Sub $2000 SUVs

Vigo wrote:

(the 4 Cyl is garbage)

the mpi 2.5 is NOT a bad motor.

Avoid the 91/92 Rodeos, they came with the GM 3.1 V6 and were turds.

forever=boring. getting the tranny out of a 4wd rodeo is a HUGE PITA compared to a jeep.

Its not the jeep 2.5 that is crap, its the manual tranny stuck behind it. And the lack of power driving on hilly highways.

As for the Rodeo/honda thing, I would prefer a cherokee. I had a friend with a honda/rodeo thingy with noisy lifters on the v6. The lifters could not be removed without serious work. Also, it had a Dana 44 on the rear, which I thought was awesome, but it comes with disk brakes and a complicated drum parking brake.

T for T, I got my 2 door cherokee for 1700, A/C works, 5 speed 6 cyl 4wd. It has the later engine management so it starts reliably. Everything works perfect and its reliable. My buddy with the noisy Honda could not keep a rear axle in it. The Chrysler 8.8 with the higher spline count is supposedly as tough or tougher than a D44, so look for a non abs cherokee. :)

The Parthfinders in your price range are fine except they are notorious for cracking exhaust manifolds, just like the Hardbodies of the same vintage. It will be hard to get a nice 4Runner for 2k but if you do, jump on it.

daytonaer wrote: Cherokee. Stay away from 2.5 4cyl w/5 speed. 6cylinder auto or stick. Not grandcherokee, just cherokee. Pathfinders, Passports, 4runners, Land Cruisers: ALL great. But you will get a better shape jeep for your 2k.

Agreed, grandcherokee bad, wife and I spent a fortune replacing everything on hers, a true money pit.

P71 wrote: Alternatively, look at Grand Wagoneers. The old AMC beasties from the 70's/80's with 360 or 401 V8 flavors, QuadraTrac, and woodgrain. They were the original "luxury SUV" (up your Lexus!!!). Really nice ones can be had for $2K and they still garner attention. Absolutely classic styling.

Not sure why but there was always a guy with an ad in the back of autoweek (when I used to read it) that is always selling these for 25 grand or some ridiculous amount.

The restored ones do sell for that amount. It's kinda crazy and kinda cool at the same time. He really does restore everything though.

Datsun1500 wrote: That RR looks great for $1250. Figure it this way, if you buy it and don't like it, you will always be able to sell it and not lose money...

The problem is that you can't see a lot of the structural corrosion right until the panels fall off. The one I had a while back didn't look much worse than the in the ad and it had lots of corrosion in the structure and some of it in the chassis.

You have to keep in mind that they have an alloy body bolted to a steel structure so it can rust merrily underneath without it showing too much on the outside.

carzan wrote:

driver109x wrote: dont know much about them but how about a first gen kia sportage?

I wouldn't. They had issues with the auto hubs that the best fix seemed to be to swap over to manual hubs. Some had really flakey electrical systems. Probably nothing that the average GRMer couldn't deal with, but not something I would turn loose on a 20-year-old girlfriend.

I seem to recall they also had some frequent engine problems, either head gaskets or spun bearings, IIRC.

Ugh, even as a Ford guy I'd never suggest a Bronco II or a cheap Explorer to anyone. My suggestion, as always is full-size Bronco. Just stay away from carbureted 3rd-gens and anything with a push-button transfercase, and if you get something late enough to have auto-locking hubs, replace them with a set of manuals ($120 in parts if you buy new).

My preference is a 2nd-gen ('78-'79) for sheer indestructability or a late 3rd-gen (mid-'90s) for creature comforts.

petegossett wrote:

carzan wrote:

driver109x wrote: dont know much about them but how about a first gen kia sportage?

I wouldn't. They had issues with the auto hubs that the best fix seemed to be to swap over to manual hubs. Some had really flakey electrical systems. Probably nothing that the average GRMer couldn't deal with, but not something I would turn loose on a 20-year-old girlfriend.

I seem to recall they also had some frequent engine problems, either head gaskets or spun bearings, IIRC.

I hadn't heard that (not saying you're wrong). They are Mazda Beta engines. I've heard some interesting swaps can be made to include Probe turbo units.

is the Hyundai Santa Fe down to that price yet?

JFX001 wrote: Civic AWD wagon.

Quoted for truth - the ultimate unSUV.

Cherokees are good if you need a "real" SUV. But how often will it be driven off-road? Not much, right? So you may not even need an SUV, just something with AWD. If a Civic's too old (or too rusted out - it happens), a cheap Subie might work.

She needs something AWD, but i need something to haul stuff with, so the compromise is an SUV. Bonus points if it can tow my Celica, but that's not a necessity right now.

Reverend Dexter, the 90s Broncos would be something that i'd like. I had a buddy that had a Eddie Bauer Edition, and it was a badass truck.

Early Forester? Probably won't be great for hauling 'yotas, but it's a great driver with a shedload of room in the back.

JFX001 wrote: Civic AWD wagon.

These are sooo cool, unfortunately there are only about 10 left in the US that aren't rusted to the gills

I like this thread, good discourse :)

For some reason ive had occasion to mention this MANY times since coming to GRM forums:

I wouldnt recommend towing with cherokees. Ive owned two and driven/ridden along in another towing several cars varying distances, and imo it is just not good.

The Cherokee is really too light, narrow, tall, and wobbly to tow anything of any real weight without feeling extremely unstable. Ive been in a cherokee that pretty much jackknifed at 5 mph.. There's no weight on the back (unibody compact suv.. half the weight is in the big i-6 motor!) and with tall ride height, soft springs, no rear sway bar, big floppy sidewalls, narrow track, short wheelbase, etc etc.. it is just an unpleasant tow partner. So i would say dont buy a cherokee expecting it to tow well. A pathfinder or range rover, despite being way down on power/weight compared to a 4.0 cherokee, will be much more confidence inspiring IMO.

well, a lot of that can be fixed with tyres and a swaybay... but jackknifing at 5mph?

So even towing say... 3000lbs, the Cherokee isn't real fun?

I'm not going to want to modify whatever i end up getting, save for maybe a nice stereo. Maintainence only.

Valuepack, are early Foresters in my price range?

I may have dug myself a hole. I showed her the Range Rover yesterday, and she wants it. Badly.

Luckily, i got out of THAT particular one. I'm not replacing a fuel pump on a pre-91 Range Rover, absolutely not, and i'm not paying anyone to do it, either.

If someone wants to come out here and volunteer to help me for beer and gas money, i'll pick it up. Otherwise, no thank you.

Luckily, she's cool with a Cherokee, too.

So, here's what i'm concentrating on:

Cherokee
Range Rover
Later Bronco
Rodeo

I doubt i'll get a decent 4runner in my price range, she doesn't really like the Pathfinders i can afford, and i'd like something that could tow if it has to. (Can anyone else tell me about towing with a Cherokee or Rodeo?)

P71 wrote: Cherokee is the #1 choice by far (it's the Miata of 4x4's, *not* the Samurai).

Really, I thought that in the trifecta, the cherokee would be the E30, with convertable suzukis as the miatas. Or maybe a wrangler, but those hold theire value a little too well.

I wouldn't rule out Grand Cherokees completely. I just wouldn't buy a v8 or full-time 4wd version (this is most of them)

Some of the 6cylinder GCs had part-time transfer cases np242 or something like that... They're basically the same drive train as the regular Cherokee, but with a bit more room and better rear suspension (coils instead of leaf springs). Some even came with rear disc brakes (I don't think these were ever available on regular Cherokees).

Around here there aren't many good Cherokees, but there are a lot of cheap Grand Cherokees that have been well maintained by grandpa and sell very cheap.

Yes, a cheap Land Rover/Range Rover is a long term pain in your butt waiting to happen.

True, but you can get them for a STEAL! It really depends on how much you actually like your girlfriend.

I got my 96 Disco for a touch over 3k in good mechanical condition, with low (101k) miles. It has every dash light illuminated (cel, srs, abs) but runs and drives very nicely. I don't plan to fix anything non-critical as those parts tend to cost actual money and are why they tend to be so cheap. Just do a '60k' service on it when you buy it, and try and drive it over everything you can until it stops running or hits a more immovable object, permanently.

Have you seen the Top Gear Bolivia special? RR might not be too bad if there are junkyards around with a few of them in it for parts. I like the cherokees - simple. The big bronco isn't bad for towing - not ideal, but now awful. Durangos are ok, other than the transmissions self-destruct - nv3550 is a good swap for them

Yeah... she's scared about the reliability factor of it. My thoughts are they for how little she'd really be driving it out of the year, the 1-2 times it MIGHT strand her, that's a huge improvement over how many times she'd get stranded driving a 250+whp lowered Escort in inclement weather.

And from what i understand, and from my personal experiences with them, they don't often strand you. Just everything electric will break, but will still make it home so you can swear at it from the comfort of your home.

I can deal with that.

oldtin wrote: Have you seen the Top Gear Bolivia special? RR might not be too bad if there are junkyards around with a few of them in it for parts. I like the cherokees - simple. The big bronco isn't bad for towing - not ideal, but now awful. Durangos are ok, other than the transmissions self-destruct - nv3550 is a good swap for them

Yeah, there's a few u-pull-its that get Rangies around here. At last count, there were 3 Classics that i know of between two self-service yards within 15 minutes of me.

That last is good info. A cheap Land Rover/Range Rover becomes expensive when you decide that every part of it has to be flawless and like new. Most bits can be left alone.

I bought this one for $800. It had some minor issues that I left alone. I did replace an exhaust manifold with a good used one from Coventry West for cheap (like under $100) Drove it all over the place and ended up selling it a year later for $800 when I upgraded to a newer Range Rover:

BTW, in the 2 1/2ft of snow we got, no one plowed our street, so I took the Range Rover and pushed a fan shaped area out in front of the driveway:

then pushed through the snow, with it coming up over the hood, all the way down the street to the main street that had been plowed: