Hertz - Ride Report - 2006 Jeep Liberty 3.7L 4x4

A long layover in Atlanta gave me the opportunity to rent a car from this Hertz location. I had made a phone reservation for an economy car and was somewhat surprised to see this in my stall when I arrived. The ride in this vehicle was nice, just enough road feel to not be a car-like ride, and smooth enough ride not to be Jeep-like. This particular vehicle has Sirius satellite radio which did flake out once or twice (stormy in ATL). Power was sufficient, but not plentiful. I attempted to pass a vehicle only to watch the tachometer shoot up to 5500 RPM while the vehicle kept on going at the same speed. All in all, I would not mind receiving this vehicle again, as it was pretty fun to drive and was able to seat 4 pretty comfortable with my bags in the back.

My Jeep Liberty in LAS is an upgrade for a midsize and I'm fine with it so far. It has leather and Sirius but no sunroof.

Some minor quirks which would prevent me from ever buying such a vehicle:

--The power window switches are on the center console, not on the doors where they should be.

--Inside door handles are awkward and set very far forward.

--Steering wheel feels thin.

--The way to select 4x4 options is a giant parking-brake sized lever on the console. You know, Ford and Toyota seem to be able to do this with a simple selector knob on the dash.

--The rear door swings out, but the rear glass swings up. It just seems awkward to me. If you open the rear door, the rear glass HAS to swing up automatically. You have two chances of bumping something with this arrangement.

--The radio has no tuning knob, only the up/down rocker buttons. If you're on Sirius channel 8 and want Sirius channel 130, hope the next red light is long.