Saleofcar.com :Suzuki

Suzuki Sidekick (1996)
for sale

Price: US $1,000.00

Description:

Please do not bid if you do not intend to follow through on it's purchase. It has sold TWICE to bidders over a thousand miles away and who never once communicated with me following the end of auction. Serious bidders only this time, please.
Okay folks, this is the real deal. This is a real 1996 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4. NOT the cheaper, more plentiful, Tracker that was built by Suzuki and sold under the Geo name. I bought this car for my daughters 16th birthday. My plan was to do a bitty lift on it and then add some nice tires and wheels and paint it bling pink or something that would make it unique for her. But alas, her mother and new husband bought her something my little dream could never compete with. So, my loss is your gain.
I bought the car three years ago and has been in a storage unit ever sense. I have driven it enough to keep the battery charged but not more than five or six times. The car drives and handles like a go cart and produces more from the little engine than you would think, which I have been quite impressed with. The way they pushed the wheels further to the outside corners makes for a nice, very comfortable and stable drive, even at the higher 75 mph interstate speeds we have here in KS. I think it is mechanically stable as well with a long life ahead of it. It also has driver and passenger side airbags which were important to me, as well.
The front wheel hubs lock in easy and are nice and tight with zero CV joint noise and the transmission and transfer case shift smoothly as expected as well. Clutch should show minimal wear given its low mileage and operates smoothly. It was apparently a tow vehicle attached to an RV at some point and has the front mounting for a tow bar. All lights, switches and gauges work with the exception of the heater/AC control lever which is stuck in the defrost position sense I drove it one day last winter so, you will need to get inside of the heater box to free it up. It shouldn't take much. I just don't have time to mess with it sense I spend weeks at a time out of town for work. The AC worked when I bought it. I thought it needed some Freon to make it colder but was happy with its general function. However, sense the control lever is stuck in defrost, I cant get the AC to come on at this time. So... buy the car as if it DOESNT have air conditioning, and then IF it works after you get the lever freed up, look at it as a bonus. Not very many Sidekicks had the factory A/C. The interior is in amazing shape with beautiful multi colored seats that would fit well with a variety off different outside paint schemes. However, at some point, it was driven without floor mats, which it currently has, and the carpet under the drivers feet is warn through. Other than that, the carpet looks great. There is no radio. It drippy drips just a bit of oil from the engine, yet not bad given its age, but is a cheap easy fix on this car or just wait till it needs a clutch and replace the main seal then. It also puffs a bit of light smoke the first few seconds after start up and then disappears. I think an oxygen sensor will fix it or at worse, valve stem seals, and was comfortable buying it myself. I think the car was bumped at some point behind the drivers side door. There doesn't appear to have been any body damage but I think the paint got cracked allowing it to soak up moisture and over time began to show some rust. I have included pictures of it and should take minimal work to repair. It has not progressed sense I bought it. Other than that, the car is rust free with pretty factory black inner fender wells. It also appears someone kneed into the drivers side door pushing the panel in and was then pushed back out. It looks fine but if you plan on paint and body work and such, than you might want to check into replacing the door. The hard tops are also in amazing shape in shiny white showing no discoloration at all with sliding windows, fully carpeted inside, and are installed and removed in just a couple minutes. There is no soft top or any hardware for a soft top included. I checked at one point with a salvage yard and was told fifty dollars for the bars and mounting brackets and a new top is only $250. I noticed when I pulled it out of storage for pics that the tires are starting to show some very minor age cracking. But bid it to win it and IF bidding hits >$3500 I'll knock off a hundred dollars from the winning bid to help you on replacing them. Now might be a good time to go for an upgrade with new wheels and such. The paint is in generally good shape but of course shows normal wear and tear.
This is a fun little car to drive and I think it would be a great first car for someone high school especially given its 4x4 capabilities if you live in a snow climate. Especially if you planned on making it cool like I wanted to. I'm hoping a fixer buys it. Someone like me who knows what they've got and thinks nothing of doing a bit of body work or pulling a valve cover. And I promise, I paid more for it than you probably will. I have been absolutely honest with you about its condition and I would buy it again tomorrow if I was looking for this car. A little love and vision will go a long ways with this one. Again, my loss is your gain.
I have lowered the price. $3200 buys it. It's worth it. You'll like the car.

_{update: 2015-11-02}