looking to buy an isuzu rodeo

[P.McKenna]

The Trooper & Rodeo models are two completely different animals just to be clear. Troopers are smaller two doored Jeepish 4WD vehicles that are great wheelers with a few little mods. BTW there are tons of options when it comes to customizing these things.

The Isuzu Rodeo is just a Re-badged Honda Passport. My cousin has a 94' Passport/Rodeo, those thing can run for a long time on the road but when things start to break or go wrong, they shit the bed and are a PITA to deal with.

Since your Title says your looking for a Trooper but your post says Rodeo, I just thought I'd make sure you knew the difference of the two. I would look elsewhere to be completely honest if you want a safe and reliable DD for the Future Wife. In the end it up to you but I figured I'd tell you my .02 on the whole situation. Good Luck in your search

 

[Ozwynn]

The Trooper & Rodeo models are two completely different animals just to be clear. Troopers are smaller two doored Jeepish 4WD vehicles

there are 4 door troopers ...... infact I have never seen a 2 door trooper .... doesn't mean they don't exist ......

The Isuzu Rodeo is just a Re-badged Honda Passport.

you have this backwards ...... I used to sell cars at a dealership that had Chevy (plus all their clones), Toyota, and Honda all on the same block..... big plate with 4 rivets in it on the driver side of the firewall on the 1995 Passport that says manufactured by Isuzu Motors, LTD.

Since your Title says your looking for a Trooper but your post says Rodeo, I just thought I'd make sure you knew the difference of the two. I would look elsewhere to be completely honest if you want a safe and reliable DD for the Future Wife. In the end it up to you but I figured I'd tell you my .02 on the whole situation. Good Luck in your search

I say get her a Sidekick or a Tracker ....... unless you want to go faster that 62 mph on the freeway...... it will cruise at 70 but you might as well be driving a V6 Explorer....... it will do 70 better and get the same mileage.....

 

[strvger]

there are 4 door troopers ...... infact I have never seen a 2 door trooper .... doesn't mean they don't exist ......



you have this backwards ...... I used to sell cars at a dealership that had Chevy (plus all their clones), Toyota, and Honda all on the same block..... big plate with 4 rivets in it on the driver side of the firewall on the 1995 Passport that says manufactured by Isuzu Motors, LTD.



I say get her a Sidekick or a Tracker ....... unless you want to go faster that 62 mph on the freeway...... it will cruise at 70 but you might as well be driving a V6 Explorer....... it will do 70 better and get the same mileage.....

just for the record, my tracker cruises at 65-67 mph and gets 32 mpg at about 3000 rpms. lifted, locked, 1.6 8-valve, 5 speed, 5.13 gears, running on 31 in. tires.

 

[Ozwynn]

just for the record, my tracker cruises at 65-67 mph and gets 32 mpg at about 3000 rpms. lifted, locked, 1.6 8-valve, 5 speed, 5.13 gears, running on 31 in. tires.

mine is a 4 door with a 16v and an automatic.......

The Old Man had a 97 2 door 'Kick convertible with a 5spd ( to tow behind his original Toyota Motor home) and got 36 @ 65 with 235/75/15 ......... if you are running 31's with the stock gears how you know the speedo is accurate....... the old man got his recalibrate ....

 

[fastpakr]

I know very little about the Rodeo's, other than to agree with BDAB that they were in fact produced by Isuzu and were also sold as Honda Passports until Honda began producing their own SUV's. Have owned a couple of Trooper's, however. A '91 (early boxy body style) that was a function over form vehicle that never let me down. Didn't end up keeping it long, but no complaints. My parents bought a '92 (first year of the second body style) around the same time with 160k or so. Other than typical maintenance things, there were no real problem with it from then till it was given away with nearly 300k a few months ago. Still on the original engine and automatic trans. I've heard other people with complaints about the Trooper's, but have no first hand experience with significant problems.

 

[jdm_farmboy]

This is a second gen trooper.
Below is a Rodeo

The biggest issue you run into when buying used isuzu's is a stupid previous owner. My parents own a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo that was purchased with a blown engine and a rebuilt transmission because someone thought that maintenance-free for 100,000 miles included fluid changes. My dad has driven Isuzu troopers for many years. He buys 5 speeds with "transmission issues," replaces the clutch and goes on his happy way.

The Rodeo and the Honda Passport are indeed the same vehicle for the entire time the Rodeo was produced. With the one you are looking at being a V6 you should have the 3.2L Isuzu which produces more HP than the OHV Ford 4.0. The front IFS suspension is not a Dana axle, but rather one made by Isuzu in-house. I would inspect the front axles myself to make sure they are bad, it could just need new auto hubs. My dad actually had this issue on one of his troopers.

Isuzu makes some good SUV's between the Rodeo and the Trooper. Just watch out for poor maintenance.

 

[Ranger Dave (B25)]

I nearly bought (and wish I had) a '95 Rodeo V6 new. Got stuck in a Camry instead because the spousal associates cousin sold Toyota...

BDAB, there are indeed 2-door Troopers.

 

[Ozwynn]

I nearly bought (and wish I had) a '95 Rodeo V6 new. Got stuck in a Camry instead because the spousal associates cousin sold Toyota...

BDAB, there are indeed 2-door Troopers.

didn't say there wasn't ... just that all I have ever seen were 4 door troopers.

 

[OilPatch197]

I nearly bought (and wish I had) a '95 Rodeo V6 new. Got stuck in a Camry instead because the spousal associates cousin sold Toyota...

BDAB, there are indeed 2-door Troopers.

Really two door troopers? I bet those are just as rare as those Isuzu Hombres, I thought the Hombre was the only vehicle Isuzu made that was a two door. Wasn't the Hombre a re badged S-10?

Very interesting how rebadging works.

 

[Ozwynn]

there was also an Amigo which was a 2 door convertible Rodeo....

 

[jdm_farmboy]

there was also an Amigo which was a 2 door convertible Rodeo....

The Rodeo also came with the removable rear roof.

The Isuzu Hombre was a rebadged S-10
The Amigo was a 2-door Rodeo. It was eventually renamed the Isuzu Rodeo Sport in the States.
Yes there are 2- and 4-door troopers. Troopers were also sold as Trooper II's; the only difference being the Trooper II's back seat was installed at the dealership in order stay in a lower tariff bracket.

 

[fastpakr]

The Rodeo also came with the removable rear roof.

That's correct, Isuzu dropped the Amigo name and began calling it the Rodeo Sport.

 

[stegomon]

it is a rodeo.

 

[pocket-rocket]

My mom bought a Rodeo that had the Honda V6 in it for her mail route. It was a really nice little SUV but eventually (like a couple months later) started having some major engine issues. My friend had gone in with a friend of his and was renting a shop about that time and his friend had changed I don't know how many of those engines. The dealer where my mom got hers ended up changing the engine in hers... twice. I guess Honda had made the ring groove tolerances in the pistons too close and they get stuck from carbon build up. I had read Isuzu said that the engine "consuming 1 quart of oil is perfectly acceptable." I had read about countless problems with people snapping cam shafts because of the oil consumption starving the top end. The first engine in my moms lost enough compression where it would hardly even run.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Isnt the Dodge Raider a rebadged Isuzu of somekind?

Or was a rebaged mitsubishi?

My dads buddy had an old trooper, like an 86. He traded a 87 S10 blazer for it. Compared to the blazer it was underpowered, hard to work on, and tippier then a nun after a shot of whisky.

It was well designed as far as the interior and shit went though, just not really much of as truck (he expected it to pull a 2horse trailer with 2 horses, his blazer handled it fine, the trooper not so much) he had it all of about 6 months, then the starter went out and he sold it and bougth a 89 Chevy 1/2ton.

later,
Dustin