Isuzu Trooper

foxer · 06-05-2003, 02:48 PM

Lookin at a 2001 with low miles. anybody have any experience? All the searches Ihave done have been mostly good things to say. Bigger inside and motor than explorer. Looks like plenty of room and they do not cost an arm and a leg

Cool Texan · 06-05-2003, 03:02 PM

I'm not sure how they are on power/acceleration. I think I drove one once upon a time and wasnt too impressed with the acceleration. However, they're pretty nice trucks. Its Japanese...so it will last forever. Go for it!

Jennie@ifish · 06-05-2003, 03:36 PM

Rough ride... Other than that, real nice!

Jen

06-05-2003, 09:09 PM

I liked my '85

drhall99 · 06-05-2003, 10:13 PM

I was told by Aluminum Head Rebuilders to avoid the 3.2 liter motor in both the Isuzu and the Mitsubishi. He said that they will barely make it past the warranty before the head is completely shot at a cost of about $3000 to replace. He said that they seem to have this fixed with the 3.5 liter motor. I'm not sure what motor the 2001 has but I thought the information might help.
D.

pdxkevin · 06-06-2003, 05:21 AM

I had one. :depressed: The motor was blown. Had it repaired and that one blew too. There is a strong history for weak engines ~ the aluminum doesn't hold up.

Check the net to see for your self.

I liked the feul economy but couldn't afford to rebuilt the engine that often. and shouldn't have to.

foxer · 06-06-2003, 08:59 AM

PDX, what year was it? It seems that the 99's had the most problems and were replaced by Isuzu. I figured that they would have fixed the issues by 2001

ultralight · 06-06-2003, 10:45 AM

Check HERE at CarPoint for what the owners say about the vehicle.

[ 06-06-2003, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: ultralight ]

El Toro · 06-06-2003, 03:01 PM

I have a 99' Trooper and love it. I have not had any problems and it tows my sled with ease.

garyk · 06-10-2003, 08:51 AM

Our latest Trooper is a '94 with the 3.2L V6. With 150k, it's given us very few problems and nothing major. At certain RPM's I thought the tranny was making odd noises, but that turned out to be the cat-convert's heat shield had a broken weld and would rattle.

The 3.2 motor is strained pulling our 179 Hewescraft over the coast range - I think the combined total weight is like ~2600#, maybe more.

We opted for the Trooper based on our friends very hard use of their 1980's era Troopers and because it had the largest cargo volume of any comparable SUV.

Glad you mentioned that they have a bigger motor available - think I'll look into an upgrade!

Isuzu has been losing market share so there may be some very favorable pricing on new ones - or the line may fade away altogether.

[ 06-10-2003, 09:54 AM: Message edited by: garyk ]

pdxkevin · 06-10-2003, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by foxer:
PDX, what year was it?

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">It was a "just out of college looking for a real job" car ~ an '86, I believe.

greenbuttskunk · 06-10-2003, 02:19 PM

Foxer, check out my Xterra I have for sale. It's a sweet rig, V6 power, 2001 model and in great shape.

Mr. Carp · 06-10-2003, 09:11 PM

Go with an explorer!!!

rock bottom · 06-10-2003, 09:30 PM

Go with a 4-runner 3.4 v-6 plenty of power may not have as much room though. The 3.0 v-6 were weak with plenty of head gasket problems so stear clear of those.

drhall99 · 06-10-2003, 09:58 PM

Oh, I forgot to add that I own a 1988 Trooper (2.6 liter, four cylinder) and it's got 203,000 miles on it and it's still going strong. Isuzu has great frames and running gear. I have been VERY hard on mine. I change the oil every 12,000 miles whether it needs it or not :shocked: . Very tough vehicles.

D.

BonkBonkBonk · 06-19-2003, 05:22 PM

As you might guess, Toyota Motor (nyse: TM - news - people ) and Honda Motor (nyse: HMC - news - people ) come in No. 1 and No. 2 in the rankings by manufacturer. These two companies are the "gold standard." Toyota has a score of 107 defects per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership. Honda has 113 defects. The industry average is 133.

Every company shows improvement over last year except for the following three: Nissan Motor (nasdaq: NSANY - news - people ), which has many new products; Isuzu; and Daewoo, which is bankrupt in Korea and was just bought by a GM-led group.

My biggest surprises:

Except for Honda and Toyota, all the other Japanese companies were below the average of 133 defects in initial quality. Mitsubishi shows 147 defects; Nissan, 152; Subaru, 157; Isuzu, 195; and Suzuki, a horrendous 210, which places it second from last.

GM, Ford and Chrysler topped all the Japanese companies except for Toyota and Honda.

http://www.forbes.com/2002/06/11/0611flint.html
you might be suprised about so called "japanese quality"