Save Me from Becoming a Traitor

I had my mind set ona LC about '95-'97 - looking for one with under 130K miles. I have found so few (about 5 to my specs. within 200 miles of LA) and all are wanting way over book which is high anyway. Previously I had a Surburban so i checked the 4x4 surburban listings. There were 95 vehilacles to the same specs, mostly listed at book, so the prices run around 65% of thoses of the LC. I can get a '97 Surburban for the price of a '93 Cruiser.

I know the Cruisers are better vehicles with probably a longer life but getting one has become so hard I'm tempted to get a Surburban just because I really need wheels soon.

Anything you all can say to show my new directionway may be regretted will be welcome. IE, will you try to talk me out of the Surburban.

Frustrated and ashamed,
LA

If you need wheels and the suburban works for you go for it.

I doubt you're going to get many people in this forum to tell you it is a good idea. We're pretty into what we drive and I am just guessing that most would suggest you wait for a good 80 series. (edit: except for Shotts, he'd tell you to buy a 100 since they're superior in every way except a eentsy weentsy bit less capable on really hard or narrower trails).

The only thing I know about suburbans is all anecdotal. I wouldn't own one except for a kid hauler and even then it would have to be a really good deal. Why do you think there are so many for sale, if they're all that great???

Charlie

MH_Stevens said:

I had my mind set on a LC about '95-'97 - looking for one with under 130K miles.

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If your mind is set then keep it there.

MH_Stevens said:

I know the Cruisers are better vehicles with probably a longer life

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If you know they are better then hold strong in your belief , no one here is gonna advise you to buy a sub.

Oh yaa, you might want to invest in a nomex suit.

The Suburban is not a bad vehicle. We used to service a lot of them at the shop. I like the LC better, thats why I am on this site. I have not found my perfect one either, but I have the luxury of time. The Suburban is roomy, powerful and they do pretty good in accidents from what I have seen. They tend to eat front brakes, have mushy brake pedals and more rattles and cheaper interiors than the LC. At least its not a heap or Range Rover.

I had a 98 Tahoe that loved to go through Fuel pumps $300.00 ea, oh and a head gasket, and it once got stuck in 4 inches of snow with all of the tires still on the ground. What a POS.

How about expanding your search beyond that area. With folks from this board located in every area of the US you could have someone check it out for you. Most LC people are more than willing to help out with something like that. You can usually post in the chat section to find someone in the area where the truck is. If you like their report fly out and pick it up.

Suburpin, BWAHAHA. Don't do it man, stay away from the dark side. Free your mind and your ass will follow. The only thing good I have to say about a Suburban is at least it's not a Ford!
There are alot of LC out there, expand your search, don't give up yet

I've got a 99 with 56000 on it. Actually it's my wifes. It's got everything they came with in 99. She loves it, but I was smart to buy the extended warranty. So far in the 5 1/2 years of ownership it has had a new fuel pump, alternator, all the door lock relays replaced, the driver window motor replaced, 3 new batteries, I'm on my 5th set of front rotors. I finally found a company that makes some after market brake kits that can handle the beast. The factory rotors would burn up in under 6 months. This company I use lasted 2 years. I just replaced that set. Let's see...Oh right before the warranty ran out I was hearing clattering. Turns out a valve was missing(they said). Machined some things and put it back together...It just started doing it again 7 months later. I feel we bought a lemon, because I've owned a 93 chevy stepside for 4 years and it didn't have any problems. But that just goes to show what can go wrong for you. I currently drive a 4Runner, and have been looking for a LC for 2 years now. Good Luck on your search... I found the perfect 80 just recently, but they sold it before I could get to the dealer. It only had 55k on it. It was a 97 40th. I was so pissed off that day...

Hows this for coincidence? Talk to this guy about why he's going from a suburban to a cruiser...maybe y'all could simply trade?

Thanks guys - you and the edmunds.com review have convinced to stay away from the 1999 Suburban. Mechanics seem to have good to s##t. I had a 1988 4x4 Suburban and put 245,000 miles on it with only replacing water pump and three fuel pumps. Guess they went to hell and back as I hear the new 2000 models are OK. So I'm still here!

Thanks,

Mike Stevens

Well if you are limiting yourself to within 200 miles of your shack, then too bad for you I suppose.

There are not as many 80s as there are "pieces" like a suburban out there, so yeah, like you may actually have to look.

I had an 84 Suburban and it was wonderfullly useful, and a great tow rig with it's 7.4 liter V8, but I was constantly throuwing money at it to keep it in top shape. I suppose they have improved, but they are nowhere near the build quality of a Toyota. Keep looking for a good 80, and haggle!

John Davies

MH_Stevens said:

Anything you all can say to show my new directionway may be regretted will be welcome. IE, will you try to talk me out of the Surburban.

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You sure haven't given yourself much to work with....needing a truck to be within 200 miles of LA and in such condition and miles. Lower mileage, better condition cars at average prices aren't going to exist in the big cities (where people run the wheels off of cars just getting to and from work). You either need to start looking east and consider buying a plane ticket, or go buy the Suburban. With gas prices like they are...these trucks are not that elusive.

Sounds to me like you need to decide how bad you want to own one of these. I would fly across the US to drive the right Cruiser home before I'd give up and buy a Suburban. I have flown from Texas to St. Louis, Joplin and most recently Philadelphia to pick up my Land Cruisers and am glad I did.

You must have bought THE RIGHT suburban in '88.
My dad's 89 blazer went through four back-window motors, three alternators, two starters, a trans, an ECU, an ignition switch, two sets of window switches, and a steering box within the first five years.

I used to hassle him 'cuz my '84 4runner just....ran. In that same time it needed a fuel pump and tires

G

I found my 93 for a good price in Anaheim...I just kept my eyes open and jumped on it a day or so after he listed it...another guy had looked at it and told the seller he wanted it, but had to get a loan on Monday...I told the guy on the phone that I had the cash in hand and that I'd give him 100 bucks to hold it a few hours to let me look at it...It was clean ..I layed the cash out on the table and the other guy was SOL...

Looking for a good low mile cruiser in SoCal is no easy feat. Most of the people that bought these trucks new proceeded to drive the hell out of them. When I bought my last one, I was looking for close to a year to find one in great shape with low miles. Most had 200K+ on them and looked like it. All of the one owner, dealer serviced trucks with 60K miles and showroom paint and leather are not generally cheap. When it comes time to sell the one owner mall mobile, it is still quite fresh in the sellers mind that they paid 50K for that truck 10 years ago, and most people aren't going to let it go for $7500 if they took really great care of it. I have a white 97 with 65k in showroom condition, and the last time I was at Mr. T's getting parts, I got to talking to the sales manager about the cruisers. He looked at mione and said he'd give me 10K for it as a trade in and showed me a list of people waiting for used 80's. I'm sure he was going to dip it in armor-all and put it right back on the lot for 15-20k. A friend of mine sold a BEAT 91 here in SD last year that had peeling paint, a NEW HEAD installed by the PO(Uhhh red flag), and 200k with a red-flagged carfax that said that the 200k WAS ROLLED BACK by the PO, all disclosed, and he got $7800. And the guy drove down from ventura to buy it because it was the best deal he could find. With respect to everyone here on the board, the prices that you will hear quoted from around the country really don't apply to southern california, unless you have an unlimited deadline to find one, and endless free time to check out potential cruisers. Not trying to talk you out of a cruiser, just giving you the reality of the SoCal market.

If you are looking for an exceptional vehicle at a great price, you are going to have to travel. Keep an eye on EBay, search autotrader nation wide, and I'm sure that everyone here would be willing to check out any cruisers that are local to them for the low low price of a case of beer if they find the one that you end up buying.

in 2001 I wanted some nice wheels, I was driving an 89 Cadillac that was reliable enough but a deer had taken it toll on the looks of the front end including sending a hoof through the condenser, I had always liked the 80 series since they were new and started looking at them on line, at the time they were going in the mid 20's, disgusted with the high price and "only a 6 cylinder" they did not seam like a value. saw I could get a brand new Silverado 2500HD with a monster 8.1L V8 a stout Allison 5sp auto, leather power and all the goodies etc for just a few thousand more, 0% interest how could I go wrong buying new? I had never had a new car before, or not even oen built in the same decade I owned it, it seamed the right way to go.

Well that was my first and most expensive automotive blunder.

a few days after I bought it with 250 miles it developed a knock on cold start, brought it to the dealer who immediately went on the defensive, giving me a hard time making me drop it off several times trying to get me to just go away, they finally told me that it was normal condition and refused to look at it anymore called Chevrolet cooperate and got nowhere, I was pissed, I should have called a layer and lemon lawed it right there. But I didn’t, I took the path of least resistance and just drove it , talked to some other Chevy owners both in person and online all said it was "normal". .

Only 2.5 years later with 65K on the clock it was going through a sumps worth of oil (8quarts) between oil changes and was starting to knock even when warm.

Turns out Chevy went to a very short piston with no skirt on the vortecs, this reduces the reciprocating mass of the piston improving fuel mileage, power and most importantly their CAFE #'s, if the bores of the cylinders were the least bit off the piston would tilt and rock in the bore wearing both the piston and bore. It is more prominent when cold as the piston it at its smallest.

PistonSlap.com

Plugs, forget the mileage on them but was probably around 30K




Some parts of that truck were great, they just botched some important parts, general build quality is not their either, If I had bought the "expensive" 80 series then I would be $20K ahead right now

Most likely your experience with the Sub will not be as bad, It might even just need normal maintenance (they get it right sometimes) you could also get burned on an 80 that has had poor maintenance,

but on average you are much better off with a Toyota than a Chevy, spend the time to find a good one in good shape with lockers.

There's a reason why there are only 5 LCs versus 95 Suburbans.

OK I'll expand my search area. Thanks for your support.

MH_Stevens said:

OK I'll expand my search area. Thanks for your support.

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Check Arizona as well. There are a lot of us here that would be happy to look at one for you, and it is not to far for you to go get it. If you find one in AZ post it in the AZ forum and I'm sure someone can help. Later