Late last year i got my first Cruiser. Black with metallic gray mica(i think thats what its called)bumpers and trim. A very early 98 with the rear lockers and 163k miles at the time. I believe it was a company vehicle so besides a starter issue the first few weeks of ownership, falling apart brakes and an obnoxious metal clanking sound that ended up being a rotted rear sway bar link bushing-all of which were resolved in the first month of ownership-the Hundy drives so smooth and i've fallen so in love with it, that i sold my Impala and use it as a daily. I've tested the low gear, center diff and rear lockers. All working. A/c blows cold, though only front vents. Middle only gets heating. Nothing for the 3rd row. Found that strange. All windows and sunroof working, albeit very slow which worries me it may get stuck. Has an early 2ks aftermarket head unit.
Unfortunately, and there's always an 'unfortunately' with a $6k vehicle, the cons are that it was a Chicago vehicle, so there's a lot of rust. I foolishly purchased rear rotors that i didn't realize were unpainted so the brand new rear rotors are completely rusted orange. IDk if ill bother at this point and just buy new painted ones.
It was clearly unloved. The clear coat is peeling and paint faded. Rear bumper has damage. Rusted out lower corners(rocker panels) of the body. Hastily painted oem wheels with matte black that is fading and peeling itself. 1 yellowed fog light. Aesthetically, it's not pretty and despite this i've gotten at least a compliment a month on it. Outside of the rear bumper damage and some cracks in the front bumper, there's only a few minor dings to the actual body.
Interior front seats completely wrecked. Stained carpet. Steering wheel seen better days. Sure, i got seat and steering wheel covers and floor mats cover most of the stained carpets, but plastics are beat and scratched. Filthy seatbelts. Filthy speaker grill fabric. Filthy headliner.
I have a lot of work to do-but what should i tackle first? Esp. mechanically? Report said timing belt and alternator was replaced i think 60k miles ago plus i did the oem Denso starter in Nov 2025. That's all i know. Not sure what i can do about the rust outside of wire brush to knock off surface level and then coat with something like coroseal?
I'm considering a cheap maaco all black paint job and doing something about the poorly painted oem wheels with maybe spacers to bring out the tires flush with the body. Redone rocker panels. And just leave rest as is and use as a daily while i search for a much cleaner and lower mileage Hundy to baby. I'm also considering still getting a newer cleaner hundy to baby, but also doing retro mods to the 98.
- I dont do rock crawling or mudding. Just some light trails and beaches for hiking, biking and camping and mostly pavement princess to work and back which is currently just under 2 hours round trip 5 days a week.
Love this truck