Chev Blazer/GMC Jimmy opinions needed

[Quad18star]

Anyone own a mid 90s to late 90s Chevy Blazer or GMC Jimmy ??

I just sold my car yesturday cause it had been giving me problems for the last little while and we need to upgrade to soemthing a bit bigger .

We've been shopping around and my girlfriend is interested in buying either a 4 door Blazer 4x4 automatic or 4 door auto 4x4 GMC Jimmy . It would be more practical for us than a 2 door car , plus it's got the towing capacity to pull my quad around with .

So does anyone have any opinions about these vehicles ? Does anyone own one ?? If so any problems with it ?? Good gas mileage?

[97blaster200]

my aunt had one....she crashed it...she had the blazer. the airbags NEVER went off. she hit the barricade on the PA turnpike and then got hit by a tractor trailer head on. and still the airbags never went off. i will never own a chevy blazer for that reason.

[CRich[814]]

2 door blazers are the most deadliest vehicles made. i guess more death's (mainly 20-30 year old men) happen in those than any other vehicle. my dad told me this and he's the manager at a new car dealership and has been selling cars for twenty years. the four door blazers are fine though.

[CTmxyfz]

i love my 4 door. i actually wanna sell it. i have a97 4 door with a 98 bumper/valence, cowl hood, rollpan, and those parts have been repatined to match the truck. dropped 3" with 20s on it too. Even before i've done all this, i loved the truck stock even. Its a great truck. Potent 4.3s and stuff. Great trucks man, great trucks personally.

Let me know if your interested in mine.

[Quad18star]

Originally posted by CTmxyfz
i love my 4 door. i actually wanna sell it. i have a97 4 door with a 98 bumper/valence, cowl hood, rollpan, and those parts have been repatined to match the truck. dropped 3" with 20s on it too. Even before i've done all this, i loved the truck stock even. Its a great truck. Potent 4.3s and stuff. Great trucks man, great trucks personally.

Let me know if your interested in mine.

Well you're a little far to be doing some dealings with , but thanks for the info anyways .

If you had to replace any parts , were they expensive ?? I heard that upper and lower ball joints are one of the most common problems with the vehicle .

Just wondering how expensive some of the parts were . Comming off of a Sunfire GT , I found GT parts to be 2 or 3 times the price of a normal Sunfire part ... so I don't want to get screwed like that again .

Thanks again for the input.

I got a 95 4door 4x4. I love it, its so fun to mess around with. Its really good in the snow, and can do brakestand burnouts for hours:devil: . I cant really tell you about the gas milage tho, bc I waste gas to much by doing stupid stuff.

[clutch22]

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/aahunter24/DSC00671.jpg

I miss my 95 Jimmy, it was my first veh. and had it for 4 years... as far as gas mileage goes... i got about 10mpg .. mostly city miles...

[csimp3]

Originally posted by CTmxyfz
i love my 4 door. i actually wanna sell it. i have a97 4 door with a 98 bumper/valence, cowl hood, rollpan, and those parts have been repatined to match the truck. dropped 3" with 20s on it too. Even before i've done all this, i loved the truck stock even. Its a great truck. Potent 4.3s and stuff. Great trucks man, great trucks personally.

Let me know if your interested in mine.

dude, post pics

[csimp3]

i have a 98 blazer 4-door, 4x4 and i really like it

[mr._bowtie]

You can crash and die in anything... so with that said if your lookin for a Blazer or Jimmy I say go for it. They are pretty dependable little trucks, they run good, and arent to hard on the eyes either. If I wanted a small suv Id buy one. Ive seen guys beat on em pretty hard and not have any trouble with em.

[ida400ex]

i just got a '96 last fall. it is good for what i need it for. i put a deck and 2 10" subs in it last week. as of gas mileage i get about 17 but i get about 10when i am pull a small flatbed with my ex on it.on slick roads i am all over the place but when it is dry dit drives fine.

[Quad18star]

Thanks for all the replies so far ... we're still seraching to find a good deal on one ... hopefully have soemthing by the end of the week .

I agree with mr_bowtie , you can die in anything . My aunt had bought a brand new Escalade and a censor shorted out which made her have no steering or brakes or airbags . She lost control of it comming down a hill and onto a bridge . Luckily the truck got hung up on the guardrail and she didn't fall down about 100 feet and survived , but it just goes to show you that even the most expensive have issues .

Thanks for the responses about gas mileage .

[Warlord]

My dad has a 4x4 2 dr auto and its been great so far. He gets 24 mpg (the way we canucks calculate it) and the thing tows trailers effortlessly. We were towing a huge old dual axle trailer with 2 quads and couldn't even tell it was there. I agree with the guy who said it is great in the snow. One day we had a big snow storm and all of these little cars were getting stuck in a huge drift near my house. My 2wd ranger wouldn't make it through so I took out my dads blazer and started pulling out all of these little cars. It was alot of fun. Great truck!

[54warrior]

Well, I had a 99 S 10 4wd ZR2. Basically the same thing. I liked it. The 4.3 is a gas hog though. I get just as good of mileage now in my 5.6 Titan under the same driving conditions.

I like the 2 Door ZR2 Blazers, I'd recommend you get one of them.

As far as ball joints go. I heard they were a pretty common wear item. Never had to replace mine though. I did go through both front wheel bearing/hub assemblies though ($180 each) and one PS CV Shaft ($120). Also had to have the Air Pump replaced 3 times. I had 110k on mine when I traded it. Bought it with 36k. Handled great, did it's job. Started nickel diming me at around 80k though.

On a side note, you spoke about your GT parts being more. the ZR2 versions have different (longer) upper/lower arms in the front, as well as longer front and rear axles. They were also equipped with Bilstein shocks.

You could be cool like this guy and add a lift and bigger tires too!!!

http://www.bds-suspension.com/Images/Apps/pj232.jpg

[400exrider707]

Consumer reports rates them as one of the worst used vehicles to buy, but hey what do they know...

[54warrior]

I take anything Consumer Reports has to say with a grain of salt, especially when it comes to vehicles. They are just as corrupt as all the other magazines out there.

I think visiting forums relating to the specific vehicle is the best way to get a true understanding of what you are going to experience when owning one. You can read about the problems and see what performance/dress up items are available for it, among other things.

I prefer to do my own research and be an informed buyer prior to making any large purchase like that. I find it hard to rely on some magazine editors opinion to influence my decisions.