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Comments
I have the black out. I like the tires quite a bit. You are never going to get VW/Acura highway feel, so I don't think about it. Nokians are better on ice though.
Mileage:
I do very good on gas on long trips.(almost 30) The short trips get me though.(20 ish) My case probably doesn't apply to you. Black smoke is a normal factor of starting your car after work in
-40 weather. Until the thing is warm, every system is pumping gas into the engine to make it run. My only comment is that Honda's do this less.
Synthetic:
My Vitara was changed to synthetic it the transmission,transfer,both diffs @ 25K km. Still stiff. Not unbearable but stiff. It did improve the first mile drastically. Always clunky even when warm but in a way that I like(truck like,just like the suspension)
Some people advocate taking the top of the tranny off the earlier ones to get new oil in. I don't know if this applies. I just paid $100 CDN and it was done.
Overall:
This was a cheap car for me. I haven't been nice to it. I change the fluids as I'm supposed to, warm it up properly and .....
I have launched it off snow drifts across the road intentionally at over 100kph.
Driven on deep potholed roads at 120kph.
Driven at above 85mph for over 12 hours staight.
If four wheels will spin, they spin.
I'm still happy with it, it does what it is supposed to do. I have yet to break anything.
On the trans, xfer case, front and rear axle, there are two plugs. ONe is the drain plug, the other is the fill plug.
A buddy has a 94 tracker (same as a 'kick)
He has run MOBIL 1 since 30K. He now has 160K. Motor is still going strong with no leaks or oil burning issues.
I have run synthetic since 2500 miles. I swear by mobil 1 any day of the week.
www.geocities.com/benjamin_380xd/
I am in Butler proper!
We need to get together and drink some suds and toast our rigs!
Everything they tell you about poor trade-in value is true... HOWEVER, you know how that is... they are going to give you as little for ANY trade-- as they think they can get away with. Mine would have been 3 years old in April and currently had 34,000 on it. No dings or scratches, but did have a small puncture wound in the rear plastic bumper... enough for a good excuse to give me only $5,600 in trade.
Oh yeah.. no power windows or locks.. That supposedly cuts down on the trade-in value also.
Anyway, I loved the vehicle... But started missing being able to sleep inside my vehicle, so I went back to a van. I traded for a 2002 E-150 XLT van, loaded.
Sure will miss my 25-26 m.p.g. I will now use enough gas to please all of the Texas oil politicians :-(
In our three years together, the only warranty work I had done was a replacement of the radio/CD player... It started eating CDs :-(
I had always wished I had bought a 4WD, but my 2WD climbed all over New Mexico and Colorado mountains and never complained. I will miss her.
Gene in Amarillo
ANd I would not own a KIA if you paid me. Our rigs are far better designed and engineered than KIA could ever hope to be.
If zuki/trackers were "hot" vehicles like a RAV 4 or CRV, then trade in prices would be higher. But so would the retail price.
-Chevy does not manufacture Trackers. Trackers are designed by Suzuki and manufactured by CAMI( Candadian Automobile Manufacturing Incorporated www.cami.ca ) CAMI was started as a joint venture between GM and Suzuki to manufacture econo cars and econo 4X4's. They do pretty good work when considering the price of their products. I have been through the plant with my engineering organisation and been fairly happy with everything I saw. It is NOT a Honda or Toyota plant but it is far better than any typical big 3 plant.
One interesting note is the reason that GM still sells Trackers. As everyone knows the sales aren't so hot. Gm will sell them at a loss. Why? Gm needs to keep their truck fleet fuel economy below a certain average or the US EPA will ding them. The Tracker keeps them under the bar.
Good day, sorry if I pissed anyone off
I'm still very happy with my Vitara/Tracker
I did have the alterntor replaced on mine 3 months after I had it.
Otherwise, a fine little SUV
http://www.geocities.com/benjamin_380xd
I have a 2000 Grand Vitara, it should be the same of 2001 Tracker with 2.5 V6 Engin. Recently I want to change the oil by myself but so dispointed to find out the oil filter of the Grand Vitara located in such a strange position. I tried ton of different ways but so far not successful. Anyone on this board has done this before and may share your experience with me. What kind of tools you were using to do the job? What kind of filter you purchases and so on?
Thanks!
Weiwei
FOr oil, I use MObil 1 exclusively and a NAPA/WIX filter.
For oil filter I use a mini strap wrench (I think I got it from the plumbing dept of a hardware store), it works great, though granted it is a tight spot.
I thought about an Aztek, even drove one the other day and it drove rather nicely. But there are none in my area both equipped as I'd like and in a reasonable color, and I've just read that GM is phasing out the Aztek in December 2004. Granted that they might say "we lied" and make more anyway, like they did with the Blazers and the entire Oldsmobile line, but I don't wish to risk it. I am no economics guy, but my guess is this would make the already low resale value even worse (early projections of Aztek resale values are actually high, but I'm skeptical). Besides, I was not looking forward to three years or more of "ugly stick" comments.
I thought about a Pontiac Vibe for about five minutes this evening. But the engine is small and appears underpowered, especially for the AWD version. I haven't driven one yet.
My needs are that I'm a single guy in my mid-30s, drive about 18000 miles a year, and frequently carry musical instruments to the rehearsals and gigs I do in my spare time, usually several small to medium sized instrument cases. I have been known to take long road trips once or twice a year. I do want 4x4 capability and do not mind the shift-on-the-fly type (my Blazer has this and I like it), as I live in the frozen Northland of St. Paul, MN. I do not do any off-roading. I am most interested in the LT model fully loaded up with every option including the leather interior; gmbuypower.com says there are a few such vehicles in my area.
So far the Tracker looks like I should consider it again. I have driven one, it struck me as roomy but underpowered, but this might have been a 4-cylinder model and it was about a year ago so I can't remember. Obviously I don't expect even the 2.5-liter engine to have the grunt of my 4.3-liter Vortec V6. The lady's comments about finding it tippy in crosswinds worry me the most, as I do drive on highways a fair bit and it does sometimes get windy here, windy enough even to feel in my Blazer. I am motivated to buy (or at least lease if they'll write an 18k mi/yr lease) a new GM vehicle this month due to the doubled GM card earnings.
Thanks in advance for any comments or advice! By the way, call me Jack, I hate my user name and would change it if it were allowed. I chose it about 5 years ago, and it was meaningful to me then but not as much anymore....
also i use Amsoil oil and fluids in my tracker i use fully synth fluids in everything. transfer case, trany, engine. both axles. for the engine i use the amsoil oil-filter with the 0w30 weight series 2000 oil.
http://www.amsoil.com/products/tso.html
You should get many years of good service.
Myself, I have not swapped out all fluids for syn but I have run mobil 1 since new.
These are little tanks but without the long gun barrel!
http://www.geocities.com/benjamin_380xd
it was a little dusty in these pix.
http://groups.msn.com/NationalRegistryParamedic/samsnewride.msnw?- action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=84
http://groups.msn.com/NationalRegistryParamedic/samsnewride.msnw?- action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=83
These truly are tough rigs!
I've always liked the look of the tracker. I've read through quite a number of messages in here and people seem to have good things to say about them. The asking price on these vehicles is $13,999. I'm trying to decide whether or not to go back this weekend and see if I can get them to knock another thousand or two off of that and buy one.
The five speed gives it much more spunk and is fun to drive too!
I think you will develop a bond with the tracker and never look back.
Remember, these are real suv's with a full frame, true 4wd, and a timing chain, not belt, in the motor.
BTW.....with regard to your dealer feeding you that line, tell him go get a brain and read the service manual before dispensing poor advice.
Steve, Host
Then write a nasty letter to GM mentioning the imcompetence of the dealer that cannot seem to fix it.
Then file a complaint with your state's attorney general office.
http://www.cruisercustomizing.com/arkainzeye
Happy truckin...
Thought it was a U-joint, initially, as it sounded just like that. But after spinning the wheels with the driveshaft disconnected, my stomach sank. I really didn't want to have to yank the axles, and whatnot.
Anyway, replacement of the whole diff w/a new one from a guy here in OR, was only $267, shipped, and I managed to replace the whole thing with a socket wrench, a 12MM and a 14MM, socket, a 12 and 14MM open end wrench, and some pooky. Oh, 'pooky' is sealant. Southern thing. Floor jack was nice to get the new diff up in place.
FWIW, a rebuild at a local shop was quoted at $600. Shop around. Turns out, on EBay, there were some of these same diffs going for $99. Live and learn.
Anyway, if you wind up with a bad U-joint clunking at low speed, which lasts for months, it could be a pinion gear. Seems to be a weak spot, as another guy said, "this is a problem on some of them". Go figure.
Kelly B
orange dials blew the M45 off my wish list...