Is this a solid alternative to a CRV or a RAV4? They're generally thousands cheaper on craigslist

Too long, Suzuki tried to go with the trend of suburban mall crawlers and that's literally it

The isuzu trooper is pretty solid. Mine is at 200k miles and had an accident which my friends and i repaired ourselves

V6 gas is a pretty good engine for it, but its still a cheap car that both feels and rides "cheap"

You can find them with stick, pretty rare.

Buy a Honda element
They don't carry the same tax as the CRVs and are very sinilar

$$$

>They don't carry the same tax as the CRVs and are very sinilar
>avg. asking price is 4000-7000

???

Weird, I got mine at a really good price when I was looking for a CRV.
Must be different markets

In my area:
>Suzuki with 100-150k miles: $4000
>Element with 100-150k miles: $8000

I paid 3500$ for an 05 element with 120k miles while crvs we're in the 8k range

I didn't even look at the Suzukis so I couldn't tell you.

Also fwiw the Highlanders were also half the price of Rav 4s, I chose the element over the Highlander because of size, but I really liked the older Highlanders too.

It's weird because the Pilots weren't cheap

>Buy a Honda element
omg - look at the engine compartment in a honda element
how do you access anything without pulling the engine?

It's probably the most cramped engine bay I've ever had to deal with, and my last car was an intrepid

With that said the actual interior of the car is amazingly utilitarian.
It's stripped down, it's like a little box truck. with the suicide doors with no pillars and the way you move/remove the back seats, it fits a whole lot more in it that you would ever think.

Almost 6 1/2 feet from behind the driver seat to the back with smooth floor and smooth walls, itll haul a shit ton of stuff in it. Look up people moving motorcycles or both a full washer and dryer

My parents Equinox can barely fit groceries in it

Is this a good deal?
sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/d/2004-honda-element/6382038298.html

Definitely.

It's got a decent amount of miles, but the drive train is identical to the CRVs so if it was well taken care of it'd be ok. They are lauded for being reliable vehicles hence the tax on them. Especially if your prices in general for all these cars are a bit high.
It's not the most fun car to drive, it's abfucking box, and the interior is utilitarian like I said, it's stripped down rubber and plastic. But I have fallen in love with mine, they don't look like they are 13 years old as the box styling is coming back, and they don't look like a work van, but they can haul like one.

If you want a mid size SUV, the second gen ford explorer is the best one ever made. Try to get a v8 but if you have to settle for the v6, be aware that ford made two 4.0 v6's: the SOHC and the OHV. The OHV is the one you want.

Also expect the driver seat to be ripped to fuck on the ass, they all do that which is why it's got seat covers on it.

The ones that roll over?

That was first gen. Go with second or third
If it's a second gen, get pre-2000 for the OVH V6 or the Windsor v8
If it's a turd gen, get the 4.6

I also suggest looking at the Chevy blazer from that era. The 4.3 v6s in those are bulletproof

inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/d/2003-chevy-tracker/6390785380.html

What about the Escape?

Have to buy an 04 or older Escape, anything newer has bad bad bad transmissions that WILL fail.

They are ok,but they look old and like shit. Also probably gonna have a tough time finding one not abused

That looks really really clean for what it is, and it's one of the last year's that Chevy made them, had the kinks worked out

My 91 trooper blew a headgasket at 220k, but we beat the ever loving fuck out of it. I would have replaced the gasket but the body was just falling apart. Rusted to the point there were no rear shocks anymore. Was thrown in a ditch, rear ended, backed into a tree, driven into a light post,hit a deer, taken through the snow/mud/cornfields/woods. The 4x4 was really decent. 8 years of heavy abuse and neglect. Also the AC always worked, none of my American cars AC ever work

Had a 1st Gen trooper which was good too, but couldn't tell you from a long term standpoint, it was rolled lol.

8/10 would buy

>Temecula

Does the Chevy version hold up as well as the Suzuki version? And what are common issues?

they are the exact same mechanical-wise.