How did you first find your KJ?

[kb0nly]

Lots of good stories on here!

Mine is pretty simple really. Needed a replacement for the high mileage family minivan. It was starting to nickle and dime the crap out of me. But it was still reliable, never left me on the roadside all the years i owned it, and never let me down even at 40 below zero this winter. So it's replacement has a lot to live up to!

We went everywhere, driving up to an hour and a half away, for you big city folks around here that time gets you well over 100 miles as we are rural. Finally giving up one night i jumped on the highway and started heading home. And by some chance i came through a little town and a used car lot and i see a 2001 PT Cruiser and a 2003 KJ Sport. Well at first i was really interested in the PT, the wife's car is an 02 PT 5 spd and i love it, fun car to drive, lots of room inside, comfy. The 01 on the lot was also a 5 spd, bonus! I though his and her PT's at first. The car was only $5k and had about 73k mile on it. The 03 KJ was $6500 and had 44k mile on it. But after thinking about it i went with the KJ, not only for the lower mileage but because i needed towing ability, my van was rated at 3500lbs and the PT is only rated for 1000lbs. All i usually pull is my 4x8 utility trailer but i wanted more towing capacity than 1000lbs.

I talked the guy down to $6000 and she was mine. Figured i would get home and get a receiver and wiring harness ordered so i can get it ready for towing. Well, that didn't exactly go as planned as i went deer hunting on the way home with it, was unavoidable, see my Friggin Deer post on here for more on that. But she's going to the body shop later this week and will be as good as new.

I heard some call the KJ a chick Jeep, or too civilian.. etc.. But after test driving it i fell in love with it. Good handling, comfortable interior, plenty of pep in the 3.7L, and i had 4 wheel drive as backup again, haven't had that in ten years! This one seems to really have some get up and go on the highway, reading some posts on here some seem to complain about the 3.7 with the auto trans, but mine hauls, even with a family of five and shopping in the back it moves when it comes to passing on the highway.

Sure i realize the mileage won't be as good as the car, or maybe even the older van its replacing, but that's not a primary concern now as its going to be the daily errand vehicle that spends a lot of time at home during the day with me and the kids. We are a reverse role family here, i'm Mr. Mom. So maybe it is a socker mom vehicle? Anyway you slice it i love this Jeep!

 

[TruLiberty]

So in february, my 9th month after graduating college and still being jobless and carless (worked as a bus boy, doesnt count) and living at home with my parents in NY (Long Island) I got a call from a friend in Virginia asking if i still needed a job. Sent him my resume and 4 days later got a call with a job offer, such a reprieve after applying to over 70 companies. I accepted and had to move to VA in a weeks time. So I hopped over to the local honda stealership where all my family has gotten our cars. I told the guy i was tired of falling into a car and was looking for something gas friendly but with a bunch of room...and cheap. some how, he talked me into a Civic coupe. Don't ask me how that made sense to me at the time. I was with my cousin, and it was a decent deal, 60k miles on an 05 for 12k...I still felt uncomfortable with the whole thing but i was set to pickup and sign the next day.

Curiosity got the best of me and that night i hopped on their website to search some more...and there it was. an 04 KJ sport 3.7L for 6,700. my jaw dropped. WHY DIDN'T HE SHOW ME THIS. The next day i showed up early for my appt and told him i was upset he didnt show me the jeep. I've always wanted a jeep and now its in my reach. Needless to say That day i left with my baby, just wish i had read the paperwork better, they charged me 9300 on the financial paperwork instead of the 8400 (after tax and used car fee they charge). so after the 2500 warranty, i owe 11,5 on it with 10.99% apr. I don't care tho, i love it. it eats gas. i DONT care. Its mine. my first real car at 25 lol. got me to VA great. Can't wait to update it more. I think i'll refi my loan to get a lower rate. Needless to say I'm never going to not stare at paperwork ever again.

You must be registered for see images

The day i brought it home /\ /\ /\ /\ /\

You must be registered for see images attach

The last time i had it offroad. :-D

 

[Mopar4L1fe]

Nice KJ! (above)

 

[revolutionwanted]

I guess it's time to put my story up.

Back in 2006 my grandfather was buying cars for my little brothers and I tagged along. One brother was set on the Honda Element while the other wanted a Jeep (I guess he was following in big brother's footsteps, haha, my first car was a '97 TJ). So at the dealership, my brother was torn between the Compass and the '05 Renegade. I had never really looked at a KJ in depth until this moment. I loved it... so I convinced him to get the Renegade, haha. Besides gas, he's glad that he has it.

I always knew I would own another Jeep and in 2007 I hit a bad patch of ice in my sedan on a back road and flipped the car (picture attached). No injuries, no tickets issued, just having to deal with the insurance company. After the check was received, I knew what I wanted. I could not afford much at the time because I had just graduated college the previous May '06. I found my KJ in Richmond, VA on Cars.com. It was a fleet car for the city and they were writing off inventory. Some local salesman bought it at auction and sold it to me. Definitely glad I made the purchase.

 

[kb0nly]

Damn, heck of an accident. At least you came out alright in the end!

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Damn, heck of an accident. At least you came out alright in the end!

That's what I was thinking...

 

[revolutionwanted]

Damn, heck of an accident. At least you came out alright in the end!

Yeah, man. Probably the scariest thing to happen to me. It's amazing the temperature difference from an open area to a wooded. There was no ice on the road I turned off of, but since the temp was lower under the tree cover, there was sheets... only going 40 mph ish.

 

[richar43]

Here is my brief story, in the beginning of Feb of this year I decided to start looking for a newer Jeep, since my 89 wrangler had seen it's day with the mileage, and the only thing the wife asked me was if I get a newer Jeep to get one that at least held the whole family, and since I couldn't afford a nice 4 door wrangler, and I had liked the looks of the liberty for years, thats what I decided on getting. After searching for a week, I contacted the local chrysler/Jeep/dodge dealership, asking about a specific liberty, and was sent a email from someone at the dealership, so I contacted them, and they took my pre-app on the phone, ( i was thinking it was a waste of time do to not the best of credit, and he said i pre-qualified) i said ok, then he asked me to head on down to look at one he had, and to fill out the actual application, I said fine. Meanwhile the wife was not home, and i left a note on the door stating where was.... needless to say 1 1/2 hrs later ( after test driving it ) and doing the rest of the paperwork, they said it was all good. I then asked if i good let the wife see it, and they said take it home, and test drive it ect.... I then drove the 1 1/2 miles home and pulled into the driveway, thinking I was dead meat... she drove it and liked it as well. Cool I thought.... but it needed to be within our budget, and we were able to get the payment with in 35.00 of what we paid a month on her car, which we just paid off the week before....the only thing that sucked was 4 days later, before everything was completely finalized, i hit a fawn (deer) on the way to work, and cracked the front bumper, and turnlight signal on drivers side, I was mad to say the least...other than that I love it, and really enjoy it, and so does the rest of the family....so I have been a happy owner for a little over 3 months

 

[SurfGuitar141]

I was driving an '02 full size Ram 1500 quad cab 4 X 4 that got 2 telephone poles to the gallon. In '05 gas prices here sky rocketed to 4 bucks a gallon, and this thing was sucking me dry, so I started looking for something small and economical to drive. My first thoughts were to get a Honda Element, but being a life long truck guy, I just couldn't bring myself to driving one of those ugly little boxes, besides I prefer buying American made whenever I can.
Stopped into the dealership where I purchased the Dodge Ram, told the salesman roughly what I was looking for, and it was he who suggested I give the Jeep Liberty a look before I made the mistake of buying the Honda box.
He rolled out a silver limited, that just didn't float my boat, so he then rolled out a silver Renegade with the roof mounted light bar, and I told him..."those lights would prohibit me from carrying surfboards"....so he said I got one more that I might be interested in, and rolled out this dark khaki Renegade without the light bar. I took it for a test drive, liked how it felt and handled, knew the gas mileage wasn't that of a Honda Element, but it was going to be far better than the 2 telephone poles per gallon I was getting from the beast I was driving......
I went there not even thinking about a Liberty, and came home with one, and the longer I own it, and the more I drive it, the more I like it.
I've gotten all the usual insults from other truck, Jeep and 4 X 4 owners about it being a "girl's Jeep", a "Mall Crawler", a "Hair dresser's Car"...and the most common...."Why didn't you just get a real Jeep".............but I couldn't be happier with this Liberty Renegade.
Recently I thought about trading it in and getting a 4 door Wrangler Unlimited, but if I do that I won't settle for anything less than a Rubicon, and at $32,000.00 +....that ain't happening til I'm done paying for the wife's new Ford Edge, and the kids are out of college......

 

[SMETNA]

I had a 2007 Ford Focus ST on a lease. Fun to drive with the stick and everything, but absolute rubbish in the winter. and in very mild mud. and on wet grass. Actually pretty much everywhere there wasn't pristine pavement.

Lease was over, so I went vehicle shopping. I wanted a 4runner really bad, but they retain their value so well that I couldn't find one in my price range that had less than 100k mi on it. $14000 for a 10yr old vehicle, no way. Not in this state, with the salt corrosion. So then I went to the Jeep dealer, looking at JK's. Too much. I saw a couple KJ's. I loved the look of the Khaki one.

One owner, and they were old people. They had it for 4 years and only put 23k mi on it. They traded up to a Ram 1500 when the economy tanked and they could get a super deal. The dealer let me take it over night to think about it. I took it through my girlfriends' land and after bogging through everything that I thought for sure I'd get stuck in but DIDn't, I was sold.

Go anywhere, do anything. Mostly. With some after market enhancements.

 

[Jacob789456]

I was talking to my uncle one day and told him how I wanted to take apart an engine to advance my wrenching skills. He told me that he had a good project for me and that I could have it for free if I could get it running. He drove me to one of his shops and showed me the 2004 kj that had 16,000 miles and had been sitting for 5 years. My project now is getting everything in front of the water pump replaced and getting it fired up. Btw it was in a head on crash in 2005 but all the cosmetic work was done and only the mechanical and electrical work remains.

 

[yellocoyote]

Sounds like a good project. Maybe you should start a build thread with photos to show your progress.

 

[teckman02]

i was looking around at used car lots for TJ's and was not able to find what i wanted and the color is what sold me. also the TJ did not give me that space that i needed

 

[salty_dog]

We were looking for a third car so I could drive my parents old Volvo (yuck) until I could afford something of my own. My dad wanted a 4x4 wrangler, but couldn’t find one that he liked with low millage. He almost bought a RAV4 (yuck again), but I talked him into the '02 Liberty Sport across the street. After a while the Volvo (a lemon... gotta love "certified" used cars) decided to only drive 5mph, we did everything to get it to work (over thousands of dollars in repairs) but it decided to kick the bucket. My dad was so fed up, he decided to go and buy a brand new FJ, so I’m driving the libby right now, working partime at a carwash and saving so i can buy my beloved jeep from my parents... now I gotta get my dad to go off-roading with me :icon_lol::

 

[jseraj]

Well, I had a 97 ZJ limited that I loved...but I was rear ended by a bus. After that, the car was never the same. After replacing motor mounts and a transmission, my front tires began to lock every time I would turn, and no one could figure out why. After spending way too much on her, I decided it was time to move one. I looked around at other SUV's and the Grand Cherokee, but nothing fit my budget and what I wanted.

After visiting a Nissan dealership, I headed towards the freeway back home. Sad and dejected, I passed a Jeep dealership. I went in and took a look. I test drove the 2 door Wrangler...too small. The four door wrangler...too much. As I was leaving, my mom saw a liberty and suggested I test drive it. A few moments later I had found my car. After negotiating for a few days with the dealership I drove back and picked up the jeep....the rest is history.

 

[JeepINgeek]

I went to the dealership and pointed at the black LJ and said that one.... the wife at the time grabs my arm and points it at the KJ and i said that one..

 

[jramey]

was fresh out of basic training and ait and had some money. never owned a newer vehicle so i talked to my dad about co signing for me so i could get me a nice new vehicle, i wasnt sure what i wanted at the time but knew i wanted something that was 4x4 because i had buddys in the army that i went mudding with. they both had jeep wranglers which was kinda out of my price range. then low and behold there it was sitting in a showroom floor of the local carmax. 06 jeep libby with 36000 on the speedo. i stopped and pondered for a second thinking man this would be real different and much nicer on the inside with more room (i for one like ifs too). next day i went back wrote the check and now two n a half years later im still very pleased with my purchase. it has been an amazing vehicle on and off road and it kept its own against my buddies wranglers as well.

 

[Jo6pak]

Drove my old 96 XJ to 200k+ and decided I needed a new Jeep. Didn't even consider another make. Looked for a low mileage 2001 XJ for a few months to no avail. Test drove a few Libertys and liked them.

Sept. 15th 2008. I test drove a 2006 Anniversary edition and really liked it, low miles, decent price. Hopped on the motorcycle to take a long ride and make a final decision. Decided that I wanted it, so I headed back to the dealership. On the way, I hit a turkey at 50mph. I was relatively unhurt(some bad bruising on my legs from tumbling down the road) But the bike was totalled. That distracted me for a few days, which was long enough to someone else to decide that the 06 was nice ride. I was sold a few days later when I called back.

A few weeks went by and I found a 04 Sport, with 53k on the odo, at a dealership that was going out of business. (1 of 2 cars remaining) I offered him $8k out the door and he took it.

Originally I was disapointed that I couldn't find another XJ, but I've grown to like the Libby much more than my old Cherokee.

 

[05kj6spd]

My wife hit a patch of ice in our XJ and totaled it. Decided we needed another jeep and with a baby we wanted a 4 door. Wasn't any 4 door wranglers at the time so we looked at Liberties. Went to check out a CRD I found on line, price was more then we wanted to spend but the 6 speed Renegade next to it wasn't so that we brought it home.

 

[Limited]

I lowered my s series pickup. My dad asked how the hell im gonna drive it in the winter. I didnt think of that yet really as it sits 2/3's of a pop can off the ground. couple days goes buy and he says hes bought a new truck. my mom and him are talkin on the phone and asks if i want the Liberty for winter. He didnt trade it in on his brand new truck so i had something to use in the winter.

Thanks Dad