How long will my roommate's '04 Liberty last?

[01rangerxl]

One of my roommates has a 2004 Jeep Liberty 3.7 4x4 with 118,000 miles. The engine oil was last changed with conventional and a no-name filter about 10,000 miles ago. It was at least 1.5 quarts low last week. The drain plug won't budge with the tools we have, so it will be up to the next shop that sees this thing to get it out.

The battery apparently isn't maintenance free since one of the caps disappeared months ago. It has been sitting open to the elements. My roommate adds some bottled water once in a while. The Liberty cranks over every time.

The coolant is brown and was low. I topped it off with about a quart of G-05.

The front pinion seal is dumping fluid. My roommate doesn't care. There's no telling when that will be fixed...probably when the diff runs out of fluid and grenades.

The trans, brake, and diff fluids are likely all original. About half the time when it is parked, even on a hill, the parking brake isn't used...it just rests on the pawl.

Despite all of this, the only problems have been the pinion seal, the radio (the display reads "88:33"), and a broken trunk latch. No CEL. The thing runs and drives great. How long do you guys think it will last like this?

 

[silverrat]

The CEL probably burnt out from being on all the time.

 

[01rangerxl]

That is possible.

Sometimes this Liberty makes me feel like I am just wasting a bunch of time and money on keeping my truck in top shape. I don't think the Liberty will see 200K without a major repair though. Something has to give. It amazes me though that it runs and drives so well despite horrible maintenance.

The spark plugs are original too...

 

[Drew99GT]

Because of Murphy's Law, it will last longer then ANY vehicle owned and maintained by a BITOGer.

Strangely, I've witnessed the phenomenon a lot actually. Friends and family don't maintain their vehicles or other expensive consumer tools and they last forever. I blow out the vents on my computer regularly and the motherboard dies!

 

[MarkC]

It's a Jeep thing, don't you know that?

 

[TrentMiller]

As soon as you fix any of those minor annoying things, something will break, and you will smile, and know, that it is jeep, and all is as it should be.

 

[PT1]

His Liberty will start eroding fast if he doesn't catch up with it soon.

 

[97f150]

I have always felt that some people just dont know or are careless, but there is a fine line between carlessness and stupidity.

 

[adamg]

Practically everyone I know is like that. I don't know if it is stupidity, so much as ignorance. They think an oil change (whatever is cheap) twice a year (if they remember) is "maintenance". And of course, when it breaks down, it's the cars fault.
But for some, it's definitely stupidity, you know - the ones who are 'proud' of their lack of maintenance.

 

[addyguy]

It will probably last a while like that. Even the newer Jeeps are pretty tough, so it's not going to grenade anytime soon.

Wish you could have done the OC to see what kind of junk came out......

 

[rjundi]

150k-200k.

Maintenance is a good thing for piece of mind. However in the majority of the cases the next owner gets the benefit as car owners simply get rid of them.

My sis in law is at 105k in her 04 RAV4. She has only performed 5k oil changes NOTHING else except brakes and tires. It runs perfectly to her and no issues.

She won't perform maintenance until it starts to run poorly. However she recently did get an itch to sell it and move on. She has saved some serious money if she moves forward on selling it.

 

[opus1]

Originally Posted By: adamg
Practically everyone I know is like that. I don't know if it is stupidity, so much as ignorance. They think an oil change (whatever is cheap) twice a year (if they remember) is "maintenance". And of course, when it breaks down, it's the cars fault.
But for some, it's definitely stupidity, you know - the ones who are 'proud' of their lack of maintenance.

And in this case, you just know that when it does break down it'll be "typical Detroit junk!"

I worked for a guy like this roommate once. Never took care of a car until he bought a Camry, but the Camry was religously maintained. And in his mind, his lack of maintenance had absolutely nothing to do with his GM cars falling apart....

 

[01rangerxl]

My roommate is aware that he is hard on vehicles, he simply doesn't care about them enough to take good care of them. Cars are not his hobby, or even a remote interest really. He plans on getting 200K miles out of it before replacing it.

His last vehicle was a Grand Cherokee 4.7 that was just as abused. It was totalled in a wreck at about 150K miles.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
However she recently did get an itch to sell it and move on. She has saved some serious money if she moves forward on selling it.


Like the OP's friend, your SIL doesn't see a LTR with a vehicle. Sure she saved money by not doing the required maintenance, but that's nothing compared to the cost of a new or newer vehicle. Assuming a stable setting (like not adding a few rug rats along the way) there's no reason not to get 12+ years out of a soundly designed chassis.

You have to know yourself, though. If the savings isn't going to truly add up to savings or gain somewhere else and just get wizzed away anyway, you might as well upgrade in increments. The sticker shock after 12 years can be substantial.

 

[Cutehumor]

what your roommate does is common. cars are so reliable now that if you don't get 150k out of it, you got a lemon. It irks some folks knowing they neglect their rides and save the money. while you spend every penny keeping your ride in tip top shape and will feel remorse when someone t-bones your ride.

I'm in the middle. I only spend when I need to. You won't see me spending $10 on a car wash every week or doing any "proactive" maintenance like trans flushes or 3k oil changes.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
You won't see me spending $10 on a car wash every week or doing any "proactive" maintenance like trans flushes

SAY WHAT?!!!! YOU NEED TO REPORT TO THE ATF SECTION FOR "INDOCTRINATION"