Faults:

Then at 80,000 my Amigo did not start, at which time I replaced the starter. At 90,000 I had a series of events that all involved electronics. Once again, the car did not start. It would not even crank over. Cold start or warm start, it had not rhyme or reason. I replaced the battery, a few cables, the clutch, the clutch interrupter switch, fuses, the ignition switch, and even had a hot wire installed to by-pass any switches that may be bad. I think that it was the clutch interrupter switch the whole time. I have not had any issues with it since I had that replaced 2 weeks ago.

I also had the rear main seal and the upper and lower oil pan gaskets replaced due to heavy leakage. When they replaced the clutch they also replaced the fly wheel with a reconditioned one.

General Comments:

I love the way it looks and the way it handles on and off the road. When everything is running OK it is very reliable.

Faults:

Starter failed.

Battery replaced.

New clutch.

New timing belt.

Brakes, including 4 rotors.

Transmission leak.

Rear differential leak.

ABS sensor replaced.

Fuel gage sending unit failure.

Soft top replaced.

Silly chrome plastic wheel covers tossed.

General Comments:

This was my 2nd Isuzu so I knew partially what to expect. My previous was a 86' Trooper with over 171,000 miles and still rolling strong.

I take good care of this Amigo and it's been good so far. Only leaving me stranded when the starter failed on a cold winter morning. Isuzu is a huge engine manufacturer in Japan and they make a good product. The 98 Amigo is both an Isuzu and a GM product, maybe why it has the problems it does. I believe my Trooper had better electrical accessories, made in Japan.

Overall I would buy another one in an instant. Fun to drive, good 4X4, nice looking.

Faults:

After having had it for 2 weeks I 180'd it in the rain and bent the rear axle. Only worked this out 2 years later after repeated problems with brake rota noises. 30,000 miles the clutch went on the highway. Cost $1,100 to fix! Great. Alternator and starter went 2 weeks later. Had multiple problems with the clutch switch failing which made the whole car useless as without it engaging you couldn't start the engine. Very frustrating that a $90 part could criple a 20,000 dollar car. The Soft top became very fragile in the 2 years I owned it. The shattered in the cold New England winters with the merrest of pressure. Then towards the end the baffles came off and then the manifold regularly came loose. The gear box then plaid up by refusing to go into reverse. Thank god a trans flush fixed it, but that was the end of the line. I had to suck it up and fork out for a new one. The engine really had lost any of its perfomance ability to as it aged. Really started to struggle up hills on freeways etc. Must have blown 6-7000 dollars on it if not more over 4 years. Not relaible. Now got a Honda Element.

General Comments:

When I got this car I wanted nothing else. I loved it. Fantastic lines and looks. Great versatility. I loved the fun nature of it. The SUV aspects for the winter snow and the soft top for the summer. What more could you as for. Wellll reliability. If I had had less problems with it I would have kept it. It was my baby. There was nothing nice than driving on the American open road with the top down in the summer. I wish it had a little better design for hauling stuff though. Especially in the winter, having to unzip the back window when you needed to get something like a tv in sucked. It really hurt my fingers as the canopy really shrank a lot in the cold. It was cool having a rare car too. You don't see too many of them about. People would stop and ask me what it was, especially in summer. But the rareness cost me at the repair shop as there are zero rebuilds and parts (because they don't sell a lot) are very expensive.