Introduce yourself here!

[TexasProton]

Hello Yall,
My name is Ollie, I am 47 years old and I live in the Austin, Texas area. I come from a business development and technical background. When I worked at Kroger "Grocery Store" in College Station I was able to build the number one seafood shop in the nation. I went on to start my computer company and was able to develop it into A multimillion dollar company by its third year. With the collapse of the computer market back in 2000; we lost it all mostly due to slow paying government agencies and state universities. No regrets though; I learned a lot and met a lot of great people and that was priceless. I moved my family into the Austin area in May of 2005...we love it here in Austin. Currently I work for an Audio Marketing Company as their Client Services Manager. Great company if any of you guys out there would like to add a very professional Message OnHold to your phone system to entice your callers to learn more and buy more of your own products and services.
On 1/12/2008 I drove home my first 2001 VX...Proton Yellow (actually my wife drove while I was driving the old 1978 Dodge van and trying to keep from running off the road while having my eyes fixed on the rear view mirror watching the "Little Bundle" make its journey to its new home in Austin).

[BuxGuy]

Hey Ollie! Welcome. I'm new here too. But, welcome. I, too, have a '01 Proton. Bought it just a week or so ago after years of hankerin' for one. Mine has 71K miles and is near perfect condition. My family and I live on Florida's Treasure Coast but have friends in Houston and McKinnney, Texas. Oh, and I just turned 47 in January, so we also have that in common. Enjoy your new sled, I know I am.
Mike

[DarkWing]

:bwgr:I've not been here long myself, but welcome to you both. This seems to be a great bunch of people and they will help you with the tech needs of your rides. Welcome to the herd.:bwgr:

D.W.

[Ozarkman]

Hello everyone,
If I've got the count right, the Ebony VX I brought home last week is my 7th Isuzu. The first was actually a Chevy Luv I bought in 77 and drove for 6 years followed by three more Isuzu pickups and a couple of Rodeos. Isuzus always worked great for me and I believe they offer great value. It's disappointing to see Isuzu withdrawing from the US market.

When the VX first came out, I wasn't in the market for anything new and frankly I didn't think they were practical at the time, but now I'm semi-retired, my kids are grown, and the VX fits my lifestyle perfectly.

I live in Springfield, MO close to the Mark Twain National forest, and I'm a river rat. I've enjoyed whitewater kayaking for 30 years and have paddled up to class 4 and some class 5 from WV to Idaho. I also canoe camp the great scenic rivers we have in this part of the country like the Buffalo, Eleven Point, and the Current just to name a few. The VX will be perfect for hauling boats and gear.

My other passion is Ducati motorcycles, the finest handling two wheeled vehicles on the planet, so I appreciate the ability of the VX to hold the road. I've often regretted being in a 4 wheel vehicle on some of the great twisty roads on the way to or from the rivers, wishing I was on one of my Ducs instead. The VX will be the next best thing.

The VX I bought has 58k miles and is in nice condition. Everything works fine, except for the passenger side window which has broken clips. I've ordered the metal replacement clips from Tim Parker and have read and will re-read all the suggestions about fixing the window binding problems.

OK, a couple of changes I'm considering: I have to add a trailer hitch and will welcome any suggestions on what works best. Also, my VX came with the 42 inch factory racks but some of my Yakima accessories will only fit the round bars. I also need to be able to haul two canoes at a time so I'm looking at a way to change out the racks so I can mount 78 inch round bars. It looks to me as if the Yakima railriders could adapt to the VX. Yakima doesn't have a recommendation for the correct base plate, but I'm hoping I can make something work, even if I have to have something fabricated.

Anyone interested in a set of Yakima factory racks for the VX if I can make the round bars work?

I appreciate all the great information on the site. I probably won't post too often but I'm interested in hearing about your experiences.

Steve
(Ozarkman)

[Triathlete]

Welcome! If you do a search you will find several posts about alternate roof racks (with part numbers) that should suit your needs just fine. When you sell that factory roof rack you should have no problem...as a mtter of fact it will probably sell within minutes of posting it!

[nfpgasmask]

Hello everyone,
If I've got the count right, the Ebony VX I brought home last week is my 7th Isuzu. The first was actually a Chevy Luv I bought in 77 and drove for 6 years followed by three more Isuzu pickups and a couple of Rodeos. Isuzus always worked great for me and I believe they offer great value. It's disappointing to see Isuzu withdrawing from the US market.

When the VX first came out, I wasn't in the market for anything new and frankly I didn't think they were practical at the time, but now I'm semi-retired, my kids are grown, and the VX fits my lifestyle perfectly.

I live in Springfield, MO close to the Mark Twain National forest, and I'm a river rat. I've enjoyed whitewater kayaking for 30 years and have paddled up to class 4 and some class 5 from WV to Idaho. I also canoe camp the great scenic rivers we have in this part of the country like the Buffalo, Eleven Point, and the Current just to name a few. The VX will be perfect for hauling boats and gear.

My other passion is Ducati motorcycles, the finest handling two wheeled vehicles on the planet, so I appreciate the ability of the VX to hold the road. I've often regretted being in a 4 wheel vehicle on some of the great twisty roads on the way to or from the rivers, wishing I was on one of my Ducs instead. The VX will be the next best thing.

The VX I bought has 58k miles and is in nice condition. Everything works fine, except for the passenger side window which has broken clips. I've ordered the metal replacement clips from Tim Parker and have read and will re-read all the suggestions about fixing the window binding problems.

OK, a couple of changes I'm considering: I have to add a trailer hitch and will welcome any suggestions on what works best. Also, my VX came with the 42 inch factory racks but some of my Yakima accessories will only fit the round bars. I also need to be able to haul two canoes at a time so I'm looking at a way to change out the racks so I can mount 78 inch round bars. It looks to me as if the Yakima railriders could adapt to the VX. Yakima doesn't have a recommendation for the correct base plate, but I'm hoping I can make something work, even if I have to have something fabricated.

Anyone interested in a set of Yakima factory racks for the VX if I can make the round bars work?

I appreciate all the great information on the site. I probably won't post too often but I'm interested in hearing about your experiences.

Steve
(Ozarkman)

Steve, if you sell the roof rack, I would like dibs please!

Thanks - Bart

[froggg]

Hi, just saying hello, and thanks for all the information I've found in your forums...
I've just bought an accident damaged (n/s door-a post-easy repair)japanese vehicross '97 in deep metallic blue with red recaro leather trimmed seats.
Never saw one before-already had an old trooper (with the same 3.2 engine)-which I liked a lot BUT it looked like a house brick-couldn't resist a 4x4 that looks like the vehicross does.
Apparently the previous owner imported it privately into the uk last year...
Seems to have the heater resistance problem,other than that everything seems ok
Fuel consumption is definitely an issue for me(why the h*ll did you buy a vehicross, I hear you say)my trooper does 20 to gallon with a following wind...
Maybe the vehicross will do the same(3.2 engine in jap model remember)
Petrol in the uk is now a staggering £5 per gallon (£110 per tankful!!!)
But I don't care-I now own the best looking 4x4 in the world, I keep walking around it,trying not to drool on the paintwork
thats all for now-looking forward to the vericross experience
On a side issue the registering form for this site would not let me enter(by pressing spacebar once only)a non american location-hence my apparent LA location

[PK]

Hi, just saying hello, and thanks for all the information I've found in your forums...
I've just bought an accident damaged (n/s door-a post-easy repair)japanese vehicross '97 in deep metallic blue with red recaro leather trimmed seats.
Never saw one before-already had an old trooper (with the same 3.2 engine)-which I liked a lot BUT it looked like a house brick-couldn't resist a 4x4 that looks like the vehicross does.
Apparently the previous owner imported it privately into the uk last year...
Seems to have the heater resistance problem,other than that everything seems ok
Fuel consumption is definitely an issue for me(why the h*ll did you buy a vehicross, I hear you say)my trooper does 20 to gallon with a following wind...
Maybe the vehicross will do the same(3.2 engine in jap model remember)
Petrol in the uk is now a staggering £5 per gallon (£110 per tankful!!!)
But I don't care-I now own the best looking 4x4 in the world, I keep walking around it,trying not to drool on the paintwork
thats all for now-looking forward to the vericross experience
On a side issue the registering form for this site would not let me enter(by pressing spacebar once only)a non american location-hence my apparent LA location

Hi Froggg, welcome from a cousin down under (Aussie).
This forum contains an amazing amount of information, but you have to be careful with applying some of it. For example, when they talk about fuel consumption, not only is their engine size different, but so is their gallon size. A yankee gallon is only 3.785 Litres, where as an imperial gallon is 4.55 Litres.
My last fuel consumption test was with all around town driving, and I scored 6.38 km/litre, or 15.6L/100km, or 17.5 miles/imperial gallon, or 14.55 miles/US gallon. My VX is stock standard 3.2L with standard tyres, and the driving was all in the suburbs going to and from work. The figures above are not good, but who cares when you are driving the one vehicle that stands out from all others on the road.
Godd luck with your baby.
Regards
PK

[froggg]

Thanks for the heads up about the us gallon, PK -should get better fuel consumption than I thought, although thinking of bigger tyres to help improve it some more...

[pdmarty]

Hello, my name is Pdmarty but you can call me pdm. I joined this club because I have always loved the vx and although I have never owned one, I find myself in the potential position of purchasing one for my son who will be of driving age next year. I am not sure this is a good first vehicle for a 15 year old boy and any advice in the matter would be greatly appreciated. Because I am sure you are wondering, yes he is a good boy. He is bright and responsible. He has been accepted to a private college prep school here in Dallas, Texas. and will begin 9th grade there next year. So, in answer to the logical question yes to smart and responsible but cursed with a typical boy mentality and attention span.

[cyan328]

01 kyser vx.

[Solitude]

Hello, my name is Pdmarty but you can call me pdm. I joined this club because I have always loved the vx and although I have never owned one, I find myself in the potential position of purchasing one for my son who will be of driving age next year. I am not sure this is a good first vehicle for a 15 year old boy and any advice in the matter would be greatly appreciated. Because I am sure you are wondering, yes he is a good boy. He is bright and responsible. He has been accepted to a private college prep school here in Dallas, Texas. and will begin 9th grade there next year. So, in answer to the logical question yes to smart and responsible but cursed with a typical boy mentality and attention span.

They have poor rear visibility.. and they are a bit eccentric.. so special attention to how it drives is important..not sure if that is a good ingrediant for a 16 year old boy..

They four wheel.. quite well though..

[TelefonisT]

Hello, My name is Vadim, I live in Russia - Novosibirsk City (it's bigest city in Siberia ;_)). I have Japan version of VX. My VX is 175lts modification. I like this car. In Russia we say "in Russia 2 trouble fools and roads", my VX help me resolve problem with roads

[Diogenes]

Gratz on your VX purchase.. And you've certainly come to the right place for community support.. It's helped me out several times and the members are awesome!!

dio

[Thmstec]

Hello!
My name is Thomas. I'm 18 living in Leesburg, VA. I'll be picking up my Silver 99 sometime next week. I've been trolling these forums and you guys (and gals?) sound like a fine bunch of people! Looking forward to joining this awesome following.

Thinking I'm going to be doing some modifications, starting with some simpler interior improvements and eventually moving on to some exterior add-ons. Thinking first thing I'll add is a cup holder. I've spotted some single DIN cupholder/money trays at the local dump. Was thinking it'll fit in nicely where the 6 disc changer is. I might aquire a couple and offer them on the forum if anyone is interested. Then I'm not sure exactly what to try with the radio, but I was thinking about a dvd reciever. I've seen some double din installs on this site, I'm guessing that those were jdm models(?) But I really like the was CoastieCosta567 has done his interior with the taller dash and white re-paint.

-Thmstec