I have a 1999 Jeep Cherokee. It’s been a good vehicle. I’ve made three trips from L.A. to northern Washington, each time carrying a heavy trailer. My Cherokee was adequate to the mission, though I would have liked more power for the Grapevine, going through the Siskiyous, that steep pass at the border of California and Oregon, and for the mountainous areas of southern Oregon. I’ve taken the Cherokee offroad on So. Cal.'s Wilderness Discover Trails. These can be very narrow, a bit steep, and angled downslope. I only took it out after a nice rain, so as to get it nice and muddy. It handled the snotty mud well, even with the stock Goodyear Wrangler tires.
The Liberty replaced the Cherokee for the 2001 year model. One big difference between the Liberty and the Cherokee is that the Liberty has independent suspension. This is not a good thing if you want to go offroad where there are likely to be a lot of rocks, since solid suspensions articulate better. (That is, they keep both wheels on the ground better.) But DaimlerChrysler know that most people don’t use their SUVs as off-road vehicles, and independent suspension is better for the freeway and around town. Unless you’re a hardcore offroader, it probably doesn’t matter.
A lot of people were angry with the change. It didn’t seem to make sense. The Cherokee was phenomenally successful, and the tooling had long since been paid for. It was extremely good at what it did, and the feeling was that they should not have messed with a good thing for the sake of pandering to the whims of fashion.
(Time out for a joke: “Is the company pronounced 'DAY-mler’Chrysler, or 'DIME-ler’Chrysler?” “‘DIME-ler’. The ‘Chrysler’ is silent.”)
There are two things I don’t like about the Cherokee, and I suspect I would have the same issues with the Liberty. First, I bought an automatic transmission. All of my other cars have had standard transmissions, and I’ve discovered I don’t like the machine choosing gears for me. I should have bought the standard transmission. The other thing is that the cargo area is rather small. (Remember, the overall length of the Cherokee is about the same as a Honda Accord.) I can’t put down the rear seat and stretch out unless I lie diagonally. Oh, one other thing: It would be nice to have a couple more inches of legroom.
Here’s an amusing thing about the Liberty. All Jeeps have to negotiate the Rubicon Trail. It’s considered the ultimate test of a production off-road vehicle. All other Jeeps made the crossing okay; but to get the Liberty across, they had teams of rock stackers to make it easier. That is, people would stack rocks in such a way that the Liberty could easily cross the rough parts and pass the test. I read that the Liberty also suffered damage to its transfer case that had to be repaired before it could continue. (IIRC, the Grand Cherokee basically suffered cosmetic damage when some of its trim was ripped off.) This information is on the Internet, but I don’t have a link at this time.
So I have no experience with the Liberty, but I have experience with its immediate precessor. I have no experience with the Suburu. But here’s my opinion anyway: I like the Jeep, and would buy another one; but I’d really prefer to have another Cherokee. I’ve always liked Suburus, and wanted one when I was in high school. Their main problem is that they’re so bloody expensive. Given a choice between a Liberty and a Suburu if price were not a factor, I’d be inclined to buy a Suburu.
You listed the advantages of the Suburu and the Liberty. What disadvantages do you see in each?