2010 Jeep Liberty
The Jeep Liberty has been redesigned for 2010, where the 2009 model’s front end looked a little bit…rounded, I should say? Currently, the front end of the 2010 Liberty looked a bit more squared, which I believe that Jeep was trying to be nostalgic about since the Cherokee from 20 + years ago. Now, I apologize for being a bit biased or prejudiced towards Chrysler, but, sure, there might be some good and bad things that came to my mind when I look at their products; hey, some people are not really that big of fans of American-made cars. The back side of the Jeep Liberty still tends to have that little nostalgic, yet boxy back end derived from the 20-year-old Cherokee, but I think that Jeep had made some improvements ever since the merge with Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz about a year ago.
The Liberty sits up just as high as all the other SUV’s that I have test driven such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and the Nissan Rogue. The dash and the center console still has that plastic look and feel to it, and that is something about the Chrysler brand (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, etc.) that kind of turns me off. The cargo room in the back is ample for a couple of guitars, an amplifier, and a golf bag. The legroom in the backseat of the Liberty is pretty descent for 3 adults, as well as the headroom for both the driver and passengers. As far as the instrumentation goes, the UConnect Bluetooth feature is somewhat user-friendly, but I am not really that big of a fan of their hands-free technology as the SYNC system from Ford. The optional navigation system is all 100% touch screen, and I hate to admit, but I have a touch screen navigation system on my own car, so I am pretty much used to it; the problem with these units are that they are not that easy to maintain in terms of cleaning one’s fingerprints on the screen.
As far as performance goes on this car, it still drives and rides a bit like an SUV, unlike the Patriot or the Compass. The turning radius is pretty tight, but the handling is not really at par. The 3.7 liter 6-cylinder engine is not that peppy, but acceleration is still smooth. Braking, on the other hand, was something that I want to spread some criticism on this car, even though it had the standard 4-wheel ABS disc brakes. Overall, the Liberty was okay, for an SUV, but I have my doubts with the Bluetooth not being up to bar, and the braking being on the weak side. The interior is still plastic (come on, Chrysler, step it up a bit), and I still have a tendency to laugh at the boxy-styled exterior.
