As some of you know I've been looking for a 4x4 to replace my Tacoma since Toyota bought it back from me due to frame rust. I've had an add in Craigslist for a while just looking for a "reliable 4x4" including some of the features I was looking for and some suggestions. I got a few really bad replies, typically people trying to sell enormous overpriced and incomplete Chevy Pickups, and a few really nice but way over priced Subarus.

Last week I got an email from a guy about an hours drive from me with a 1999 Isuzu VehiCross. Some of you may also remember I toyed with the idea of one of these before. Well I had seen one for sale a few months back but it was snatched up before I had a chance to look at it. This time I acted quickly, set a day to look at it and fired off a number of important questions.



On Sunday afternoon I went out to go look at it. It was the first time I'd ever even seen one up close, it was a LOT smaller than I thought it would be (which is good because I like small vehicles) maybe a little smaller than a Jeep wrangler. it was dirty from having sat under a tree on this guys lawn for a while but I could see that everything was in tip-top shape, not a spot of rust on it no damage. Opening the interior I was greeted with orange and black leather on the seats and doors, accented with carbon fiber. Just sitting in it I already loved the thing, it was amazingly comfortable. Driving it down the road was even better. The thing was impressively quick, and even better was that it was AMAZINGLY sure-footed... This truck seriously felt more planted than my S14. I was less than a mile down the road and I knew I HAD to have it...

I got back, made the guy an offer and gave him a deposit As part of the purchase agreement he's going to fix a few things for me, the brake rotors are a little warped, and the muffler had a leak. So I'll be picking it up in a couple of weeks once he's fixed them...

Honestly I can't wait... This will be my winter vehicle but I'm quite excited to have something that will be able to tackle off-road trails right out of the box too... check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdnruZyjE-s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw9xosQnaq4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVeZnRL80tE

I'm thinking of getting "WARTHOG" for the license plate... since it looks like one and the fact that the Vehicross was Isuzu's "Halo" vehicle (Halo vehicles are vehicles that test the waters with style and tech, typically rare and low production like Ford GT, Subaru SVX, or Plymouth Prowler)

Also on the ride home I saw this hilarious site:



Some old lady, stark white hair who didn't look a day younger than 93 climbed out of this bright red 3000GT with a enormous ricer wing pulling a boat about twice the size of the car. It's both awesome and sad at the same time.

Those are some cool little cars man. Congrats on getting one

that is a nice rareand unique car you got. Here in SE Michigan you see every car and I only knew one person that had one. I know nothing about them, but good luck.

For all intents and purposes, it's a loaded 2 door Trooper with a way better suspension and braking system.

that is.... odd looking.
but congrats on finding something, sure youll enjoy it!


as for the gto... theyre sexy... i want one

Ugly as shit, but on a side note i've never seen this vehicle before... Is this sold in the States?

pretty much ONLY in the States. they made ~150 in Japan and a few stragglers were shipped to mainland Europe.

was sold for one model year iirc. Wikipedia probably has all your answers

I forgot about the trooper, that makes more sense. Should be a great toy and if you crash or bump itno one will know

I'm so going to lift it on mud terrains and get WARTHOG on the license plate

Definately lift it. Otherwise it's just a smart car on steroids.

LMAO this thing is so NOT fuel efficient... it get 15 city 19 highway

it weighs nearly 4K lbs and uses 3.5L V6 and low gearing...

I suppose that's a good excuse to swap the engine out for an LS1 with a 6-speed or something... I'd likely see a 50% increase in MPG

this isn't really a daily commuter though, I'll be using it in the winter and on the occasional off-road excursion. I drive my 240sx to work the other 3 seasons of the year and it gets ~26MPG on average.

That vehicle always gets blasted for how hideous it was but I've always thought it looked kind of cool. The bright idea of a two door SUV that's a whole different story.

Good on you for taking the picture of the 3000GT, that alone made the trip worth wile that's priceless.

so I'm poking around http://vehicross.info the largest (and at this point only I think) vehicross community forum.

I notice one of the guys who's really into the VX community goes by "WormGod" I know the name sounds familiar and IT IS...

he's one of the artists for Bethesda (Oblivion, Fallout 3), Gary Noonan...

Apparently he liked the VX enough that after he was in an accident that totaled one he owned back in 2002 he bought another one and still drives it today

Dont you mean Puma

heh yeah...

too obscure though.

i think puma would be just as obscure as warthog...
but puma is better.
and funnier.

Looks like fun, but strangely futuristic (hope I'm not offending saying that) glad you got what you wanted.

knew you would get one of these man, nice one

on offense man... that's why I like it...

I like driving car that have unique qualities to them

I think if I drive around and turn heads in intrigue or share a wave of comradery with other drivers of the same make and model as I drive by... then that vehicle has something special and I want to be a part of it

I had that with the WRX for a short period of time (about 3 years past it's release it started getting picked up by alpha-male douchbags... no more comradery... no more appreciate looks by other motorists)
I had that with my lifted Toyota and I have that with my 240sx. I noticed Minis illicit a similar reaction, as do lifted jeeps.

Vehicross owners also share that kind of kinship, and the vehicle does tend to turn heads in wonder.

despite their rarity I actually saw one on the road the other day out of state plates and kayaks strapped to the roof.

I was talking about this car with a few friends and they all knew someone that wanted one and ended with a nissan xterra. A nice offroad 'toy' as my friend called it.

Enjoy it

I brought it home on Sunday... and snapped some pictures:

nice now get some mud on it

Looking at the first through third picture, the front end almost looks beaver-like. Don't ask me why, that is just what it struck me as...

Cool car, very unique. I hadn't even heard of it until now.

Registered it and got my vanity plate
Flushed the oil and replaced it with full synthetic
had the coolant flushed and replaced
lubed up all the joints in the drive train (pneumatic grease guns are awesome BTW )
put in a new air filter

then today I spent a few hours resurfacing the headlights...


as you can see... they were pretty bad

What did you resurface them with? I mean exactly what did you do? I want to know because I want to do mine on my car. They have that nasty yellowish look to them and I was wondering if there was way to clean them....

take 1000 grit sand paper dip it in water and then go to town on the headlight. make sure to keep it wet at all times.

it's easier if you remove the headlight but meh..

make sure you sand it evenly and use your hands and not a block... keep going until you can run your bare hand over it and not feel any imperfections.

The headlight should look "frosted" at this point, meaning you can tell it's been sanded but the yellow should be gone completely. Also there should be no variations... meaning one part shouldn't be "more frosted" than any other part...

once that's done go over it with some 2000 grit paper dipped in water and this will help smooth it out further. once you've gone over it it should be LESS frosted over all but still a little cloudy.

once that's done use "Blue Magic" headlight polishing compound, you can buy it at walmart or an autoparts store. Use it liberally and follow the directions on the bottle. you need a TREMENDOUS amount of elbow grease for this part... if you have a polishing ball you can put on a drill or something similar this will work really well.

the polishing compound works like wax but you really have to work it in. It will probably take 5 or 6 "coats" of the polishing compound to clear up what the sanding left. Once you're done the headlight will be a whole lot clearer.

You may need to repeat that whole process above 2 or 3 times to completely clear it up... If you did your job sanding initially though it can be done in one pass... I've done this on 4 cars at this point and it usually takes at least 2 rounds for me to completely clear up a headlight though.

Alright.

sick vehicle i've always liked those things

I recently installed a video screen...

before you give me sh*t about the Jenson head unit... I bought it for three reasons
1. I needed a flip out screen because I want to install a backup camera (rear visibility in this thing blows)
2. my factory CD player would jam all the frigging time (a common problem with the VX)
3. it was dirt cheap ($200 from Amazon.)





kind of old but some other stuff I've done

slightly bigger tires (Nitto Terra Grapplers)
Clear Turn Signals and Smoked Side Markers...

I also treated the plastic cladding with a product from Germany called Refinish Restorer it looks good...



I mean just look at how much deeper and smoother the cladding is compared to the earlier pictures it's still that deep and clear and it's been over 6 months since I treated it... pretty happy with the stuff.

hmm.... I should put some spacers on the back wheels... widen the stance a bit