diesel Jeep Liberty

[pmh013]

I was talking with our VP, who is a major Jeep fan (he drives a Cherokee, his wife a JGC). He tells me that Jeep is coming out with a diesel Libery for the 2006 MY. That sounds like something I'd be interested in ... I'm off to do research.In the mean time, any body else heard about this? Apparantly they've been available in Europe for years.

[pmh013]

Rob, thanks for the links. I shoulda known somebody would've posted already.The diesel isn't listed on the Canadian website. They're still touting the 2005, so I might have to wait a while to investigate pricing.I'm also skeptical about buying another first year vehicle. Yeah yeah, it's been in Europe for years, but the Vibe is essentially recycled Toyota's, and look at all the issues the 2003's had (and continue to have through to '05 and beyond).

[pmh013]

OK, I think I've found it on the Canadian website. Not the easiest thing to navigate. Grr!

[joatmon]

Here's a recent autoweek article http://www.autoweek.com/articl...02605also, according to fueleconomy.gov, the 4wd liberty with the 2.8L diesel/auto tranny gets the same mpgs as the 2.4L 2Wd gas w/manual tranny

[Altus]

Yup - it's available - do the "Build and Price" thing and it's there.Note - it's a $3,195 CDN option!For that price, unless you're doing a crapload of towing, the gas engines make more sence.

[pmh013]

Altus, thanks for the tip. $3200 beans, eh? Yeah, I'll probably never tow with the darn thing. I just want fuel efficiency and a bit of room.

[jwalcik]

these were actually available in (very) limited qualities for the 2005 model year. the diesel liberty was the other vehicle i was considering when i was looking at the vibe. the sheer lack of availablilty of the liberty made the choice easy.

[soldierguy]

Quote, originally posted by Altus »Yup - it's available - do the "Build and Price" thing and it's there.Note - it's a $3,195 CDN option!For that price, unless you're doing a crapload of towing, the gas engines make more sence.I almost bought one but went with the Grand Cherokee instead.The pricing isn't as bad as it looks initially. The CRD option includes a boatload of other stuff with it (ABS, auto transmission, full-time 4WD, etc). The price difference between comparably equipped gas and diesel Liberties comes out to just under $1000 (US). But that doesn't include rebates, which are probably higher on the gas engine than on the diesel.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon » the 4wd liberty with the 2.8L diesel/auto tranny gets the same mpgs as the 2.4L 2Wd gas w/manual trannyWhat fun is that, you can go the same distance on either type of fuel but one is going to cost you 20-30 cents more. That doesn't make much sense.

[ToolGuy]

They are slowly becoming available in Canada. So far we have shipped 51 dlrs Liberty Diesel Tool Kits and another 40 are on the way. Possibly a diesel minivan too but not built in Windsor...

[soldierguy]

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »What fun is that, you can go the same distance on either type of fuel but one is going to cost you 20-30 cents more. That doesn't make much sense.The point is torque. The 4 cylinder 2WD 5 speed Liberty doesn't have much get up and go to it (147 hp @ 5200 rpm, 165 lb-ft torque @ 4000 rpm)...compare that to 160 hp @ 3800 rpm and 295 lb-ft @ 1800 for the diesel. And remember...the Liberty weighs in at a minimum of almost 3900 pounds (2WD strippo model)...that's not a lot of torque to move that much weight. The diesel option gets you acceleration and towing the same as the gas V6, but gets you 25-30% better gas mileage. And the 4 cylinder isn't even rated as good as the diesel...gas 4 cylinder is rated at 20/24, diesel at 21/26, according to Jeep's website.Fuel costs...it varies by area, but even though I'm here in Korea I can see what people are paying in the states on average since the fuel prices on post are tied to the US national average for the previous month, minus a couple of cents. If the prices I see on post are an accurate representation of average fuel costs in the states (they're bound under contract to reflect that so I'm pretty sure they are) the difference on average is a few cents per gallon. For June, diesel on post was sitting 4 cents per gallon more than regular unleaded. In May, the difference was 7 cents per gallon. The prices change on July 1st here, so when I go to fill up I'll be able to see what the price difference is.

[pmh013]

In my part of Canada, diesel is consistently 5 to 10 cents per litre cheaper. Currently, gas is $0.959, and diesel is around $0.899. If a diesel means a lower cost of ownership, overall, I'd do it.

[pmh013]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »In Canada, do you folks get that 70/7000 deal? Chrysler is suppose to be ending that soon I hear. I can't find ANY warranty info on Chrysler's website.

[millster]

Quote, originally posted by pmh013 »I can't find ANY warranty info on Chrysler's website.It's 3 year, 36000 miles (in the US).They dropped the 7/70000. I'd love to get ahold of one of these Jeeps. The only concern I have is a diesel in well-below-zero weather. I've had enough trouble getting my gasoline powered vehicles to start.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Quote, originally posted by soldierguy »The point is torque. SNIP.....Ok, that makes some sense. Why would Jeep underpower the gas Liberty so much? That doesn't make much sense, personally, I don't like the Liberty at all, I like the Cherokees much better.

[cohocarl]

Quote, originally posted by soldierguy »The point is torque. ...295 lb-ft @ 1800 for the diesel..When I first heard about a Liberty diesel, I had to find out more.It is rated to tow 5000lbs. They probably could have put in a smaller diesel to get better fuel economy, but 5K towing ability for a rather small vehicle is very impressive.

[pmh013]

Towing ability is one thing, but you still have to have a certain amount of mass to the vehicle so that your trailer isn't being thrown around.For example, when I worked in the agriculture industry, I saw a few too many farmers towing hugs air seeders with their half ton truck. Sure it can pull it, but if you're going down a hill, that big dead weight is going to push you around.

[soldierguy]

Very true on the towing thing. Even though the diesel Liberty has more torque than the V6 gas engine, they are both rated to tow the same amount.