thing everyday and plan to keep it for a very long time.

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[gordymills]

I bought my 2004 Liberty in September of 2007 with 38,000 miles for $8000.

Here's The Story...

In April of 2004, my mom traded her 2001 Mazda Miata for the Liberty. I was at school at the time, and when they told me, I rolled my eyes. I didn't like the way the Liberty looked, and was somewhat Loyal to the Wrangler and Cherokee. I had never owned a Jeep but wanted to. I finished school and moved home a month later and got a job as well as started a band.

The band played shows, and the job paid me well. On occasion I would borrow my mom's Liberty to haul our equipment to shows. This is when the Liberty began growing on me. In November of 2005, after my parents split, my Dad bought a Liberty having loved my mom's so much. He gave me his car, a 97 Plymouth Neon with NO bells and whistles. In early 2007, shortly after turning over 100k on the neon, it started giving me tons of problems. It was getting to the point that keeping it running was costing me more than a new car payment would.

I began looking at other vehicles. AWD/4WD was a must for my next vehicle. I was looking at Subarus, Audis, and other AWD cars, and wasnt pleased. I began looking at Wranglers and Cherokees after being such an enthusiast for years. I liked the thought of being up higher, and how easy it was to get in and out of. I'm 6'5 and 210lbs so lower vehicles make things difficult. I found some Libbys with more mileage and less options than my mom's for 17 and 18K. When I told her I was looking, she mentioned that she was thinking about getting something smaller and more fuel efficient. I told her I'd buy her car for trade-in value of $11K and she said she didnt want to turn a profit on me, and wouldnt sell it to me for more than payoff value of $8500 at the time.

3 weeks went by, and I got the loan set up from the bank. She and I went to a Honda dealer because she had her heart set on the Fit. We put my neon up for trade, and got $350 for it(I was more than happy to be rid of it.)
She drove her Fit home, and I had the Libby. Since she made another payment between our original conversation, and the time of purchase, I got the car for $8,000.

The only issue was that the tires were the OE Goodyear Wrangler ST 215/75R16's and were about bald. I drove it to Florida for Thanksgiving, and on a rainy day down there ended up going into a 4-wheel slide and doing a 540 degree spin. Luckily I didnt hit anything, but still decided it was time to consider new tires. We had our first big snow in Ohio back in mid December. The 4WD was great for starting, but the tires would barely hold traction around slow turns, and stopping was nearly impossible.

I went to Sears Auto to get 5 BFG All-Terrain T/A's which was going to put me back quite a bit at $160 a piece. The salesman told me about the Dueler APT's that they had for $115 a piece. I went home and researched them. Every site that carried them had them listed for $299 per tire. The reviews were really good too. I went back the next day and got them.

I'm so happy with this car. Now the only problem is finding places to play with it. City living doesnt leave much opportunity to go off roading, and a Wreckless Operation charge isn't up there on my priorities list.

Is there anyone from Central Ohio that knows of any good public 4x4 trails?

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[LibertyFever]

In 2006 I went shopping car dealerships for a small SUV to drive on weekend trips and to pull a 22' travel trailer. I wasn't shopping for a Liberty, heck I didn't even know about this whole Jeep phenomenon. I'd never even driven a 4WD before.

My final choices were either a Cherokee or a 04 Liberty Sport. I chose the Liberty because I didn't need all the room of a Cherokee and I actually thought the Liberty would have better fuel mileage LOL.

Of course once I took the Liberty offroad just once I was hooked and wanted more. The Sport doesn't come with any skidplates or towpoints so I added those before venturing out on the trails. Surprisingly even with the stock all season tires the Liberty performed well, I guess it is "Trail Rated".

My Liberty is still my weekend drive, trailer hauler and occasional stock trail ride until I can get some more skidplates and a lift (c/w bigger tires).

To be honest I also have a 95 YJ that I have no problem beating up on the trails.

My only regret is that I didn't buy a Renegade. I guess I'll have to build one from my Sport.

 

[Jeepman56]

My '93 Cavalier started becoming less reliable as it neared the 200k mark and as I had a son on the way, (9 months old now) I needed something safer and more dependable. I started looking at hatchbacks, Mazda 3 (5 door) then a VW Rabbit, a Jetta, and was discouraged mainly with the salespeople and their inability to work with me. My family was/is involved in the car business so I know how it works. The last place I looked was the Jeep dealer, just giving it a try as I have always wanted a Jeep. The '07s were on their way out to make room for the KKs and I hit a great day to be on their lot. The salesman was great, not pushy and really honest. Told me his likes and dislikes. After the test drive I went home and slept on it. The next day I went right over there and it was the last time I ever drove my Cavalier. I have never been happier with a vehicle. It is everything I could ask for on and off road, for me personally and for my family.

 

[tommudd]

Well when I bought my KJ I was driving a 95 Cherokee with over 250,000 on it all put on by me. Bought it new, I buy something new every three / four years some I keep others go away, most Jeeps I keep having had 7 before. Have had at least one 4 WD in the driveway since 1975!
But on to the KJ, since the Cherokee was getting some miles on her, I needed something else. I knew I didnt want a Grand to plush for me. Oh also was getting a promotion and job transfer 150 miles away, plus getting married all in the same month, so in between work etc was on the net looking for deals. Found almost what I wanted, for the right price in West Virginia, at that time I lived 170 miles from that dealer but it was a great deal, so we did everything on line, they delivered the KJ to me, paid the man and he left happy only to have his dealership closed down a month later! . First time I had seen it as a matter of fact first time I had driven one was after it was delivered. So was living in central Ohio, bought the Jeep in West Virginia and moved to .....Toledo..the home of Jeep. Got a better deal down in the sticks than any dealer in Toledo even!! 96,000 miles since September 21, 2004 and not one problem!

 

[candpliberty]

It started with a metal detector. All we had to drive was a chrysler concorde(to low and too long) and a Chrysler Sebring( too low). Well after wheeling(hehe) in the Sebring for about 6 months, we hit a rock and punched a hole in the gas tank. While the tank was being repaired we narrowed the choices down to a Liberty or a Suzuki Grand Vitara. Liberty won when we found a "used" 06 Liberty Renegade at a dealer with 2500 miles on it with factory skids and ****** cooler. That was about 30 thousand miles ago. We love it!

 

[04libo]

How I found my Jeep

Well....mine's pretty easy. My mom bought it brand new from a dealer about 20 minutes away, put 100K on it in 5 years. And now I'm buying it.

 

[05Sport]

I was looking for cars this past summer when i saw mine. I've always wanted a Jeep of my own and my brother has had a couple of Libbys and has had good luck with his. When i met my wife she had a 1984 Grand Wagoneer. (which is for sale by the way, would make a good project) idea.gif and her parents have had 3 Grand Wagoneers over time so I got instant brownie points with the inlaws (which never hurts).

 

[67Customs]

I bent the rear axle beam on the Jetta that I loved and it was going to cost more to fix it that I had left to pay, so I reluctantly decided to trade it it. My wife worked at the VW/Audi/Porsche dealer I was looking to trade it in at, so they were willing to work with me on a trade. Since they didn't have any 911's on the lot, I had to settle for something else. I was looking for a Jetta Wagon or Passat wagon since my wife was pregnant, knowing I would need more room. I was leaning towards Passat since they were available with 4-Motion (VW's AWD for those not VW savy). We already had the A4, so I didn't really want another sedan. While checking out the lot, I spotted the Liberty. I went to check it out. It was the color I was looking for, had nice wheels and I was somewhat aware that Liberties in the Limited editions were more "up-scale". The Jetta was loaded, so I didn't really want t take a step back as far as comforts. So, I gave it a closer look. The sticker didn't name very much at all. Basics specs and maybe one option. I really don't think they knew what they had. Upon further inspection, it had heated leather, 6-disc in dash CD changer, heated mirrors, select-trac 4wd, less common wheels, sun roof, towing package and was kept very clean. I went home to research them more and the more I reseached, the more I liked it. It only had 14k miles and they had it priced $2k less than blue book. I even called the vin number into the local Jeep dealer and it had been serviced on time and got it's recalls taken care of. That price coupled with money down from my trade and very low miles, I got a deal I couldn't pass up. I traded my beloved Jetta in for my new Jeep adventure. I still miss my Jetta terribly, but I am really happy with the Jeep. Easier to work on and more practical. Not quite as fun to drive, but still a blast and I can take it off road for a little extra fun. I am very happy with my purchase.

She is just now about to turn 30K on a '05. I feel like I got a vehicle that will last me a very long time.

My brother liked it so much that he went out and got a '06 Sport 4x4.

 

[tjkj2002]

Feb 28th,2002 I was working at a GM/Jeep dealership.I pulled a black Limited KJ off the transport and did the dealer prep,about 3 hours latter when I was out of work I just decided to look at a new vehicle to replace my '01 WJ that I had put 52,000 miles on in one year,I ended up buying that black limited for $17,000 even(MSRP was $24,500) and they paid the rest of my WJ off,not to bad in my opinion.Just to think almost 1 year earlier when we got our 1st KJ in(special order) I dispised it,maybe it was the dark green color that turned me off,or the fact we had no Rubicons on the lot yet(our 1st came in about 2 months later).

 

[long_tall_texan]

Here is the short version. I had a first year Chevy HHR. Got tired of having it in the shop every month for some new first-year related glitch or not-so-heavy-duty problem. So I got fed up after having it in the shop again and decided "That's it. I always wanted a Jeep, so I am going to go trade this thing in and get me the Wrangler I always wanted." I walked in wanting a Wrangler, and walked out with a KJ. Not one regret.

 

[ms5490renegade]

my dad had an 03 corvette and he needed a car that was more practical. we had a 2000 ford expedition but its effing huge for one person to go to work in. my dad brought me with him on his quest for a new car. he almost bought a lexus lx470 but he didnt like 40000 price tag. i convinced him to go american. we went to chrysler and had a tough choice. they had this rubicon, burnt orange, 2 inch lift, bfg's, sony explod sound system, and a hard and soft top. it was my decision between that or the liberty we have now. some times i wonder if i made the right decision off roading wise. my dad traded his corvette for a 2004 loaded pacifica and most of the jeep. as we drove off the lot he told me when i started driving he would give me that jeep. i have been keeping it clean and trying my best to keep it up since that first day. my dad didnt make it to see me drive but im sure he would be happy with the decisions i have made about the liberty and off roading

 

[Atrus]

I had a 1999 Grand Prix GT that I absolutely loved. It had 130,000 miles on it and was at a point where it needed about $3,000-$4,000 worth of work, and it'd run for another 100k no problem.

At the same time, I had been married just over a year, and my wife has a G6 Sedan. I was tired of having to borrow one of our parent's SUV's anytime we needed anything for the house (i.e., dishwasher). I also felt it'd be a good idea to have a 4x4 for MI winters with us being married and on our own. I grew up with my parents always owning one SUV/Truck/Van vehicle. The Prix was great, but I felt it's time was over and it was the right thing to do to move on to something else.

The final decision maker was that my friend picked up a TJ "for the summer". He wanted to drive it all summer, and then sell it off. Well, you know the story - he fell in love with it and began off-roading it. I had a full size Bronco before, but never really took it out. So, I decided I wanted a 4x4 to tag along.

At first, I really wanted a Patriot. My thought was I could get a 4x4 (I know, it's not true 4x4), manual trans, and pull 25-30 mpg. Wife hated them, said they looked like a station wagon. I hated the KJ when they came out, I liked the Cherokee. I was one of the people who were mad about the KJ replacing the Cherokee.

So, we went in to a dealer and I sat in a Patriot. For 5 seconds. And decided I hated it. Interior was TOO plastic, and I felt like I had no visibility in it. Wife kept pushing for me to sit in the KJ in the showroom, and to appease her I did. I was surprised at how I instantly liked it. Felt more beefy than the Patriot. I felt it wasn't too stripped down, but wasn't overly plush like some SUV's. I went home and looked on a few forums, and made may way onto here. I am a push-rod guy, but as I learned on here, the KJ has a timing chain. From my research, they seemed to be a robust vehicle, and it'd fit exactly what I was looking for. Considered other brands, but couldn't think of anything else I'd want. Hummer would be the closest thing, and I don't like them. All other modern small SUV's were more of a car than a truck - primarily FWD and then AWD when needed. I wanted RWD/4x4.

So, I insisted on looking for a low-mileage used one to save money. I couldn't find a low milage (25k or less) that I liked, and my wife really wanted to have ABS. The ABS thing really limited my options. She was really pushing me to get a new one. I never had a new car before - the lowest milage I ever had was my Prix, which was like 32k miles and 2 years old when I got it. She said I work hard, and I should get something new for once.

So, one weekend she was at her mom's condo for a girl's weekend and I began to look online. I built my dream KJ - Jeep Green, off-road package, tow package, selec-trac, and it had to be a sport, no limiteds.

Searched inventory near my house, didn't see anything like this. I then opted to look near work, and amazingly, one vehicle that matched everything I wanted was there!!! I felt (and still feel) this was a fairly rare KJ to find, to have something with all these options.

So, the wife and I went to look that week. I printed the window sticker, and when I told the salesman what I wanted he told me he didn't have anything like that, he would have remembered. I pulled out the window sticker and he was shocked to find it in the system.

So, I think I got a decent deal...0% for 60 months, and I got employee pricing. Picked her up on 5/31/07.

 

[Ry' N Jen]

Right then, it a nut shell.
I've always driven Mitsubishi econo cars in addition to Classic BMC Leyland Mini's.
When I came back from The Netherlands I went to work for the CATV company and I was driving by a Chrysler Dealer and decided to look and see if they had any 2 door Cherokee's in stock. A salesman checked his computer and told me they were hard to come by. I looked at a 4 door Cherokee but it just didn't have the leg room.
Upon coming out of the dealership the salesman was a little amped up and insisted we take a Ltd. for a test drive because his boss was breathing down his neck. So, we hop in and I thought yup this is nice.
Get all approved for a new car loan and the company I was working for laid off some 1800 cable techs. No income= no new Jeep!
Jen and I decided to take the trusty Dodge Colt on an 1190 km road trip East to Red Deer, Alberta. Liked it and stayed there for close to 4 years.
Came back to B.C. and needed to have an out of Province Inspection done on my Colt.
Wasn't worth it, you could buy a 2-3 model year newer than what it was going to cost to have parts replaced etc. So, the nice guy that my father is, he gave me his '04 Dodge Colt and Jen and I drove that car until Autumn of 2004 when it developed a major oil leak (Mainsail) Me literally have been permanently disabled 13 months before realized that I wouldn't be repairing it anytime soon (Ya know ho it is, crack open an engine with 345000 original owner km on the clock is like opening a can of worms and buy the time your done with "just a mainsail" and your bank account is also done. Just not worth it.
So I went on line and checked out KJ's and VW Diesel Transporters/syncro Westfalia.
I could of ended up being a VW Diesel Transporters/syncro Westfalia owner, but the seller of the unit I wanted decided to keep it. Too bad!
So, on December 2nd. 2006 we drove home our 2004 Sport for $14410.00. At that time they were sell ing for between $17K and just under $19K.
We did alright. It's been an awesome rig, hasn't really let us down. It's still pretty much stock but I've been saving my pennies for the last couple of years and this year it will get some decent mods.
Until then it's well taken care of and a blast to drive... When I can drive!

 

[nater]

My wife and I just bought our first Jeep 3 days ago... and we love it.

On Christmas eve, we ended up getting into an accident and totaling my wife's car. Not a big lose as we were already looking at getting a new car and it was only worth about $300.

So we started test driving some cars. She liked the Rav4's and CRV's, but I wanted something a little bigger since it was going to the family car as well. So we we started looking at Ford Escapes. After driving a few, we decided that was probably what we would get, except that we hadn't found the "right one" yet.

We continued looking and we saw a Liberty at one of the dealerships and decided to give it a test drive just for comparison. After that, my wife said thats what she wanted and we didn't even consider anything else after that.

I had always pictured the Jeep Liberty in the same class as CRV's and Rav4's, but after driving one and doing some research, I now realize my mistake.

We ended up buying a 2006 Jeep Liberty Sport for just over $9k from the local Jeep Dealership. We felt like we got a pretty good deal since the sticker price they wanted was about $13k.

I've already told my wife that when my truck dies, I'll take the Liberty and she can get a new car.