2002 Jeep Liberty Limited review from North America

If you are considering purchasing a motor vehicle from the Chrysler Corporation, you might want to read this. I have documentation to prove that all of this has happened. I purchased a new Jeep Liberty in March, 2002, from CarMax in Norcross, Georgia. I ordered a model so "loaded" (everything except the sunroof) that the salesman said he had never seen one that expensive. I also bought the extended warranty.

PROBLEM NUMBER 1: The original transmission lasted 10,781miles. It bucked and jumped on its own schedule. When shifting into drive from neutral, the vehicle hesitated for a couple of seconds and then it felt like another vehicle rammed it from the rear at five or six MPH. The tranny had to be removed and "rebuilt" in order to function properly.

PROBLEM NUMBER 2: The people at CarMax in Norcross, Georgia, tricked me out of the use of a rental car during the eleven days I was without my Jeep. (I filed a lawsuit in Small Claims Court for the rental car reimbursement and lost. The Service Manager showed up for the trial with a photo copy of the owner's manual which said the owner is not entitled to rental car reimbursement. This is true under the warranty, but not true under the extended service agreement, which I had purchased from Chrysler Corporation. I didn't have a copy of the extended service agreement with me, so I lost the case. The loss is no big deal, but a good indication of the type of people one deals with at Chrysler and CarMax.)

PROBLEM NUMBER 3: At just over 18,000 total miles (7,000 on tranny #2, after the lawsuit had been filed, but before the court date) the next transmission started acting up again with the same symptoms. I went back to CarMax for service again. The Service Writer, Wayne, added a quart of ATF, but when the Service Manager saw me, he told Wayne to close the hood of my vehicle. The Service Manager basically threw me out of the dealership, "since I had filed a lawsuit against him." I left (of course) and went to All-Star Chrysler in Chamblee, Georgia. They installed tranny #3 at about 18,638 miles. It took them about a month to do the job due to "non-availability of parts."

PROBLEM NUMBER 4: At about 28,000 miles, tranny #3 died. Same symptoms!! I returned the vehicle to All Star Chrysler and requested an adjustment under the "Georgia Lemon Law" (Georgia Code 10-1-780). All Star Chrysler didn't want to talk about the Lemon Law, but offered to try to fix the vehicle again. On the advice of counsel, I refused service, parked the vehicle, set up a "Care Account" at Chrysler, wrote the President, and stood by. Weeks later I have received no written response to my business letter addressed to president. Some dude did call me on the telephone and feed me some "stuff " over the phone about how he thought Chrysler should be able to fix the tranny. I told him to stand by for further developments.

PROBLEM NUMBER 5: I wrote the President of Chrysler a second time, requesting copies of all service orders and documentation relative to the transmission problem. Under the Georgia Lemon Law, I am entitled to these reports. Access to these reports has been refused by the Chrysler employees at All Star Chrysler upon my verbal and written requests. I have not heard from the office of the president. I may have to file a separate lawsuit to get the records.

I am in the market for a new vehicle that will actually work. Does anybody have a story about WORSE treatment by a manufacturer/dealer? If so, I'll know to steer away from that combination as well as Chrysler/CarMax.