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Thinking of buying a Suzuki Samurai

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Offline conrsmith

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Thinking of buying a Suzuki Samurai
« on: May 27, 2018, 06:40:23 PM »
Hello. I am thinking of buying a Suzuki Samurai (probably a 1987 and definitely a tin top) to use as a daily driver in Portland, Oregon. I have never been much of a car guy but I'd like to learn more.

I just have some very basic questions. Hopefully these will be some good questions for other prospective buyers and beginners who might stumble upon this thread in the future.

Assuming I buy a Samurai that is in pretty good condition:

1- Will I experience problems starting the car? If nothing is really wrong does it generally start on the first attempt? Or are there issues with outside temperature (doesn't really get below 35 often in Portland) or letting it sit for a couple of days? What about for running errands that involves turning the engine off and on a few times within an hour?

2- Does this car have AC as standard? If not would that be easy/cheap to have someone add?

3- How big of a deal is rust? If I find a Samurai that doesn't really have much or any rust when I buy it, is rust something I will have to worry about? It snows like once or twice a year in Portland and they do not use road salt (although there may be a small chance they do so in the future). It does rain a lot though.

4- Is the defroster generally pretty effective? Or will I be spending a lot of time waiting for the windows to defrost before being able to drive in the winter?

5- Does this car require a ton of maintenance if I find one with under 100k miles on it? Or is a stop or two at a mechanic a year (and hopefully learning to do some stuff myself as well) fine?

Some more info on what I plan on using this car for. As I said before I will be using it as a daily driver, but I really only commute 20 minutes each way to work (with about 10 mins being on the highway), and I will be starting a new job in a few months where I will just have to drive about 15 minutes (and no highway). I don't really plan on doing much serious off-roading so I will be looking for a Samurai that is mostly stock and not modified too much. I do a fair amount of hiking though and this car would be useful on some of the very bad roads in the area. I really don't want to buy a boring standard car made in the past 10 years, which I why I am looking at something like this. I am not very concerned about comfort as I won't be driving it that much (and my wife has another car for longer trips). Would using this car as a daily driver be a good idea?

Thanks so much!
- Connor

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Offline Phase change

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Re: Thinking of buying a Suzuki Samurai
« Reply #1 on: May 27, 2018, 07:20:30 PM »
They are great cars!  If it runs right it will start and stop like any other modern car.  But, making it run right is the key.  The best way to learn about car repair is dive in and don’t be afraid.  Nowadays with this forum and YouTube you can learn anything you need to know.  But, if there’s is any way you can talk yourself into a sidekick instead of the Sammie you might be better off in the maintenance dept and daily duty dept with EFI, OBD2, a big power boost and IFS which all help to keep the car on the road and running well.  They are also half the age and cost less.

Rust can be a big deal or totally cosmetic.  In the pnw we mainly have the cosmetic type but if you look under it and bolt heads are unrecognizable then run.  In fact for people who buy old cars the pnw is known as the holy land for car preservation.  The rain doesn’t do much harm and we didn’t use salt for years, although we now do so don’t kid yourself that chemical is worse than salt.  But any 30 yr old car is going to have issues.  The main ones will be rubber seals, hoses, gaskets, fabrics, plastics, paint etc.   they can need quite a bit.  But you didn’t mention your budget.  If you spent 6k$ on an old Sammie you might have a lot of new parts including a more modern low maintenance engine. 

Bottom line, if you want to tinker and don’t mind not having some comforts a Sammie is a fun economical way to roll and also learn about fixing up cars.  If you want a more turn key basic transportation I’d suggest a sidekick or vitara. 

Did any samurai come with power steering?  That would be a big negative for DD use for me.   
« Last Edit: May 27, 2018, 07:26:14 PM by Phase change »
2003 Suzuki tracker 4d 5sp 2.0 “piglet”
Deleted air 4wd system, Manual hubs, 2” lift, 235/75,

Old ride: 1997 X90 “jellybean” best lil car I’ve ever had

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Offline ebewley

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Re: Thinking of buying a Suzuki Samurai
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2018, 07:23:07 AM »
Welcome Connor,  I lived and worked in the Portland area for a long time. Fun and interesting place, right? I dig your interest and think you may be a Samurai guy. ;) in running down your questions,  Easy start good rub around,  however with the 1.3 going  west on 26 through the tunnel will be a right lane affair.. no A/C, there was dealer installed options that came in a kit to the dealer. Rare... Rust under the battery and the rear inner fenderwells,  routine, old skool maintenance. It will need service at regular intervals. Defrost and heat are great, sometimes the air box needs cleaned out. The big issue as I see it for you will be the EPA tesys. Since it's not an OBD2 car and is carbuated they will do a tail pipe test. It has to be running tip top to pass. This is where you'll get you intro to Suzuki maintenance.

Good luck on you decision, Eric
Eric L. Bewley                               
Editor, ZUKIWORLD Online                   

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Offline JollyZuk

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Re: Thinking of buying a Suzuki Samurai
« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2018, 04:42:11 PM »
I second the motion for a Sidekick. Better creature comforts, newer, cheaper, easier to find.
1995 Sidekick JLX
16v 5 spd, milled head, LROR Stage 2 clutch
2" Spacer lift, XL7 rear springs,  2nd Gen front springs, W-Body GM Struts on front
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