[technical] 2006 Grand Vitara VVT buying advice please

[Zedanimal]

Good evening everyone.

Wife has fell in love with a 2006 Grand Vitara petrol. Manua transmission.

The registration is: [YH56 OLV]

I have 2 specific technical questions:

1) is the vehicle actually four wheel drive? Or at least AWD. I have looked online and getting really conflicting information. I paid £0.99 for an online spec from the registration (which I’ve added above) and it listed DRIVETRAIN - ALL (PERMANENT)

how would I find out if the car is 4x4/awd without getting under car? It didn’t have the rotary selector which is below the air con controls on the dash however when I’ve looked at other grand Vitaras on eBay they are listed as 4x4 but don’t have the switch?

2) when idling and driving the gearstick has lots of vibrations. Not enough to knock It out of gear but enough to really notice it. This was enough to make us take the 1.5 hour drive away from the garage to ‘think about it’. Anyone got any ideas? Drawn towards gear linkages but never been involved with these beauts.

Any advice welcomed. Really really appreciate it

Dan

[RichyP]

I've got an 06 grand vitara but the older shape with a separate lever at the side of the gear stick to select 2wd 4H and 4L. Had a look online and it seems that the model you were looking at is a permanent 4wd system but not a clue on how it works.