End of times

[Jarf]

So the end of my world is upon me.
The Turtle is officially up for sale.
It's been a fun 19yrs behind the wheel but I am being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.
I would have loved another but they don't fair well in the salt, hardly seems fair to expose the few remaining examples to such indignity.

The hunt for a replacement was long and mostly centred on Subaru's.
I just couldn't find one in good enough shape.

In the end, Suzuki came through with a reasonable compromise.
When I saw it, I was suffering terribly from "usedcaritis".
This was literally an old ladies car, complete with automatic and silver paintwork.
Kept in a heated garage and even had service records.
10 yrs old with 66K, thing is practically brand new.
After all the lumps I had seen, I just couldn't help myself.

While it does have front air bags, it only has the 2.
No tire pressure monitors, no ABS!!! No traction control...
Base model with little more than power windows and locks but decent fit and finish.
Best of all the 4wd is still selectable by the driver via a transfer case complete with a real low range.
Not a serious off-road truck but certainly will have more capability than the Terc.
Time will tell.

Image.jpg

[dlb]

no ABS on a 2004?? i didn't think any cars came without ABS post-mid 90's. that's great.

is that a sidekick? i can't tell but it does look similar to my friend's '97 sidekick i just did some work on. it's funny if it is because, like early subaru foresters, i think the 4-door sidekick looks a little like a tercel.

[Jarf]

Its actually an 04 Grand Vitara, successor to the Sidekick, the series ended in 05.
Its the last of the body on frame trucklets, built like a truck.
I was amazed to find no ABS but pleasantly surprised.
No if only it had a secret way to shut off the airbags...

The Forester is a lot closer to the T4 from a size standpoint and I was seriously tilting that way.
Not crazy about AWD and the torque split is very undesirable in the auto (90/10).
But even the beaten ones were crazy expensive, then theres the whole world of timing belts.
Every car I saw showed the stains of neglect, they don't suffer that condition favourably for long.

Looks like it will be a good rig and a reasonable compromise all around.

[Petros]

I have been eying the 4x4 suzukis for many years, they make some of best small 4x4s since the Tercel. There is quite a large fan club and active forums and aftermarket parts for all of Them. I like the AWD SX4 too, only decent small AWD in the US I think (a highly modified one set a record on pike's peak). my daughter has a Esteem wagon (only came in FWD in USA, but has a similar engine to the tracker/vitara), and I do the maintenance on it. It has been a very reliable car, all aluminum,16 valve, 4 cylinder engine. Tough and reliable. Only issue has been the 4 little coils on the distributorless ignition seem to burn out (after the first 100k miles), but I can find them cheap at the wrecking yard.

The I think the v-6 vitara is heavier than I want, but the 2.0 4 cylinder is a great little 4x4, similar to the geo tracker.

You can replace the steering wheel with an aftermarket "performance" steering wheel to eliminate the drivers airbag, and if it were mine I would disable the passenger side one too. I suppose there is a way of removing it, not sure of the legality of it, but with some extra good seatbelts/roll bar whatever presumed benefit would be superseded anyway.

[irowiki]

I would think pulling the air bag fuse would do the trick.

Then you could pull the warning light.

[Jarf]

I hate airbags but will have to think on the options for awhile.
There is the whole liability issue, with passengers at least, not sure I want to kick that dog.

Suzy made a great machine, too bad they lost sight of their primary customer base and went in search of a larger market share, an agenda pushed by GM i suspect.
I used to be a Suzy parts manger back in the '90's and they impressed me then, but I had just gotten into turtles so I never switched allegiances.
If you ever get the chance, look into Jimny, essentially its a modern day Samuri, never imported to NA but what a sweet little rig.

Hopefully this one will last me a decade or 2 and I won't have to worry about finding a replacement.

[Petros]

Suzuki auto imports have stopped a few years ago. they made some really poor decisions on how they market cars here. Their north american car sales were loosing money, even thought everywhere else they sell their cars and light SUVs they were profitable. They should have just fired their NA marketing manager and came up with a new marketing plan for America, the make great cars and 4x4s but no one considered them very good nor exciting, complete failure of their marketing.

Some time in the future I can see an SX4 or a 4 cylinder Vitara in my future, when I run out of Tercel4wd parts (which will not be for a long time yet).

[emmahumpfritter]

I only recently sold my 1997 Sidekick (named "No Budget") They ARE tanks, and will go more places than a T4wd I discovered....







I could pull 30 MPG if taking it easy. Mine had two holes in the floor for ice fishing. A propane heater and carpet padding throughout for insulation.

Great little rigs prone to rust.

[dlb]

what size of engine was in your '97, brenton? my friend had a 97 JX sport with a 1.8L. he said he got lousy fuel economy with it but he also wasn't trying very hard.

[emmahumpfritter]

what size of engine was in your '97, brenton? my friend had a 97 JX sport with a 1.8L. he said he got lousy fuel economy with it but he also wasn't trying very hard.

The 97 is the last year (I know of) with the little 1.6L 16v. They also have a 1.6L 8v version. 98 they went to a bigger motor and vehicle.

The suzuki motors are decent IMHO. No where near the toughness of a T4wd, but I've seen some with 200K. They seem to be prone to oil leaks and vacuum leaks (which make them run bad) almost any failure of any sensor will cause the computer to make it run badly...and MPG's to drop.