I am currently looking at a 2009 H3 Adventure with Manual Transmission. I drove it yesterday and it drove smoothly and appears to be in good shape. It has 139,000 miles. My concern is this, it will be my daily driver and I tend to keep vehicles for quite awhile. I have always wanted a Hummer and especially like the H3's but am paranoid about biting the bullet. I would love to think it would last well over 200,000 miles but with no experience with them I'm not sure. This vehicle will never be used off road and will always be used as a highway driven daily driver. I am simply looking for advice from those with experience. Are H3's an ok candidate for what I am looking for and should I be concerned about the mileage etc...? Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated

 

Are you related to Big?

 

Daily driver, last over 200,000 miles.

If you can wrench, go for it. I would look for an Alpha (5.3L V8 w/4L60e trans) over the I5 as far as longevity.
Manual Aisin AR5 trans should last well into the 200K range with proper maintenance. Manual trans was only available on the I5 though.

 

If it is going to be a pavement pounding highway star, why bother with an Adventure H3? There are other similar sized SUVs that get better MPG and move better in 2WD form.

 

I have always loved the look of Hummers and especially the H3. I wasn't necessarily looking for an Adventure but found one locally in good shape, 139,000 miles, and $8500

 

I'll agree with Tainter, if you can wrench go for it, but with one caveat. If you don't have something else to drive or ride when the DD is down, you might want to reconsider. That's not really my H3 experience talking, but other old vehicles at times in my life when I only had one and no alternates. It is a 10 year old vehicle with some miles on it, things will be breaking and it can be frustrating to be stranded somewhere (even at home). Given the fact that some parts may be difficult to get eventually (not really an issue for now I believe), it could make the breakdown time even longer. I'm a lot more willing to put up with something breaking on the H3 if I don't have to stay up late fixing it to drive to work the next day.

And +1 on loving the look and not necessarily planning to go offroad. But good to know you can if you want to.

 

I agree on the backup vehicle. I also have a 1963 Chevy 2 Nova SS in the garage, not a bad backup plan

 

Did you see the Carfax Report on this H3?
Has it had any accidents?
How many owners has it had?
Does it have any service records?

***I ran a CARFAX report on 2 other H3'S, before I bought mine...
One H3 had 5 previous owners
The other H3 was involved in a major front end collision
The one that I purchased was a 'one owner' 2007 H3-with all service records since new
[2 pages of service records on the Carfax report.]