Jeep Liberties at the top of my gas guzzler list

Well, now that I sold my 06 Jeep Liberty Limited at auction, I’ll be happy to tell you that when I drove it to St. Louis from Springfield, Missouri, it nearly bankrupted me because of gas fees. You’d think a small SUV like that wouldn’t be much of an issue with fuel, but if you combine automatic transmission, 4-wheel drive, V6, and heating, it adds up fast. I’ve made that trip a hundred times (literally) and never once thought twice about gas prices. I have the receipts, but I must have spent $60 round trip.

I guess it was the fact that it was such a small vehicle that really pissed me off. I could understand that if I was driving a Yukon or Navigator I would at least wait for it then. But what a surprise this was.

While I’m on the subject of freedoms, have you ever driven a 5 speed freedom? It reminds me of driving a three-wheeler for the first time. It has a very strange feel to it, just not natural. I mention this because a friend of mine just bought one to resell. It turned out to be a 5 speed 2 wheel drive. I’ll have to ask about fuel consumption…

We did some work for him when he got it at the car auction. So, I drove it to my shop and in the middle of the trip I had to call him and warn him about the strange feeling of the vehicle on the road. Said I was imagining things. He was at the sale the following week trying to get rid of the thing. “No one is going to buy this bunch after driving it!” he says.

Well, I don’t like to criticize other people’s products, but in this case they are a frustrating little truck. Jeep has made some great ones over the years, but this one just missed the mark.

But, as I always say, “I couldn’t have built it better.”