1999 Isuzu Trooper 3.0 turbo diesel Intercooler
Summary:
A piece of junk, avoid at all costs!
Faults:
Nothing major until 120.000 km. Then everything went south.
It's now in it's third transmission, the second one fell to the ground (at 210k km), stick and all.
Shocks have gone on all four wheels at least once, 7 shocks in all.
Turbine gave up at 150.000 and again at 211.000.
Seat belt, driver side, stopped working at 219.000.
Passenger seat coils are wearing down considerably.
It sometimes won't start. I have taken it to the dealer several times and they can't find anything, usually it works like a charm there. It only seems to break down when I'm in a hurry...
General Comments:
This SUV handles like a cow in a skating rink, not very well. It has a tendency to 'jump' sideways at around 90 kph, which forces the driver to remain 100 % focused on the drving (not that that is neccessarily bad).
It makes so many extra noises that I can't discern what is what or where.
The seats are very uncomfortable, especially since I often have to drive it for 6-8 hours per day.
It's very sturdy though, and rough handling over mountain tracks, doesn't seem to wear it down much.
It has a lot of torque, but the acceleration sucks, sometimes I wonder why it has a speedometer, a calendar would suit it much better.
This is a company car, and therefore probably has worse maintenance than most, but still... three transmissions!
My co-workers and I will soon get a new SUV, Hyundai Santa Fe, and the repair cost for last year could have paid for half of that car.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 28th July, 2005
29th Sep 2005, 23:18
Alas someone else who has found them to be very unreliable. I have found out to my detriment that the lovely car I bought 11 months ago (and broke down6 months ago) has had nothing, but a catalogue of disasters since it was first made. The engine blew up at 22000 miles and had to be replaced and again just before I bought it. Both times the turbo had exploded. It also wouldn't start in cold mornings, but the garage couldnt find anything wrong, the 4x4 didn't work and a back shock has gone.