I am an 18 year old living in Ohio looking for a first vehicle. With my recent trip to a car lot, the car that stood out the most to me was a 95 2 door Chevy Blazer. It runs good, in the lot at least (will be driving on the road in the future), and seems to be completely mechanically sound. Engine, transmission, 4x4, headlights turn signals etc. It has some moderate rust on the wheel wells and the bottom of the frame. The AC has been removed and the heat does not work due to what I believe is an electrical issue. My family has a house in West Virginia, way in the backroads, with very rough dirt roads. I need my truck to be able to traverse these roads with a light trailer. The Blazer I was looking at does not have a hitch mount, but they are not expensive to get hooked up. My question is whether this is a reliable SUV. Is there any Blazer specific maintainance that could need done? Anything in general I should know? Any help is greatly appreciated, Thanks!

 

i had a 95 and i was able to get 318,xxx miles on it before i sold it. the problem with 95 is that its a half year. what i mean is that half of them were OBD I and the other half were OBD II.

IMHO, it sounds like that one already has too many problems that you dont want to get into being your first car.

 

Blazers, and their corporate cousins, are strong, solid, reliable vehicles. What's more important than generalities about the vehicles are the specifics of the vehicle you're looking at. Getting maintenance history is a good idea when available.

I own four of them and I swear by them. I'm a musician and I can haul a lot of gear to anywhere I need to and I've always been able to count on my Blazers and Jimmys. Find a vehicle that has been well-cared for and continue to give it regular maintenance and you'll get years of enjoyment.

 

Like Toby said Maintenance history is key. You need to find out about fuel system replacements over the years. If the upper intake gaskets have been changed. There great but MPG sucks, not a small consideration. If your at all mechcanicly inclined pretty easy to work on. The 4.3 is a solid motor.

I will tell you there are a ton out there without rust issues.

 

As mentioned, 95 was a split year for computer controls. Late 95 is not fully OBDII compliant and can present problems with diagnosis & when getting parts. 1996 or newer would be a better choice.

 

I've had an 1987 s10 blazer and my 1996 gmc jimmy. Both great reliable trucks. gas mileage isn't amazing but the fact that I have a good size powerful suv that can take on any season its a win win bro