I'm thinking of buying a Vitara for Kerry. reasons are im confident in servicing and fixing them sourcing parts etc. unlike the BMW she has where the little niggles get avoided. Is leaded so fuel costs heaps etc.
anyway whilst I can do most things id like to avoid engine rebuilds in the forseable future. what kind of km's would should I be looking for. she probably does 15-20,000km a year
looking exclusively at EFI models auto preffered however if the price is right then she can learn manual like a normal person
whats a good price? Im not too fussed with RWC as I can do that kind of thing myself.
As a rule of thumb I'd be suspicious of anything with over 200k on it.
I'd be looking in the 160k mark unless there are receipts for work. Head cracking is is the #1 problem - apparently efi vit heads are prone to cracking and aren't ever sold with warranty (gulp!)
CJ might have more relevant info.
I guess your budget is the big decider too.
As a side note, for use predominantly as a road car, I think SWB vits have evil on road handling, poor steering feel and I wouldn't buy one unless there was actually a requirement for a 4WD
Steve.
michaelpiranha2000 wrote: The rear is in great condition. but has a broken crown wheel and pinon
gwagensteve wrote:
As a side note, for use predominantly as a road car, I think SWB vits have evil on road handling, poor steering feel and I wouldn't buy one unless there was actually a requirement for a 4WD
Steve.
how do you mean? ie bad under heavy brakes? they cant be worse then a shorty sierra. Kerry isnt the kind of driver to really push the limits of traction. the roll center would have to feel really weird. I guess it will make sense if we go test drive some.
The handling isn't that evil although you do need to watch them on corners in the wet as they do tend to step out easily especially with a bit of right foot The OME suspension helps as do some decent tyres at the right pressure. There are swaybar kits available to help out things if needed. I do agree with Steve in principle about buying a 4wd if it is not to be used offroad but the Vits are generally pretty reliable and easy to work on and sitting a little taller in the traffic isn't always a bad thing plus the soft top is cool in Summer . The heads were a bit of an issue but it was more the earlier EFI ones and generally if it was going to fail it would have by now so don't be too concerned but do check it out.
P.S. Marion is quite happy driving a swb Vit and has never had a problem with the handling but then again she doesn't push it quite as hard as me in the wet....or the dry for that matter that is kind of my thinking. so long as its safe, ie swerve under brakes
I've driven a few and an ex girfriend had a hard top.
In stock form they have a high rear roll centre (a result of the a frame) and a very low front roll centre (an effect of the strut suspension) This is an odd combination and leads to a disconnected feel front to rear- the front feels like it will hold on forever and the rear feels edgy. with stock or realitvely poor tyres they can be very hard to anticipate and even harder to catch.
Becuase the front end feels grippy and alert, they are, IMHO "worse" than a sierra. They handle much better in outright terms, but the weird behaviour of the front end means you sort of trust them until they let go. In a sierra, you just never trust it.
I know of a few drivers who have spun them on wet roads without trying. They are much better with some lift in the front - the roll centre goes up in the front with lift but doesn't move in the back (as it is on top of the diff) CJ's green LWB handled really nicely, but didn't feel anything like a vitara any more - if felt very progressive and soft.
A conservative driver will normally be ok, but a thoughtless driver can get into trouble (whether they are conservative or not) At least they don't fall over though.
When you drive one, try and find some sweeping bends. you'll understand what I mean quickly enough - the front feels like a race car and the back doesn't seem to want to play the game.
Steve.
michaelpiranha2000 wrote: The rear is in great condition. but has a broken crown wheel and pinon
I paid 6000 for my red auto lwb. It had 160 on the clock always serviced, one owner, pink pin stripes never off road.
Did the head gasket on the way home from the first trip to robe.
Been great ever since OME sus makes all the difference in handling with some added spacers up front to level it out.
My better half now drives it full time.
That’s why I was relegated to a sierra.
She never wants to drive that.
Phantomzook wrote:I paid 6000 for my red auto lwb. It had 160 on the clock always serviced, one owner, pink pin stripes never off road.
Did the head gasket on the way home from the first trip to robe.
Been great ever since OME sus makes all the difference in handling with some added spacers up front to level it out.
My better half now drives it full time.
That’s why I was relegated to a sierra.
She never wants to drive that.
sounds like a good deal. and what I had in mind as a reasonable price/km/year etc. are they really that bad without suspension upgrades? I think modifying anything like that will be a hard sell on a car that isn't supposed to do much off road. Also im confident that 4wd would on occasion be used as we would be taking this car away when going on holidays etc so very light duty beach work, 4wd only camping spots etc would be on the cards.
Ithink they're surprisingly bad in stock form, but lots of people own them and think they're fine. I guess it's just someting to be aware of, and as CJ said, keep an eye on tyres and tyre pressures.
some decent shocks in the back and removing the front swaybar might help to balance things up a bit by actually loering grip in the front end.
It's less of an issue in a LWB as the wheelbase makes it "catchable"
Steve.
michaelpiranha2000 wrote: The rear is in great condition. but has a broken crown wheel and pinon
