I bought myself a 1987 Suzuki Samurai for my first car. What Now?

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thecraftycroft

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I got the car about a year ago because I couldn't resist its charm, but now I'm wondering if I should have been a bit less impulsive. Most Samurai owners seem to have many more praises to offer than complaints about their sammies but unfortunately I'm not one of them. My complaints follow:

1. Average about 20 mpg which seems silly for a car with a tiny engine that ways less than a ton.

2. I find freeway driving essentially impossible as it takes far longer than the average on-ramp to accelerate to acceptable speeds and I'm unable to maintain speeds above 55 if the freeway has even a very slight incline for more than a minute or so. I actually get passed by semis.

3. Lots of other various problems like strong gas smell in interior and engine which I cannot keep clean as it is essentially completely exposed to outside forces

4. Oh! Turning on the air conditioning results in leaves getting blown at me and my engine randomly stalling at slow speeds. Not acceptable in Southern California!

Despite all this, I really do love my car (he tries so hard) and I'm hoping that some other Samurai owners can tell me that the problems I've described are characteristics of my car and not the model itself. That way, perhaps I can go about getting some things fixed instead having to part with my little lemon.
 
im a car dealer and let me tell you that suzuki is working it's way out of the U.S.suzuki samurai's engine is actually based off the 4 cyl engine in there touring bike,im pretty sure it only produces 98 horse power,not much.if you hit 90.000 miles feel good they usually dont make it that far.as far as only doing 55 mph sounds like she or he is wearing out,if you have a auto zone or some type of auto parts store they will usually throw a hand held computer on the car and run a diagnostic on it for free,they do in wisconsin,it will tell you if you have a bad sensor or something like that,tune it up lately it may need plugs and cap and rotor.strong gas smell could be dangerous,usually a intake gasket or a leak.DO NOT stick any money into it,it is probably worth $800 if a 4by4 $400 if 2 wheel drive if your lucky,10 times out of 10 they wont pass a safety inspection,,,,good luck
 
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