Advice on a New Chrysler Vehicle

We have a Liberty and a Caravan... HATE the Liberty. There is no space, would love to get rid of it. I use it to get back and forth to work, rarely take my daughter (3 y/o) in the Liberty anymore. Now the Caravan... LOVE IT!! Can't say enough about it really. I also swore I would never own a minivan... does not fit my personality, etc., but now... I would never want to go without one. I was and still am shocked at how much I like it and how versatile it is. The new Caravan's don't have the traditional minivan's look in my opinion. I would at least consider this option... take it for a drive... but DONT GET THE LIBERTY!!!!!!!!! I think you will be really disappointed, especially if you want to cart the kids around...

With having 2 little ones I would say go with the Grand Cherokee. You might find the others small with 2 car seats. We are a family who loves all of the jeep models for the most part my parents have an older model jeep GC and we can easily fit my son in his car seat and 2 adults in the back. I drive a wrangler and have had a cherokee in the past. They are great vehicles and hold up great milage wise my parents grand and my wrangler are both '98 models and have over 100,000 miles on them. Jeeps also tend to hold there resale value fairly well because they have so many after market parts and many people use them as off road vehicals to mod and lift for fun toys. Good Luck I hope you are happy with whatever decision you make.

L.,

I am currently leasing a Jeep Liberty Sport. I love it! I have 3 kids, aged 8, 6 and almost 3. They all fit comfortably. We have our 3 year old in a booster seat also. The sport is supposed to be a little bit smaller than the original liberty, while test driving I didn't notice that much of a size difference. We had the kids w/us while test driving. We wanted to make sure that they would fit and be comfortable. The price for our lease is awesome. I would definitely suggest that someone lease or buy a Jeep. Awesome vehicle!!

We bought a new Jeep Liberty this past May when we traded in our Chrysler Town & Country van. As a mom of 2 kids, I would strongly advise you against buying either the Patriot (a small version of the Liberty) or the Jeep Liberty. I also checked out the Pacifica too. I can tell you that you with a teenager and a toddler, the Liberty is not a good choice. Don't get me wrong, it's a great car, but more so for a single gal without kids, not a family. It's alot smaller inside compared to the Pacifica and there is not a whole lot of storage space or seating space in the back seat. There is also not alot of leg room for the kids in the back seat. My husband also complains that it is too compact. My 13 year old and 3 year old have just enough room in back whereas with the van, they had alot more space. Also, with my son's Britax car seat, it is very difficult for him to climb up and get in the seat because the roof is low (too compact) and seat is high. As for the Grand Cherokee, I don't know, but encourage you to look at either a Grand Caravan or a Town & Country. The vans drive smoother, are alot roomier, and have more seats. In the long run, it's a much better investment especially if you are planning on having more kids.

Check out cars.com and edmonds.com. for reviews.

Good Luck

MC
MC

We have a Saturn Vue which is the size of a Pacifica I think.. we only have one toddler right now.. but in my opinion the back seat can easily hold 2 car seats and there's a good size of room in the back.

If you can buy I would think it would be a good idea honestly.. we lease one vehicle and I think it's a waste of money. We bought our other car after 5 year of 0% financing (which of course they'd never offer now).

You could always sell off a car that you were buying. I'd think it would be harder to transfer a lease.

Best wishes.. I hate car stuff too.. luckily DH deals with that stuff.

I have owned 3 vehicles and am currently on lease #3. I currently have a Saturn Outlook and love it so much next time we go in to turn in lease we are going to buy ours or another one similar.
My theory has always been, don't get stuck with a car you hate. Try it before you buy it............
Good Luck,
C.

I have a 2003 Dodge Durango, which, in 2003 when my husband and I got married, we had 2 kids in car seats and 3 other kids too. The 7 of us fit quite well in the Durango for the last 5 years. However, with the outlook of Chrysler right now, I don't think I would be financing through them again anytime soon. I paid off my Durango on October 31st. On November 7th, my payoff papers were signed by Chrysler and sent to us. We were free and clear finally! UNTIL...November 24th when the repo guy came knocking on the door at 2 a.m. to let us know he was taking my truck! Chrysler said we didn't pay it off and they wanted more money. Beware of Chrysler, they are playing games to get more money anyway they can right now. We paid off the truck completely and they tried to scam us out of more. They really are in bad shape when they sink that low.

I didn't read the other posts so this may be a repeat. I don't know to much about the specific cars that you are looking at but I would think about car seat space. If you are even open to the idea of a 3rd baby some time in the future I would make sure that you can fit 3 car seats in the back. you or a passenger may need to sit in the back with the kids as well. My parents have the Jeep Liberty and there is NO WAY that you can fit 2 seats and an abult in the back seat!!
Good luck and thank yu for buying American made cars!!
K.

L.,

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee which I purchased used 4 years ago. I love my Jeep wouldn't know what to do without it. It is a 96 and I paid $6000 for it, they don't loose their value very quick and Jeep lovers will always be out there ( as long as there is still a Jeep dealership to buy it from). You will really enjoy it and it has alot of room. My grandchildren seem to have plenty of room. Hope this help...

Have a safe and happy holiday.

C.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee does NOT have enough room for carseats in the back. I had to turn our Alpha Omega Sideways and edge it past the back of the drivers seat to get it in the vehicle, and then my sons feet were sticking between the two front seats...and he was only 2 at the time!.

we bought a jeep grand cherokee last year, it was used but in great condition. i love it!! we used to have a ford f150 and that was so hard to park, the jeep is easy to park, and drive. plus we took it to the sand dunes, and had so much fun. our 5 year old loved it. ours does fit a booster seat and a car seat in and sometimes when my daughter has a friend over it also fits there booster. there is plenty of room. if you don't want to spend 30000 dollars look for used. we got ours for $11000 but we knew the people who owned it and knew they took care of it.

Dear L. C.,

Is there any such thing as job security these days? Is your husband's job secure enough that you want to take on another contract in this economy? I understand you need reliable wheels but times are rough in MI right now and could be getting worse soon. Could you afford to pay your car lease payments if living on unemployment benefits?

Just a thought in case you need to think of this and haven't.

We've been there and done that and it was a real struggle, especially when winter heating bills began to come in and now MI requires us to heat our homes longer than it used to.

L. C.

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee and I love it!

I have two children. One is in an Alpha Omega seat (I have a different experience than the other person who posted our seat fits fine!). The other child is in a booster seat. My son who is in the Aplha Omega seat and is quite tall for his age (1 yr and 33 inches) fits fine. We put his seat in the center. My daughter (4yrs), who is in the booster is positioned behind the passenger seat.

There's a little room left over on the opposite side (behind the driver). This could be a problem if you had a third child (I'm uncertain if another car seat would fit) or if you had a larger individual (older child or adult) who needed to sit in back.

In my opinion, I love my jeep. I'm with ya on the whole mini van thing. Can't bring myself to go there!

NO MINIVANS!!! LOL I drive a Jeep Commander right now and I like it, I traded in my Jeep Liberty (great in the snow)I loved my Liberty (great handling) my mom has the new version and seems to like it also. I would lease if you are not sure about the size of your family in the future, you have options then...Good Luck

I have two jeep brand cars. We have the commander and a wrangler. DONT get the commander is my advice. I love my wrangler. But I subscribe to consumers report and they break down each car by year and model and it depends on which year you want to buy. But specifically they say the Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 is a very BAD car. Used car verdict is "much worse than average." The new car verdict is the same. The Jeep Liberty V6 is average over all except year '06 is much worse than average. They don't rate the Patriot. Also I've ridden in a Liberty and they are very small. I am 5'7" and I can't sit in the back seat besides in the middle where my knees don't hit the seat in front of me and I know with carseats this would be a pain. We have a hard time with the seat set up in our Commander I couldn't imagine in the Liberty. They say the Chrysler Aspen is better than Average. That is the only one I see they say something nice about beside the 2-door wrangler but all bad about the 4-door wrangler. Also, I don't think Jeep or Chrysler are offering any leases. You have to buy. And my advice would be to look at a different brand car. Dodge Durango is rated "Average" for '05,'06 and the new ones. I think the chrysler and jeeps look the best but they just don't have good ratings. And the state of the company is your first clue. They are going down. Good Luck!

Hi L.---There are several issues you need to consider, from my experience. First, you lose money on leasing vs. buying no matter which way you go. If you want the most value for your dollar, it's probably better to buy. Having said that brings me to point #2. New cars lose much of their value the minute you drive them off of the lot. It is a far better value to purchase a used car from a dealer. Many have warranties on them still.

We bought a 2002 Volvo Cross Country in 2004. It had 44,000 miles on it and it was half of the price of a new one. The car had a warranty on it until 100,000 miles. I don't think we'll ever buy new again.

You really need to sit down and make a chart of features you are looking for, amount of money you are wiling to spend, future considerations (more kids), etc. You can calculate monthly payments for new vs. used, repair costs involved down the road, insurance costs for new vs. used.

Then again, most dealers really need to sell cars so many are offering really great deals.

I'll have to ask my husband if we still have the chart he made when we looked for our car. We did the same thing for buying our house as well as any other major purchase (he's an engineer and can be quite the geek sometimes LOL). It really helps to see which 'item' gets the most checks. Let me know if you would be interested in that chart, if we still have it. Good luck. D. ###-###-####

PS. The Volvo Cross Country is a FABULOUS vehicle. Good gas mileage, lots of room (a 6'5" boy has to fit it the back seat), huge safety features. And you always see old Volvos running around on the road. It may cost a little more to maintain, for example the light bulbs burn out more frequently because they burn brighter for safety reasons. It's versatile with good cargo space and all wheel drive which is great for Michigan winters.

Hi L., my husband and I just switched to a Jeep Cherokee Sport and a Jeep GRand Cherokee three years ago. We bought them used, they are both '97's and still run great. I know someone who had their Jeep for 400,000 miles! We have a toddler and haven't had any problem with carseats. It is a bit cozier in the Sport though. You can definatly fit two seats in the Grand and still have enough room for a passenger. Upkeep has not been bad, but keep in mind tires are expensive! We love our Jeeps and we are the same about mini vans! Good luck, and I would buy, not lease, and get used even a year or two old, much better deals!