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Old 1st April 2010, 17:40   #1
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planning to buy an Isuzu Trooper

I just sold my Lotus Sport Elise (what a sweet puppy that was, one of 50 Elises built by lotus for track use with the best track components lotus has ever put on this chassis), and I am also going to sell my Honda accord (rare V6 manual trans sedan). I live in New York CIty and I am on the look out for a cheap beater vehicle that will serve my local running purposes and occasional out of town trips at minimal cost.

and I found this Isuzu Trooper. its a 3.0L V6, 4wd, 5 speed manual transmission, proper hi/low range transfer box. You would be shocked at how many 4wd vehicles in the US do not have manual transmissions and proper lo range. jeep wrangler apart, the old style cherokee and the Trooper may be the only ones in the last two decades and both of those are as rare as hen's teeth.

anyway, this Trooper has covered 150,000 miles, or about 240,000 km and I hope to snag it for about $1500 (about Rs 80,000).

I expect initially I will just be fixing and repairing things like brakes and hoses and things, but if things work out after that, I intend to build it into a full expedition style vehicle. Yesterday I was fantasizing that I would get it shipped to france, then drive it overland to India (haha!)

anyway, if I am not stuck at work over the weekend, I am going to go check it out and if its in good condition, I'll pay cash on the barrel and bring it home.

I'll post pictures if things work out. this crappy picture is from the advert
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planning to buy an Isuzu Trooper-15411459196.277000189.im1.main.565x421_a.565x420.jpg  

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Old 1st April 2010, 23:45   #2
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correction, its a 3.2L engine.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 00:20   #3
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It looks great for a 1.5 lac miles vehicle. And at that price its a steal. But I think engine has lived its more than half of its life.

Isn't labor job expensive in the west.

In India it would have been a steal at that price as overhauling etc are dirt cheap here.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 01:08   #4
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well, there are a couple of things here. almost no one would get an old vehicle like this overhauled because the cost would be enormous compared to the value of the vehicle. but any enthusiast would overhaul the thing himself because parts, tools, manuals, expertise is commonly available. I've rebuilt other old vehicles before.

but in this case, i would not be rebuilding the vehicle because right now I live in NYC and have no place to take the thing apart. so this thing is going to need to be very tight and very far away from needing an overhaul if I am to buy it. for what its worth, 150,000 miles in the US is much much less than the same miles in Indian conditions. its roughly equivalent to about 100,000km in Indian conditions. here it is much more likely that salt that they put down on the roads in the winters, plus neglect would have done serious damage to the vehicle, beyond what normal wear and tear would have.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 01:43   #5
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Are there Isuzu dealers around anymore? where would you buy parts for it?
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Old 2nd April 2010, 03:42   #6
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parts are not an issue.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 04:34   #7
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I will try my best to get you to do the overland trip from France to India. Preferably over Russia, Mongolia, & China. Already smiling thinking about the fine pics we could see . Only the very fortunate of humans get to do such things. I have started collecting brownie points to ride a bike to the northpole from the Mexico border, probably a decade away :-)

I do basic maintenance on my 4runner with 100K miles, I would think the Trooper would be much similar. You would be fine with parts while still in NYC, but for a long drive through Mongolia when you would need to spend a ton on things like a snorkel exhaust, floor boards, bigger gas tank, (and you know all the goodies you need for an expedition) why take a chance with the power train and transmission that has 150K. When you can get a decent Toyota/Jeep 4x4 with less than 100K miles for $5K. That said, when in remote mongolia, the chances of finding Landcrusier parts Vs a Trooper are probably the same. Good luck with your decision.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 06:54   #8
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This vehicle is well done. Too many miles. The only way I would consider it is if the seller could supply a complete documentation of all oil changes and work done.

Why don't you keep the Honda?

In N. America they opt for Auto trans because an auto trans will absorb some of the "wind up" you get between front and rear axles when in 4x4 mode. Also there are many more women drivers there. They like auto-tranny.

Most SUV vehicles in N. America are bought to handle snow.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 10:58   #9
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it has covered 240000kms and you still wanna buy it?

which year model is this
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Old 2nd April 2010, 11:59   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Harbir View Post
parts are not an issue.
Isuzu has exited the passenger car and SUV business globally many years back. Trust me, I owned an Isuzu Trooper in the New York many years back. you can see the pictures in my garage. I had a huge problem sourcing parts. At that time there was a St. Charles Isuzu in Missouri who used to ship me the parts. 1500 will sound cheap until you start to fix things that go wrong in the vehicle. My sincere advice is to avoid this. If you are keen on a cheap used SUV, better to stick with an older Toyota 4Runner as parts and service are much easily available. You can also consider one of the older American Ford/Chevy SUVs.

In my opinion this Trooper is not worth it even if you get it free. Isuzu is a great vehicle, unfortunately in North America they hardly sold much and many techs dont' know how to fix it and where to source parts from. A cousin of mine bought a similar one to yours and lost almost 7K in repairs before he dumped it.

Last edited by 4x4addict : 2nd April 2010 at 12:01.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 14:58   #11
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this is most unusual. I talked to three different isuzu trooper owners on the sports car forum I normally post on and they all report no problem procuring parts. parts.com is a website that supplies OE parts for virtually every vehicle sold in the US and they have virtually every part for the trooper in stock.

perhaps things have changed since your experience.

as for repair costs, if its not in tip top shape, I won't be buying it, and if it is, then I will not spend more than $500 a year to upkeep it. if it starts to cost more than that, it'll get thrown in the bin.

Last edited by Harbir : 2nd April 2010 at 15:00.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 15:24   #12
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@harbir:

It's your money mate, but I am just telling you from my experience. I had the older gen vehicle and my cousin bought the same version as yours. Why don't you call parts.com and try to order some critical parts and see what they tell you.

End of the day it's your call.
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Old 2nd April 2010, 16:01   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4x4addict View Post
Why don't you call parts.com and try to order some critical parts and see what they tell you.
I am going to do precisely that today. good idea!
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Old 30th July 2010, 11:22   #14
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Dear Harbir,You are one lucky guy.The model seems to be of late 90's or early 2000.I am looking derperately for a Trooper in Hyderabad.
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Old 30th July 2010, 14:22   #15
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dude try some toyota 4WD, 4Runners instead of the trooper!

i would place my $$ on a toyota compared to the isuzu!
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