These Are the American 'Classics' You Guys Love to HATE! | Buy or Bust Ep. 18 

Back in 2008 we were looking for a family hauler. The Japanese vans were out of our price range, fords sucked to drive, and the GM’s were too small. We ended up with an off lease 2007 Grand Caravan with stow and go and a 3.3 V6. That van went through everything we could throw at it and kept on going. By far the most reliable vehicle I’ve ever owned (including a RAV4 and fist gen Tundra). We did one transmission……at 360,000 miles. Currently rusting away but still running with close to 440k.

I love when he said the liberty was easy to work on. You’ll need to do that a lot

In 2009 my father in law bought us a 2005 Town and Country with 98,000 miles on the clock. We loved that van….and still do. Currently 280K with mostly just normal maintenance. Other than the paint coming off the roof, it still looks and drives good. It has helped move us twice and my daughter in and out of college and into her first apartment with hardly a hiccup. We apparently got one of the good ones. I can’t believe no other van adopted the innovative stow-n-go seating option that ours has…our favorite feature.

“Tommy and I are going to hop in the back and show you some cool stuff you can do back there” almost lost it LOL!

Completely appropriate that you drove around in the Liberty with the warning beep. That sound was there to warn the wise to step away!

My Sister had a Liberty, one of the square ones after my good experience with an XJ. The Liberty constantly broke down and would need a wrecker. She is a nurse and worked off hours so that thing was dangerous. I was so glad when she got rid of it.

Had a Dodge Caravan from the early 2000s that was basically given to us by in-laws, no one wanted it (LOL) and we had a new family. It was practical and functional not my favorite but it did the job.

That Liberty's 3.7, and its big brother the 4.7 V8, have earned themselves a reputation for warping heads and dropping valve seats. And the timing chain on those is a major pain to deal with. Combined with the low comfort level, I'm busting it.

I see many Caravans around where I live. Cheap transportation, works good for large families. Business's also use them. I think I've even seen the wheelchair accessible aftermarket upfit on them. I think these also have two AC units for front and rear, making them especially good for disabled people hauling.

I've always said, if the Aztek would have been build on the S10, Colorado, or Silverado platform, it would have succeeded. Lots of cool features that would make it a nice compact recreational/camping vehicle, wrapped in terrible packaging.

My family had 3 Dodge/Chrysler Full Size mini vans (1996, 1999, 2005). Yes they are no Toyota Sienna but if the transmission was decently maintained these vans are awesome! All of ours made it past 200k miles before needing transmissions. We took them all on countless cross country vacations. I can't give these vans enough praise.

I’ve seen a couple of Cyber Trucks around Sacramento. That Aztec is a work of art in comparison.

I had a 2006 Renegade. I've had Jeeps for 32 years, and it's the only one to let me down. Transmission needed rebuilt, t-case needed rebuilt, twice, water pump and pullies gave up sending the fan into the radiatior, front CV axle shaft wouldn't stay attached to the front differential. When it ran, it would go lots of places, but it broke a lot. Traded it in only 3 years with under 60k. On a Rubicon, smart move.

I had a 97 T&C limited that I absolutely loved. Drove it across the country following bands with a couple buddies, on 3 occasions. The 3.8 and the awd made it a bit peppy even, for its time. Made it to 127k before the trans went, and traded it in. Those damn transmissions are still an issue.

As a motorcycle commuter for years [included a freeway stint], I always hated getting stuck behind an Aztec for any distance. For some reason, the air coming off that vehicle would cause intense helmet buffeting like no other. Also, a buddy had Jeep Liberty as a work vehicle. By the time he cycled to his next one after putting around 60,000 mi on it, it was on its 3rd automatic transmission. He also rarely topped 15 mpg - it had the 3.7L V6. Junk! The manual in the video would have been better, possibly.

We've owned 3 Chrysler minivans including the Plymouth version of this generation. They're great cars. The current one we own is a 2008. It's still going strong. holds 7 people comfortably, and can carry 4x8 sheets of whatever a suburban homeowner might need with the tailgate closed.

My wife and I had two Azteks and they were weird but incredibly practical. We loved them. We had the cooler console which was great for long trips, the tent and the air compressor.

Just because something is simple doesn’t mean it’s reliable.

Buddy recently picked up an 06 Renegade KJ for cheap. We put a 2" OME lift, some 31" Falkens and a rear locker. It's HILARIOUSLY competent off road!

We had a Jeep Liberty for years. It had over 200k on it when we gave it to our son. Gave us good service. Radiators were crap. Replaced two.

Tommy’s facetious with Brendan’s serious makes this hilarious what tremendous brothers 😂. They balance this vlog perfect. I’m really happy we have Brendan and kase and Alex on the team. It adds so much humor to the vids for me.

$4,400 for a 23 year old Chrysler mini van .😮 do people even bother to look at pictures or in person test drive these cars at auctions ?

I have a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country that my Grandfather bought new. It was pretty loaded with a sunroof and DVD changer with drop down screen. He was 82 when he got it and even now with about 120k miles on it the screen still has the plastic shipping protection on it! My Grandfather passed away the end of 2020 but I've kept it around because it's so useful!!!!

Having owned that generation Town and Country and a few Ford Windstars/Freestars of similar model years I would take the Ford all day long, which I keep doing. Of the 3 Ford vans I've taken to the scrap yard all drove there with over 250k miles, ran and drove great, but had a critical component rust to where it was unsafe to continue driving (strut tower, engine cradle, etc.). Neither I nor my wife liked driving the Town and Country, and it was traded in at 138k miles with a long list of issues that popped up in the 3 years we owned it. I've known plenty of people who loved theirs, but they aren't for us.

Those Town & County vans went through transmissions on a regular basis. Everyone that I know that owned one, (family and friends), replaced the transmission at least once, and at less than 100K on the odometer.

You all need to know how much I love and anticipate these videos. And I can't fully explain why, except that they feature cars I can actually afford. Been suffering clinical insomnia. So tired today I could cry. Migraine coming on. I made it through Monday workday. First video I see after work is this!! Buy or Bust is literal medicine👌🙏🎉

Interesting thing about the Aztec is that a lot of the crossovers and SUVs look like the Aztec now. I think it was just ahead of its time. The styling was considered crazy. But now it looks kind of normal.

My '05 Jeep Liberty KJ that I've owned since new had the 2.8L diesel. I ended up swapping in the 3.7L V6 several years ago when the diesel proved to be too expensive to keep going...

My neighbor currently drives a high mileage second hand 4th gen Town and Country named Pedro. Not particularly fancy but it gets her where she needs to go and has lots of room for dogs, grandkids or anything else. There are times when I wished I had one, just not enough to buy one.

The Liberty deserved the Cherokee name in the U.S.. It was as good off-road as the XJ, but it lacked the 4.0. That said, "Liberty", "Patriot", and "Commander" were great names for the patriotic, all-American identity Jeep was going for.

Heisenberg thought the Aztek was a pimpin ride

I had a 05 jeep liberty for 14 years. It had 220k on it. The bigest issue i had with it was electrical problems. It also left me straded a few times. BUT! I never got stuck in the snow or off road. It drove good for the time i had it. I also own a town and country. Its a really nice van! I take it camping. I can fill it up and load the roof with room for 2 dogs and a family of 5. never had an issue with it. I would never get another jeep liberty. I would pick the town and country before i would get a liberty.

reliability comes down to maintenance. people do NOT maintain their vehicles. on the liberty, the diffs need a fluid change every 30k to 50k. the transfer case, the same. the MANUAL transmission, the same (use the correct fluid, people!) do the damn services! I know this because, I own an 07 4x4 stick, and I use it like the mule that it is. it hauls, it tows (open deck car trailer, with a car on it), it plows, it carries bicycles. it's not fast, but it just does work. i'm also working on an 06 liberty renegade ($800) for a friend's daughter, and at 136k miles i can tell it wasn't maintained. the trans fluid was OE fill (blackstone labs confirmed this), and it's roached the OD solenoid, which eventually I'll fix. the spark plugs were OE and they wondered why it ran rough. that also killed the passenger cat, but I bought an 06 65th for $700 with a "bad pushrod" according to the seller (note... these aren't push rod engines), and all it had done was kick a rocker arm off. I'm using it as a parts jeep to fix/upgrade the other two though, as i'm stealing the axles (3.73 vs 3.55 in the manual, rebuilding them as 4.10's with DTT front and rear) and the transfer case (NP242) for mine, hopefully with a Teraflex 2LO conversion kit if I can find one. if you properly maintain a vehicle, it'll last damn near forever. I also have a gen4 T&C. it's a 7 seater box on wheels, and does exactly what i want it to do. haul lots of people at once, or haul anything that fits inside with all the seats folded down, and it can fit A LOT. it's absolutely rotting completely out (has active weight reduction going down the road, as the rust falls off in chunks) but I paid $250 for it, and it just does what I need it to do.

I worked at a Pontiac dealer while I was in college when these Aztecs came out. Back then I was like, wth but at the same time I was like, this has some cool features. Then after watching breaking bad, I became a fan, hahaha....they should have put a 5.3 in it, then it would have over came its looks, lol....this is my favorite tfl video genre. Keep it up guys!

Back in the day, had the same model Jeep Liberty. Standard tyres are rubbish. Fitted Pirelli Scorpion tyres. What a huge improvement. Fun 4wd to drive.

I was working at a Pontiac dealer ship as a tech in 2001 and removed the Aztec in the dealer show room set up with the tent in the back. They sold pretty good were I worked. The dealer was also a Dodge Chrysler Jeep and Plymouth dealer along with Pontiac and Saturn.

I still see a ton of those liberty’s driving around where I live in Canada and the all seem to have well over 200,000 kms

Love this series, hello from Salt Lake City!

My brother in-law had the Dodge Caravan in the mid 90s. It was surprisingly reliable and comfortable. I got why people liked them. I'd never want one, but that's me. It had a weird problem with the cruise control. Going around a curve it would downshift and launch well over the set speed to the point you had to hit the brake or shut off cruise. it was like it was possessed.

We owned a 93 Plymouth Voyager and it was a good vehicle. At around 100k miles Transmission had to be rebuilt. Sold it to a guy that owned dry cleaning business and he maintained he would get another 100k miles using it in his business.

I had two LIberties, I loved that SUV!! It plowed through snow like butter.

2:20 these are unibody, not ladder frame. But as we've seen with the XJ and numerous others, being unibody isn't necessarily a hindrance to its off-road ability.

My mom has a town and county that’s been converted to a wheelchair van. It’s always breaking. For the last few years it’s had a battery drain problem nobody can figure out. So my stepdad in all his wisdom put a trickle charger on it. He took emblem off grill. And that’s where you plug it in after every use. Hey it works. She needs a new van but the converted ones are stupid expensive.

The Chrysler minivan is #1 (chefs kiss). We've had 2 current one is a 2001 Town & Country LXi 3.8L V6 W/ Heavy Duty tow package and is currently sitting at almost 310,000 miles and have literally done nothing to it. I'm a big Saturn (GM) and really like the Saturn Relay( and other GM siblings) but the Chrysler minivans are the standard. Our first was a 1997 Plymouth Grand Voyager SE W/ the 3.3L V6 and it had 227,000 miles when it was totaled.

I worked at Nummi for a while, and the first Aztecs were built in Fremont on the Corolla platform

I bought one of these to commute with instead of my full size truck. I loved it. 1 drove 1.5 hours each way to my one job and back. I put 145,000 trouble free miles on that thing. I didn’t alter the vehicle from stock and it performed decent, even off-road, but wasn’t awesome off-road. It turned out to be a nice vehicle to check the calves in. It did like snow!! That one there is horrible. Probably driven hard, put away wet. The van doesn’t belong on TFL Classics,,,.

Best content on RU-vid. You guys make a great team!!

Hold up. Knocking the Chevy HHR? That was a great car. I never worked on it and the only reason we don't still have it is my wife got in a car accident with it. I loved that car and always will. It was just fun to drive and was a perfect small family hauler. We had a 2008 Chevy HHR LT. Loved it and miss that car. We went everywhere in that car with our son. The one we had was so reliable. I have not had a car that reliable ever. I never had to work on that car. I admit the windshield was a bit small and weird but it was just a fun car to drive. I just loved everything about from the looks to reliability to just being an all around fun car. Loved the tail lights on that car.

I half expected Tommy and/or Brendon to pull a Walter White and strip down to their tightly whities with the Aztek🤣

Tommy and Brendon Jeep made a rare model of the first gen liberty and it was called the Liberty CRD and it used 2.8 liter turbo diesel i4 with a 5 speed auto which was the only trans option for the CRD but it's still a cool model none the less!

This was truly entertaining to watch. Please keep it up!

This bodystyle of the Grand Caravan/Town and Country/Voyager minivans came out in 1996, IIRC.

About the Liberty "Destined to Fail from thr start" the first generation 02-07 Sold 701,000 units, with 167k alone in its 4th year. They were everywhere. And didn't drop off dramatically until the redesign.

Such a great video to start the work week with, thank you guys for the wonderful laughs 👍🤗😂

My wife had an '05 KJ Liberty Limited. We eventually traded it in at 105K. The only issue it had was a worn out control arm bushing in back (very common issue). The one in this video actually has a pretty rare grill/hood option, which I think looks a lot better than the regular Liberty grill. This one being a manual is awesome. Oh, and as for the Aztek, its worth noting there was a Buick version called the Rendezvous. And in some ways, it was arguably even uglier, just because of its bulbus shape.

I've had an 04 t&c. I didn't like it because of head ducking I had to do getting in drivers or passenger side-I'm 6'1". Mpg was at best 18 and it was awful in the snow. It did have the stowngo seats so lots of room but simple maintenance was a pain like alternator or spare tire. It was replaced by an 05 Aztec. Mine was missing the cooler. I drove it for a while and it got better mpg and snow driving than the Chrysler. Visibility is bad out the back or sides and it looks like supersized prius. Thanks to Walter White everyone who was interested in buying the Aztec was a Breaking Bad fan and one bought it, drove it for 6 months without registering it, got impounded and I could have bought it back from impound for $650 after registration, insurance and fees but I don't know how bad it was abused in the 6 months. I've never owned a liberty and would rather have 1-2 generation grand Cherokee with 4.0 selectrac.

Nice the Chrysler Town and Country has a Russwood dealer sticker on it I worked there as my first auto mechanic job the dealership is no longer there but kinda cool to see it.

all three of those would be "get it off my lot" priced at a grand around here (but I nailed the opening bids) I owned a third gen grand caravan. it fell victim to the "opaque healights" problem, and we took severe deer damage with 7 people in the vehicle not seeing her till BANG. on top of that, it had the older fuel pump not designed for any ethanol content gas AND overheated. needless to say, she went for scrap. it doesn't help that chrysler products do NOT like me, and promply start leaking like a seive when I get near them, and that includes Jeeps ( a grand cherokee went down after only a MONTH of use!)

I've always liked the aztec, I drove it when I first came out through an obstacle course and it handled pretty well had decent acceleration and was able to go over tires and stuff

I think vans like that will become more appreciated once everyone starts admitting to themselves that rough riding modern vehicles are fun when you are younger but not so much fun after age and injuries. If Chrysler would have used the minivan V6 engine in their sedans and coupes in the 90s instead of the 2.7l V6, their reputation would be much better today than it is today. Also, little known fact, the minivan 3.3 was used by Carroll Shelby in his Can Am racing series.

That generation Chrysler Town and Country minivan is the only vehicle of which I am aware that the front tells you the wheelbase. The long wheel base has different headlights.

I remember when these were still new & was watching Leno. He had Rosie O'Donnell on as a guest who had one at the time. Of course he had to ask her about it & I think she said she likes the looks & how practical the car is.

The early 4th gen Chrysler town and country and dodge grand caravan were very comfortable, not necessarily the best electronics, but the 3.3 and 3.8 v6 were reliable

This old timer in FL does airport runs in one of those minivans, has 230k miles on it and still drives like new

Those first gen Liberty's with the 3.7 are pretty good and way better than people think. Hate the square Liberty.

The Liberty was a great off-road vehicle especially with the 3.7 V6. Why would Jeep guys hate this vehicle ? I'd buy this Jeep Liberty today ! Diesel was only available for 2 years. Dodge/Chrysler minivans were the best selling ones. Great for a family with kids. They did have clockspring issues hence the airbag light. The Aztec was a funky but cool car ! Had an Aztec,had a 3 inch lift,off road tires and the tent. Did pretty good off road ! I wish I still had it.

I personally hate Chrysler products, but I'll have to give it to the Liberty. My son-in-law had one that was not taken care of at all & he put well over 300,000 miles on it with very little issues.

Great series!

I just absolutely love these buy or bust videos they are just the freaking best 🎉😁🎉 keep up the awesome 👍 😎👍

This is what I think. The Jeep Liberty Renegade- No. The Pontiac Aztek- Maybe yes / or maybe not. The Chrysler Town and Country-Yeah. That minivan, like a lot of 90s and 2000s minivans is cheap comfort and space, which is great.

The Liberty was also called Liberty in Canada.

The Liberty does not have a ladder frame come on Tommy.

Was looking at Libertys as a replacement vehicle for my wife/family car. Rural living/weather was a concideration. The NP242 T-case was available, and I was certain that with it, I would have no worries about my wife getting to, or coming home from wherever she needed to be. But! Ended up being given a Cherokee instead, did the same, did it well. Several of my relatives own and swear by Dodge Caravans. Comfortable, cheap to insure, able to haul family and goods. I went to the Ford Aerostar, good motor, AND rear wheel drive. Better ride in my opinion. 2 Aerostars, and almost 750k miles between them. Easier than the Dodges to do your own service work.

Don’t forget the pealing paint on the Liberty. I think they used the same paint as they used on the Neon.

Yes, the Aztec is the unloved "stepchild of GM," but look what it's paved the way for: the Chevy Equinox/GMC Terrain. On paper, the numbers for the engine seem anemic, but when you put the pedal down on the true FWD vehicles, they are surprisingly quick for their bulk. Not as fast as a Mustang, but quick enough to get you moving on the highways without cringing and waiting for a semi to give you a bumper tap with some loud horns. As for the Chrysler T&C, ohhhh, man... Other than the usual $1000-dollar problem (TPIM), those vans are just so reliable you can literally drive them until the wheels fell off. Very comfortable cruisers that can do double-duty as a covered pickup truck once you pull the seats out (flat floors for the win!). Not great for gas, but hey, all that mattered was that they started up every time. Even in sub-Arctic cold temps.

i owned the VERY RARE Freedom edition, manual transmission. i kinda loved that jeep

Based on the low mileage and the scuffs in the paint on the corners, that van was definitely owned by a grandma who only drove it to the store and doctor appointments.

I prefer the Aztek and the Liberty Renegade.

i love the liberty and aztek. The chrysler is a great dirt cheap van though.

My wife's 2006 T&C had 173k when she traded in for a 2016 T&C..And then traded that at 76k because the gremlins 😂 Now she has the 21 Sedona Ex and is not afraid of cutting 3 lanes on the highway 😂😂

The Liberty isn't so bad. They have a solid transfer case setup and many have the Chrysler 8.25 rear end. You could easily build one as a decent budget off roader.

Had one no engine or trans issue but ac once a year and frontend ball joints every other year

The one person I know who had a Liberty drove the crap out of it, it took all the abuse off road that he could dish out and asked for more. I don't know if it was an absolute fluke and he got a unicorn that was reliable or if they are just good, but I can say that his was reliable.

The V-6 Liberty had the same HP as the Old Crown Vic. They were more than able to get the job done. Woud more be better? Sure. But there were probably as many of these actually used for off-roading as were the Wrangler Mall Crawlers.

The Liberty with the diesel engine was awesome.

It is kind of crazy how those minivans keep value. We had a 2010 Caravan that held more value than a 2014 Charger, and the Charger was a vastly superior vehicle. They both ended up being worth really close, with the Caravan slightly edging out the Charger.

I like the jeep liberty’s looks. Paint one in a matte color, and I think people would wonder why they overlooked this one. Same for the Aztec.

I thought the cheapest Jeep was the Compass. As Wrangler folks look down us Liberty drivers, we are looking down on Compass owners sadly. :(

It's been said, but one of THE best series ever.

I was today's years old when I found out that the console in an Aztek was a cooler😅 great idea tho

My sister had a Liberty of that gen. Decent vehicle just all of the windows kept breaking. So don’t roll them down lol.

I like those mini vans better than the new ones!

The diesel liberty was cool too

Hey now!! I like the HHR.

I may be weird, but I’ve loved the Aztec since they came out! Came out when I was like 11 and it had a tent. I will say the first ones were cooler than the version you guys showed. Also, still cooler than the cyber truck 🤷🏾

My mother owned A Plymouth Voyager. Same shape as the Town and Country.

This was a great episode! Made me laugh and smile!

I had a 1998 Grand Cherokee 5.9L V8. I loved that SUV, but like all Chrysler's by the time I got 150,000 it all but nickel and dimed me to death and I got rid of it.

I had Tom Peters autograph a photo of my C6 Corvette. I was surprised/horrified to learn that the Aztek was his work as well...sort of.

Love these videos