Thinking about buying a Hummer H3... thoughts?

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: michaels
The new Ford trucks are badass.

Do they come with heated tailgates?

If its a ford, then you are gonna need that feature. It keeps your hands warm in the winter when you gotta push your truck.

 

[NeoAaronX]

The H3s are nice looking. They look "mean" or maybe the word I'm looking for is "meaty".

IMO it's a tough choice between the H3 and Trailblazer,..... the Trailblazer is pretty peppy also,...



When I was SUV shopping I had to make up my mind between the H2 and the Yukon XL Denali.

I ended up with the Denali,.... more my style.

Anyways,.... H3 isn't a bad choice and going from a Jeep to a H3 is a nice step up.

 

[NaOH]

Have fun with your I5 that gets 18 mpg............... Such a pathetic car.

 

[50cent1228]

i say nothing beats a h2...da h3 is just not a hummer to me

 

[hpkeeper]

I haven't had a chance to check out the new Dodge Nitros, and I'm a bit wary of first year vehicles... but what's the story on them? they've sparked some minimal interest in me...

 

[otispunkmeyer]

what you need is the brand spankin new landrover freelander

comes with a 3 litre 6 cyl petrol or a 4 pot common rail diesel with a rather urgent 160bhp. while its not as big as the hummer, its probably gonna be better built and lighter on fuel (specially the 2.2 diesel) and as per the usual its useful off road too (but lets face it anyone who actually wants to off-road it has an old rangerover, or old landrove discovery of defender 110)

not sure on the pricing, but dont let the previous freelander put you off. that thing was built by the old landrover....the new freelander is based on the new ford focus platform and is very well put together (again why are ford going down when they make such cracking vehicles?)

not sure on the the price range of the Landy discovery 3, but thats a marvellous car too, As is volvo's XC90.

have you looked at the Nissan morano? i really like that....but they ship so few over to the UK that they are rare beasts indeed.

subaru forester...not as high as most SUV's....infact its more of a jacked up impreza, but it is mentally fast.

those are my suggestions

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
There are obviously a lot of people posting who have no clue about off roading. The H3 is not a girly vehicle. It's quite capable offroad. In fact it's the BEST off road vehicle you can currently buy, except for the Wrangler Rubicon. The H2, because of its bulk, is not a capable off road vehicle. It weighs over 6000lbs. You can even tell by looking at it- its vertical dimensions are gigantic so it's tall but doesn't have that much ground clearance, and it looks fat. The Humvee is a capable vehicle, but only in certain situations. Its width makes it too big for forest trails, and its independent suspension is prone to breaking.

I'm going to quote myself because apparently a lot of people don't pay any attention to people who know what they are talking about.


The H3 is a GOOD OFF ROAD VEHICLE. THE H2 is NOT!! A lot of people in this thread seem to believe that the H2 is better, when it is a complete poseur mobile. As someone on the jeepsunlimited.com forum said, it fits a little boy's idea of what an offroad vehicle is.

The H3 is the second best stock off road vehicle you can currently buy. Look on a Jeep forum, where there are no Hummer fanboys, and you'll see the same opinion. The limitation of the H3 is independent front suspension, which reduces articulation and prevents you from lifting it much. Otherwise, it comes with 33" tires STOCK. I have to lift my Grand Cherokee 2" just to fit 31" tires, and 4" to fit 32". 33" is impossible without trimming the body.

And in case you people didn't understand from what I said before about the H2, a bigger vehicle is not better off road. A full size 3/4 ton pickup is not a viable off road vehicle unless you want to "mud" or have huge trails. Power is relatively important offroad. What matters is low end torque, and less so if you're using low range. Most crawling in 4Lo is done at very small throttle openings. My Jeep's drive by wire drastically cuts power in 4Lo, because otherwise you'd be spinning tires and digging yourself in.

 

[mercanucaribe]

Originally posted by: 50cent1228
i say nothing beats a h2...da h3 is just not a hummer to me

That IS an opinion 50 cent would have. The H3 is GM's way of redeeming the "Hummer" brand with an offroad capable vehicle.

 

[Rudee]

I test drove the H3 before deciding on the Jeep Cherokee. Just couldn't get past the terrible views from the drivers seat and the terrible lack of engine power. They are bigtime underpowered for their size and weight. I also hated the fact that you needed to lean forward to adjust the rear-view mirror. And after adjusting it, it was not accurate as it was based on the view you had leaning forward. Just a crap vehicle overall.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Read the Car&Driver review.

As posted earlier, the H3 is the 2nd best SUV out there for off-road use.

If you buy an H3 over a Jeep, I like the TJ Rubicon Unlimited's with the 6spd and dual tops. Ensure you alpha-male it out with ruggedness to make it masculaine in every way.

 

[EndGame]

The XT families are some good pickup/SUV choices if you have the need/money....
International XT family SUV's and Pickups

 

[MemberSince97]

FJ or Jeep Patriot FTW that is if like offroading

 

[hpkeeper]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe

Originally posted by: 50cent1228
i say nothing beats a h2...da h3 is just not a hummer to me

That IS an opinion 50 cent would have. The H3 is GM's way of redeeming the "Hummer" brand with an offroad capable vehicle.

I like your way of thinking.


mercanucaribe - I've read your posts... and as far as off road information... I've been thinking the same thing when it comes to power and tire size.

 

[Evadman]

I love my FJ Cruiser. I have already had it off road (4 days after I bought it went to a construction sight and was flying though the mud) and love it. Center and rear lockers are well worth it. I'll have a front soon along with a winch. I can't see how you think the interior is 'cheap'. It is very well built, no gaps in the trim like pretty much all GM products. Everything feels solid and the 6 speed is silky smooth.

It wasn't as inexpensive as you may think though. Mine was just under 30 out the door, 21k base. The H3 similary equiped would be in the 38-40 range out the door.

I am certainly not a fan of the H3, though it is lightyears ahead of the H2. The H1 wins in the family though. I do like one thing on the H3 though; the big clevis on the bumper in the rear. You are going to need it for when I have to pull you out Kidding!

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: KrillBee
buy a used H1. Much better idea IMO

An H1 is a vehicle with a very specific purpose. It is a good second vehicle, not a good daily driver.[/quote]

The H1 is the coolest looking of all the hummers by far. Plus you can go over bumps and curbs and stuff and not worry about things breaking, like on the cheap H2s and H3s.

I'd make it my daily driver, if I could afford it. Hell the military uses them as daily drivers.

 

[BillyBatson]

i am not an SUV hater, i live in socal and i love SUV's! However i HATE the "new" hummers. It is for people who want a real hummer but can't afford it. SOrt of liek people who buy the Porche Boxter? that little $45k crap.
They are also very ugly, not practical at all, horrible gas mileage. Is their resale value any good? Only thign i know for sure is it is a show off vehicle even though for the same price you can get somethign much much nicer though not as flashy.

 

[JS80]

get the 4runner

 

[flot]

Originally posted by: ArchCenturion
But the best idea that i have ever heard regarding hummers, would be to buy an old military hummer, and then restore it.

that would be badass, and you would not see anyone else with the same car as you. Plus you could put a bigass engine in there. build it with a turbcharger, that would be rad.

I also have a wrangler as my 2nd vehicle and wanted something a little.. well bigger. So I seriously looked into the H1 hummers a couple years ago. The "best idea" above is horrible. The H1 hummers are slow. Ungodly slow. And at the time, it was almost impossible to find one that had more than 50,000 miles on them - so no data on actual reliability in "regular" conditions. There were more than a few parts that would be just plain impossible to get, and when I called my insurance agent to ask what it would cost, she laughed and told me I didn't want to know. The only people buying them as street vehicles were rich a-holes who wanted to say "I have an H1" and didn't know anything about them and only drove them 300 miles a year anyway.

Anyway - I like the looks (and even size) of the H3 but the small engine ruled it out for me. I never did drive one, but on paper it just didn't add up.

OP, have you thought about the new 4 door wrangler? While I don't like the 3.7 minivan engine in it either, rumor has it is is a much better daily driver... Otherwise you haven't really mentioned any of the other mid-or-full size SUVs out there...? Have you ruled them out or just started with the H3?

 

[SoulAssassin]

Check out http://fuh2.com/

Surprised it took this long for someone to post a link to FU H2.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: KrillBee

Originally posted by: KrillBee
buy a used H1. Much better idea IMO

An H1 is a vehicle with a very specific purpose. It is a good second vehicle, not a good daily driver.

The H1 is the coolest looking of all the hummers by far. Plus you can go over bumps and curbs and stuff and not worry about things breaking, like on the cheap H2s and H3s.

I'd make it my daily driver, if I could afford it. Hell the military uses them as daily drivers.

Well, I guess "coolest looking" certainly makes it a good daily driver. They lack interior space, they use gas like nobody's business, they make navigating a parking lot a challenge (not to mention fitting it into a spot), they're slow, visibility sucks, and they're expensive to maintain. Just about everything about them makes them a horrible daily driver. Not a bad second vehicle, but not something you'd want to drive every day.

Yeah, the military uses them as daily drivers. Just think about them cruising around Baghdad in Civics and try to figure out how their situation is different from every other American's.

 

[ShellGuy]

My unlce has had 3 hummer H2s and hates them, he thought he was having problems after having the delar working on his breaks told them there was a prob they are like nutting wrong nutting wrong, he hit a car doing 60 on our local freeway due to break failure.. He is never buying another one, this is a business truck we are talkin about they won't let him out of his lease, so when it is over so is he, we are already lookin for a replacement of it..




Will G....

 

[Turin39789]

The H2 and especially the H3 are minivans with an suv bodykit.

Are you buying it because it's pretty, or are you actually planning on offroading.


IMHO, the only good cars, are air-cooled cars. If you're staying on the road get an old VW. If you're going off road or need to look tough - go all out Pinzgauer - $15k

 

[AdamK47]

So the "perfect guys vechicle" has a 0 to 60 time of 10.2 seconds? No, I don't think so. From 0 to 60 I'd be going from normal to sad to crying all within that 10.2 seconds.

If you do get that thing then please get the hell out of the way for faster moving vehicles.

 

[Jfrag Teh Foul]

I tend to agree with an earlier reply...

Test drive them all! Even if you hate foreign cars, you need to check the market. That's just being pragmatic, and a smart buyer.

I, personally, like the FJ over anything out there in this class. The XTerra bringing up a close second. Even if you hate foreign, it would be hard to deny the value vs. price tag. Also, I am pretty willing to bet that after all is said and done, 10 years the road you will see 10x more 2k6/7 model FJ's and XT's on the road than H3's. Just my past experiences with GM vehicles vs. Toyota.

I will say that I have taken a liking to the 4-door Jeep as well... though, I've not done much research to that end yet.

 

[ForumMaster]

h2 is nicer. the h3 is rather ugly. have they improved the mpg?