Ok the last few weeks ive been looking at trackers of all years I looked at 2 this week one was a 2nd gen auto which was pretty rusty and dident like it....now hears the question I am thinking of buying a 98 2dr 5 speed softtop needs a little work but it runs good and i like it is 98 a good year? has everthing but no tilt steering which i dont like...also this is the only tracker I seen where the soft top is one piece how come? also I like the 98 interior better then the older trackers i looked at ( 90 ) when did that change?
They were all "good" years, IMHO. These trucks just evolved with improvements over the years. In North America I don't know of any other vehicles that could match them with their "out of the box" reliability and capabilities for their size and price point. Some would say the Samurai did, but the Sammy was a purpose built little utility vehicle with a straight axle. The Trackers and Sidekicks have the IFS suspension and a few more creature comforts in general to include the seats.
Soft tops are easy to find and purchase. E-bay has tons of them from very good quality to very cheap. Rust is the bane of any vehicle and the hardest (and generally most expensive) to repair once it has advanced. Avoid heavily rusted trucks unless you just want a beater for around the farm.
Interior changes occurred around the '94-'95 model years. The 16 valve engines appeared around the same time frame. More horse power is always more better, BUT I loved my 4 door '91 with a 5 speed and 8 valve engine. I owned a few with the grab handle built into the dash. I always thought they were useful and I don't really know why they did away with them. Probably in attempt to make them appear more refined and stylish for the hipster market. I don't really know. Tilt wheel is nice, but you get used to not having it and adapt. A telescopic steering column would have been more useful than tilt, but they were never offered.
The '98 5-speed should serve you well. It would serve you more better if it came with a maintenance history so you could gauge how well it was cared for, when and using what products. Probably not likely to have much documentation. A lot of people just don't think about saving their repair and service documents. Sad. It makes their vehicle worth more to the private market sales. It appears many people don't believe in maintenance of their vehicles. It's that "stupid thing" again. They just drive them until they break down, then sell or trade them and the next owner gets to fix all the problems they ignored.
I purchased a 2003 Rubicon earlier this year because it occurred to me that since Suzuki has left the North American market, I probably won't be finding a replacement for my Tracker. The Rubicon is in almost mint condition with very low miles. Anyway, just this morning I was looking out in my drive at my Tracker thinking about what a great little truck it is and has been over the years with very minor upgrades on it. I just drove it this past weekend on a camping trip. It carries lots of gear too. As I though about it, the thought occurred to me that I
still drive my Tracker far more than the Rubicon. Three out of four times I will hop in the Tracker. The Tracker just does everything really well, goes where I need it to go off road and the Tracker is a better dog hauler for my 4 legged buddies that prefer to ride in it. Most importantly, I still ENJOY driving Buster. With the upgraded diff gears to match the larger tires, they are just great little trucks. Reliable too,
with proper maintenance.
It would be great if SOME manufacturer would hop back into production with these little trucks with some more upgrades on them right from the factory, like more suspension, more diff gear, larger tires and market them in North America again. I still believe there would be a market niche for them. They could even keep the 2 liter four cylinder. I'd still buy it. Many others would too. But... the government's drive to make people "safer" (trying to protect them from their own stupidity) has probably put an end to the
really utilitarian and simple, off road/on road vehicles. No one can fix stupid. I think it is more of a "gene thing" anymore. That's why I purchased the early model Rubicon. They aren't making Jeeps any simpler either.
