Old S-10 Blazers just keep going & going

Today when I pulled in to get gas a black Chevy Blazer S-10 was filling up right behind me, so I put mine on automatic and went back and spoke to him.

As I introduce myself he said something like this, "You've been driving that blazer for a long time, when did you get it." Of course I said 92. His was an 87 S-10 Blazer 4 X 4. He said it had a bit over 350,000 miles. That he had replaced one fuel pump, one water pump, one transmission, one boot on a front axel, 2 batteries, one brake cylinder, one set of brakes, the dash gages and such, the radio. That he bought it used just after 92, that he drives it back and fort to work 5 days a week, about 35 mile round trip and its the best ride he has ever had.

Regret I did not ask him which engine he had, but I remember him saying he had done no major engine work on it. I did ask him when he was planning on getting rid of it, his answer was never.

I think Chevy did a good job with the Blazer S-10, I had an 85 S-10 4 X 4 before this one and liked it enough to buy the 2nd one. The only thing I had against the 1st one was it had the 2.8 engine with a 5 speed manuel, that engine was a bit weak on the road, yet the 4.3 W engine has plenty of power on both the low and top end.

I've heard some say the S-10 Blazers will nickel and dime you to death. I disagree. I think if one takes care of them they made very dependable rides and will go for many miles. Of course if you buy one of them, yet this is true about any ride, that has not been taken care of, that has been dogged out, you'll have nothing but trouble out of it.

I'm a semi-diehard Chevy guy because I have two brother in laws that work for them. However, I own a 95 S-10 pickup 2.2L with 67,000 miles on it (a real cherry) and a 99 Blazer 4x4. I have treated these things like babies. The S-10 hasn't had any problems, but it's low miles. The 99 Blazer has had every part known to man replaced in it's 170,000 mile life. Front wheel hubs (4-5 times), heating core (pain in the neck), radiator, alternator, water pump, fuel pump, upper/lower ball joints, idler arm, pitman arm, pinion seal, transmission (a big one), intake manifold gasket (a really big job), door window motors/assemblies, rear windshield wiper motor rebuilt, and fixed the rear defog to name a few. The sunroof track is broken too. This thing has been garage kept and oil changed every 3000 miles. The good....well it hasn't started to rust too badly yet...and I know how to fix every part on it. I'll keep it until the engine goes......It's still cheaper than a car payment.....

I had 2 S-10 pick ups, both with the 2.8/5 speed combo. One was '84, the other was '92 Sonoma.

Both were very reliable, cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to fix. Gas mileage was good, their handling was really pretty good. They were nice, compact and easy to drive but could still carry an impressive load. Very strong for their size.

Nothing significant went wrong with either one, but the previous owner of the '84 had done major work to his, before I got it, mostly due to neglect (ie - seized the transmission when he did not fix a minor trans leak and all the fluid slowly escaped. )

The '92 had 410,000 km when I bought it, and ran well. No sign of excessive wear.

Chevy is my favorite, yet I've drifter off of them from time to time. Had a 57, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 71, 2-85's, and a 92. Never had major trouble out of any of them. I suppose the worse thing was the manual transmission in the 85 S-10 Blazer that I replaced with a new one at about 67,000 miles. Now back when I had the 57 I tore out a few 3 speed manual transmissions, but that was my fault because of the drag racing. Yet in my early days I was hard on them yet they stood up to it with little trouble, but I always made sure to service them properly.

I see several 85 - 95 S-10 Blazers around here, from now on if and when the opportunity comes I'm going to do as today and ask them about theirs, its kind of neat to talk to them about their rides.

Other than I've owned.

65 Ford Fairlane station wagon
71 Plymouth Duster
71 VW Super Beetle
75 Cutlass Supreme Oldsmobile
79 Ford Thunderbird
81 Buick regal limited
59 Ford F-100 that I restored
91 Camaro

love my 2001 blazer to death. mainly because i have a 5 speed manual 2wd. i will prob have this thing for the rest of my life. things break and wear out, but i've had it for 6 years and have no interest in getting something else.

I have a 98 Blazer LT 4X4 4.3L 120,000 miles. I have replaced water pump, pass side hub and bearing, idler arm, 4 ball joints, actuator door for heat (nightmare) fuel pump (also nightmare), alt, hard brake line, calipers, drivers door bushings, maybe a few other little minor things. It's 12 years old now and nothing wrong with the paint, no rust and perfect interior, everything works great! I love this thing and will have it as long as possible. This is my 3rd blazer in a row, 1st was an 87 then 92, this one is the nicest one out of the bunch. If this one ever gives out and I don't feel like it's worth fixing then there will be blazer #4 in my future, owned this one for 7 years now....I think I found a keeper! Some things need replaced in order to keep them running and looking nice but as one of the other post said..."it's cheaper then a car payment".