Are suzuki samurai's good vehicles?

Are Suzuki Samurais good vehicles?

• The title says it all...are older model Suzuki Samurais good vehicles? Older models - 80's-early 90's

• Answer:

  Suzuki Samurais are very reliable. Consumer Reports rated it as unacceptable because they claimed it had a tendency to roll over. Suzuki fought it with the help of several other magazines and won. However, the damage was done and it hurt sales badly- which is why Suzuki stopped selling them here in the U.S. It is no more prone to roll overs than any other SUV. I used to own a 1987 Samurai JX softtop. That truck was not very powerful and it was a bit slow, but that truck was fun to drive. If it had the tendency to roll over, I never experienced it. I drove that truck like a go cart around town and never got it off of two wheels. As with any SUV, you have to know your limits but for reliability, the Samurai is on par with the Toyota 4 Runner IMO. It only left me stranded once at 56,000 miles and that was because the shop I took it to the day before didn't tighten down the oil drain plug when they changed my oil- fried my engine. They put a new engine in it and I was on my way. My brother currently owns that same Samurai and is pushing 300,000 miles on the same engine and transmission. WARNING!!! They do ride harshily and only top out at around 70-75 mph on the highway. However, if you have the top up and the A/C on (if your Samurai has A/C), they get freezing cold fast in the hot summer. Also, they do exceptionally well off roading inspite of them having less than 70 hp. Good vehicles? They are great vehicles.