Need help with buying a jeep

[Timestopped29]

Hello everyone, I just registered for this site (have been following it for a while) I have a question for you ******** kj lovers. My wife's friend has offered me her 2004 Jeep Liberty for $1000. She wants to get rid of it for a more fule efficient car. It has only two problems with it. It was keyed by a disgruntled renter and a very bad word was carved into the back of it. it has one single key mark down each side of the jeep and a word engraved into the back (which is easily covered by a decent sticker). The second and biggest issue is its a 2wd. I've wanted a jeep for a long time (since I was 16) but should I buy a 2wd? I'm not really an off road'er but would love to try my hand at it if i had the vehicle to do so with. I have some nice fishing spots that are back in the woods I would love to have a vehicle I can drive there. I have also been looking at 4wd kj's in my area. They are running for about 3500 and up. I just sold my car and have 3200 on hand to go toward a new vehicle. So my question is, should I go with this 2wd jeep in great mechanical condition for $1000 or try and find a 4x4 for three times that price? I am torn! Thank you.

 

[dude1116]

Welcome!

4WD isn't really necessary unless you're mud bogging, rock climbing, sand driving, or in deep snow, in my opinion. The only one of those it sounds like you would experience is Sand.

That being said, if you DO plan to go through sand, etc. 4WD is definitely a must. Otherwise I think a 2WD would give you the right ground clearance for the job fishing. You can add some A/T or M/T tires for better traction around your fishing areas if need be.

Assuming good condition and OK miles, that 2WD KJ sounds like a steal.

 

[tommudd]

I've always wanted a 2 wheel drive to have some fun with , why :shrug:
But set up right a 2 wheel drive can get you in a lot of places. Good driving skills , good set of tires, small lift possibly to clear some bumps and ruts .
But you'd just have to realize its limitations.
For 1000 bucks sound good if you know how its been taken care of as far as maintenance goes etc

 

[Timestopped29]

The jeep is in very nice condition for its age and has 120,000 miles on her. I don't think I'll be mud bogging anytime soon. Maybe getting some mud on the tires every once in awhile, but it will be my daily driver and child hauler haha. Like I said the jeep is in good mechanical shape. And I'll only be in the desert here for another year or so and move back home to Arkansas after my time in the military is up. So I won't be hitting any sand after that, just dirt roads and some trails to fishing spots.

 

[Birdman330]

I have no problems getting around in the winter with my 2WD.

 

[tommudd]

Back when I started driving there weren't really that many 4x4s that people owned around where I lived. I went a lot of places in two wheel drive that today people think they just have to have 4 wheel

 

[Timestopped29]

Back when I started driving there weren't really that many 4x4s that people owned around where I lived. I went a lot of places in two wheel drive that today people think they just have to have 4 wheel

Yea I don't really think I "need" 4wd. Just think I want it more than anything. But I have no serious need for it. Like I said, other then some trails to get back to the hunting/fishing spots and the occasional mud puddle (yes literally just a puddle of water) I think a 2wd will do. And I can slam some nice AT tires on her right after I purchase the jeep. It's such a steal.

 

[Birdman330]

Back when I started driving there weren't really that many 4x4s that people owned around where I lived. I went a lot of places in two wheel drive that today people think they just have to have 4 wheel

My philosophy is as this: If weather conditions end up requiring 4WD then you shouldn't be out driving.

 

[Hockeygoon]

I wouldn't buy a 2WD Liberty. You end up with a high setting vehicle that is marginal at best in weather conditions and its harder to add weight for additional traction like you can with a small pickup and you still get poor fuel economy.

 

[JasonJ]

Most trucks and such were 2wd for decades, and did just fine. Four-wheel drive is not absolutely necessary for every instance, and a 2wd Jeep is not an illegitimate bastard step-child of Jeeps, but like tom said, you have to know its limitations on where you are going to take it.

For $1000, forget the paint damage, buy it. Fix up or cover up the paint scratches as best you can; save the other 2200 in your pocket and after a while of driving this one, if you like it, you can save up some more and buy another KJ in 4wd.

As long as it has been maintained well in the past, seems like a no brainer to me, even being 2wd. I'd actually love to have a 2nd, cheap KJ as a backup.

 

[CalcityRenegade]

Personally I would buy it. Save up and get a 4WD later. As long as nothing bad happens to it in the time being you should not lose money on it!

 

[tommudd]

JUST BUY IT ALREADY !!!!!!!!!!!!!:icon_lol:
I'd buy it, upgrade the suspension, put some better more aggressive AT type tires,
then more lift
bigger tires
regear
locker
more lift
aftermarket bumpers
better.........

Oh wait that is something I'd end up doing, never know when to stop :happy175::happy175:

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I'd buy it and a cheap high mile 4x4 KJ with a blown engine or bad transmission and put the 2WD ones in there.

 

[Birdman330]

I wouldn't buy a 2WD Liberty. You end up with a high setting vehicle that is marginal at best in weather conditions and its harder to add weight for additional traction like you can with a small pickup and you still get poor fuel economy.

My Jeep would like to challenge you on that matter, I have had no issues in the 3 winters I have had it, in fact even when I had the worn out Goodyear ST's I climbed a hill with five inches of snow. I've never added weight to the back, and the only time I got stuck was when I hung the rear axle up on an ice bank, though I didn't get pulled out I got it out myself without assistance. If you know how to drive and understand your abilities you won't have issues in bad weather. People use 4WD as an excessive crutch and makes driving in bad weather even more hazardous because the thought of I have 4WD I'm safe I won't get stuck is the biggest myth of driving out there. And people thinking they have FWD is just as bad as 4WD.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

While a 2WD is workable in most conditions, the 4WD just make life so much easier. For example, at the local ski place I frequent a lot the parking lot is a sheet of ice for most of the season and hilly for all of the season. For a 2WD, that would be ok if you never have to stop rolling, but someone is always going to walk out in front of you thus killing your momentum. With 4WD, never have to think or worry about getting going again. I can't even reverse up hill in 2WD in that lot with the ice.

And when the roads are "good" enough to warrant 4WD use, that just means the ski conditions will be *******

OP: Watch the Top Gear Africa Nile River special. That'll show you what you can do with a 2WD.

I guess my bottom line is, yes 2WD can work, but 4WD is a thing so may as well take advantage of it and makes life easier and can take you places that 2WD, no matter the driver, can't go.

 

[Hockeygoon]

My Jeep would like to challenge you on that matter, I have had no issues in the 3 winters I have had it, in fact even when I had the worn out Goodyear ST's I climbed a hill with five inches of snow. I've never added weight to the back, and the only time I got stuck was when I hung the rear axle up on an ice bank, though I didn't get pulled out I got it out myself without assistance. If you know how to drive and understand your abilities you won't have issues in bad weather. People use 4WD as an excessive crutch and makes driving in bad weather even more hazardous because the thought of I have 4WD I'm safe I won't get stuck is the biggest myth of driving out there. And people thinking they have FWD is just as bad as 4WD.

:happy175:.

 

[Birdman330]

:happy175:.

You can laugh it up all you want, but truth is as I have said it before if road conditions require 4WD you shouldn't be out driving in it.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Wow according to that I should've been stranded a bunch of places, might have made the wrong decision by putting the Jeep into 4WD and making it home without a problem.

 

[tommudd]

I think it comes down to common sense,
I've went way too many places in 2 wheel drive that maybe I shouldn't have back years ago but always made it home.
TOO many rely on or think they just have to use 4WD and AWD any more and has made 85% of the drivers totally unsafe since they think they are unstoppable.
Heck I hardly ever use 4 wheel drive on any of mine, good tires and go.
Couple of years ago when there was a lot of snow where I used to live had to really use it one time, and then only because there was about 9-10 inches of new snow and the snow plows only went down the middle which piled it up more on the sides

 

[blue_kjR417]

Buy it and swap to a 4wd transmission and transfer case add a front differential with cv axles and 4wd hubs and have a 4wd! you could probably do that for $2000. It would be a lot of work but you could help your friend, get a good reliable rig that you know has been well taken care of, and come in around the budget you already have.