I just bought my second H2, another 2003 that I got a nice deal on that needs serious maintenance, i.e., all fluids, all hoses, all belts, new tires, etc... The H2 has been in Florida for that past 8 years (it spent about 5 years in Ohio). The current owner only drove the H2 a couple thousand miles per year and it has been sitting mostly in storage. That sitting makes me a little nervous...
Other than needing maintenance, it is very clean with under 60K miles on the clock. I haven't taken delivery yet, but I had it PPI'd, so hopefully there are few surprises.
I bought this H2 for my daughter who will be driving shortly and I just feel better knowing that she is driving a tank for safety sake.
Supposedly, it was tested for cabin leaks and it passed the test. My question is the brake rotors are covered with surface rust...is there anything I need to do other than just drive it once I replace the brake fluid? The brake pads looked fine in the pictures, but the rotors are covered in rust.
I am going to switch over to Mobil 1 synthetic oil. Any other thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you, in advance. Rob

 

The surface rust should come right off after a few miles of driving. You are on track with the service, Mobil 1 and Wix filters. Brake fluid change is a must. As well as the transfer case, front and rear Diffs, trans fluid and I would also replace the power steering fluid.

Any plans to bypass the trans cooler? That or radiator replacement would be a great idea.

Congrats on the second H2. I taught my daughter how to drive in my H2. She drivers her firebird instead of my H2 though. I am not as brave as you

 

Excellent choice and low mileage means many of the things that will go wrong before higher mileage will become a wallet vampire at some point.

60k is really really low for a 14 year old H2 and one has to wonder why these things are not driven alot. Anyway, it's a noble act to hand one of these to a new driver who may not have what it takes to handle and take care of one of these golden treasures.

I bought my son his first car and it was a mint mazda rx7. He blew the tranny out of it on the highway showing it off to his new girlfriend and smashed the back end all in right after he got it. I paid for all of that and the payments after he decided he wasn't liking the car. He decided that when he had the motor screw up and I told him this is on you now.

If I was you, I'd rethink this noble act and keep the H2 and get her a older car of her choice to get the hang of how to drive and take care of the vehicle. One more thing, that H2 will be abused from jealous kids who will dent it up and do everything else kids do to each others stuff.

Just trying to save you the pain.

 

I agree with Lenny. Let her use it for date night or prom and special occasions, but as a high school daily driver is going to be asking for problems.

 

Just out of curiosity, what is the advantage of bypassing the trans cooler?

 

Saves a $5000 repair when the radiator transmission cooler leaks antifreeze into the tranny. Happened to mine at 50,000 miles.

 

Id say thats a pretty good advantage. I think I'm going to look for the parts I need to do mine.

 

What parts are needed to do this bypass of the trans cooler? Can a dealer do it or do they know to do it?

 

I would not go to the dealer, try a local transmission shop. Tell them you want to add an external transmission cooler and do away with using the internal radiator transmission cooler. They will know what you want to do and will probably have the coolers in stock.