Faults:

Almost all systems.

Automatic transmission twice.

Oil pressure lost.

Fuel pump twice.

Radiator leaks at 40,000 km (25,000 miles).

Poor plastics.

Rear door lock.

General Comments:

After having a 1992 Blazer that ran perfectly, I decided upgrade it by buying a 1996. Bad, very bad decision. I had to keep it because it was registered in my company, and they paid for all the fixes.

Powerful and comfortable, but a lot of problems, especially with the automatic transmission that failed at 40,000 km, and at 75,000 again (poor dealer repair maybe). I sent it to an independent transmission shop, and no problem.

The oil pressure went too low. The oil pump was replaced at a cost of $1,000.

Fuel pump replaced at 45,000 km (too early, and took 3 weeks in the dealer shop to find the failure!) and at 130,000 (see the difference).

Radiator was replaced by an aftermarket all metal one, and no problem.

Nice car. I really like the design. I changed to a 2005 Mitsu Montero Sport now with 100,000 km, and no problem absolutely.

Faults:

Well let's see. Got the Blazer and drove it with no problem for the first three days of owning it.

The check engine light was on, but my brother is a mechanic, and said it was probably just the gas cap, so I ignored it.

2nd day = brake pressure disappearing. So I took it to my brother, and all we needed to do was replace both back brake lines, and one front one. Total cost 32.00, but the pressure never came back. Took the truck to the shop, and they told me that with my particular vehicle, when you replace the lines, you have to replace the wheel cylinders, rotors, shoes, calipers, and in my case, a rebuild on the drums. Great. So after all that, I was over 300 dollars in debt to my credit union. But it was okay, because I was once again able to go down the main street, slappin' gears, listening to the Flowmaster purr.

Until... day three. Stopped at an intersection, truck turned off and wouldn't turn back on. Towed it home, replaced the whole ignition system, charged up the battery, nothing. It's been in the shop for about three weeks now. Blazers in general are money pits, and not a good first car or any car, unless you buy it from an 80 year old man who was the original owner.

General Comments:

It will be a decent Blazer once out of the shop. Hopefully.

Faults:

A/C began to leak, and later the compressor blew, costing a couple hundred dollars to fix the first ~5000 miles I had it.

Fuel pump broke after ~30000 miles of purchase.

Shifted hard from first to second gear.

General Comments:

The car is very reliable. I must have been lucky with this one, as I have only had a few issues considering the amount of miles that were on the car. Sold it to a friend of mine at 220,000 miles on it (original engine/transmission). He ran it to 280,000 miles, until the engine threw a rod. He didn't have an issue with the vehicle prior to the rod.

I also used to drive very aggressive, and would often tow vehicles and trailers with no problems. Would also take this car off-road; I am very surprised at the durability of this vehicle.

Car was pretty quick for its size.

The anti-lock brakes would activate if the brakes were engaged while going over a minor bump on the road.

Steering felt very uncomfortable at 90mph.