Initial Plan

After watching a television show in Camp Jeep and another on a Rally Race I decided to build a budget trail rig. Since my five year old daughter was not into the two canoes I just purchased and buying a wave runner or four wheeler was out of the question I looked at small flats boats. By the time I purchased one and a tow vehicle since my all wheel drive Escalade had a 3500 RPM stall converter and would end up sunk at the boat ramp I estimated $12 to $15 grand for a decent reliable setup. So I turned to an online search of off road vehicles, Jeeps were $20 plus grand, even a few jacked up Hummers were listed for around $15K, then I looked at little Samurai's. The bug bit and I went in the direction of a Suzuki, since 20 year old Sami's were $5K and a 6 to 8 year old Grand Vitara was in the same price range I went for the newer design. I found plenty of suppliers of parts and lots of helpful forums.

My first thoughts were to get an XL-7 and lift it but it exceeded my $9K budget with just the purchase price of the vehicle. I scoured eBay and Craig's list every evening. I estimated $5K for the vehicle, $450 for the body/suspension lift, $450 for the Calmini winch mount, $450 for the roof rack, $700 for the warn winch, $450 for the snorkel, $500 for mudders, $200 for lights and $500 plus in odds and ends. Keep in mind this is not my first modified vehicle, or even my first lifted vehicle. I currently have a super charged lowered Mercedes I bought new and built a few years back, I also have a highly modified super charged Cadillac Escalade producing over 600 horse power. I have lowered over 250 vehicles in the past 20 years, but haven't done one in about 5 years. Boy does my back get sore and my pot belly get in the way. As you read more of my entries you will see I was right on budget with some things and no where near budget on others. Plus the build grew when certain aspects were added that generated revenue from old parts.
PART ONE - The Hunt
I looked for a good month and kept finding a lowered Grand Vitara that was priced high, but in searching Craig's List, I see it was listed over and over so I knew he would negotiate. After missing that one that was fully loaded I looked on Ebay and the Auto Trader Online. Let me agree with you, allot of people think their used vehicle is worth a lot more than they will ever get. I saw 1998 Vitara's for $6K, 2001's for $9K and even a 2005 for $20K. Two months after buying mine those vehicles are still listed, they have reduced their price but they are still more than I paid. I ended up searching other areas newer me on Craig's List to produce the best results, I also search their phone number and all the prior listing to see how many times a vehicle is listed giving me the knowledge if the seller would be open for offers.
I estimated with renting a flat bed trailer, driving a HD truck across Alligator Alley and the tag work I have $5K into my vehicle.
A mint condition 2001 Chevy Tracker XL version 4 door, 4X4, with leather, auto, 2.5, CD player, roof rack, 15 factory alloys and running boards.