Introduce yourself here!

[iamironman]

nm...

[kodiak]

Welcome new people! Remember search is your friend.

[twistedsymphony]

I was real paranoid about the oil consumption when I bought mine... I knowing about it before I bought the thing I was worried I'd get one that had already suffered damage from oil starvation.

I lucked out though as the one I bought hasn't burned a drop yet. Granted I've only driven it about 1500 miles since I bought it but I check it often and the dips stick still shows full.

IMO the best scenario would be to have the engine rebuilt if it goes, from what I understand is the oil consumption issues come from the fact that the tolerances in the cylinders is really bad... having the engine rebuilt any good shop will fix those kinds of issues, you'll get more power out of it as well. A rebuild doesn't cost much more than a new engine, and if you're handy and have a garage and some time you can do most of it yourself.

Any damage usually comes from lack of oil due to the oil pan design which once too much has burned off the oil pickup can't grab the oil that it does have and goes dry... installing an Accusump system will fix that as well. Most oil pans are designed such that even if you burn off a quart or two it can easily keep lubricating on the oil it's got left, but that's not the case with these motors, which is why things go from "A-ok" to "oil light" to "something is broken" in a matter of seconds.

I think anyone who experiences oil consumption on these engines would be wise to install an accusump. ESPECIALLY if you off-road where the oil could potentially run to one end of the pan or the other. They cost a few hundred bucks but IMO it's worth it for the extra layer of protection and piece of mind.
http://www.accusump.com/

[cwillyrun]

Hello everyone! Well, I'll give you all the long-winded intro...

My wife loves the look of the VX. She and I are both artists. I am a mechanical design engineer and car buff (grew up on musclecars, now into hot rods). We live in Colorado.

For the past year we've been wanting to replace my wife's 89 4Runner. It still runs good with 180K miles but is starting to rust on one side. As people who get bored with the same old bland crap that's available, we've never settled on a replacement... until we ran into a mint 2001 Yellow VX at a car show. When we saw it, we remembered having liked them when they first came out (couldn't afford the insane prices back then, nor can we now). When I saw how enthusiastic my wife and the owner were over it, I started sniffing around for one with low miles.

I spent a lot of time looking at prices and conditions and ended up buying one, sight unseen, off of ebay. The VX, a '99 Black, has only 45K miles on it. I told my wife I was off on another business trip, flew to the car and drove it back. It sits in storage now until Christmas. Unfortunately, it was not at all in the condition I was lead to believe. It was originally from up north and the salt damage/rust underneath is very heavy. The guy "flipping" it covered it all up with undercoating. Oh, I'm sorry, "rust inhibitor". lol. I'm sure he made some good bank on the flip. Regardless, I wanted the low miles. The engine runs good and the body looks good. The price I pay now is the shot suspension. It should be in great shape once I replace a few parts.

Overall, never having driven a VX, I am very impressed. It really felt like a sports car, like a beat-up old '60's Porsche. You could tell it has some potential but needs some work. I'm really looking forward to fixing it and getting that engine breathing a little better. I think my wife will have a wonderful Christmas, provided I can get the work done without her finding out.

I am quite disappointed nobody in the US picked up this design and ran with it. From an engineering perspective, it is a top-notch design. Kudo's to the management that put their nuts on the line and built this. I guess when Isuzu sales in the US were dying, our American companies were too busy seeing how big and plain they could make their vehicles. Such a shame. They missed a fantastic opportunity.

[barb1948]

Does this site have a directory of members and their location? I have a crazy situation with my daughter who owns a 1999 VX that needs to be sold. She lives in LA, and we could use some help with how to sell her car quickly without her getting ripped off. I am in CT, but if there was a VX "friend" in LA, maybe they could help?

thank you

Barbara

[twistedsymphony]

Good luck fixing up your VX cwillyrun, As someone who lives in the North East I can appreciate how horribly rusted vehicles can get from road salt... You should see the underside of mine... If you've got the time the best thing is to just pull the whole thing apart and take a wire brust to it until every last trace of the rust is gone then reprime it with a rust eating primer, repaint it and then "undercoat" it properly. I plan on doing this to my VX sometime in the next year or two, but I also knew what the underside of it looked like before I bought it and paid peanuts for it.

Unless someone properly mainted their car around here they rust out to the point of being undrivable withing 10 or so years. If your ever buying a car in the north east bring some card board and a flashlight because the underside will tell the REAL story.

That kind of strip down restoration is a lot of work but the benifits are a car that's potentially BETTER than it was new.

For a good example of what is involved you might want to check this out: http://sxoc.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=283826&page=1
not a VX but another car with a strong following, this guy is restoring it with goals of entering it in Concorse d'Elegance... which is essentially a car show where you're judged on how clean your car is.



@barb1948... yes we do have a member map
http://www.vehicross.info/forums/showthread.php?t=13998

As for selling the car, it's easy to not get ripped off... determine how much you want to get for it and don't sign the title or hand over the keys until the money is in the bank... have potential buyers pay cash, or meet them at a bank to do a wire transfer, make sure she tells any potential buyers that these are the only acceptable methods of payment. If anyone takes it for a test drive make sure they leave some form of collateral, the car they drove in with is usually good . Listing in the Marketplace here is a good idea... a lot of people who are looking for one of these vehicles will check here first.

[tom4bren]

Barb,

I know that So-CalVX is out in that neck of the woods (only 'cause his name says so). There is a search function on the left side of the home page & members are in the drop down. You should be able to locate someone that way.

Also, the forum can be used to advertise vehicles for sale.

[Waderizer]

I currently have Three Isuzu's 89 trooper II, 02 Rodeo LS, and as of few days ago 2001 Victory White Ironman! by far the most fun you can legally have on four wheels, and thats just looking at it!! My story...live in Canada, Saskatchewan, so in the middle of Canada...ebay, VX,(129,000miles) New York...Bid...Win...fly to NY. check oil(Clean and Full) Proceed to Drive 2100miles in 38 hours (my son and me) fantastic ride, powerful engine, comfortable seats, underside is as clean as a new car, wheels shine like new! I'm in love, had it less that week, my son's looking for one now, he's hooked too.

[LittleBeast]

I currently have Three Isuzu's 89 trooper II, 02 Rodeo LS, and as of few days ago 2001 Victory White Ironman! by far the most fun you can legally have on four wheels, and thats just looking at it!! My story...live in Canada, Saskatchewan, so in the middle of Canada...ebay, VX,(129,000miles) New York...Bid...Win...fly to NY. check oil(Clean and Full) Proceed to Drive 2100miles in 38 hours (my son and me) fantastic ride, powerful engine, comfortable seats, underside is as clean as a new car, wheels shine like new! I'm in love, had it less that week, my son's looking for one now, he's hooked too.

Wow, congrats that is awesome!!!!! You got my 2nd favorite color, by the way, I love the contrast on the white ones that is great! Welcome to the family, feel free to look around all you want, if you look and search hard enough you will probably find almost all your questions have already been asked and answered, but feel free to ask again, we love clarifying and joking around while at it. I personally flew to Chicago and bought my VX and then drove it back down to Houston, over 18 hours in 2 days, but nothing compared to your trip that is pretty impressive!!!!! Once again welcome to the club/family/addiction that is VX.info

[cwillyrun]

Thanks for the insight, Twisted. Being from upstate NY (now loving it in Colorado), I was under the VX before the seller had finished the word "minnisota". He cheaped out and had a detailer undercoat everything. It saved him a lot of trouble of fixing/cleaning parts and made it a challenge for me to see. Still, it isn't as bad as I've seen and certainly salvagable. I couldn't leave the VX with this guy any longer and felt like I was saving it. First I'll replace the shocks and then I'll work on everything else and bushings. Luckily, it will never get worse than it is. That's the beauty of living in the high-altitude desert!

Damn it, Waderizer! I want a white one! Maybe green. For some reason, I have it in my head that I have to see a VX with the panels camouflaged. I'm not into camo AT ALL but something tells me it would look cool. White is a nice open pallet for painting.

[VXGirlie01]

Hello,

My name is Jody, I live near Seattle, WA., and we just purchased a 2001 ebony black VX. We are loving it!

My husband and I both own porsches and race them as a hobby and we realized that we need something a bit more practical for getting around in the rain, snow, to go skiing in, etc. I am a moderator on an exotic car forum and I also am a member of 6speedonline.com, Luxury4play.com, and the PCA (porsche club of america). I had no idea that the VX came with Recaro seats. Way cool! We paid a small fortune to have Recaro GT3 seats installed in our p-cars! Don't laugh...yes....I name my cars. Hahah! The VX is "Dustin". Can you tell we don't have kids? lol!

I do have one concern though. Today while driving to work my check engine light came on. The VX seems to be running fine. I'm not sure why it's on. The only thing that I can think of is that I put regular unleaded in him instead of mid grade. We use premium in our porsche carrera and our boxster, and I wasn't sure if the VX requires that as well?

Anyway, it's a pleasure to be here! I'm excited to learn as much as I can from you all!

~Jody

[nfpgasmask]

Welcome. You should get the code read for the check engine and then bring it back to us. We should be able to tell you exactly what the code is from. Or, you can buy or borrow an OBDII scanguage and pull the code yourself.

Good luck.

Bart

[VXGirlie01]

Welcome. You should get the code read for the check engine and then bring it back to us. We should be able to tell you exactly what the code is from. Or, you can buy or borrow an OBDII scanguage and pull the code yourself.

Good luck.

Bart

hi bart,

thanks for the welcome. i'll be taking him in to the shop so they can read the code for me and then i'll let you guys know what they say.

ps..i took a peek at your link to your 01 VX. nice pictures!!!

[VXGirlie01]

i'll try and post up some pictures as well. =)

[nfpgasmask]

thanks for the welcome. i'll be taking him in to the shop so they can read the code for me and then i'll let you guys know what they say.

Yeah, that way we can tell you what needs to be done. The VX should be ok on regular gas, but I always run mid-grade or premium.

ps..i took a peek at your link to your 01 VX. nice pictures!!!

Thanks!

Bart