I don’t know why I just bought this car; I truly, truly don’t. I just sold my dream Jeep XJ on Sunday as part of a plan to reduce my fleet of cars to something that A: Might let me move to Los Angeles (to do work stuff) and B: Might afford me some amount of social life that isn’t just wrenching at junkyards. And yet, even though I’ve had a strict “No Buying Cars” policy in place for months, this morning I took ownership of a 2000 Chevy Tracker 4×4 five-speed. And while the machine is deeply, deeply flawed, it was also the deal of the century, so maybe it wasn’t a bad call. Just hear me out.
Autopian user “Shop-Teacher,” whom I met six-ish years ago at the Indianapolis 500 and whom I’m quite fond of, has for years been telling me in the comments of my articles to get my shit together and stop hoarding vehicles (my parents and brothers have been beating a similar drum). So to him and my family, I’m just going to say: Sorry about this one. I really had no choice.
But hear me out. This body-on-frame Tracker is rust-free! It’s got a stickshift! It’s 4×4! It was only $700! Seven Hundred smackerie-daiquiris! Those in the “know” understand what I’m saying; this is a Suzuki Vitara re-badged as a Geo Tracker rebadged as a Chevy Tracker. The 2.0-liter “J20A” engine is known for being rather stout, and the off-road capabilities are said to be substantial. Suzuki sold these things all over the world; I’ve had Instagram friends from Brazil and Turkey message me recently, saying they’re familiar with these little SUVs. The Japan-designed, Canada-built, America-branded 4×4 is rugged, maybe a little underpowered, but just generally awesome.
Technically the asking price was $1,600, and my plan was to try to snag it for about $1,200 to $1,400 if the body was as rust-free as the listing indicated. “It’s a 2000 Chevrolet tracker It’s been enough family since we move from Kansas It runs overheats little bit It’s a good car for the price” read the entire Facebook Marketplace listing.
I arrived at the seller’s home and met a kind Albanian man playing with his daughter at his sizable home, with a bunch of vehicles (presumably owned by his family members) out front, including the man’s big Chevy Silverado 2500 work-truck. He showed me to the Tracker. “It won’t start without a jump. I’ll be right back,” he said, before disappearing into his house, and returning with some jumper cables.
He hooked two sets of jumper cables to one another to get some extra length, and attached them to the Tracker’s battery on one end, and to his Pontiac Vibe’s battery on the other. “Pop!” went a spark between the cable and the Vibe’s battery. The man headed to his car, and turned it on, then hopped into the Tracker. No crank, no relay clicking, nothing. I turned to the Vibe, and got nearer, only to see what I’d feared: The man had put the jumper cables on backwards, with black on red and red on black.
I corrected the issue, but it appeared the damage was done. No matter how long we waited, the little 4×4 wouldn’t crank. Nothing — I mean NOTHING — worked. No lights, no hazards, and definitely no starter motor. “Weird, it ran yesterday,” the man said. “Well, I think you may have fried something by reversing the jumper cable polarity. Normally when you hook a jumper cable to a car properly, you see a tiny spark, but I see nothing.” He suggested we wait for the battery to charge; he even pulled up his truck to us it.
“Man, this battery must be completely dead,” he guessed. “Well,” I responded. “We’re basically running this Tracker off your pickup’s battery. There should be some lighting or at least one or two signs of life. I think something’s fried. Maybe the engine computer, maybe some fuses.” I then started to look through some fuses underhood, but I wasn’t familiar with the Tracker, and gave up.
A few minutes later, the man gave up trying to start the thing, and I got ready to head back home. “I’ll let you know when I get it running,” he told me. “Sure,” I responded. “And if you want to sell it non-running, let me know.”
“How much?” he replied. “Oh, I dunno,” I answered, “Throw out a price.” He told me he’d been offered $500 already, so I threw out $700. He immediately went to get the title.
The following day, I had AAA tow the Tracker to my home, where it currently sits, dead. Completely dead. I haven’t done a full assessment of the vehicle’s health, but an initial assessment shows some mouse droppings (it smells like urine in the cabin) and some black and white growth on the carpet:
And of course, there’s this nasty ding in the rear quarter panel:
I can’t seem to get the rear door open, either, plus the tires look a bit old. Anyway, I still have a lot to do on this thing. You could argue that buying a completely-dead Geo (let’s call it what it is) is a terrible idea, but I look at it as a rust-free, five-speed, 4×4, manual transmission, relatively fuel-efficient Japanese SUV for only $700.
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It’s was a responsible choice, really. Well, assuming it’s got any life left in it.
A friend bought one of these new. Poorly made and unreliable junk that made another friend’s Jeep seem like a Land Cruiser. She ended up rolling the balance into a Corolla a few years later just to get the hell away from it. I would pay $750 to get it out of my driveway if I made enough bad choices to end up with this.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
David is good at fixing beat down cars on the cheap. He is also a very entertaining writer. Forge ahead sir!
Rush’s Vital Signs immediately started going through my mind. The whole damn song applies:
“Unstable condition
A symptom of life
In mental and environmental change
Atmospheric disturbance
The feverish flux
Of human interface
And interchange
The impulse is pure
Sometimes our circuits get shorted
By external interference
Signals get crossed
And the balance distorted
By internal incoherence
A tired mind become a shape-shifter
Everybody need a mood lifter
Everybody need reverse polarity
Everybody got mixed feelings
About the function and the form
Everybody got to deviate
From the norm
An ounce of perception
A pound of obscure
Process information
At half-speed
Pause
Rewind, replay
Warm memory chip
Random sample
Hold the one you need
Leave out the fiction
The fact is
This friction
Will only be worn by persistence
Leave out conditions
Courageous convictions
Will drag the dream into existence
A tired mind become a shape-shifter
Everybody need a soft filter
Everybody need reverse polarity”
I had a 1999 5-speed Suzuki Grand Vitara at one point, which is the same thing more or less. Mine came with the 2.5L V6 though. I bought it new and it threw a rod at 70,000 miles, so i had to get rid of it at the time. Fun vehicle. Hope you get yours running soon.
Wouldn’t have been so bad, but perhaps the fried electronics should have been a deal breaker. Maybe it is just fuses, but perhaps not. I know you work on a lot of things on a bunch of vehicles, but electronics aren’t something I would like to mess with.
David, I was almost jealous — almost — when reading this.
I had bought a brand-new 1989 Geo Tracker soft-top, manual transmission. It was the first year of production. Two-door short wheelbase. That thing amazed both mechanics and off-roaders with its abilities. And I consistently got about 27 mpg, over the 140,000 miles I drove it. Why was I almost jealous? I now have the 4×4 of my dreams (and nightmares): a 1973 Land Rover Series III. So I can’t complain!
I too have owned a 1995 Geo Tracker. Excellent car that I enjoyed immensely. Traded it for a 1997 Cadillac Eldorado for my wife. No real regrets but it was a very good car.
DT, you did not need this vehicle. You need only read the many trenchant observations of your readers to realize how badly you have screwed the pooch on this thing. I have zero sympathy for your many stated goals that have gone unanswered. Either get serious or get honest with us.
At what point does a car obsession go from interesting to just… sad?
I think we just found out.
cue sad trombone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQeezCdF4mk
Not hating at all. I’ll keep reading David’s articles, but I’ll just have to make-believe that he’s buying these literal and actual (in this case and in the case of the Jeep FC) shit-boxes just for the clicks.
This car has a low-range transfer case. For $700.
“this is a Suzuki Vitara re-badged as a Geo Tracker rebadged as a Chevy Tracker”
Not quite.. the Geo Tracker was a first generation ET/TA, while this is a 2nd gen FT/GT chassis introduced in 1998, well after the demise of Geo.
The 2nd gen was sold under these badges:
Chevrolet Tracker
Mazda Proceed Levante
Suzuki Escudo
Suzuki Grand Vitara
Chevrolet Grand Vitara
David, there seems to be a pattern where you find a car in need of work, buy that car, fix that car taking longer than expected, and more expensive than expected, then without getting any joy of owning the car, you sell it. While I certainly enjoy reading your exploits, I’d like to introduce you to a career called auto mechanic. Imagine, fixing shitboxes all day long, and you don’t even have to buy them, or sell them, and someone else pays for the parts. Check it out!
David,
I have a truly rust free (it spent the first 15+ years of its life in California, and I moved it from Washington 18 months ago) 2003 Ford Focus ZX5 (with the 2.3L) AT with 215K on the clock. The AC is not blowing cold, but other than that it is as reliable as anything else I own.
What’s that worth in SE Michigan?
I, for one, applaud this purchase. It is likely an easy fix. Add in a couple days of deep cleaning and a few minor repairs and you have a perfectly reliable winter vehicle … for Los Angeles.
David in order to stop buying you first have to STOP LOOKING. If you’re still browsing craigslist/fb marketplace/etc, you’re going to keep buying. I’m doing the same thing with graphics cards right now!
This is true.
Like an alcoholic not going to a bar and a gambler not going to a racetrack, you’ve got to get yourself out of that environment. The temptation for relapse is too great.
The good thing about SoCal is that you will not have any disposable income left over at all to even get a sniff of these car buying opportunities. And of course, there will be so many new things to obsess over when your there.
I have to echo what others have said here: Do NOT drive it as is. Clean that out properly. And by properly, I mean:
1) put on hazmat gear (N95 mask, gloves, Tyvek suit if you have one, and no, I am not kidding);
2) PULL OUT THE SEATS;
3) Vacuum, using a good filter on the shop vac;
4) PULL OUT THE CARPET;
5) Take the carpet to a car wash and clean it with soap and high-pressure spray;
6) Bring the carpet home and spray it with that Stuff Mercedes and her fiancé used. Scrub hard;
7) Leave it out in the sun for a while.
8) Vacuum the interior again for the stuff the carpet left behind.
9) wash interior with antibacterial all-purpose cleaner;
10) Fix any rust you find under the carpets (because you will see some);
11) Use an extractor on carpet and seats, then leave them to fully dry;
12) reinstall in car; AND
13) enjoy a clean, fresh-smelling car. You know, if you ever get it to start.
I think if you follow this, you’ll be healthier and happier, and we won’t have to have a mourning post on the site after the diphtheria mixed with yellow fever gangs up with your low-grade tetanus to take you.
just going to copy-pasta this here:
Orthohantaviruses typically cause chronic asymptomatic infection in rodents.[3][4] Humans may become infected with hantaviruses through contact with rodent urine, saliva, or feces. Some strains cause potentially fatal diseases in humans, such as hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), also known as hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS),[5] while others have not been associated with known human disease (e.g. Prospect Hill virus).[6] HPS (HCPS) is a “rare respiratory illness associated with the inhalation of aerosolized rodent excreta (urine and feces) contaminated by hantavirus particles.”[5]
Human infections of hantaviruses have almost entirely been linked to human contact with rodent excrement.
seriously, david, this can kill you. i want you to live. be safe cleaning that up.
A guy I used to know, who raced on the weekends, would recite “at least its cars, not bars” to anyone who questioned his affinity for wrenching on a project car. He wife would nod in affirmation.
Over here in Denmark, it was sold as the Suzuki Vitara, and for tax reasons mostly with commercial vehicle license plates and no back seats.
For a couple of years it was the go to “dream car” for old couples, whose kids had moved out. So it was also known as the “Suzuki Viagra”…
Suddenly they were all gone, old people trends had obviously moved to something else, and they were probably all exported to Africa.
Here’s an idea for you, David: If you wan’t to move to LA, just do it, no matter how many cars you own! Make as many of them driveable, and invite some readers to an epic Autopian Drive-a-thon, where you drive all your vehicles together out west in a week or so. That will also make loads of great content for YouTube and here.
Quick question: when was the first time you said you’d downsize your fleet? I don’t know for sure but I think it was about 5 years ago.
After having failed to do so for that long, you should just abandon and admit you’re gonna stay in Michigan a single man your whole life.
I’m not trying to be a jerk here, it’s just some tough love. Either shit or get off the pot, but stop giving us these “here’s my plan to get down to a reasonable fleet” articles before writing “I bought a shitbox for 500$” a month later.
I love your wrenching antiques but knowing you shouldn’t be going through them for your own good kinda gives them a bitter after taste.
“It runs overheats little bit”
Did you even *read* the most recent series of David Tracy articles?
(Timesaver hint: buy a radiator.)
I’m confused by the talk of moving to LA. Why would you want to move to a place where none of your “holy grail” vehicles can pass inspection and be registered, and where real estate is so expensive you’d never be able to afford a yard (let alone a garage with a lift) to work on them.
The reality is that my days of wrenching on a fleet of cars are numbered.
Though I’m thrilled with the rate of growth of The Autopian, I’m still not satisfied. It’s time to hunker down.
DT, JT the site so far is cool and interesting (especially the Bishop and the suspension guy) but….
…3 writers writing about their automotive misadventures feels like it has a shelf life. You guys have 40 or so vehicles between you and should cull your respective herds and focus on content other than “my shitty car that I bought knowing it was shittier than I thought it was and this is how I sort of fixed it.”
I’m not expecting Car and Driver or anything like that. But…
And DT, I’m the guy who called you out on “fast past” when you meant paced.
We plan to continue buying/wrenching/writing about cars we own. We love automobiles, we buy them, we write about them — that’s just how we roll.
Of course, I’ll keep writing/editing technical pieces, Torch will keep writing weird stuff/history, Mercedes will keep cranking out cool stuff on RVs and planes, Thomas will keep crushing the news, and we’ll all keep writing reviews, etc etc.
The car shenanigans are here to stay because that’s who we are.
(And of course, we appreciate any feedback, including typos that slip through).
Thank you. Don’t become another “We drove the latest limited edition Porsche GT3RSTUV” site. There are plenty of those. You can be the LeMons racing of automotive journalism.
Yep. I skip right past that crap and I crave what they’re doing here. That’s…why I’m here.
I won’t encourage it, but I’ll certainly read the results every time.
Uuuh… you want to move to LA? Why?
With all the money you saved by not moving to LA this tracker will pay for itself in less than a week.
There’s a website, Zuks Offroad.
There’s a guy that works there, and his name is Myron.
I don’t know what your plan is for this thing, but that website is gold for this, and you could easily turn this into a very effective offroad rig.
Talk to Myron. The guy is amazing, and patient, and I know this because I’m a moron, and he helped me.
https://www.zuksoffroad.com/SIDEKICK–TRACKER-GRAND-VITARA_c_7.html