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Location: Butler County Ohio and Winters in Florida
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I have a friend who has a Chevy Tracker 4 door, 4x4, at his North Ga vacation house. He uses it for easy trails, dirt roads and exploring. It replaced a Jeep Wrangler. The Jeep made his wife motion sick due to the rough ride. I have used this Tracker a few times. It seems to be a decent vehicle, everything works and it gets good MPG.
Just thought I'd reignite this thread and see what the general consensus was on the reliability of a used Samurai from the early 90s.
Safety issues aside, was this thing an all-out maintenance hog?
Or is it viable to keep around as a secondary/fun-run vehicle?
In addition to this new pickup I'm still in the process of acquiring, something small and 4x4ish would be ideal.
After the uncertainty of that Liberty CRD I got, I'm being a little more thorough this time around.
There is not much out there that is more fun than a Sammy.. I love my 87. Best build I ever done, year before last, been off road as much as on road, does well both, but not much can compair off road. The side by sides don't hold a candle to my Yellow tin top with a 16 valve side kick engine. 5 " lift, 32 " supper swampers, leather inter from a Mini Cooper , winch, brush guard, lots of stuff, not done yet, more to come.
These little machines are getting hot in some markets, I see a bright future as an alternative to a side by side, and you can go on the highway. I also use it behind my motor coach on a 14' trailer.
There is not much out there that is more fun than a Sammy.. I love my 87. Best build I ever done, year before last, been off road as much as on road, does well both, but not much can compair off road. The side by sides don't hold a candle to my Yellow tin top with a 16 valve side kick engine. 5 " lift, 32 " supper swampers, leather inter from a Mini Cooper , winch, brush guard, lots of stuff, not done yet, more to come.
These little machines are getting hot in some markets, I see a bright future as an alternative to a side by side, and you can go on the highway. I also use it behind my motor coach on a 14' trailer.
Kind of wish I saved up the money and bought one outright the first time around.
Just more lessons learned the hard way I guess.
But nice info and I'll be sure to keep my eye out for some.
Being that I'm in big/bad, lift-kit truck land, I'm thoughtful that a few of these will still be out for the taking.
Kind of wish I saved up the money and bought one outright the first time around.
Just more lessons learned the hard way I guess.
But nice info and I'll be sure to keep my eye out for some.
Being that I'm in big/bad, lift-kit truck land, I'm thoughtful that a few of these will still be out for the taking.
Just so you know , I sold my Dodge Ram Cummins diesel 2500 4 x 4 , great tow vehicle , lousy in the woods , just too big for just about all the trails around here.I can go anywhere a side by side can go, plus on the highway. ....even more important the dog can go along and the wife too. No helmets needed. Good luck finding one. They are always on Ebay, thats where I found mine, a 400 mile trip, but was worth it for a rust free example. I am sold and I too am doing this a second time around, . Had a pre Sammy model 2 cycle in the 70s now my 87 in 2013.... ya , I am no spring chicken , seventy two in July ! way more fun than I am allowed to have, or so the wife tells me.....
Just so you know , I sold my Dodge Ram Cummins diesel 2500 4 x 4 , great tow vehicle , lousy in the woods , just too big for just about all the trails around here.I can go anywhere a side by side can go, plus on the highway. ....even more important the dog can go along and the wife too. No helmets needed. Good luck finding one. They are always on Ebay, thats where I found mine, a 400 mile trip, but was worth it for a rust free example. I am sold and I too am doing this a second time around, . Had a pre Sammy model 2 cycle in the 70s now my 87 in 2013.... ya , I am no spring chicken , seventy two in July ! way more fun than I am allowed to have, or so the wife tells me.....
Yeah, Ebay, driving through random neighborhoods, and policing the craigslist ads are about the only ways to come across one now.
Tried the autotraitor route and all I get are these over-priced, over-modded Samurais with effete lift-kits and monster tires.
I'm not into that kind of over-kill on a simple vehicle.
Yeah, Ebay, driving through random neighborhoods, and policing the craigslist ads are about the only ways to come across one now.
Tried the autotraitor route and all I get are these over-priced, over-modded Samurais with effete lift-kits and monster tires.
I'm not into that kind of over-kill on a simple vehicle.
Sorry to hear that. The Samurai is a perfect vehicle to build for off road and on road use. We leave a small foot print unlike those monster trucks with 1000 hp. !.
As far a wanting an original cream puff , I have found they will bring more than a modified one, unless it was a serious pro. build. Ebay will show that if you follow it. Yes Cragslist is the best way to find a sleeper, but at this point the cats out of the bag. People know what they are worth in fine cond. Its just still hard to get the big bucks, everyone wants a bargen deal. I sold a rag top last month for 5,000 and it needed a rebuild, but it ran had a HP spare motor and not a lot of rust ( that had not already cut out ). They are still out there, but is getting harder,,,,as you have found out. The Guys that rebuild then for resale, there are several nationwide , will ask nothing less than 9,000 and that would be a starter. I saw one sell for 30,000 a while back , but , the guy had that much in it !
Sorry to hear that. The Samurai is a perfect vehicle to build for off road and on road use. We leave a small foot print unlike those monster trucks with 1000 hp. !.
As far a wanting an original cream puff , I have found they will bring more than a modified one, unless it was a serious pro. build. Ebay will show that if you follow it. Yes Cragslist is the best way to find a sleeper, but at this point the cats out of the bag. People know what they are worth in fine cond. Its just still hard to get the big bucks, everyone wants a bargen deal. I sold a rag top last month for 5,000 and it needed a rebuild, but it ran had a HP spare motor and not a lot of rust ( that had not already cut out ). They are still out there, but is getting harder,,,,as you have found out. The Guys that rebuild then for resale, there are several nationwide , will ask nothing less than 9,000 and that would be a starter. I saw one sell for 30,000 a while back , but , the guy had that much in it !
I'm still going to stay on it though.
The size of a simple one enables me to have two vehicles comfortably where I'm at.
Sure I'd like to have, and could probably get some used Diesel 4x4 of some type.
But the over-modded versions of those would probably get me many complaints from management about hogging up parking space.
The Samurai could almost fit on top of the pickup truck if need be!!!
I'm still going to stay on it though.
The size of a simple one enables me to have two vehicles comfortably where I'm at.
Sure I'd like to have, and could probably get some used Diesel 4x4 of some type.
But the over-modded versions of those would probably get me many complaints from management about hogging up parking space.
The Samurai could almost fit on top of the pickup truck if need be!!!
I thought the same as you about these little rice burners, once. That was until I found out what they can do off road.Properly set up they will challenge the biggest, meanest p/u truck out there., and in challenging two tracks/trails and rock climbing the Samauri comes in at the top of the list. They are simple, tough , and performance parts are reasonable priced. That's the fun part, using some of my engineering skills , finding ways to make em faster and lighter. I have had just about everything on and off the road these last 60 years, I can honestly say outside of brass era cars, the Samuri is the most fun for the money. Kinda funny, I get more thumbs up everyday around town than I ever did in a vintage 100,000 Packard or Mercedes .
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