Opinions on Chevy Tracker/Jeep Liberty?

HillHound · May 6, 2002

What do you guys think of these two SUVs? My wife is thinking about trading her S10 Trailblazer in on one of these two because she wants a slightly smaller SUV with better mileage and and cheaper payments. We test drove both of them and both are nice.

I liked the Tracker for two reasons: It's a Chevy plus GM has a 3000 rebate on them until end of May. I was surprised ay how solid it seemed to be built-no rattles, quiet and the doors make a nice "thud" sound when they close. Decent power with the V6 4x4 for slightly under $20 grand.

The Liberty was ok but I'm not crazy about the styling. It's a little nicer and moore room inside but it costs about 1500 to 2000 more for about the same options as the Tracker. The V6 made nice power.

Hard to pass up that $3000 Tracker rebate on a $19000 vehicle! :lookaround: The S10 Trailblazer's mileage is about 15 mpg so with one of these smaller suvs we hope to get about 19 to 25 mpgs which is a nice increase.

Anyways, let me know what you guys think. Remember-this is my wife's SUV so I only have patial say in it. She's also considering a Grand Am if she decides to go with a car.

Shaners · May 6, 2002

The Tracker is made by Suzuki I believe. It should be more reliable than the Goofy looking Jeep Liberty. Plus the rebate is very tempting. I know several people that have trackers and like them...

sincityZ71 · May 7, 2002

The Tracker is made by Suzuki I believe. It should be more reliable than the Goofy looking Jeep Liberty. Plus the rebate is very tempting. I know several people that have trackers and like them...

Yeah what he said. I haven't heard anyone complain about the Tracker. And all the people I know who have or have had Suzuki's have all been happy with them, and like Shaners said they make the tracker. The rebate sounds good too.

WhiteBeast · May 7, 2002

I will go ahead and tell you that I am Jeep bias. The Liberty is of much newer design and platform and its 4wd components are much "beefier" (if that is a word). Plus the interior in the Jeep blows the Tracker away, imho. The Liberty should give you no problems if taken care of, we have never had any problems out of our Jeeps and thats all we have in the family (except my 78' K10 :lookaround: ). And as you probably noticed on the test drive the Liberty provides much more power in its V-6...and the look will grow on you...trust me...

carguru · May 7, 2002

Both are ok. If you plan to to tons of offroading, the Jeep may have a slight advantage. I've personally stayed away from Chrysler products. I've had several bad experiences with them in the past (products put out under Chrysler's reign, not during AMC era. CJ7 or the old style Cherokee/Wagoneer ). The spotty reliability problems tend to haunt Jeep. The Liberty is a newer design so it hasn't built up much of a reputation yet. The Tracker has been around quite a while. It is a decent vehicle. Plus you get a bit of an incentive to get it. Also, I'm with you on the styling. It still hasn't quite grown on me yet.

HillHound · May 7, 2002

I will go ahead and tell you that I am Jeep bias. The Liberty is of much newer design and platform and its 4wd components are much "beefier" (if that is a word). Plus the interior in the Jeep blows the Tracker away, imho. The Liberty should give you no problems if taken care of, we have never had any problems out of our Jeeps and thats all we have in the family (except my 78' K10 :lookaround: ). And as you probably noticed on the test drive the Liberty provides much more power in its V-6...and the look will grow on you...trust me...

Yep I definitely agree with you that the Jeep's drivetrain and probably suspension are alot beefier and their 6cyl motor feels alot torquier. But the Liberty looks like it does cost a little more which is fine since you'd be getting a little better quality SUV. My wife will hardly ever be offroad. except perhaps driving around in some meadows or old farm roads. Nothing hardcore. You're not alone on your Jeep bias, either! I see tons of Jeeps on the road around here.

As far as getting used to the looks...I dunno :lookaround: ! I think it looks too tall. Just a matter of taste I guess.

One more note-since mileage is one of her concerns we are looking at 4cyl motors too. The Tracker's 4cyl gets really nice mileage but she says it felt too sluggish for her. The Liberty's literature says it's avaialble with a 4cyl but the salesman said Jeep hasn't actually released any with the 4cyl yet? Anyone know whats up with that? Supposed to have a 2.4L inline 4 available.

CMNTMXR81 · May 7, 2002

I consider the Chevy/Geo Tracker the Bic lighters of the mini-suv world.....when they run out of gas, you throw them away.

My G/F thinks they're cute and when she was considering a Blazer ZR2 she wanted to look at the Tracker ZR2 cause it was "cute" in her view. So I let her sit in one at the dealer and with the closing of the door, she realized it was nothing more than an aluminum can with a pop top.

MarkD · May 7, 2002

I like the Liberty better. My wife actually likes the styling. I have had several Jeeps and have been well pleased with their performance/styling.

Have you considered a Toyota RAV4? They seem to fit exactly where you are looking. I did some shopping for a friend of my mom. She wanted something smaller than an Envoy w/ decent mileage and all the bells and whistles. Decked out 4wd for less than $25k. 4WD base retail of $18600.

bassdog · May 7, 2002

Hillhound,

You may want to look at this too, Hyundai Sante Fe. Price is comparable and the warranty is better.

http://www.hyundaiusa.com/

CityTruck · May 7, 2002

Autoweek had some roll-over problems with the Liberty when they tested it, but it never made big news so it just may be a fluke.

Shaners · May 7, 2002

There is always the Saturn VUE if you want to stay with GM. I've had a couple of Saturns in the past and I've been pleased with them.

carguru · May 7, 2002

Autoweek had some roll-over problems with the Liberty when they tested it, but it never made big news so it just may be a fluke.

Autoweek rolled a Liberty in their slolam test. Chrysler and Autoweek repeated the slolam test at Chrysler Proving ground with an identical Liberty and got the Liberty up on 2 wheels but recovered. The official statement from Chrysler was that this test was not representative of a real world situation and that the Liberty is a very stable platform. :0

pacodiablo · May 8, 2002

of the 2 i would get the liberty. you may also want to consider the rav4, it has nearly as much power in it's 4 banger as the tracker has in it's 6. if u are considering a tracker, i would just shoot for a suzuki grand vitara.

HillHound · May 8, 2002

Thanks for the replies, guys. As far as the Rav4, my wife doesn't like the styling although I could live with it. Today she's been talking more about looking at a Grand Am or maybe a Chevy Malibu. My folks have a '01 Grand Am but I don't know too much about the Malibu.

LoL! I love car shopping even when it's not for me!

Shaners · May 8, 2002

I don't know too much about the Malibu.

I had a '98 Malibu and thought very highly of it too. It was very tight and ergonomically done well. It reminded me of a Camry or Accord alot (that's a good thing). The sister car (Grand Am), should be just as nice.

I bought the Malibu brand new but only kept it about 6 months, because shortly after we bought it my wife got pregnant with #3 and we decided it would be too small for all 5 of us, so I traded it in on an Olds Sillouhette.