Bought this yesterday, drove it home today. We have a "Lemon Lot" on post for military folks to sell their cars and I noticed this one last weekend. I saw it was still there on Friday so I gave the dude a call to see if I could look at it closer. Come to find out he is an Air Force LTC who is shipping out to Germany tomorrow so he was pretty intent on getting rid of it quickly. I offered him $4,500 for it which is way under book value. He accepted, I got it.

It is a 1999 Isuzu Rodeo LS 4WD with only 78K miles on it. The thing is super clean and drives very nice. The only damage on it is the ding you see on the driver's door. The funny thing is that I live in Kansas but still have my truck and van licensed in North Dakota, this thing had North Dakota plates on it. He bought it when he was stationed in Grand Forks.

I know it isn't a MOPAR product, but I needed something decent for my youngest son to drive to school. Now, I get to teach him how to drive a manual transmission...

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Nice score.

I've always liked the VehiCross, those are pretty rare and I've only seen one.

It's not a VehiCross since it has four doors. I spoke to my Father who has been selling cars since 1963 and he stated that these are getting a premium in North Dakota from rural mail delivery folks. I guess the Rodeo and Trooper is known to run 200K without much maintenance. Given the fact that Isuzu started as a commercial truck company and has since gotten back to their roots, I can understand why they are able to run them so hard. The only thing I was warned about was rust - once it starts on once of thse you need to catch it quick or it will take body panels in a very short time. That little ding on the driver's door already has a spot of rust on it so I need to fix that right away.

I know it isn't a VehiCross but I remember when the original concept came out and I was like "No way in hell they'll build that" then I saw one driving down the road a few months later.

I want to say the engine in that thing is sourced from a Nissan Pathfinder, which explains a lot of why they last so long, my Dad has a 4-cyl Hardbody pickup 5-speed with about 280k all original and it still runs like a swiss watch.

Very nice. Quite a few of the guys in my unit have those, and for all I can tell, they really like them. None with stick, though...

I can understand the thrill (or terror) some parents feel about teaching their kids to drive a stick, am I alone in thinking that Driver's Education classes should use manual transmission cars to teach kids to drive? After learning to drive a stick, an automatic is a snap, IMO.

Good find BA........

I used to work for Isuzu NA back in the early 80's as an Engineering Tech. I was mainly testing cooling systems for generator/pumping units. Mainly got into fan/shroud designs and encloser designs for the units themselves. The Isuzu is a good engine and very durable (especially their diesels).

Very nice... the gas milage would definitely scare me away from a vehicle like that, though.

Quote: Originally Posted by GlitterKill Very nice... the gas milage would definitely scare me away from a vehicle like that, though.

Those actually get decent mileage for an SUV...........yeah it's not a lil Honda but at least BA's son will have a lil more sheet metal around him if he get's into an accident.

I guess it pulls around 20 in town. That is a hell of a lot better than my pickup. I'm not too worried about mileage since it will be ONLY for back and forth to school. Well, at least initially.

I've got a friend who swears by little Isuzu trucks, he's run two I know of for over 200K each. Of course rust is not a big concern in Arizona. I've also heard you shouldn't get Rodeos wet ...or feed them after midnight.

They have to be pretty decent considering Honda slapped their tag on them before they started building their own off roaders. The Honda Passport was a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo with a higher price tag. It was also sold as an Opel, a Vauxhall and a Holden. In other words, it's in Chevy's stable. In Japan it's an Isuzu Wizard . Early Rodeo's all had Chevy engines including the ubiquitous 3.1 liter V6. I still see those driving around. I'm pretty sure most of the later engines are Isuzu built.

They've come a long way since making the original ultra crappy little truck, the Chevy Luv. Remember those?

Yeah, I remember the Luv. There were some models that came from the factory with Daisy's on them. Do you remember the Brat? How about the Rampage? I rode in the plastic back seat of a Brat a few times, it had pistol grip handles to hang on to so you didn't fall out. I also drove a Rampage when they were new, it was a pretty neat little truck/car. That has to be one of the coolest names to ever be given to a vehicle, I can't believe it hasn't been resurected yet.

I heard that Honda had something to do with Isuzu but I wasn't sure how. Thanks for the info.

I remember Brats. Brats were really different for the times. They didn't hold up too well, but they sure looked cool.

Rampage was like an El Camino version of a Plymouth Arrow wasn't it? Or whatever the dodge version of the Arrow was. Two or three years ago I saw a Dodge concept truck called Rampage at the Phoenix auto show, I never put it together with the old one until just now. It was kind of a cross between a Chevy Avalanche and a Dodge mini van. I haven't seen or read anything about it since though. It didn't seem terribly practical, but then neither does the Avalanche. Chrysler always has some of the most outrageous concepts at shows, but that one seemed more "finished" like it could see production.

Here's a Brat along with the handles. Also, the concept Rampage and an original Rampage. I hadn't seen the concept truck before.

Edit: Added a made by Isuzu Chevy Luv that is being owned by a Ram.

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That Ram looks vaguely familiar...

On a side note, the new Rampage looks pretty nice, I just don't like the design of the back doors' opening... It's always struck me as possibly dangerous to have the front and back doors closing/locking against the same support/side strut/whatevertheheckit'scalled...

That is pretty nice for a beater...

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita Here's a Brat along with the handles. Also, the concept Rampage and an original Rampage. I hadn't seen the concept truck before. Edit: Added a made by Isuzu Chevy Luv that is being owned by a Ram.

Reminds me of a Subaru Baja.

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