Expedition_Bound
New member
Their talking about the real Montero, not the sport. The last year for the US was 2006. I'm in the market for one myself.
Let's talk back country capable daily driver options - used SUV market in 2012
- Thread starter stioc
- Start date
Their talking about the real Montero, not the sport. The last year for the US was 2006. I'm in the market for one myself.
I am looking at the Montero's, not the Montero Sport. There was a nice write up about them on a thread somewhere by one of the Mitsubishi forum regulars. Here in Canada they were sold till 2006 I believe, most that I see for sale are 2003 to 2005. Here is one example of the ones I am looking at
http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...imited-REDUCED-FROM-12-950-W0QQAdIdZ383401491
http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...imited-REDUCED-FROM-12-950-W0QQAdIdZ383401491
hillbillyjake
Explorer
this may go against the expo grain a little bit, but i like my tahoe. MPG is not the best, but if i keep it at 65 in the interstate i can get 15. thats with 285's and 3.73. the gov-bomb aint the best but works decent off-road. plenty of room for kids, gear, dog. chevy-cheap to work on. chevy-simple to work on. 11" to front diff from the ground, 13" to the frame under the door, 8" to the rear diff. 5.3 has decent power. i bought it 2 years ago this summer with 107k for $6600. i had to put a fuel pump init at about 135k. other than that it has been very reliable
i don't beat on it offroad, i drive it like its a half ton, ifs equipped suv that has to get me to work on monday and have had great service. hope this helps. after bragging about itfor this whole post, it willprobably never start again. good luck
i don't beat on it offroad, i drive it like its a half ton, ifs equipped suv that has to get me to work on monday and have had great service. hope this helps. after bragging about itfor this whole post, it willprobably never start again. good luck
Singbush
Observer
I drive an '02 Suburban. I bought it for $5500 with under 100k miles. Coil springs in the rear, ice cold a/c and the 5.3L are my favorite aspects. I lifted it slightly and put some 295's on 17" wheels. It's so smooth. It has tons of aftermarket support. The only requirement on your list it doesn't meet is the mpg's. I average about 12.5. YMMV.
Voodoo Blue 57
Member
Funny I did not know I was claustrophobic until I had an MRI earlier this year but I have no problem with my FJ. Love the truck and love the off-road capabilities. But everyone has different likes and dislikes.
stioc
Expedition Leader
Hmm, Tahoes/Suburbans, yep I have them on the list - and that's why I can't make up my friggn' mind about what I want. I was gaga over the FJ for a while, then the Xterra - mainly because of their ruggedness and not being too huge. Then I thought the Pilot might work for what I want to do as the Ridgeline did pretty decently. Then I thought hmm the Tahoe is not bad and plentiful here but if I go that big then there's the Sequoia which is based on the Tundra. But wait looks like the Suburbans are actually the same price or cheaper because most people want the Tahoes and now all this talk about the Monteros...you guys aren't helping :drool:
OK I'm going to throw in another requirement to my original list...even though I don't expect to wrench on the said SUV much but since I do all my own work I want it to be easy to work on in my two car garage- smallish is better. Years ago working on the Maxima and the 300ZX I didn't like how Nissan shoe-horned the motor in the body is Xterra the same deal? What about the others? In comparison I enjoy working on my 3 series BMW, yes it's a bit tight in there but everything is easily accessible by removing a few ducting/plastic bits etc. Do the Monteros fit this requirement? what about the others?
OK I'm going to throw in another requirement to my original list...even though I don't expect to wrench on the said SUV much but since I do all my own work I want it to be easy to work on in my two car garage- smallish is better. Years ago working on the Maxima and the 300ZX I didn't like how Nissan shoe-horned the motor in the body is Xterra the same deal? What about the others? In comparison I enjoy working on my 3 series BMW, yes it's a bit tight in there but everything is easily accessible by removing a few ducting/plastic bits etc. Do the Monteros fit this requirement? what about the others?
I did a bit of maintanence on my Xterra and it was OK, not great but OK. To change the spark plugs on the SC X it takes a bit of extensions and some soft joints etc... Not the easiest. CHanging the exhaust manifold was straight forward. Timing belt on the other hand was a *****, and I gave it to my mechanic, who took 6 hours or so. Apparently not an easy job, but it needs to be changed only every 160K km, not too bad I guess. If you do take the 1st Gen Xterra road I would recommend getting it NA and not SC, I am guessing a manual will be a bit better on gas as well (if manuals are your thing). Personally for me, I think I will stick to looking for a 2nd gen manual Xterra, unless a perfect auto comes along or a nice manual 3rd Gen 4Runner. Good luck with your search.
HARDTRAILZ
Certified
Trailblazer or Envoy.
All are 02 or newer. Fine for business, can get some quite nicely loaded. Perfect for family and can be had with 3rd row. 20 mpg is quite common until large tires are added, and nearly 300 hp from the I6 or they could be had with 5.3 v8. Both get similar mileage. Mine has been used and used hard and has only needed minor maintenence and when it does, they parts are super cheap. You can easily get a solid truck for under 10K Have recently seen some around 5K.
8 inches is stock ground clearance with 29ish tires. Has part time 4wd with 2.7:1 Transfer Case. Can be found with the G-80 Eaton auto locker. Also keep in mind that they have nice 4 wheel disc brakes. Many people forget that while you want to go, you also need to stop. Stock they will fit a 30.5 inch tire so you can bump up the ground clearance.
All are 02 or newer. Fine for business, can get some quite nicely loaded. Perfect for family and can be had with 3rd row. 20 mpg is quite common until large tires are added, and nearly 300 hp from the I6 or they could be had with 5.3 v8. Both get similar mileage. Mine has been used and used hard and has only needed minor maintenence and when it does, they parts are super cheap. You can easily get a solid truck for under 10K Have recently seen some around 5K.
8 inches is stock ground clearance with 29ish tires. Has part time 4wd with 2.7:1 Transfer Case. Can be found with the G-80 Eaton auto locker. Also keep in mind that they have nice 4 wheel disc brakes. Many people forget that while you want to go, you also need to stop. Stock they will fit a 30.5 inch tire so you can bump up the ground clearance.
HARDTRAILZ
Certified
Thanks. I like the more truck style interior of my TB, but that why I also said the Envoy. The Denali trim is really plush and far more upscale. The other buick, olds, saab varients lose the low range and are awd, so they are out but some of those interiors are quite nice and could be swapped in whole or pieces.
Discovery 2. I would recommend an 04 vehicle. Tough to find in the 8-10k range but it can be done. You can definitely find 02 and 03s in the range. Just make sure you do some research on which vin numbers to avoid. Adding CDL to trucks that were not equipped with it is a simple job. Gas mileage is in that ballpark as well.
-Sam
-Sam