Getting my new toy Tuesday.

Removed because i double posted.

Sorry to here about the inconsistencies between the description and the truth. Having said that:

1.The ABS repair is something I just finished and have to say the $50 spent to rebuild it was well worth it in my opinion (I realize others will say save the $50 and just ditch the ABS) but the difference between no ABS and all season tires and the new snow tires and the rebuilt ABS system up here in the snows of Michigan are absolutely the best investment I have made in my VX. If you are interested just search for " Durango ABS" as that has all the info I used for the rebuild (Thanks again to Jamas).

2.The blower issue is something I had early in my VX's life. I had the dealership replace it twice under warranty, both times it lasted less than a year. I then had it replaced after the warranty expired with a non-isuzu brand and it has worked for close to ten years now. Coincidence? perhaps, but again not a huge investment.

3.Not sure about the a/c unless it is just the blower issue you were describing.

4. The biggest issue for you is obviously the rust. Hey my VX has spent all 14 years of its life in Michigan so I have come to except that the underbody is going to have a lovely orange red hue to it, but structurally I feel it is solid. As for the exterior body panels, I have a couple of exposed rust spots (the front of the hood from a hard stone impact and behind the drivers door when I slammed the door shut on the seatbelt and chipped through the paint. Yeah they bother me, but not enough for me to switch vehicles.

Before you make a rash decision to sell it off, look at some of the options you have and you may decide to stick with #1706.

I am really sorry to hear your experience :(. As someone who lives in Boston area and cares about cars, I am very familiar with what you are describing, that sounds like a typical northeast car :(.

Things like AC and ABS can be fixed, however the same can not be said about rust. Any repairs will be superficial, so I wouldn't bother with them.

I have also learned that different people have very different idea on what constitutes "rust". To some, if the car doesn't have a rusted through holes, it isn't rusty... Others (like me), look for ANY signs of rust and extrapolate it to being "just the tip of an iceberg". So this is your personal preference.

I hate hear of your problems with the VX, but when I went shopping, I purposely avoided any vehicle that came from the northern part of the country. There are a few nice looking ones online from Michigan, Ohio, etc., but I wouldn't consider them. Before I shopped, I talked with Jerry Lemond, who's something of an Isuzu God and I've known for years. He said to absolutely avoid the VXs from up north unless you know their history. Mine came from Florida and Carfax said it had always been there. Like you, though, when I got home and started digging in, I found mine had been hit in the front and the tubular steel bumper was pushed in, but from the outside, you'd never know. Carfax didn't list the accident, so it must have been off-road or without an accident report. Presently there are some nice looking VXs in California, Texas, and Pascagoula, MS (Craigslist). Good luck!

That sucks man. I hope this doesn't sour you on VX's all together. I got mine for pretty cheap but if I go through and do the math as to how much I've put into it so far... Ah, I just don't go there. At least my seller was open and honest. Knowing what I know now though I would have negotiated even lower. Oh well, knowing what I know now going back through life would make everything a much different experience. You can probably get replacement cross-members cheap and easy to replace the rusted ones. That doesn't do much for the frame but it's a start and may make it easier to sell if you decide to.
Good Luck!
Scott

I am not as friggin tired as I was yesterday or this morning. I am going to take a good long look at it after work today. And see if I want to fool with this one or not. I might even spend the weekend looking it over before deciding. The thing that kicks my a** is I knew better. It's just that I couldn't look at it in person and he basically had my money already and I needed a ride home etc... Like I said I really didn't put much of a fight up because at that point I was ready to get on the road and see what was down the road waiting for the next problem. Plus I didn't get to truly see it in the daylight until 7am that morning.
Did you see the pictures of when they raised the HL Hunley sub from the ocean floor? Well, that looked better than the underside of my truck. Ok, not that bad but still. The rust has rust.
As far as the paint goes I might be able to get the hood and top resprayed to solve about 85 percent of the other problems. The thing about rust is it just keeps on coming.
I am going to bring it into work in the morning and let a few co-workers look at it and see what they think too.

Hey and BTW. Rt 81 is crazy at night like VT Maverick says. The semis own the road and it pretty lawless. LOL. Kinda like Mad Max. Hey, Maybe I could turn my VX into a prop from Mad Max. Put a 50 cal on it and chop the top. air powered spear gun....

Sorry to hear about this Scott. Take a look at this thread, it will at least give you an idea of the possible for correcting the rust issue.

http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=18749

Sorry to hear all this.
Here's another thread about repairing undercarriage and body rust. I recall Jolly Roger VX'er and SamNeil2000 both did some repairing.

Here's a thread SamNeil posted about it and one of his pics.
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...highlight=rust

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/da...10530-1151.jpg

Me and Hunley :o (I beleive that will be it's new name) spent a little time together tonight. I did the black plastic with the silicone stuff. It looks pretty. I also wiped "it" down. Ya know, it really isn't that bady body wise. It's just the undercarrage that has me bummed. I will spend this weekend "looking" at it all and try to come up with a plan. I looked at buffy's 10 page resto. that guy did a great job. that is a ton of work. Mine is at least 3 times as rusty. But let me look at it more and see what's what.

thanks guys.

I have a few options I am looking into right now. With a little luck I will be able to fight for some of the repairs. I'll know more in a few days. New York has laws protecting stupid people (me) from themselves.

Scott