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i want a 4wd with sunroof. some of the options like leather say not avail with 4h. 4h is my sunroof. isn't a loaded xs coming with a sunroof and leather?
i took my girl in the axiom and she left so so on it. i can't really handle the cd changer in the center console. i like to put stuff there. oh well. anyways it was late and dark so i botched the timing up. never test drive at night if you wanna get your girl excited. it looked cool as we approached it but the drive being dark and all wasn't too extra spiffy.
the website www.isuzudealers.com looks great. i phoned in a message with a lot dealer in san diego. i am gonna ask him what the latest deals are and i am gonna take in the prints from the above website. they gots plenty of 4wd x and xs from 26-29k. so maybe this guy will be able to beat the prices just a bit so he gets my business.
i am gonna try for
-axiom xs with sunroof with leather. i am willing to get a off color (blond or whatever isn't selling and then get it painted my own color you guys think that is ok? how much for a as good as factory paint job these days. i wouldn't mind getting a fancy iridescent color ooooooh).
-0% financing for 5yrs( i think they give me both $1500 off and 0% if the are hurting for business)
i am hoping for xs 4wd with sunroof for 27500 before taxes.
good info here guys.
did you guys get the HOOD protector? I want to see what one looks like? is it mandatory?
also is a sunroof a bad idea if i want to put roof racks up later? i just started snowboarding and may need the space up there.
later
thanks again for the info.
It would be great if you could get $1500 rebate and 0% financing, but the 0% financing ended on 1/2/2002 and I think the only Isuzu incentive right now is $1500 cashback, you may need to wait a little to see if they offer 0% financing again.
I wouldn't get a aftermarket paintjob, a quality paint job would cost at least $1500. You could get it done cheaply for $500 or less, but don't expect it to last more than 3 or 4 years.
-mike
-mike
That would have me enraged! You didn't mention whether they caught the miscreants.
tidester
Host
SUVs
Maybe they need to implement public stoning if they catch them
Great idea!
tidester
Host
SUVs
On a side note, I removed the front seats to figure out how to increase front seat legroom (with success), and found that on both of the vents under the seats for the rear passengers, the carpet was covering the exhaust. I simply had to push the carpet under the vent. I had read that there were rear seat vents, but could never feel air blowing back there, this explained it.
-mike
Maybe not, but I would feel more comfortable is that base was covered. A bolt that feels tight, may not hold up in a 40 to 0 collision?
When: Saturday Jan 19
Where: Pine Barrens (Lebanon State Forest, NJ)
Meet: Intersection of Rte 70 and 72 near Whiting, NJ
Time: 10:45-11am
Who: AWD/4wd Vehicles (no 2wd please)
What: Off-road Trail Ride through the barrens, will be fun for all, we encourage Subarus, Rav4s, CRVs, Isuzus, Highlanders, 4-runners, Santa Fe, Explorers, etc.
****Details****
I am not worried about airbag deployment since it is only an inch or two difference. Airbags are meant to keep a person from hitting the steering wheel or dash. I would much prefer sitting further back from the airbag and dash than up close. The front most position would be much more unsafe than the most rear position. My chest would only be a couple of inches from the steering wheel in this position, yet the stock design would allow me to sit like this (if my legs folded into a pretzel). If one or two inches was an issue for air bag deployment, there would need to be a feedback between the seat and airbag to properly deploy the airbag at the right time. I don't think they do this.
I was worried about changing the bolt placement on the rails, but the design of the seats doesn't actually place the load on these bolts. It is easy to see in the design. Also, I doubt that they would only use approximately 1/4" bolts on the rail if they were supposed to take the load in an accident. These bolts were not torqued down at all, and can actually be removed with a phillips screw driver. The bolts that mount the seats to the body are what would take the load in an accident, these can't be changed.
I believe that the reason why the original seat travel is limited in the Axiom is so that the rear seats can fold flat in every position. Can you imagine the complaints if you couldn't fold down the back seats when the position of the front seats were all the way back? The car reviewers would have had fun slamming the axiom on that issue.
I am comfortable with the modification and more comfortable in my axiom too. If anybody has safety concerns, it is best that you don't attempt this adjustment for your own piece of mind. As dielectric said "this is truly a do it at your own risk modification" as with any modification you do to your vehicle (such as lift kits and larger tires).
-mike
I had to make a claim on my Axiom to get rid of the swastika somebody carved on my hood. I took it to the insurance adjuster and he hadn't seen an Axiom yet so he crawled under it to see if it was body on frame design. He took one look at the Axiom and praised it for have a real frame and frame mounted towing package. He said he did a claim for a Jeep grand cherokee that was rear ended by a camry in a low speed fender bender. The camry's damage added up to $2000, the jeep claim was over $15,000 because the rear unibody mounted towing packaged caused the rear end to crumple. Obviously that wouldn't be the case for body on frame designs.
-mike
http://www.gorhino.com/documents/hitchstep.html
Looks like it would do the same job as the bumper guard you linked. Now if I could find something like that for the front for the same reason. People here in california seem to like to park by feel.
Here in NYC people park via braille and that is why I got the bar in the front and rear!
-mike
1) it's narrow, leaving the corners of your bumpers exposed, that is why I like mine which covers me from people clipping the edge
2) significantly reduces your angle of departure basically lowering the rear end because it is a straight reciever that comes out of the hitch, Matt's is angled up so that it has minimal impact on angle of departure
3) Materials: The Rhino one is likely very thin walled material whereas matt's is 1/4" thick wall steel
4) Custom alignment with bumper. Rhino's are just generic so the top of the step isn't aligned with the top of the bumper. I like Matt's cause it is setup to be parallel with the bumper allowing you to put your toes on the bumper and your heel on the bar to reach stuff on the roof.
-mike
yet the stock design would allow me to sit like this (if my legs folded into a pretzel).
Careful! We've recently discovered that pretzels can be dangerous to your health.
Seriously, my guess would be that your distance from the steering wheel won't significantly change the risk injury due to air bag deployment.
tidester
Host
SUVs
I just saw another Axiom, my first since I got mine, on the way to work today. It had a dealer installed roof rack which looked pretty good. I will probably call and see how much it is to have one installed.
thanks for you suggestions.
Oh yeah, Tidester, thanks, another reason not to sit too close to the steering wheel while doing yoga
I won't give it all away, but I can say the Axiom came out very well, beating out a number of entries. I recommend reading the article to all Axoim owners, and prospective buyers, it'll cheer you up and make you realize that you own, or plan to own a very impressive and capable vehicle.
(I did post a message on the Acura MDX page just to stir things up a bit, but they totally ignored it and kept on talking about fuscia matching body cladding and other such things).
There is an article in the February edition of the above titled magazine, which once again was a round up of new SUVs and included the Axiom and IMHO another good review, they summed the Axiom up as "The hot rod that came to play in the dirt".
Okay enough, I'm going dirt-roading....
-mike
I am not sure why most reviewers don't like the Axiom, but maybe it's because it's a little different and they aren't used to it. For example, one criticism that I have read several times is that the information managament display is too cluttered. I agree if you are driving it for the first time. It's hard to distinguish the radio info from the A/C info. But after driving it for a week it all makes perfect sense. You know where all the info is and it's all available without having to push any buttons. Not only that, but both the driver and the passenger can see it. On most other vehicles that have an outdoor temp, it is located on the speedometer so that the passenger can't read it. I could go on and on, but my advise is to drive the vehicle and make up your own mind.
In general both reviews were very surprised by the impressive off-road capabilty and liked the canyon carving abilities when on the asphalt. Neother of the reviews gave the Axiom high marks for looks, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
This was on a busy 4 lane street, so there were many witnesses. All of them were commenting on the dramatic visible difference in damage between the two vehicles. The rear cargo door of my Axiom was dented about four inches across most of it's metal, and the bumper was also involved. The glass of the cargo door was intact. It's likely the cargo floor is bend a bit. However there is no other damage and the vehicle is completely driveable (turn indicators intact, etc.). No funny door alignment as is usually the case with unibody collisions. I'm getting an estimate tomorrow, but my guess is about $2-3,000 (I'm an insurance guy). A unibody like the Pathfinder would have probably been in the $6-8,000 range.
The big a** Chev truck was totalled, all it's vital fluids (coolant, oil) running down the road. It was undriveable. What's left of the truck was seized by the police, as the driver was unlicensed, no insurance and also was cited for following too close. -jj-
p.s. Regarding the hapless driver of the Chev: It always amazes me that folks who can afford a cell phone somehow cannot afford car insurance. Anyway, I have uninsured motorist insurance; it covers the collision deductible ($500) and my handful of doctor visits and some pain and suffering (as they call it).
-mike
Here is a link (copy and paste in your browser) to photos of my Axiom.
http://pages.prodigy.net/jjanner/axiom.htm
Unfortunately I don't have photos of the Chev 1Ton pick-up that hit me, but it was undrivable.
The dealer's body shop said some Isuzu body parts are a bit slow to arrive, but then he called back to say everything should be in by Thursday.
I am very pleased with my Axiom, even more after this accident. -jj-
The great thing about a non-unibody vehicle in this case is that with a new bumper and rear lift gate you'll be as good as new. A uni-body would, quite frankly, never be the same again, no body shop can duplicate an original monocoque, no matter how good they think they are.
Let's face it, Axioms are tigers in wolves clothing. The real thing.
One important thing he pointed out that I would have never realized is that with electronic 4 wheel drive systems you need to periodically change it from 2 wheel drive to 4 wheel drive (TOD), even in summer to keep the electric motor lubricated. Otherwise it gets frozen in place and has to be replaced. He said they have replaced many for people that never change from one to the other. This applies to both the Axiom and the Trooper (not sure about the Rodeo) so don't forget to switch to TOD every now and then in the summer, too.
-mike