Hi all. I just have a few noob questions. I used to go wheeling with my uncle all the time in his samurai. unfortunatly for me it got totaled and he bought a minivan (no one yet knows why).

I miss wheeling quite a bit and I'm looking to get a tracker. I read apost on here and most people recommended the tracker due to it having more space, being more modern and easier to find parts for (and find in general, I only found like 3 or 4 of them on craigslist). 

I found one with 184,xxx miles on it. My first quation is how many miles are on some of you guy's trackers, are these things reliable? Also what are some of the common problems with these things? Anything special to look out for when I'm going over used ones other than the obvious tires, frame, wheel well rust, brake lines, soft top not ripped to shreds, leaks, etc.

Also how hard are they to work on and are parts easy to get? I know my uncle always had problems with his samurai but thats because consumer reports (damn them) brutally tarnished the reputation of an otherwise awesome 4x4. I've a pretty capable backyard mechanic I've gone though a clutch, 2 engines, and 2 gear boxes among other things on my current car. I just need some reassurance that these things dont fall apart.

my buddies keep saying "jeep jeep jeep" but I think trackers look better, get better gas mileage, are cheaper and will go just as far. I just to know there a good quality truck as well.

thanks for the help!

I'll answer a bit of your questions for I'm sure others will chime in and help you out with some good opinion. As far as parts availability, all you have to do is go to our home page and look at the strip of advertiser graphics on the right hand side. From there you will be able to find everything you need for a Sidekick or Samurai from stock replacement to radical aftermarket.

Good luck, Eric

Both Track/Kick's and Samurais are pretty cheap and easy to work on.  There is tons of aftermarket support, so its never difficult to find something for them.
As for how long they last....their built for the long haul, as long as you keep up on them they keep running.

Amilla

Ive got a 1990 sidekick JA (base model, 1.3L) 303,000km (roughly 190,000miles) runs like a dream, no  major work needed other then some rust repair. i wheel it pretty hard, bottom it out (evidence to that is a mangled exhaust at the moment) leaks a bit of oil, nothing major though, still gets great gas mileage.

i was in the same boat, friend has a samurai, got to drive it one day, was hooked on them since. couldn't find a samurai for under 4 grand and this little sidekick was only 2 grand and had very little rust at the time (road salt is a bitch )

i wheel that truck down trails most trucks cant get down and side by side ATVs creep down. this thing takes a beating

This is a suzuki site, so you're more likely to get people to tell you they'll run forever... they don't. 18x,xxxis a lot of mileage. Don't buy it unless you can afford to replace inevitable breakage from wear and a re-build / engine swap anytime in the next 1-100,000 miles. I've seen them die at 200k, and some are still running with over 300k.

Parts availability is easy. Most parts stores carry stuff, and there's lots of aftermarket junk yards & fabricators. As far as Samurai vs Tracker (I've owned lots of both), each has it's pro's and con's. Pick the one that suits you:

Tracker - Better MPG, better engine, more power, more room, softer ride, cheap-to-lift to 31" tire. I wouldn't put more than a 29" tire on one, but some people love to go to 31" or larger. The reason is kicks don't have the gearing options that samurai does. If you're a 31" wheel guy, I'd look to the Samurai. For the record, I wheel my 4-door on 29" and open - and it's capable of everything but the craziest of trails. Perfect for DD / weekend warrior. Aftermarket support is getting better as the used vehicles come down in price - but it's only 1/4 as good as Samurai. If you're a 33" + guy, you're swaping to toy axles on either kick or sami, so it really doesn't matter (though, I lean towards tracker in the big-wheel dept).

Samurai - better aftermarket support (been around longer & cheaper). Used upgrade parts easier to find, and better support on boards like these. Better "cute" factor.

Sami has the advantage off-road, but tracker has it on road. Just depends on what you want to do... unless you're getting into extreme obsticles, I'd just get a kick on 29" and call it done.

I'm going to copy-n-paste that answer for the next guy.

Thanks for all the info guys! especially Jeremiah, thanks for listing the pros and cons of each. Looks like I'm looking for a track/kick because there easier to find and I'm not into very crazy stuff yet, I'm just starting out.  Plus I need a daily driver. I've done some more research and if I ever get really crazy there SAS kits and motor swaps kits of all sorts to be found.

FYI- A friend of mine does have a 93 Tracker w/ over 400,000 miles, but I do think it's the exception.