I will say this, my 2000 blazer doesn't come close to the electrical nightmare that was the 2000 Nissan sentra that i traded for it. However I had to dump about $2k in it the first couple of months that I have owned it. Now, it doesn't crank on a regular basis and it goes through about a gallon of coolant a week. It is leaking somewhere by the (new) radiator and hoses. I finally gave up on trying to figure it out and made an appointment with a local shop (they are very good and fairly priced). However, I like the ride, the interior is somewhat cheap but it is comfortable and easy to work on. Any other than my 2 current issues, they are lots of issues, but they are common. If you know how to use Google and read a forum they are usually easy to fix in your driveway.

 

Beating the dead horse but ..........

Ive owned my blazer now for about 3 years at 126 , at the begging i had to get through the growing pains. I knew i was going to have to encounter problems at first buying a used truck so it was no shock when i had to fix leaking oil cooler lines and a wheel bearing.Flushed out all the dexcool , fresh fluids including the diff and drove good for months. The fuel pump went which sucked replacing cause the Delco 2 door 4x4 pump is expensive. Then when taking it from ny to fl the A.I.R valve stuck open burning the special Dealership only 90 degree plastic tube that comes off the exhaust manifolds. It broke in south jersey and i drove through the night till Virginia, 4 hours of wide open exhaust down 95 drove me nuts. Next day i plugged it with a bolt , tin foil and hose clamps and it held up for months after. Ive encountered the transfer case switch problems , the sagging door pins , every conman problem with these trucks i seem to be having myself.


I keep up with the maintenance , new tires, dynamatted some of the interior cause there famous for rattling , new speakers all the way around nothing crazy no sub, new head unit and i have a pretty decent comfortable ride at 80 mph. My last truck was a grand Cherokee so the ride difference is night and day, i don't know how i drove around like that for so many years

Like everyone said theirs just certain things with this truck you should just expect and learn to live with like the squeaky rear glass (only some times thought ) , or the random water rushing sound through the heater core. The engines are tougher than alot of people think but they need to be maintained, ive had friends over heat theirs pretty bad sometimes and these engines just always seem to fire right back up. I know that intake manifolds area big problem and the injectors aren't the greatest but every blazer ive encountered hasn't run into those problems. I don't think the interiors all that bad mines all black so it looks decent to me could be nicer but im not complaining . There not the fastest or the strongest but its appropriate for the size truck. The truck is hard to work on just cause GM makes everything difficult and ive learned just expect everything to be a pain. It now has 160 k and i am happy i bought it , has server me well.

 

I am working on mine and fixing everything that's cheap to fix. In other words I only fix it if it's easy or cheap. So far I've gone through the entire front suspension, transmission and am working on the steering. I've had to do a few minor repairs to the engine but I have right around $2K in the vehicle to this point. The steering is definately the biggest problem I can fault the S10 for up to this point. I do have a '95 so I'm not the biggest fan of the CPI either. I have had to work on the doors and also have a leaky gas tank to take care of.

 

I personally LOVE blazers. I fondly recall one my dad an I had that was called the UAV (urban assault vehicle). Bought it for $200. P/o lived in it for 3 week before we got it, so the interior had all kinds critters that would happily give you a massage while you were driving. That's on top of the fact that when the p/o first got the truck, she was involved in 3 severe accidents that would have totaled ANY other SUV.
Pretty this truck was not. The driver side was crushed to the frame from the drivers door back to the middle of the wheel well, several windows were shot out, and so on.
But the damn thing ran great! Sure the tranny slipped a little, the cv axles clacked like they were gonna fall out any second, plus a host of other noises not normal to vehicles.
But we would take it out to the back 40 and just thrash the hell out of it. Never once did it leave us stranded.
Best memory I have was driving in largo, fl. when a cop decided to follow me. He couldn't make up his mind if he should pull me over or not. Finally he figured that 4 hours of paper work didn't suit him so he got 3 lanes over to go around and pass me!!!

 

I agree with the comments about owners neglecting their vehicles and all you hear is the negative. I love both my S-Series vehicles. I made the horrid mistake of letting a someone borrow my Jimmy and the neglect hole grew quite large, slowly getting it filled in. Every vehicle has their issues. I much prefer maintenance to a car payment, even if it is $2000 a year in maintenance it is cheaper than payments.

 

my '03 is named 'Puddles the Wonder Chevy' in between replacing random parts, I just chase leaks that leave puddles. It only has about 80K on it so, I expect to be replacing the usual stuff for first time... bearing hubs, water pump etc...luckily I have too much time on my hands and a love for tools.

 

My '91 has 240k+ miles on it. It's a pile of crap. However, I bought it, knowing it was a pile. It has it's issues. I've kept on maintenance, and general repairs. Once I can get money to truly put work into it, it'll be better. With as many Blazers/S-T series trucks on the road, most are not going to be well taken care of, as MOST general users do not pay attention to general maintenance.

 

I have a white 2001 Chevy Blazer that has 297700 miles on it and still running strong. It is a beautiful piece of machinery. I would say that that is considered dependable. Tiny bit of rust over the fenders, and one tiny dent. Other than that, beautiful. I recently did a tune up i.e. Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and oil and damn! that thing has some power. I love it.

 

Where I live in Northeastern Oklahoma there are tons of blazers all over the river banks in the summer and they are usually out in force once the snow hits. You can pick them up cheap around here, usually with only minor issues. IMO they stand up to most ppls general use of a 4x4 vehicle abd are pretty dependable at doing just that. Theymay not climb a mountain or ever win at the drag strip, but when you need something tough to get you from point A to point B when the weather goes south they are pretty solid.

 

My 89 Jimmy 2x2 and my 2000 GMC Jimmy Diamond (4x4) are great. I have no complaints with either. I keep up on the maintenance and repairs of each.