Do Not Recommend: Jeep Liberty

I bought my Jeep Liberty brand new in 2006 after Ryan and I got Zoey (our late Chocolate Lab) and got engaged. I excitedly traded in my Scion tC for this transition vehicle that I thought would be great to get us started with our family, tote the dog around in the back and be great for hauling things on our infrequent trips to NC (and other locations). Zoey never stayed in the back cargo area, so reason #1 was quickly foiled.

When buying it, I wasn’t too pleased that I wouldn’t be getting any of the fancy little odds and ends (it was a give and take deal – I really wanted a manual transmission and they all came without any extras) but sucked it up anyway. For the first couple of months I loved it, but after the initial new car excitement my thrill with the vehicle dropped quickly. I had a number of issues with the automatic windows (a factory recall issue that kept going bad), I missed having a sun roof and paying for more gas was just lame. Being that they have come out with newer models and the demand for SUV’s is dropping though, it’s no longer worth what I owe and so trading it in is not a simple feat.

Now that Jude is here and we’ve been using it as a family vehicle for the past 3 months, I have new complaints that go beyond my original dislikes:

Pros:
- A sufficient amount of storage in the rear of the vehicle
- Comes equipped with a full size spare
- Newer models come with a lifetime warranty
- Higher up than a sedan to make you ‘feel’ safer?

Cons:
- Car seat needs to be installed in the middle of the seat, but both of the “latch” system restraints are on the right and left seats – so you can’t utilize the latch system until you have two car seats (at which point I’m assuming it become ok for left or right seat installation). This isn’t too big of a deal though because you can use the middle seat restraint system.
- I’m not too tall (but I’m not too short either) and it’s difficult to reach into the middle to get Jude’s infant seat in and out of the vehicle.
- Rear storage is exposed (not like a normal trunk). We were told by the car seat safety expert at the DMV that in an accident those items stored in the back could roll over the seat and into your child, so everything in the trunk area needs to be restrained
- I believe my car seat is on the large size of infant seats, so this might not be an issue for all car seats, but currently the back seat is not large enough for the seat. The front seats can not recline nor be pushed back too far without hitting the back of the car seat so it could be cramped in the front seat (not an issue for Ryan and I, but for taller people it can be).

Would I Recommend: NO. Before I had a child I didn’t like it. Now that I have a child I dislike it even more. I’m currently looking to trade it in for a 4 door car that’s lower to the ground with a deeper/more spacious back seat. For anyone in the market for a car that would work with their family, I highly recommend trying your particular car seat in the back seat and checking out installation information before purchasing. Obviously 3 years ago this wasn’t something we were really thinking about, but now that I’m in the market for a new car it’s a big priority.