My personal H3 review and experience

[lance-n]

thank you for your comprehensive post about your personal experience. i did a fair amount of research, too before i bought. i was a little nervous buying a new vehicle and immediately going over 1000 miles away from the nearest dealer. fortunately, the only issue i have had with mine, it has 7k miles on it now is the serv4wd light keeps coming on and there is nobody nearby to fix it. the 4wd still works and engages fine, but that annoying light comes on randomly every 80 miles or so.
regardless of all that, i am totally stoked with this truck. i was pretty much a ford man until last year. i will say that the ford bronco's, which i still own a 1995 with only 50k miles on it in pristine condition do have a little tighter turning radius that the h3's, but also have a shorter wheelbase.
with regards to the octane discussion, here in mexico, the regular unleaded is so low quality, its says it is 87, but i have yet to hear of any engine that wont knock from it. there is no mid grade here, so its right up to the 3.50 per gallon premium. maybe i get a little better mileage, maybe i don't, but i do feel more comfortable putting the cleaner fuel in. i haven't even tried using the regular in this vehicle and would be skeptical to try it.
one item that you guru's may have some experience with;
i do not do much heavy driving, but i have noticed lately that if i open the back door after driving a little while, it seems overly hot near the base of the door. i know the muffler is right there - DUH, but it seems it has been really hot lately. i have been watching the temp gauge and it always runs consistently cool, even in the hot weather here.
any advice?

Yea and the oil/gas companies love those that pay extra for higher octane fuel that's not necessary .

S.

[MajorGeek]

Lance,
I cant answer that, I swapped out to a Borla dual exhaust, so it may run cooler with that, otherwise, I was at the back door today after driving and noticed nothing at all... for what its worth.

Lance,

Have't noticed any heat with either the stock exhaust or the Corsa that I added a few months later.

I was in Cabo at Christmas and only saw H2's then. An H3 would be perfect for driving down there. I was told by a realtor that a Hummer dealership was going up in Cabo. Heard anything about that?

S.

[Rick]

MajorGeek... Higher octane fuel, as other have said, do you no good on this vehicle. If it were a higher compression performance vehicle... Then you would need it. It won't harm your engine... But it is a waste of money.

In talking to Mobil 1... They say you can put their full synthetic oil starting day one... But I'm with fstop... I waited for 2000 miles to switch mine.

By the way... Your grammar was just fine... And you expressed all the same thoughts... pros and cons... that most of us have expressed during our ownership.

BTW... I'm a fan of your site... Good stuff!

[Trinity]

The amazing thing to me is that you become somewhat of a mini-celebrity. Everyone, I mean everyone, wants to talk to you about the Hummer. At the gas station, dry cleaners, mall, etc. I can not tell you how many times I've have heard from a passenger "WOW! I got to ride in a Hummer! Wait till I tell my (insert spouse, family member, best friend's name here)!

Make no mistake. You are buying a serious off-road machine. But you are also buying an icon.

[MajorGeek]

Rick, thanks!

Trinity, thats true, I get that quite often myself. I try and tell them they can have one for a reasonable price, but I guess most people want a mini-van

[Rick]

Originally posted by Trinity:
The amazing thing to me is that you become somewhat of a mini-celebrity. Everyone, I mean everyone, wants to talk to you about the Hummer. At the gas station, dry cleaners, mall, etc. I can not tell you how many times I've have heard from a passenger "WOW! I got to ride in a Hummer! Wait till I tell my (insert spouse, family member, best friend's name here)!

Make no mistake. You are buying a serious off-road machine. But you are also buying an icon.

Yup... This still slays me. EVERY time I fill up... Someone makes a comment. These days it's usually, "I bet you're sorry you bought that now aren't you?" I usually just laugh and say... "Not at 18MPG!... I LOVE IT... It's one of the most fun vehicles you'll ever drive!"

I've heard a lot of Jeep owners say they are thinking about getting one... I've only received a few dirty looks. My future Brother-in-law is a tree hugger type. I figured I'd catch a case of the ass from him... He was actually pretty cool about it... Especially when I told him it was rated for 20 MPG (ahhh... He's starting to piss me off anyway!)

The stares are definitely there!

[MajorGeek]

I could write that review for weeks more. Yesterday, I decided to remove 7 large bushes that have been in place for at least 20 years. The roots ran deep and it was damp, so they were heavy. I originally thought I could dig them up, but after digging around the first one, it did not even move. We hooked a chain to the H3 and gassed it with a little slack and only one took a few tries. They were in so deep that the H3 would actually slide the front end sideways if you tried a simple pull with the chain tight. The last one had me thinking the front end was going to come off the ground The H3 got it done, we pulled them all in 30 minutes. I didnt know what to expect, thought the bumper might fall off with some of those hard pulls, it's all untested territory for me. Between that, and the H3 track at the dealer, I wonder what I can't do? Im driving anywhere I can.... where the pavement ends.

[MajorGeek]

Originally Posted by lance-n

thank you for your comprehensive post about your personal experience. i did a fair amount of research, too before i bought. i was a little nervous buying a new vehicle and immediately going over 1000 miles away from the nearest dealer. fortunately, the only issue i have had with mine, it has 7k miles on it now is the serv4wd light keeps coming on and there is nobody nearby to fix it. the 4wd still works and engages fine, but that annoying light comes on randomly every 80 miles or so.
regardless of all that, i am totally stoked with this truck. i was pretty much a ford man until last year. i will say that the ford bronco's, which i still own a 1995 with only 50k miles on it in pristine condition do have a little tighter turning radius that the h3's, but also have a shorter wheelbase.
with regards to the octane discussion, here in mexico, the regular unleaded is so low quality, its says it is 87, but i have yet to hear of any engine that wont knock from it. there is no mid grade here, so its right up to the 3.50 per gallon premium. maybe i get a little better mileage, maybe i don't, but i do feel more comfortable putting the cleaner fuel in. i haven't even tried using the regular in this vehicle and would be skeptical to try it.
one item that you guru's may have some experience with;
i do not do much heavy driving, but i have noticed lately that if i open the back door after driving a little while, it seems overly hot near the base of the door. i know the muffler is right there - DUH, but it seems it has been really hot lately. i have been watching the temp gauge and it always runs consistently cool, even in the hot weather here.
any advice?

I got that same thing at about 3,500 miles. It went away. It came back, it went away. Have not seen it since. Was going to reset the computer, but figured I would take it in one day ans ask about it

[milbrath47]

DUDE! you run majorgeek.com????????????????? I dl a ****load of stuff from that sight!!! Good ****!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MajorGeek]

Yes, I am the co-owner, founder or whatever you want to call it Appreciate you visiting, thank you very much.

[deserth3]

Excellent review. But on my first drive I found myself doing 75 and the end of the ramp. This truck just wants to go on the highway and off too.

I drive 30 miles one way to work (the truck does the 30 home by itsealf) and so far have been pretty steady at 19.6 mpg. I just love telling people that when they ask why I bought a gas hog. I've also had several responses of "that's better than my car gets".

So far my only problem is it stumbles when excellerating from a dead stop when the tranny or something underneath get's wet. It only lasts for a second or less and then goes fine. It's going in Monday to get looked at.

[MajorGeek]

Well, I have found the cruise control to be terrible. Not sure if it is the i-5 or not. I mean, you must admit, at around 75 mph, the engine is working pretty hard. I find on hills the cruise accelerates until your as much as 5 mph over where you need to be. I dont recall if my Trailblazer was like that. I do know my Lincoln always kept the speed exact.

I also heard they are putting in an 8. Isnt that overkill? I am guessing that the I6 wont fit in there, so they went for the 8. Having the 8 will probably be cool considering the weight though. Time will tell.

I am in a weird area, you rarely see an H3 out here, I even have seen more H2's. Travelling to other areas (bigger cities like Charlotte, NYC, Florida) I see a lot more of them, so its especially fun here because you see them so rarely.

I dont have much else to add to the review except that next time I will make sure I get the trailer hitch that comes with the H3 and will not put on an aftermarket exhaust. These 2 add-on (as warned to me by members here) cut into ground clearance and are getting banged up.

[Matt19]

Thanks man, i really needed to read something like that.

I love the "oh ****" handles=)

[lance-n]

19 to the gallon? i have calculated fuel economy on just about every tank and haven't seen better than 15 mpg yet! it is more fun here because you have to and no, i do not drive like a maniac, although i am used to driving a v-8. i do have the adventure package with the undercarraige plates and 33" a/t tires. maybe that makes up the difference?

my bronco, with a small block 8 get 11 - 13 mpg and the H3 gets 14 - 15

keep in mind that my work commute is only about 6 miles and probably not good for fuel economy.

[NEOCON1]

its gonna be a 3.7 I5

[MajorGeek]

Ahh, I read V-8 Diesel and gas, too bad I cant find it now Bit bigger and ill be happier.