So, I drove the late 90's/early 00's Blazer to my Dad's friend's place.
I guess GM's seat controls on these were absolute shit, as the seat suffered the exact same fucking problem as the other Blazer I had the "pleasure" of driving: The seatback adjuster was broken off so the seat was stuck in a semi permanent recline.
Beyond that, the seat was still low. Maybe the unibody 05 Sportage spoiled me but the seats were far higher off the floor.
Ride was very much the same as the other Blazer. OKish, but like the other Blazer, the body structure seems very weak. Hit a bump and you can see a "shudder shockwave" travel through the doors/side panel of the car: The doors literally shake in and out. I cannot understand for the life of me how that's deemed acceptable by anyone. I thought it was just a thing with the first Blazer but clearly not.
Steering: It's so vague, I kept having to keep making corrections to the steering, and it felt like I had to turn the wheel twice as far to get any steering to happen, noticeable especially when pulling out to pass then pulling back into the right lane. My Dad noticed the exaggerated hand motions and actually commented, that's how bad it was. This was all, again, the same with the first Blazer.
Beyond that, it felt slightly underpowered and the trip was made in a pretty uneventful manner.
Says the guy whose Saturn has failed repeatedly and left him stranded more than once...
If that is reliable, I would hate to see what you consider unreliable.
In all honesty, I think this is the first time the car has truly left me stranded. All of the other times I was able to at least get the car to drive to the shop (for whatever was causing it to stall when stopped) or home. (when the belt tensioner shat itself)
I call that pretty reliable.
97s all have the BUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZ one point BUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZ nine BUZZBUZZBUZZ liter inline BUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZBUZZ four cylinder L-series BUZZBUZZBUZZ engine, which was less than refined.
Did I mention it had NVH issues?
Oh God yes. It's noisy, although the "2nd-generation" cars like the 97 mentioned benefit from small engine changes and more sound insulation to make things a lot better. Me? I've gotten used to cranking the radio up especially on the highway where wind and road noise manage to drown out the engine. I actually like the way it sounds though, that engine.
This reminds me, Kat, if she complains it's super noisy or she feels/sees a lot of vibration through the wheel at idle, have her open the hood and look at the upper engine mount (horseshoe shaped bracket) sitting to the left of the engine. If it looks worn, that's the problem.