4runner for Suzuki Sx4?

J

jaebird82

New member
Hi,

I have a 2003 V8 2wd 4runner with about 70k miles on it. Financed it 3 years ago with only 22k miles and have about 6k left on loan.

Gas is killing me because I love taking road trips. LOVE the 4runner. It's 2wd but I go 'off-roading' quite often and take long trips. VSC disabled and I have some decent AT tires. I've done some "Jeep only trails" just fine, but these are pretty mild trails which is all I'm really interested in.

I'm looking to get something with better gas mileage and at least AWD, and I see this little Sx4 with some AT tires and a lift kit doing great on trails + getting 30mpg highway. I've heard good things and you can get into a newer one with lower miles for like 11k? I'm on a budget so this little poor man's Subaru is tempting. Let me know if you think I'm crazy.
 

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lol! Fair enough. Mileage too, I can get one of these with like no more than 30k miles, with AWD, plus decent gas mileage, plus newer tech. You can get the "premium" with heated seats for nothing. I don't even have AUX in my 4runner. They are the cheapest AWD cars you can get new, although Suzuki left the US in 2013. I've been reading good things. Keep in mind, I would rather a new 4urnner, Fj Cruiser, etc., but I simply can't afford it. I'm looking to finance again, so it needs to be a 2008 or newer. Just exploring the idea.

LandCruiser said:
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*ahem*


LOLWUT?
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Buy a rear locker for your 4Runner and a head unit with AUX and maybe even BT.

A 2WD with a rear locker will kick the shit out of that... thing.

And, no, it isn't a poor man's Subaru unless there's a 400hp boxer under that hood.
 
Hmm, dunno. I think you're missing the point of my post. I want to get into a newer AWD car with better gas mileage for not much more than I owe on my 4runner. And not all subies have 400hp boxer engines, so I'm not quite following you. Not even the new STI's have 400hp. I'm more referring to their great AWD system, not HP. The Sx4 is an AWD car that gets decent gas mileage. I read of a few sx4 owners that have Jeeps and say this thing can go mostly anywhere their jeeps can with the lift kit, decent tires, just short of rock crawling and hard core trails. Do appreciate the opinion, but buying a locker for my 2wd 4runner doesn't really sound logical because I'm not looking for it to do better off-road.

LandCruiser said:
Buy a rear locker for your 4Runner and a head unit with AUX and maybe even BT.

A 2WD with a rear locker will kick the shit out of that... thing.

And, no, it isn't a poor man's Subaru unless there's a 400hp boxer under that hood.
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How am I stupid for throwing around the idea? I'm not looking for something BETTER off road than what I have or a better vehicle. Obviously no Suzuki can hold a flame to a 4runner in general. I'm looking for something CHEAP, newish, with better gas mileage, reliable, that will get me on dirt, so I'm throwing out the idea and hoping maybe someone on this forum has some experience with suzuki. The reviews I'm reading are good, that's no troll. Way to be a jerk, though.

Sorry, couldn't help myself[/QUOTE]
 
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A locker for a 2WD makes perfect sense if you plan on going off road the same places that little go-kart can go... you're seriously underestimating how far a 2WD can go.

I dragged my 80 series to a bunch of Toyota and Jeep runs in CO, and there was a bone stock 2WD FJ Cruiser that kept showing up and running the intermediate trails without too much effort.

He got a bit too close to me when I was climbing a gravel path and I slid back into him... an 80 series sort of turns into a big fat green boulder when it can't find traction. Never saw the guy again.
 
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Again... I'm not talking about gaining off road capability. My 2wd drive has been great off road.

LandCruiser said:
A locker for a 2WD makes perfect sense if you plan on going off road the same places that little go-kart can go... you're seriously underestimating how far a 2WD can go.

I dragged my 80 series to a bunch of Toyota and Jeep runs in CO, and there was a bone stock 2WD FJ Cruiser that kept showing up and running the intermediate trails without too much effort.
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After you refinance the money you owe and/or pay a trade differential I'm guessing you'll have enough gas money for 1.5-2 years until Iran nukes the middle east and we'll all be driving Flintstones cars.

Trading a car for "fuel economy" is one of those things once you do the math, you'll have to drive 50-100k miles a year to even see a difference.
 
Capability-wise, it's a viable idea. The AWD will add capability in the sloppy stuff, and if you can lift it/add tires enough to match the 4Runner's breakover angle without destroying the MPG rating in process you'll be ahead. It'll never match a real 4WD, but you appear to already know that and are cool with it, so it doesn't seem like a silly move for you at all if you can tolerate the reduced cargo capacity.

Economy-wise, it's not so clear. Using your numbers, you're putting down about 16,000 miles a year, which is healthy. I don't know what gas is like for you, but assuming $3.00/gallon and 17 MPG for your 4Runner you're spending $2800/year on gas. The Suzuki claims 30 MPG, but we know that's a crock, and it'll get worse with a lift and oversized tires. Let's give the Suzuki a very optimistic 27 MPG, and using the same number of miles and price of gas you'd spend prox $1800/year on gas. That's a thousand dollars difference, so depending on how much you can sell the 4Runner for and how much you pay for the Suzuki and how much you get raped by finance charges, it could theoretically pay for itself in a couple years. Run your own numbers ((miles per year / miles per gallon) * price of gas), then compare your current payments to the proposed payments with the new SUV, and see where it stacks up. If it's close, it could make sense. If the Suzuki doesn't pay for itself within two years plus or minus, it's a losing move and you'd do better to pay your current truck off and drive it into the ground. No truck payments = a damned lot of gas money.
 
You've been making payments for 3 years and you still owe $6k on a 12 year old vehicle? Something doesn't add up, either you paid way too much for that 4runner, or you had another car you were upside-down on and rolled that into the loan, or your payments are too low, or your interest rate is way too high.

With gas the cheapest its been in years my recommendation would be to curtail the road trips and get that 4runner paid off ASAP. Once it's paid off you should be able to sell it for a decent price given the low mileage, and buy something you want.

I understand "vehicular ADD", I get it myself. But I think your "plan" is just going to result in you being deeper in the black hole of debt. As a good friend of mine once said "the cheapest vehicle is the one you already own."

As for not having "AUX" in your 4runner, for a couple hundred bucks (that is to say, for less than a car payment) you can put a great double-DIN stereo in that will have AUX, USB, Bluetooth, iPod controls, etc. Get it from Crutchfield and install it yourself, it's super easy on the 4runner (I did it, so it must be easy.)

Seriously, if you're on a budget, hold what you've got until it's paid off. Make sacrifices elsewhere in your budget to get that 4runner paid for and once it is, you'll be in a much better position. If your 4runner still has under 100k I'll bet you could sell it for 10 grand in SoCal even with 2wd.
 
Wondering about parts availability on Suzuki? and price of parts?
Down the road, when ready to trade again, guessing the value of Suzuki will be nearly 0. Figure 'lifetime' cost of ownership before you get rid of T4R. And, appears gas prices are headed lower again and may remain that way for a while.
 
Let me say this, from experience. When gas got up to $5 a gallon back in 08, I was commuting 25 miles each way in a Wrangler TJ. Traded it for a Honda Civic. Dumbest thing I EVER did in regards to car swaps/purchases.

The Honda was nice enough, but I never took a liking to it. In the end (dumping Civic with negative equity to get back into a truck), I spent a lot more money jacking around for a "savings" of a few bucks per week. I learned from that to not give two shits about fuel economy when making a decision on a new ride. If you can't live with the vehicle day in and day out and don't enjoy it, then even a million MPG will not make it worthwhile.

Some good advice above about the finances. If money is really the motivating factor, you need to sit down and figure it out. Good luck whatever you choose to do. I would suggest driving the Suzuki - more than once, and seeing if it really is something you can live with for the next few years. Do you haul people around much? Need the extra space in the 4R? If so, you should think long and hard about this change. If not, it may be a great option for you. I've never owned a Suzuki, but I've never heard anyone talk bad about them.

I know the real reason you're trading though... it's because 2WD sucks!! :peep: :rofl: :tongue1: :becky:
 
Jernik said:
Let me say this, from experience. When gas got up to $5 a gallon back in 08, I was commuting 25 miles each way in a Wrangler TJ. Traded it for a Honda Civic. Dumbest thing I EVER did in regards to car swaps/purchases.

The Honda was nice enough, but I never took a liking to it.
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I basically went through the same thing. Traded in my V8 Dodge Dakota for a Civic, and never really liked it that much. I've been so much happier now that I have my 4Runner. Fuel economy only goes so far.
 
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