Is it time? Tell me its not.

[JHarris1385]

Need encouragement.

Obviously I love the VX but it has become less practical everyday.

-SPACE-
Yes, I can put a car seat back there, its not easy but I deal with it daily.
But it really isnt as convenient as a four door SUV. Nor is the storage space.
During hunting season I have one seat folded down and all of my gear on that side while my son sits in his seat on the other. Dont worry, it is all safe. Everything is out of reach. However it is crammed!


-ENGINE-
Mine burns oil and it makes me wonder if one day it will just stop. Will I be faced with a bill for a new engine this year, next year or 5-10 years down the road? Been dealing with this issue for a while. Burns a quart every 500 now. BUT, I am on the first leg of the diesel oil experiment.

-WHAT ELSE-
This is what keeps me here and driving the VX. Nothing else compares! Looks wise. Every time I think about what i would drive daily instead I just cant pull the trigger. Nothing is rare enough or "cool" enough to be driven daily. I have thought about an Axiom but finding a good condition 2004 for a reasonable price (what they are worth), with the options I would like is not the easiest.

However, as bland as it is, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo has caught my attention mainly because I found one and it is for a pretty good price....450hp is tempting. Sell the VX and my Firebird and have one 450hp monster?
Yes Porsche may have problems but doesnt my VX?

[vp277]

One thing to keep in mind: maintenance and repairs will be a LOT more expensive on a Porsche.

[evillecutter]

One thing to keep in mind: maintenance and repairs will be a LOT more expensive on a Porsche.

agreed - but at least you can find parts and people to work on it fairly easily if you cant do it yourself

a wise old man once told me - dont buy a cadillac unless you can afford two of them - this goes for most if not all luxury or performance cars... and the vx

[evillecutter]

Need encouragement.

Obviously I love the VX but it has become less practical everyday.

-SPACE-
Yes, I can put a car seat back there, its not easy but I deal with it daily.
But it really isnt as convenient as a four door SUV. Nor is the storage space.
During hunting season I have one seat folded down and all of my gear on that side while my son sits in his seat on the other. Dont worry, it is all safe. Everything is out of reach. However it is crammed!


-ENGINE-
Mine burns oil and it makes me wonder if one day it will just stop. Will I be faced with a bill for a new engine this year, next year or 5-10 years down the road? Been dealing with this issue for a while. Burns a quart every 500 now. BUT, I am on the first leg of the diesel oil experiment.

-WHAT ELSE-
This is what keeps me here and driving the VX. Nothing else compares! Looks wise. Every time I think about what i would drive daily instead I just cant pull the trigger. Nothing is rare enough or "cool" enough to be driven daily. I have thought about an Axiom but finding a good condition 2004 for a reasonable price (what they are worth), with the options I would like is not the easiest.

However, as bland as it is, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo has caught my attention mainly because I found one and it is for a pretty good price....450hp is tempting. Sell the VX and my Firebird and have one 450hp monster?
Yes Porsche may have problems but doesnt my VX?

im in your same boat - for me i think its finally time - i love it but i need something more reliable and easier to find parts for - giving it a week or two on here then putting a sign on it in the front yard

i would never tell someone to sell their vehicross, but i also completely understand when someone does

[ZEUS]

You can take the driver out of the VX but you cannot take the VX out of the driver. I got rid of mine for the same reasons you listed. I could not for the life of me figure out what to replace it with (before I got rid of it) until I decided I would have to build something more unique. Well that takes so much time so I got a Trailblazer a couple years later. Talk about PRACTICAL! And boring...

[nocturnalVX]

I am dealing with the ever increasing need to deal with reality as well...
I love the VX, and wish I could have a huge garage with one of each color. The reality is that it's a 13 year old, rare, limited production vehicle that should (at this time) be retired as my daily driver. I may be liquidating stuff in the not-too-distant future in anticipation of moving out West to be with Cecilia. I'm not in the position to have 2 cars (and 1 or 2 other toys as well). I've been collecting extra bits over the years to keep the VX.

Do we keep it, or get something else and pass on the VehiCROSS to somebody that can keep it as a toy? Dilemmas...

[vt_maverick]

Well I can tell you for sure NOT to buy a 2004 Axiom. The DI engine everyone loves to lust for was only made in that one year, and in addition to DI it's also an interference engine. The ECM is different too obviously, all of which will make any engine problem VERY difficult to solve - replacement engines are extremely hard to find - and that's to say nothing of the accelerated cost. Injectors are more expensive than in 02 and 03, same thing for shocks, upper radiator hose, etc etc etc. All that said she's been one rugged tough truck for us, we've put 112K miles on her since we bought her in March of 2009, and those have been mostly free of any major repairs. She's also survived 3 deer strikes and two unplanned exits from the pavement () and I drove her home each time. So if you go the Axiom route I would shoot for an 02 or 03.

[JHarris1385]

You can take the driver out of the VX but you cannot take the VX out of the driver. I got rid of mine for the same reasons you listed. I could not for the life of me figure out what to replace it with (before I got rid of it) until I decided I would have to build something more unique. Well that takes so much time so I got a Trailblazer a couple years later. Talk about PRACTICAL! And boring...

Perfect explanation. On the trailblazer note I looked at a Saab 9-7x Areo, think it was on here that someone mentioned it too. Vette engine in a boring SUV. Same as a trailblazer SS.

For me the Cayenne has that fun factor due to purely just the power. Styling I honestly don't care for it too much.

My wife has the small C class Mercedes which will probably be too small for us, but not everyone, to have two children in. The VX with a two car seats is doable but for whom has done this knows it is crammed. We plan to keep this it has been very reliable and fun to drive (supercharged). And honestly VERY easy to work on.

Axiom...from what the planet said I should buy an 04? Newer engine and better tranny. Maybe I'll reconsider and look for a 4x4 and leather 02-03.

PS...can't even believe I have come to the point of making this post even my wife is surprised I'm having second thoughts. She likes the VX a lot too.

[vp277]

At this point the VX is a daily driver for a hard core enthusiast or a collector's item. The parts are getting hard to get by, although still easy compared with other cars I have. If you can afford multiple cars, keep the VX and get a DD that fits your needs. You might be able (I have) to insure it as a collectible, but not easy, given that it's a truck and less than 25 years old.

[JHarris1385]

My VX is my DD and that's is the issue, what can really replace it? Something just a unique but more accommodating. Nothing is out there. For the first time, something, the Cayenne, has actually interested me.

[Mile High VX]

Can you just keep the VX and buy an bland DD that fits your budget...that way you can have COOL when you want and functional when you need it.

If I had to drive to an office daily, instead of working out of my home, I would find a way to do that myself.

When I bought my VX I also had a 99 Accord Coupe. Finally sold that to my son, but it was nice having both.

[tom4bren]

My $.02 (& I want change):

Don't do it. Figure out a way to keep her ... or you'll spend years regretting it. I've disposed of 2 cars in my life that I seriously wish I'd have talked myself into keeping - both were years ago & I still have regrets.

SPACE: Get a hitch try for some of the gear & free up the interior room. No solution to the carseat issue (unless you want to get creative and ditch the rear seat and hard mount the baby seat to the floor)

ENGINE: Good move on the Rotella to cure the oil consumption issue. Keep us posted on your results. The other thing you can try is to eliminate the PCV and replace it with either a breather or an oil catch can. That's what I'm doing on the Amigo & it looks promising.

[tysamigo]

I agree. I think you'll regret it if you did. Don't know if you saw yet, but there's a relatively new Proton owner just a couple miles from me, so that's 3 of us now closeby... maybe that helps lol

I support ya either way... but I sure do think that it'll be hard to know you've let her go. Have you asked someone else who is no longer a VX owner but is "still with us" in the forum?

BTW, if you're in the area... you should let me know and ride over and see how far along the proton is now... HUGE difference since you last saw it.

[vt_maverick]

Axiom...from what the planet said I should buy an 04? Newer engine and better tranny. Maybe I'll reconsider and look for a 4x4 and leather 02-03.

I'd be interested to know how many people making those comments actually have an 04 Axiom, or even for those that do, how many have put 110K miles on one and are now at a pretty high mileage (almost 185K for us). I find a lot of groupthink goes on in message boards where people with no experience often parrot things other people have written. Not a big deal, heck I've done it myself too, BUT the problem is when people don't admit to having no direct experience.

The engine is newer, but if that's your only criteria everyone would have traded in their first-gen Mustangs and Corvettes for Pintos. The new engine shares very few mechanical bits with the exponentially more available non-DI 3.5 and 3.2 engines, and it has a much lower tolerance for non-premium/detergent-enriched gasoline (lots of people have multiple $300+ OEM injectors go bad in the 100-150K range which is just ridiculous). People will also tell you that they don't burn oil because of the new piston design but that hasn't been my experience at all - it's been burning as fast or faster than my VX since we bought it at 72K miles.

They are right on the transmission being different than in previous years, including 02 and 03. When Buffy did my 5-speed swap I called Merlin to see if I should keep the auto as a back-up for the Axiom and he said the part number was different not only from the VX and Trooper transmissions but also from the 02 and 03 Axiom transmissions as well. They're all 4L30E variants, but some change must have been made along the way. What that change was, and how significant it was, are anybody's guess. Maybe Jerry Lemond would know?

Again I'll caveat all that with the fact that we've thoroughly enjoyed owning it, especially my wife who drives it every day and believes it is unkillable (largely due to those accident survivals I mentioned). It is a tough little SUV, but I just don't want you to jump in blindly thinking that it will be significantly more reliable than your VX.

[soggybottomboyz]

Don't get rid of the VX. Park it, store it, garage it but don't let it go. These are true treasures, people still to this day ask what my wifes is and where can you find them!! As far as I know they are not making any more of them!!