Hey everyone, I wanted to make a post introducing myself and explaining a bit about what I’m considering. I’ve been a car enthusiast for my entire (short) life. I’ve owned three very different vehicles. I started with a MKV GTI (which I went to town modifying). I moved north and sold the GTI for a Subaru Legacy GT SpecB (also very modified). After I moved back to NY, I decided it was time to switch cars for something small, light, fun and very trackable. I now own an NC Miata, which rides on custom coilovers and has some other work done as well. It makes a great daily/commuter car and is a warrior out on the track. I throw snow tires on in the winter time; coupled with the mechanical LSD I’ve never really had any trouble in the snow (unless it gets really deep—there’s only so much you can do with 3-4” ground clearance). I’ve thought about retiring it for the winter and picking up some sort of beater.
The two strong contenders for me are: a WJ Grand Cherokee, which I really like. I also think looking at a Japanese truck would be wise. I want to consider an R50 Pathfiner, but I know absolutely nothing about them.
The Pathfiner would serve as a second vehicle for me. I’d like to keep it under about $8,000 and would plan to buy sometime mid/late summer.
What should I specifically look out for with a used R50 Pathfiner?? Are there certain common problem/weak areas? Is the engine overall very reliable? How about the transmission and drivetrain in these vehicles? I’m open to any and all advice, problem areas, cautions, etc. to look out for when shopping for an R50 Pathfiner!