Different model years have distinct issues that will require regular attention.Ī Hummer is difficult to maintain except you are doing the work yourself.īut not everybody has the skill-sets except maybe for veterans who served with the truck or highly skilled civilians.īelow, we look at the common problems that can reduce the reliability of your Hummer. However, the Hummer is maintenance intensive. In reality, the vehicle has far better performance characteristics on and off-road compared to trucks in its class. In fact, the Hummer H3 could do 13 mpg city, 18 mpg highway, which is far better than the H1’s 8-10 mpg combined.Ī lot of the misconception about the Hummer stems from the bad press from eco-activists. Later models have improved fuel efficiency despite their gas-guzzling reputation. These trucks will go anywhere you want them to go including high altitudes, streams, deserts, and everything in between. The best places to appreciate the strength of the Hummer are enthusiasts’ forums where people share the problems and challenges they face with their beloved workhorses.Įven the H2 and the smaller H3 Hummers are not your typical SUV because they have bigger and more powerful engines. You need professionals with special skills to handle their complicated systems. You won’t find their parts lying around your street corner auto repair shop.Īnd the average mechanic doesn’t have a clue about any of the Hummer’s headaches. The first Hummers were military vehicles adapted for civilian use. 1) Windshield Wiper Circuit Board Short.When that company failed to receive approval from the Chinese government for the transaction, GM shut down HUMMER, building the final H3 in May of 2010. GM filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and attempted to sell the brand to Chinese owners, Sichuan Tengzhong.
The drivetrain boosted the H3's towing capacity to 6,000 pounds.Ī pickup-bed version was added for the 2009 model year, but the writing was on the wall for the division. A 5.3-liter V-8 was added for the 2008 model year, stuffed into a new model dubbed the H3 Alpha it was good for 295 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, delivered through a heavy-duty four-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive. All H3s came standard with an electronically controlled four-wheel-drive system with traction control and underbody shielding a rear locking differential was an option.Īs GM descended into financial straits, HUMMER updated the H3 first with a bigger engine-at 3.7 liters, the five-cylinder made 242 hp in the 2007 model year. It had 9.1 inches of ground clearance and with available 33-inch off-road tires, the H3 had truly awesome off-roadability. Where the H3 truly lived up to its reputation was off-road. The bulky HUMMER was only six and a half inches narrower than the bigger H2, but it was nearly 17 inches shorter, which showed in its meager interior space. Fuel economy of 20 mpg highway clearly outpaced the H2’s 11 mpg.
Hauling around the 4700-lb H3 proved more than the 3.5-liter engine could comfortably hustle: 0-60 mph times were pegged at 10.3 seconds.
It shared their lackluster powertrain-a dated in-line five-cylinder engine with 220 horsepower and 225 pound-feet of torque. It was spun from the architecture that founded GM's small pickups, the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon. Underneath, though, the H3 was no military offshoot like the H1, not a full-size beast like the H2. It certainly looked the part, with HUMMER's brazen grille (it had been part of a lawsuit with Chrysler's Jeep brand-both had common roots and a seven-bar front end) and squared-off fenders. Sales were slumping-but the H3 was seen as the right vehicle, at the right time. Sold from 2005 to 2010, the H3 arrived in HUMMER's Quonset-hut showrooms just as war-weary Americans were turning away from the H2 and the brand. That addition became reality in 2005, when the HUMMER H3 joined the fledgling lineup. It struck a nerve and a vein with the original H2, but had always envisioned adding smaller HUMMER vehicles to the brand. GM's HUMMER brand had launched with lots of fanfare-and controversy-in the early years of this century.