I was checking out the new Patriot online yesterday and was comparing it to the Liberty. The Patriot is much cheaper, but other than that I don't see much difference. Is the Patriot the replacement Liberty? I have not seen them side by side, so I might be wrong about the similarities. I just don't see a market for both of these vehicles.

 

Nope. The Liberty is the replacement for the....well...Liberty.

http://www.allpar.com/trucks/jeep/liberty-2008.html

 

Nope...Liberty just got bigger. Now rides on the extended wheel base tha the Nitro rides on.

 

That should make the price difference between the Liberty and Grand Cherokee even smaller. As it stands I have priced out Liberty and Grand Cherokee leases that are only 20 bucks or so apart. So the Jeep lineup will now be Compass, Patriot, Wrangler, Wrangler Unlimited, Liberty, Commander, and Grand Cherokee. Getting kind of crowed, only a few years ago they had 3 models.

 

Definitely too many Jeeps now. Talk about blurring your brand's image!

As for the Liberty, I think the redesign is going to be a big failure. It surprised me, but I'm actually quite fond of the current Liberty (I could even see myself owning one). Its V6 has a very nice torquey feel to it, and it's kinda fun to drive around in the city. The stying is just about spot-on for its niche. The redesign, however, borrows too much from the Commander failure and I can't help but thinking it's lost too much of it's "jeep-ness". Seems to me that Jeep has lost its focus and it's going to have a few tough years ahead of it.

 

Jeep is rather crowded. I dont see why they needed the Compas or the Patriot?

 

The Liberty is right sized as it was, that's one reason my cousin bought his silver '02. He's had some major problems with it (replaced all the power steering(warrantee)and the engine already, his cost) but loves it do death...it must be a "Jeep Thing" I wouldn't understand..

I've ridden in it a few times, it's ok, nice ride, adequate power, goes great in the snow...

 

I don't think they've ever built a suitable replacement for the Cherokee.

 

The little one or the big one? (or both ?)

Right now, Dodge and Jeep seem to have 25 different SUVs and Crossovers that look almost identical outside and in. I think I'm not going to bother paying attention because this is the obvious place the new owners are going to take an axe to.

 

I was thinking the XJ, I hadn't really thought about the full-size version...

 

The Compass and Patriot should never have happened. Liberty is as small as Jeep should go. It is tough enough to be a true Jeep but small and cheap enough to help the brand grow.

Jeep should do a complete 180 and go back to the basics. Make everything off of the Wrangler chassis. Now that it is extended and wider it should be much more flexible. The next Grand Cherokee could easily bebuilt off this chassis and a smaller version would likely be pretty easy/cheap as well.

 

A grand cherokee built on the wrangler chassis? Good idea

Personally, I think the Patriot is pretty cool. Cheap, 4wd/awd, gets really good gas mileage, and doesn't look too bad. I also think this is plenty of off-road capability......

 

I think the extended wheel base on the new liberty is a shame. The short wheel base and short overhangs are the best part of my liberty. I certainly won't be buying the new one.

 

In just over 11 years jeep has mananged to only add 20HP (but add 500lbs)
get no better gas mileage, and come in last place in a offroad test in an article I read.
Thank you jeep liberty
You look like something the rainbow crowd would drive.

I'll keep my 96 cherokee.

 

Personally, I like the Jeep Liberty.

Of all places on the planet, the 1st time I ever saw the Jeep Liberty was in Kodiak, Alaska on the dealer's lot. I felt it was was as small as Jeep should go and about as far as they should go in extending their brand. Anything smaller or lighter duty should be called a Dodge IMO.