Faults:

First, we drove the car off the lot and a day later we noticed the special trim that we had to pay extra for and didn't even want, but it was all they had - the trim was hanging off the passenger side door. Called the dealer and I was told to bring the car in because they needed to take a picture to send into Isuzu for warranty claims. Took the car in and the dealer never even took a picture, just wrote down what I could have told him over the phone. He told me I would hear back in a few days when the new trim came in - well almost two weeks later after not hearing from them - I called - they couldn't find my file and I had to bring the car back in for them to see what was wrong. Again, they ordered the part and two days later they told me it was in, well it wasn't the trim they ordered - they went and ordered the Isuzu name plate, so again - I had to wait another couple of days - the trim comes in and they fix it.

Second, at about 20,000 miles I took the car to Midas to get a oil change and I asked them to look at the brakes because I was hearing something funny - they told me the brakes were fine. Two weeks later the ABS light came on - I took it into the dealer the brakes were shot - we had to get completely new front brakes. Everything was under warranty except the stupid ABS light - it wouldn't go off, so they had to order a new light or something and we had to pay $300 for that.

Third, we had to get a completely new transmission and transfer case at 50,000 miles. Apparently, the transfer case was completely dry - absolutely no fluid in it, but yet we had no leaks - I don't get it??? And there was no warning that the fluid was low. Again, everything was under warranty, but the dealer is like 30 minutes from our house and it was pain because their courtesy shuttle didn't come out that far to pick me up - despite the fact I drove to them to buy a brand new car.

Then at 55,000 miles - I went back in to have the drive shaft replaced. I was without a car again for about 2 days.

Then at 60,000 miles the check engine starting going on and off. This turned out to be the intake valves. And they had my car from a Friday to a Monday - I picked up the car Monday night and drove about 10 minutes from the dealer when the light came back on - I almost purposely crashed it when this happened. Took the car back the next day and there was still something wrong with the intake valves.

Now, at 63,000 miles I'm noticing the gas gauge is totally wrong. I will fill up and 10 minutes later, I'm already at a quarter tank! Today, I was showing to be low on gas - close to E - then I got home and was sitting in my car talking on the phone and the engine was still running when I looked at the gauge and all of a sudden, it had a 1/4 tank of gas!

I'm also noticing the car to be shaking a lot anytime I'm over 50 mph. Not sure what this is yet and not sure if I even want to deal with it.

General Comments:

Do not buy an Isuzu!!

Faults:

I have not had any "MAJOR" mechanical issues, yet. There are, however, a few mild to moderate irritations...

1: This is not a quiet, serene ride. There have been NUMEROUS creaks, squeaks, rattles and groans with this SUV, starting when it was only about 6 months old. Most of the noise comes from the back seat and storage area. It did go into the dealership once. They purposely bent the welded metal piece on the truck frame where the back seat latches to quiet it up some. This did help for awhile, but it's started making the noise again. I've got a year of warranty left, so I'll have this looked at again when I take it in for some other reason.

2: There's a bit of a "ghost" in the electrical system: about once per month, when I put the key in the ignition and try to start the truck, nothing happens. It's not a huge deal, but I have to take the key out, and then reinsert it to start the truck. It starts instantly the second time I try.

3: Another (likely) "electrical problem" is that I have had two times (in two years) where I started the truck, put the gear shifter into "reverse", and absolutely nothing happened! It wouldn't move. I had to move it back to "park", shut it off, start it again, and then it worked fine. I mentioned this problem when I took it in for an oil change at the dealership. They said "no codes showed up", and they couldn't reproduce the problem, so they really couldn't help me.

4: I've also had two times, where I've been driving down the road, and noticed the "check transmission" light was on. As soon as I pull to the side of the road, the light goes off again. Fluid levels are fine, etc.

5: I've had a few times (probably less than 4 times) where the transmission has put itself into "Snow" mode without me telling it to do that. In snow mode, there is a greatly reduced amount of torque sent to the drive wheels, to keep from spinning out in the snow. This makes for a fairly slow start from a red light, or a stop sign. This corrects itself after you reach about 15 miles per hour.

6: Finally, the front brakes squeak pretty loudly the first few times they are used each day. They have plenty of "life" left in them, they just sound bad when used the first few times. It's just embarrassing, that's all.

General Comments:

Generally, I actually love this truck. I think it was a heck of a value. I paid exactly $20K (sticker was about a $26K). I routinely see postings on the Internet where people claim these trucks "last forever" if given proper maintenance, and are not abused.

Yes, there are a few annoyances, as listed above, but after owning other vehicles with "genuine", serious problems, I can't complain too much about the problems with this Rodeo. I do expect a certain amount of noise from a vehicle made on a truck platform, especially since my city has potholed roads most of the year.

As to the starting problems, they have very, very little practical effect on me. Putting the key in the ignition a second time takes less than 5 seconds, once a month. No big deal.

I'm slightly more concerned about the faulty "check transmission" light. I'm concerned that if it ever came on when driving down the interstate, I would be in some danger slowing down and pulling off the road to check if the problem is for real, or not.

When all is said and done, I would not hesitate to buy a new Rodeo (if they still made them). I would have very little hesitation in buying a used 2003 or 2004 model. In fact, they are probably a great bargain, because asking prices are usually very low, since not many people consider buying a new or used Isuzu, due to a lack of advertising.