I got the bug!

[tom4bren]

"Tom do you need a pic to verify how aerodynamic...?"

I wish to respectfully decline your invitation as any response on my part would certainly result in cataclysmic results from one source or another.

[89Vette]

Well,,,I did find (on this site) the gear ratios. I was surprised to see the diffs are 4.30's! Now I know how they get this thing to scoot!

MPG isn't the biggest consideration. However, when I finally broke down and bought a V8 (Jeep) last fall, I started to get annoyed by how often the darn thing needed gas. According to the display, I was getting about 12.5 mpg in moderate temps. Dead winter might have shoved it down near 10 mph. That's a little rich for me.

All the past units with 6-bangers never bothered me in that regard. But they couldn't have been much better in reality. EPA says they're only 1mpg different. If I got 14mpg or better in the city, I'd probably be "happy".

I guess my personal guage is whether my Corvette can get better mileage. With the stock motor, it could beat 15mpg around town. And, 30mpg on the hwy! Not sure what the new 383 will get though.

If I bought one and felt it didn't perform any better than my short-timer V8 Jeep performed, I might (secretly) feel I'd made a poor choice. Because a bigger, more versatile car is always better -- if MPG is the same.

I think my biggest concern is the parts situation. Somewhere (maybe this thread), I read that Isuzu stopped selling/importing cars to the U.S. last year. Is that correct? If so, I gotta wonder where you'd go to order a part. Do you have to call overseas? Is everything salvage at this point?

For a backup "go-to" vehicle to my good-weather-only Corvette, it would need to be something that could/would be fairly reliable. And, in the case(s) where repairs were needed, having to wait for weeks/months to find a part would get OLD fast!

Paying more for a respective part -- than for my vette would get annoying too. (I already consider some parts too expensive with a "Corvette tax" built-in. I'm probably not "rich" enough to own multiple money-traps.)

On the other hand, now that I've got the bug, every other SUV looks BORING. I can hardly look at a Jeep anymore. I'm definitely hooked.

[VX KAT]

I think my biggest concern is the parts situation. Somewhere (maybe this thread), I read that Isuzu stopped selling/importing cars to the U.S. last year. Is that correct? If so, I gotta wonder where you'd go to order a part. Do you have to call overseas? Is everything salvage at this point?

For a backup "go-to" vehicle to my good-weather-only Corvette, it would need to be something that could/would be fairly reliable. And, in the case(s) where repairs were needed, having to wait for weeks/months to find a part would get OLD fast!

I actually can't recall reading or hearing that anybody had to get any parts directly from Japan, at least not so far.....chime in here anybody if I'm off.....

vt_maverick summarized the parts availability issue very well here:
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/sho...94&postcount=2

[Ldub]

Well,,,I did find (on this site) the gear ratios. I was surprised to see the diffs are 4.30's! Now I know how they get this thing to scoot!

MPG isn't the biggest consideration. However, when I finally broke down and bought a V8 (Jeep) last fall, I started to get annoyed by how often the darn thing needed gas. According to the display, I was getting about 12.5 mpg in moderate temps. Dead winter might have shoved it down near 10 mph. That's a little rich for me.

All the past units with 6-bangers never bothered me in that regard. But they couldn't have been much better in reality. EPA says they're only 1mpg different. If I got 14mpg or better in the city, I'd probably be "happy".

I guess my personal guage is whether my Corvette can get better mileage. With the stock motor, it could beat 15mpg around town. And, 30mpg on the hwy! Not sure what the new 383 will get though.

If I bought one and felt it didn't perform any better than my short-timer V8 Jeep performed, I might (secretly) feel I'd made a poor choice. Because a bigger, more versatile car is always better -- if MPG is the same.

I think my biggest concern is the parts situation. Somewhere (maybe this thread), I read that Isuzu stopped selling/importing cars to the U.S. last year. Is that correct? If so, I gotta wonder where you'd go to order a part. Do you have to call overseas? Is everything salvage at this point?

For a backup "go-to" vehicle to my good-weather-only Corvette, it would need to be something that could/would be fairly reliable. And, in the case(s) where repairs were needed, having to wait for weeks/months to find a part would get OLD fast!

Paying more for a respective part -- than for my vette would get annoying too. (I already consider some parts too expensive with a "Corvette tax" built-in. I'm probably not "rich" enough to own multiple money-traps.)

On the other hand, now that I've got the bug, every other SUV looks BORING. I can hardly look at a Jeep anymore. I'm definitely hooked.

...You almost have yourself talked out of VX ownership.
Maybe best for you to get something more pedestrian, & continue to hang out @ VXinfo, living vicariously through the rest of us...
Ya only go around once...always making "safe" choices is boring, but the best course of action for some...

[Cobrajet]

...You almost have yourself talked out of VX ownership.
Maybe best for you to get something more pedestrian, & continue to hang out @ VXinfo, living vicariously through the rest of us...

Agreed. My thoughts on VX ownership have always been -- If you have to think twice about it, then you may not be cut out for ownership.

In my case, it was not IF I wanted a VX, but which one. Seeing the brand new Proton in the dealer showroom sealed the deal, even without a test drive.

[89Vette]

...You almost have yourself talked out of VX ownership.
Maybe best for you to get something more pedestrian, & continue to hang out @ VXinfo, living vicariously through the rest of us...
Ya only go around once...always making "safe" choices is boring, but the best course of action for some...

Well,,,if you can't say something more reassuring about parts, repairs, reliability, projected downtime, etc.....then maybe you're right.

I don't consider my Corvette build a "safe" choice by any means. How many people completely redo a car inside & out -- plus install a new motor requiring a specialize tune that I'll be a part of. (Keep in mind that a bad tune could burn up the motor and cost several thousand dollars!)

My last post was more about (parts) availability -- no doability.

Sooo. Where do you get parts??? Does everyone hit these parts distribution warehouses? Are most engine parts available aftermarket? Like sensors, injectors, brake cylinders, etc.... What if a turn signal switch goes bad? Or speedo? Brake pedal switch? You know...the kind of thing that would be a "dealer-only" item. With any car I've owned, there's always SOME parts that are dealer-only.

OTOH, the only part I can remember needing for my complete Vette refurb was a $5 heater rod fastener. Lots of other things need to be procured thru salvage. So, it wasn't the explanation about warehouses that concerned me as much as the comment about "if I'm patient enough,,,I'll find what I need." That's what I mostly would hope to avoid.

[Ldub]

Why MERLIN of course......

St Charles Isuzu...tell him you saw it here for a disc & free shipping...



I was just givin' you a little nudge to see which side of the fence you were gonna come down on...

It's really not much worse than owning a Studebaker, Edsel or DeSoto...

[tom4bren]

The only part that I had experience with having a difficult time finding was the half shafts & that problem seems to be fixed now. Another member was able to find them available.

Prolly the saving grace for us to find parts is this here forum & the GREAT members. If you're having a difficult time finding something, someone here will bend over backwards to help locate.

[VX KAT]

Between tom4bren, vt_maverick, LDub, and myself, we've definitely exhausted the parts availability issue/question, but I can tell you still have deep reservations....and it weighs 2 tons, gets horrible MPG, & will never be considered fast by a long shot, so, is it really for you..... ?

So here in one place:

~Isuzu warehouses thru Merlin at St. Charles
~Forum members
~aftermarket sites such as vt_mav described
~ebay
~salvage yards (with Cash4Clunkers providing 15 "new" VX carcasses to pick over)