Hey all,

I'm planning on selling my car (2007 VW GTI with 58K miles and a transferrable 100k warranty... ) and picking up a Suzuki of some sort. I have a local friend who is a member of a club and has a really nice rig.

What I'm looking for is a daily driver with slight off road (read: logging roads and drives into the woods of the PNW) capabilities. So after reading for the past week, I think I have a general idea of what I'm looking for, I think:

Not too much lift. Thinking a YJ kit from SKY/TT w/ the shocks. Shocks mainly for ride comfort if it gets a little more rough in the terrain I choose (am I correct in thinking that shocks and mounts are worth the cost for this?) Possibly a body lift for a little aesthetics. Also, because I'm 6'4 and 285lbs, The truck can't look TOO tiny! Does this sound reasonable or am I missing the mark?

Still a little confused on gearing. I live in a really hilly section of Western Washington, and we get a bit of snow as well. I don't need to go super fast (I have a car that does a 6.5 sec 0-60, and it's worthless for what I want to do) but a comfortable top speed of 75 would be great. Having extra torque to get myself out of sticky situations (Western Washington has lots of mud! Who knew?) and up the hellish hills around here would be great, especially as a DD. Is a 1.6 a worthwhile swap for a dude who is going to have to have it professionally installed? Or is a re-gear--I plan on running 30's or 31's -- a viable alternative? I have no real mechanical knowledge (I can change oil and plugs, done a few alternator and starter swaps, welded in high school... no fab work and I'm terrible at math) and even if I did, I have no garage and no tools (I plan on buying a full set of metric stuff, but can't get a welder/torch/etc) to do much of anything with. Simple wrenching will be doable for me, but all major work is going to have to be bought or borrowed. As I said, I know someone in the 'Zuk community up here, so I have a bit of a leg up, I guess.

And finally... I have a budget of about $6k-$8k, depending on the sale of my car. I don't need a vehicle right away, but would like one, of course. I'm really excited for the possibilities (and no $417 car payment and $157 insurance every month!) of these capable little things. I REALLY want a tintop, mostly due to the nature of the weather up here (it's all green up here for a reason!) and because I think they look so good! I guess I'll continue reading some more, and dreaming about the little 'Zuk I have floating in my head...

Sounds to me like your leaning towards a Sammy, but IMO, for a daily driver with good ride quality, highway capability, creature comforts and moderate off road use you'd be much better off with a late model Sidekick, Tracker or GV.

Sounds to me like your leaning towards a Sammy, but IMO, for a daily driver with good ride quality, highway capability, creature comforts and moderate off road use you'd be much better off with a late model Sidekick, Tracker or GV.

X2
I would look for a tracker or vitara with a 2.0 and 5-speed. I really don't think you would be happy with a Sammy (for intended use) until a motor swap at the least was done. Get a newer tracker/vitara get some bolt-ons and 31's and go....

A Tracker/Kicker/Vitara/GV would make a better DD, and do awesome on PNW back/logging roads.  Plan on getting a locker for the rear, and you can go when it gets sloppy.  30" tires work w/o too much down shifting, you will really notice the difference with 31's.  Washington off road areas have some rather aggressive trees, so when trail riding expect a little damage and either stay out or don't get something you can't stand to see scratched/dented.

Dammit, I get stuck on one vehicle... Anyhow, thanks for the information. That should help when I'm ready to buy.

Dammit, I get stuck on one vehicle... Anyhow, thanks for the information. That should help when I'm ready to buy.

You could go my route, and get 3.  That way you have one for every occasion. 

I think any 4-cylinder, especially a Samurai, will be very hard to live with after a VW GTI.  I mean in a stock Samurai we are talking 0-60 in something like 19 seconds.  They are slow.  Also, all of these vehicles are "older" now and will need lots of work to keep them up and running.  They are not like modern cars where you can just drive them with little to no maintenance.  If you can't work on it yourself, you will likely be paying thousands of dollars for somebody else to work on it for you. 

In addition, I think that these vehicles might be too small for you.  I'm 6'3", 215lbs and barely fit into a Samurai.  The GV is a little more comfortable space wise, but they still quite small by domestic standards.  I've noticed that most larger guys drive jeeps and they do seem to have a lot more space in them.  If I were you, I would probably look at a newer Jeep JK, TJ, or GC. (flamesuit on)

Just trying to be honest with him.  Driving a Samurai is like driving an 1960's era VW Beetle.  Slow, underpowered, very few-to little creature comforts etc, need lots of regular mainteance and/or small repairs.  You either like that kind of thing or you hate it.  Most people nowadays don't work on cars.  They rather just put gas in it and take it to Jiffy Lube for all the other maintenance.

Just trying to be honest with him.  Driving a Samurai is like driving an 1960's era VW Beetle.  Slow, underpowered, very few-to little creature comforts etc, need lots of regular mainteance and/or small repairs.  You either like that kind of thing or you hate it.  Most people nowadays don't work on cars.  They rather just put gas in it and take it to Jiffy Lube for all the other maintenance.

I appreciate your honesty, Jonny!

The Samurai and the TracKick are wonderful vehicles for sure - IF you are not more than 6' and 225lbs.

If you are a big person, these vehicle can be painful than it's worth.  Yet another valid reason why Jeeps exist... 

FWIW, I'm 6'5" 265 LBS and I fit in my 4 door kick just fine. but samurais are just plain horrible to drive.

As both a Samurai and a Sidekick owner, I must say that the Sidekick is a much better daily driver-it is much more comfortable and is a heck of a lot more highway friendly than a Samurai ever could be.

The Sidekick is just a more modern vehicle design, whereas the Samurai is more or less a 1940s Willys Jeep layout with a 1980's aluminum powertrain. 

I will agree that a trackick (as long as it has the 1.6 16V or bigger engine) generally makes a nicer DD than a samurai.
But about a samurai needing "lots of regular mainteance and/or small repairs"...that isn't necessarily true.  Other than standard oil/filter changes and tuneups, I haven't had to do any more maintenance and/or small repairs on any of my samurais, than I have to any of my trackicks.  Actually, I have probably had to do more small repairs on my trackicks, mile per mile, than on my samurais.
As long as the trips are relatively short and not at constant high speeds, samurais are fun DD's.  I have ran one of my samurais on a couple of 65MPH, 5-6 hour one-way trips.  It wasn't bad at the time, but like I said, the trackicks with the bigger engines are nicer DDs and ride better than samurais (plus AC is more common on trackicks...if you care about AC).
I regularly drive one of my samurais on :30-1 hour trips, with about half of it being 65-70MPH Interstate driving and it is fine, as far as I am concerned.
I will say that a samurai is a better off road rig than a trackick, IMO.  Easier and cheaper to modify, better front axle setup....just better all around, as far as I am concerned.

All that being said....
Selftest....for the situation/useage you describe (logging roads and trails), I would say a 5 speed trackick with a little bigger tires (235s, maybe 30s) and a locker in the rear axle would work fine.  It doesn't sound like you are going to be doing any real hard off roading and it will mainly be using it for a DD.
But if you ever plan on doing any harder off roading (big rocks, technical climbs/trails, etc.), I think a samurai will be a better choice, when you get to that point.  But once you get to that point, you will probably be using the rig mainly as an off roader with occasional use as a DD.
I guess you could always buy a trackick now, spend $500 or so on tires and a locker, to make it a decent mild off roader and if you ever decide to get into the harder off roading, get a samurai.

Yes, I think a 4-door Kick (1st or 2nd Gen) would be a better choice over a Samurai.

Most of the Samurais I've picked up usually need a front end rebuild at minimum.  I think most shops would charge $400+ for that type of service.  If you do it yourself, it's a time consuming & messy job.  Then you have the leaky output seals on the trans/transfer, diff, etc.  Just by their sheer age (majority 21-25 years old), Samurais will need more work than a newer Kick.  Then you have the fact that they are considered a poor man's jeep and have been treated as such.  I often find myself, reparing the other idiot's repairs.

I do think the Samurai is easier to work on though.  It was designed to be operated/serviced in the 3rd world.  It is definitely more robust than the Sidekick platform as well.

All valid points...

I've had my fast car, and all it does is cause me headaches. It's been a great vehicle, but $200 a month car insurance on top of a $417 car payment is rough... Especially when I took a $9 pay cut 2 years after I bought the car.

I don't drive everyday. Not even close. I live and work within a mile, and get a ride to and from work. I want a vehicle that can get me to destinations my current vehicle can't; namely, anywhere without pavement. I used to live in Southern California, where fast was more desirable/practical. Now I live in the PNW,  with a county-wide off-freeway speed limit of 35mph, tons of deer and trees, and a real desire to explore. I initially looked at the Suzuki platform because of it's potential to get me to these places. On top of that, I'll have only $6k-$8k to spend on a vehicle. That nearly completely rules out Yotas and Jeeps, unless I want a buster that's even more $$$ to work on than a Suzuki. Within the past week of looking (man, searchtempest.com is great for searching bunches of CL listings...) I have found numerous Zuks well within my price range... But, most of them are Samurais.

I was under the impression that with some minor fab work, I could move the driver's seat back some and attain the legroom I need. I sit close anyway, but I guess I should sit in the truck before I even guess how much smaller it is.

The ONE thing that has me wary is the engine. those 1.6's seem much better than the Samurai engine... I'll start looking around for trackicks...