So I've owned my 2005 H2 now for about 5 months. Absolutely love the vehicle. Best of all, my wife loves it, and so do the kids. I love the way it drives. It's quiet. I can see above every car on the road. It's comfortable. Gas mileage isn't as bad as I thought.

It was a one owner with 115k on it. Far as I can tell, was well taken care of mechanically. Needs a passenger's side door lock (was punched out during a potential break in I believe), and the drivers side mirror no longer folds electronically, just flops back and forth. A super annoying thing, the passenger side wiper blade doesn't wipe correctly, misses the middle portion of the window. No other mechanical issues that I know of. Transmission seems great. I thought for a second something was wrong when I noticed a "slip" when coasting then accelerating briefly but I thinks its just a delayed reaction on the transmission, my Civic does that all day long.

The interior was really good. Just a small tear that was repaired on the drivers seat. Headliner was clean. So weird, the previous owner took out the door storage bays on both rear passenger and drivers doors? WTF??? No idea why they just ripped them off. And I cant replace them without replacing the entire door unit for about $500 each.

The only pain in the butt was the carpeting. The previous owner had a dog. I've got superhero smelling ability, absolutely hate the smell of pet in a vehicle. I removed the rear carpet section, shampooed the carpets with over and over, couldn't get all the smell out. I've got a Rugdoctor and I used the tool and ran the entire machine over it like 20 times. What FINALLY worked was using the PET SHAMPOO, has special enzymes that remove the odor. Shampooed the rest of the vehicle with my hand tool. Smell is gone now, thought I was going to have to replace the carpet for a minute there.

Just changed the oil. Gonna do the transmission filter and fluids, and the trans-axles fluids, etc. Then, I'll do plugs and wires. It needs break pads at some point but later on.

I'm so torn. Love the vehicle. I'm tempted to actually start fixing and restoring the truck to like new, by new worn plastic pieces, fix scratches, etc. But I think I'm better off just enjoying it and putting that money towards another H2 that's in pristine condition. Whatcha think?

Anyway, couldn't be happier. Can't wait to test the 4x4 capabilities, hunting, snow driving, and more.

 

I would do both. Enjoy it for what it is, put a plan together for what it needs and prioritize it. Then just replace and fix stuff over time. Part of the fun of owning specialty vehicles is fixing and modding!

 

yeah, totally agree. i love fixing stuff, love the feeling of satisfaction