Shared Reviews

We are looking to trade in our Chevy Trailblazer for a newer, different SUV. I am quite disappointed that companies have not really been making SUVs anymore, so our choices are limited. My hubby found this Jeep Liberty on a local dealer's website and wanted me to test drive it because he knew he liked them. He had driven one as a rental car over a year ago and thought I might like it as well.

 We went to check it out and my first impression of it was that it looked awesome! Because it is a Renegade it has lots of off road option the standard Liberty's don't. But when we drove up right next to it, I thought it looked a little funny because it was a bit shorter than my trailblazer. It looked squished together. I thought this meant the inside was going to be small and tight, but it really wasn't. The back has plenty of room to load cargo, and soon our stroller. The back seats fold down in one step to add extra cargo room. You can fold both, or just one side of the back bench down at a time.

The back seats are quite roomy. It is just about the same as a trailblazer, but it seems to have more room to more your feet around and under the front seats. The front seats are 2 bucket seats separated by a center counsel. The passenger seat feels like it sits high, but I got used to it after a while. The driver's seat is adjustable so you can sit a little lower. In the center counsel is the lever for the 4-wheel drive, the shifting lever, 2 cup holders, a storage area, and the controls for all 4 windows.

This Renegade had a moon roof that was quite nice. It had a cover over it that pulled back and opened to just a closed window, a partially open window, or a fully opened window. It had a lot of electronic info that could be viewed right above the rear view mirror, but I did not mess with it much to find out what it did.

The Renegade is designed to be an off-road 4x4 SUV. It comes with features such as skid plates, a front and back towing package, extra rock guard fenders around the wheels, a spare tire on the cargo door, a full roof rack, and a line of roof fog lights. I'm not sure I would use some of these features on a regular basis, but it's nice to know they are there if we do go off-roading.

As far as the drive, I thought it felt just like riding in and driving a trailblazer. It wasn't a perfectly smooth ride, but it wasn't real rough either. The engine noise was a little loud, but I didn't notice it after a while, and the radio covered it right up. It did a good job of keeping road and wind noise out. It is a V-6, and had really good pick-up! My trailblazer is also a V-6, but because it is lighter than a trailblazer it felt like it had more power. The breaks were great too! I have never felt a car, truck, or SUV stop as sudden and easy as this Renegade did.

There was only one thing I did not like about driving the Renegade, but I did start to get used to it the longer I drove it. As soon as I sat in the driver's seat it felt like I was pushed way over to the left side of the vehicle. I was looking out over the left headlight, and it seemed like I was right up next to the outer-most side of the windshield. It bothered me at first, but my perspective adjusted about about 5 minutes and it didn't bother me as much.