No manual on liberty lattitude & compass when freedom drive II package is added

Forester is still Japanese assembled IIRC.

Ford Ranger offers 5spd - dunno if the 5spd is also available with the
4x4 option.

Thanks Carl, I see a lot of rotting fords and not so many rusty jeeps.
In fact haven't seen a rusted jeep ever :-) was not looking hard
enough
i guess or maybe people do not run into accidents in them just as
often.
Hence ford is out of the picture. and, besides, I have no need for a
pickup.

Where I live now (new) legacy (for the market I live in) is most
likely
also japanese assembled, but people bought quite a bit of used subarus
from the states :-)

OK - maybe I was confused. You did mention US-made. I dunno what might
be offered overseas. A US-made model might not be available here with
5spd, but might be offered overseas with that option. Sometimes models
are made available in markets other than where they are assembled.
Just participated in a discussion concerning small, all/4wd delivery
vehicles. Seems the Ford Transit can be had in AWD in Europe but not
here in the States.

I don't know if any Legacies from Indiana are shipped out of the US
either.

You might look at Suzuki - though they have a less-than-stellar repair
rate, they may have a model that suits you if you sre putting non-US
makes on the list. Hyundai is a possibility too. Their quality is good
now (better than Suzuki, perhaps on par with Nissan and Subaru)