99 Trooper

George,

I've had one for about a year - got it used - and its been great so far.

I have a '99 Performance model bought new in August, '99. Mine came with the leather seating option which also gives it heated power seats. I also purchased the Isuzu extended warranty. The dealer I purchased the vehicle from did not sell the Isuzu warranty, so I bought it at another dealer. The vehicle now has only a little over

33K miles on it.

Don't recall exactly when, but in less than a year the window regulator on the drivers door had to be repaired. Unfortunately they did not get the rubber in the window frame reinstalled correctly, and it was slow to close. Lived with it a long time this way. BIG MISTAKE!! This summer, when I took the vehicle in for 30K service I asked them to repair it under warranty. Well, the extended warranty does not cover that repair.

Also, about a year into it the speedometer quit. At first I assumed it was the sender at the transmission that had failed. But then I noticed the odometer still worked. Took it to the dealer to have it repaired. Told them I did not think it was the sender, but was in the speedo head proper. They replaced the sender; naturally. They then had to replace the entire speedometer head and didn't/couldn't set the odometer to the correct mileage. So now it is off about 8k miles.

The dealer I originally bought it from, a Honda/Isuzu dealer, changed hands. The new dealer dropped the Isuzu line after a few months. Isuzu is now sold/serviced by a Nissan dealer down the road a ways. Really an orphan, and their service department is devoid of knowledge on these vehicles.

At any rate, I like it a lot about 75% of the time. I have every confidence in it getting me to where I want to go, and really enjoy driving it when the wx is bad. It has never been seriously off-road. Gas mileage seems to have gotten worse. For the longest time I pretty consistently got 14+mpg around town. This past summer it ran about

12.5mpg. I suspect a problem with the a/c compressor as it has developed a low pitched howl when running. The dealer is not interested in repairing it until it quits blowing cold.

All in all I consider it a tough competent vehicle. It deserves better dealer support than what is available in Houston, Texas.

Max

I have a 98 trooper. I love it so far and I love to drive it.

No serious problems, I did have the transmission fluid changed for precaution although I never had any problems with it.

There is a small pulley at the front of the engine. I stareted howling a while back, the dealer said I needed a $4000.00 new transmission. I fixed the pulley for $200.00.

I have taken it off road and it performs great. The best part is that all I have to tell my wife about 4 wheel drive is to press the Torq on demand button.

It takes about 18 inches of heavy packed snow before it is stranded.

I can put my garden tractor/lawn mower in the back of it and almost close the doors.

It has great pickup and maneuvers really well, I tested it on thanksgiving day downtown New York City.

Good luck with yours.

George Tapia wrote:

I have the 99 SWB Trooper with diesel, best vehicle I've ever had. No problems in four years.

John, how many miles on your Trooper when the noise began? What was the pulley that was making the noise? Did you replace it or repair? Did it make the noise all the time, or just under certain circumstancess; e.g., running the A/C?

Thanks for the post.

Max

Max:

The car had about 80k on it when the pulley started making noise. It was a very insignificant pulley. I do not know the name of it but it is at the front, middle of the engine, on the top. Very easily accessible and viewable. You cannot miss it. It is the highest pulley on the engine, about 3 inches in diameter. I had it changed for about $200.00 including labor. Anyone could have changed it.

The noise was all the time, louder with higher RPM. It had to be replaced.

Other than the Muffler, the catalytic converter, and the hood latch cable, I cannot think of anything else that I had replaced on the car. It has now almost 100k on it. Oh yes, a sensor that had to do with the EGR had to be replaced once.

Great car, don't forget to add a quart of oil every 1000 miles or so.

You would not believe the maneuvering that I did with it downtown New York City, let's just say, I out-maneuvered the taxi drivers down there. I had to catch up with a friend and the streets were full of pedestrians on thanksgiving day.

good luck.

john

Max T> >