2nd May 2008, 19:27
I bought my 2001 Isuzu Rodeo in 6/06. It had a strange smell on warm days, kinda like dirty socks. But, I figured that was from a previous owners hygiene.
I drove it from NY to WA. without any problems.
I religiously do oil changes and fluid checks every 3000 miles. I am not a rough driver. In fact I baby the suv.
The dash lights on the heater don't work anymore, even after checking fuses. I was driving down the freeway on a rainy day and my driver side wiper suddenly quit, causing my passenger side wiper to collide with it, and they got tangled up together. Turned out it was a bolt worn off the linkage connecting the driver side wiper to the passenger side.
It goes through oil really badly, and I realized I must do oil changes now every 2000 miles. The oil light never comes on, nor does the check engine light. I don't seem to have a transmission problem, but just the other day driving again on the freeway coming home from work, the engine started making knocking noises and banging noises. I immediately pulled off to a gas station. I didn't turn it back on. It came home on a tow dolly. After calling a licensed mechanic, and towing it to his shop, I found I had thrown a rod. Not sure how, as I have kept it oiled and babied, so now I need a new engine. I have only had the Rodeo for 2 yrs, and only 20,000 miles. Here's hoping my extended warranty will cover the cost. Course that is after mechanic has to remove engine, tear it apart to find out exactly why a rod broke (at my cost). Then, the warranty company will decide if it is my fault or an engine defect. I have all my service records so here is hoping that the warranty will be honored.
6th May 2008, 03:40
I own a 2002 Isuzu Rodeo S, 4x2, 2.2 ltr, 5 speed manual transmission, and currently it has 85,000 miles on it. I brought it brand new off the lot. I am stationed overseas in the military so I can't take it to a Isuzu dealer because it doesn't exist overseas. I've been doing most of the repairs on my own because of this. The problems I have had with the rodeo is:
- Adding oil constantly even when it was new.
- Fuel Sensor when out. (Repaired)
- ABS light is on and is still on since no one will look at it except for Isuzu.
- Head Gasket leaking coolant. (Repaired)
- EGR Valve (Repaired)
- Throttle Position Sensor (Repaired)
- A/C Compressor works when it wants.
- Camshaft Position Sensor (Repaired)
- Valve Cover Gasket (Repaired)
I still owe my rodeo but the work put into it is outrageous. The only good thing I can say about my rodeo is that it has never left me on the roadside.
13th May 2008, 23:39
2000 Rodeo, bought in 2008. 100300 miles, no serious problems. I did noticed one day my key would not come out of the ignition switch, and that lasted until I found the linkage cable from the ignition side to the shifter. I found that if you pull the cable towards the shifter, then it comes out, so I just zipped tied it closer to the shifter, and boom works fine now every time. Still new with this; will update if/when anything else goes wrong.
21st May 2008, 16:25
I own and 2000 Honda Passport 2wd. So far I haven't had any major issues with it; my fuel pump went out on me and it cost around 350 to get it all fixed.
Just recently I replaced the battery when the car died out of nowhere. I took the car to auto zone and they told me that the battery was bad, so I got a new one and it was fine for a few weeks.
About 6 days I went to work with everything working normal. When I got off work, I went to turn the key and the lights would turn on the dashboard, but when you turn the key to turn on the car, you would get that clicking sound you get when you battery's dead. I was able to get a jump, and when I took the car to the mechanic they said everything was working OK, and I might have left something open or on.
Yesterday the same thing, but this time when I turned the key, no light would come on; everything is dead. I got a jump and got the car going, but the ABS light came on and it would turn off my stereo, kinda like short circuit.
When I got home I turned it off to see if it was charged and nothing. The car is completely dead. This morning I had to get it jump started so the car would turn on, but the ABS comes on only when the car is in motion, when the car comes to a complete stop, the light will turn off.
26th May 2008, 10:48
I have '02 Trooper. You can't give me another Trooper. Turn the AC on and you can see the gas hand move. Now my transmission module/harness has gone out. If I had known that it didn't have a trans dipstick to check the trans oil level, I would have left it on the lot. Problem. No one carries an Isuzu trans module. Right now I'm looking for one when I ran across this site. Please do not buy an Isuzu Trooper.
31st May 2008, 00:17
My dad bought my mother a 2001 Rodeo in 2003. This has been an awesome ride.
It almost sounds like to me, since there is no dipstick, fewer people are not checking their transmission fluid. It is true that there is no dipstick, and you have to check underneath the vehicle. I know it's a pain, but this is a GM transmission and we have had wonderful luck out of this SUV. It has over 150,000 miles on it.
The only problems we are having are:
The engine light stays on.
The CD player doesn't work.. it errors.
There is a seal leaking on the transmission, which is being repaired. What sucks is that you have to unbolt the transmission from the motor to change some of the seals in the transmission.
It has been a wonderful vehicle, and I think it's normal for these things to happen. Being an owner of a Toyota 4-Runner, Chevrolet trucks and cars, Nissan and Honda, problems happen with all vehicles.
I want to reiterate the fact that there is no dipstick. You must have a dealer to check this for you because it does require a special transmission fluid, from the dealer. If not, your problems will get worse. I am not a dealer, but have been around auto's all my life. My dad was a mechanic. I had a GEO Storm, which is an Isuzu product; I put 279,000 miles on that before I traded it for my Nissan Altima. The Altima was very nice, but I liked the Rodeo too... It's an awesome vehicle for the price, and if you get tired of looking at the engine light, put a piece of black tap over it, so you won't see it!
As for the CD player, that it just wrong! Six disk CD player and can't use it.
Oh yes, and tires do matter on these babies.
My mom loves her Toyota 4-Runner, my dad sunk a ton of money in it, but it has transmission problems also! From my perspective, it's all about how you treat things, and sometimes there are just duds out there! My mother's is in the shop now having a seal replaced. So we will go from there!
22nd Apr 2008, 17:08
Well nobody seems to like it but I'm very happy with it. It runs so nice oddly enough and and drives pretty well. My top speed is 159mph, no lie. Isuzu is not built to last though. I only have 70000 miles on it and I'll be getting rid of it by 80000. 90 is too much. Word of advice is don't complain about a car that you've ran to the ground.