Should i buy a suzuki samurai

Because the Samurai desperately lacks power, engine swaps are common. The 95 hp, 1. It offers a 45 percent increase in hp over either the carbureted or fuel-injected 1. Gas mileage suffers slightly, but you can still manage 25 mpg. Though a bit more complicated, Volkswagen 1. Drivers who are concerned with safety might want to avoid the Samurai. In the late s, it acquired a reputation for rolling over.

The whole story started when a Consumer Reports staffer rolled a Samurai in real-world driving, which encouraged the magazine to rerun an accident-avoidance, high-speed swerve test. Tipover did not occur when experienced drivers ran the standard course, so Consumer Reports modified the test to make the maneuver more extreme.

Finally, Consumer Reports was able to tip the Samurai onto two wheels, prompting cheers from the testing team. Samurai sales plummeted from 83, in to in , the year after the article was released. After only sales totaled in , Suzuki stopped selling the Samurai in America. Extra back seats are rare and expensive like the hardtop on an NA Miata. If you want a back seat, buy a Samurai that already has one. When inspecting a Samurai, as with any classic car, look out for rust. JA trim models were still rear-wheel-drive but came standard with a top and rear seat.

Phase change 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. Nowadays with this forum and YouTube you can learn anything you need to know. 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. But any 30 yr old car is going to have issues.

The main ones will be rubber seals, hoses, gaskets, fabrics, plastics, paint etc. Did any samurai come with power steering? That would be a big negative for DD use for me. I am thinking of buying a Suzuki Samurai probably a 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? And controversial machines can make for compelling collector cars. Although Suzuki sold more than , Samurais in the United States—it was a rebadged version of the global Jimny, the modern version of which is most excellent—finding a clean one can present a challenge.

The Samurai's glory days are at nearly three decades behind us, and the years since have generally been unkind to a vehicle that was always regarded as a disposable object of off-road abuse. John Harper, of Charlotte, North Carolina, knew he wanted a Samurai but had a hard time finding one that wasn't fitted with inch Super Swamper tires and a 1.

Harper was obviously not dissuaded by the Samurai's infamous run-in with Consumer Reports , which eventually resulted in a legal battle that wasn't settled until Samurai owners seem to view Consumer Reports the same way that Corvair owners regard Ralph Nader—at this point, the magazine's contentious rollover test is part of the legend. And, judging by the number of lifted Samurais scampering about the country's woodlands, owners aren't hugely worried about raising the little truck's center of gravity.

But it's telling that Suzuki's own brochure for the Samurai takes a digression from the marketing braggadocio "Would you like to go to the beach driving an irresistible bikini magnet?

It will not corner at the same speed as a conventional car. So avoid sharp turns and abrupt maneuvers, and always wear your seatbelt.

I bear this advice in mind as I buckle into Harper's red Samurai for a jaunt around Charlotte. The first impression is that this is an impossibly tiny vehicle by modern standards— a two-door Jeep Wrangler is about a foot wider and a foot and a half longer. The turning circle is It's a wieldy truck, but the view out over that stubby hood precludes any illusions that modern safety rules apply.

A Ford F blowing a stop sign would boot this thing like Adam Vinatieri teeing up a yard field goal. As with a motorcycle or a Lotus Elise, the scale of the Samurai instills a healthy feeling of vulnerability in modern traffic. You drive alertly.