I have a 1988 Suzuki Samurai. I purchased it from the original owner in 2007. The original owner purchased it New in California. When I purchased it from him I had it shipped to me in Michigan and put it into storage with the intent of restoring it at some point. It sat in my pole barn for six years before I even titled it and registered it to drive it a bit. It has been driven a bit but has never seen snow or salted roads. It has just over 40,000 original miles.
When I first bought it I thought the mileage had to be over 100,000 for the age but one look underneath it and at the engine makes it clear that there's no way that's the case. It's virtually new looking. The interior has the sun damage you'd expect, though. The black interior is faded and the door panels were replaced at some point. The carpet looks brand new though so I expect it was changed out at some point. The vinyl seats are cracked as expected and I have covers for them. It does have a rear seat with belts.
It's blue with a white top. The hood has sun damage to the paint but the rest of the paint on the body looks very good. Virtually zero rust anywhere except for some very, very minor surface rust in small areas such as where the hood hinges pivot. I don't think the top is original because it's in decent shape and I can't image it would've survived that long in such good condition.
Mechanically it's in excellent condition. There are zero issues of which I'm aware. It, of course, has manual locking hubs for the 4x4 which work properly. The 4x4 works properly and shifts smoothly.
I put new tires on it a few years ago and they're essentially still new. When I bought it the original tires were still on it. They had good tread still but they were dry-rotted and slowly losing air.
I bought this for $5500 in 2007. I paid somewhere around $750 for shipping back then. I have since purchased another Suzuki with fuel injection and storage space is the only reason I'm willing to sell this one. I have to pare down the car collection. Ideally this would go to someone who would do the minor restoration needed to make it original. It'd be a shame to jack it up and make a mudder out of it given the increasing difficulty to find these in such good shape.
I don't have to sell this. Don't need the money so not selling it for the money. Therefore, I'd let it go for the $5500 I paid. But I'm not just giving it away either so please don't bother me with weird, crazy offers.
I have the original dealer paperwork and finance agreement from the original owner from 30 years ago. You can carfax the Samurai and see everything is in order.
The only bad points not mentioned include:
I replaced the driver side door handle years ago. There's nothing wrong with it now but I'm just mentioning the change.
The original owner painted the rims black.
The original owner put some wacky and gaudy hood ornament on it which I removed but the small hole drilled still remains.
The door strap stops were cut off by the original owner. I'd guess they cracked over time and broke so he trimmed the rest of the strap back.
That's the scoop. I need to take it out of storage to get good pictures and will as soon as I can. I do have some pictures somewhere though and if I find them I'll post them.
Scammers, save your time because I won't fall for stupid schemes. If you want to purchase I'll expect $1500 immediately by PayPal. That way YOU have buyer protection and I have confidence you aren't a tire kicker. The balance will be due in cash within a week. I have a clean title in-hand.
I will help arranging shipping if needed. I also may be willing to drive it to you as long as I have the time to do so.
I will update this post with anything new, including pictures, asap.
Thanks,
James
