Faults:

The steering wheel has a lot of play in it. When driving at high speeds over 50, when it's windy, you need to be careful.

When pulling heavy loads, the transmission overheats but recovers.

General Comments:

I have taken my Trooper across the country, a round trip from San Francisco to New York to Canada and back 3 times, and when I bought it, it has 150,000 miles on it already on it. I went from Washington to San Diego and back, 20 times plus. I can drive 800 miles plus in a day because it is so comfortable.

I was driving thru Colorado during a snow storm, where everyone was pulled off the road, either due to accidents, or just not being able to get thru. My Trooper barreled thru. On ice, it just hugs the road. In my Jeep I can only go maybe 10 mph, but in my Trooper I can go at least 20 and feel safe and confident I will not skid off. It's the weight that allows it to barrel thru and hug the road.

I currently have 260,000 miles on it, and the only thing I need to fix is the hood release latch.

I hate to sell it, but I am looking at buying a newer car. I might just keep it for a back up.

Faults:

Water pump went out after 195,000 miles.

Timing belt tensioner was clicking when we got it; replaced it at about 194,000.

Spark plugs were covered in oil, and the engine would start slowly near the end of my ownership.

0-60 in about a month, but what can you expect from a 3 ton shipping crate on wheels.

General Comments:

Overall, this car was fantastic, and built like a tank. Mine was a forest green 4 door manual that I bought for 1,300 for high school, and it rarely let me down for being such a high mileage car.

The Trooper was fantastic in the winter, and its 4WD autolocking system was great for snow and off-road use. The interior was spartan, but nice at the same time, and my model had an aftermarket stereo, which was nice as I hear the stock ones were terrible. The plastics were solid, and overall the interior felt extremely solid. Same with the exterior as well. Isuzu did a remarkable job putting it together and building it with quality parts. My vehicle had very little rust on the body, but the frame did have some rust, though my mechanic said that was no problem due to the overbuilt nature of the truck.

On road performance is nothing to write home about, and you are not going to win any races in this truck. However, highway traveling was surprisingly comfortable, and I found the seats to be very supportive for longer road trips. I observed an average of about 8 mpg, which makes sense, considering the amount of mileage on the engine and its less than thrilling mpg ratings when new. My Trooper was equipped with the 5 speed manual, which I found wonderful for everyday driving. This also helped on power delivery and driving in difficult terrain and conditions.

Overall, I loved this car and I was sad to have to sell it. Despite that I bought it for 1300, it looked better and was more reliable than cars that kids bought for 10 times as much. Its simplicity was a plus, and I loved its usefulness, as I could haul 4 people, myself and a ridiculous amount of goods comfortably anywhere anytime.