Opinions on Isuzu Rodeo

[RVTECH]

As the title states. My daughter is in love with 2001 (6 cyl, auto) she found. Reviews are not that great. Lets hear it.

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[Jamie6.5]

Reviews scared me away from a "great deal" earlier this year.

Something about a crank dampener/pulley backing out/falling off that I didn't want any part of.

 

[Keane]

I picked up a 95 Rodeo 4WD with manual transmission this summer (for ~1k!). I figured for that price, I would get my money's worth.

The Rodeo gets pretty terrible gas mileage, and is not very powerful, despite having the bigger V6. On the road, it is pretty big/bulky to drive.

However off road is where it shines! I've taken it over a few closed timber roads, and it handled it with no problem. I went over a number of downed trees and heaved ground without a problem! I also recently did some wet-weather offroading to go shooting with a few friends that each had big American pickups (A Dodge Ram and a Ford F250). Each of them ended up having trouble and got stuck, but the Rodeo ran them like it wasn't even a problem!

For the right price, the crank pulley falling off wouldn't be a problem. You'd notice it pretty quickly, and it is a simple thing to fix. If you're creative (and didn't anticipate keeping it long enough to do a timing belt job), you could either JB weld or bolt the crank pulley on in a way that it would never come off.

 

[SonicBlue03]

Nice thing about the year is that you've already bottomed out in terms of depreciation value. Isuzus don't hold it for beans. Agree with Keane on their off-road ability; most of the people I knew that bought them in the mid 90's LOVED them for their OR capability. Get a competent mechanic to go through the engine and drivetrain and if you get the thumbs up, enjoy.

 

[DuneHopper]

These are not bad looking cars, and that's about where the compliments stop. This reminds me of the Chevy Caviler, nice looking comfortable and not worth the metal that made it. There are better used vehicles that will be more reliable,
you want to buy a car you can drive not visit on weekends in the repair shop :huh:

 

[MrNiceGuy]

The Isuzu Rodeo / Honda Passport are actually pretty good vehicles. I have had experience with several. The only real "problem" is they tend to develop valve train noise when they reach about ~140k. I've seen this on at least a few dozen rodeos/passports. Of those that i've been able to keep track of over the years, all of them are still on the road running great... if only a little noisy.

I'm actually looking at one right now also.
Like was said above me, have a mechanic that you trust check it out.
Remember that a mechanics job is to find problems (real OR imagined) that they can charge you money to fix. A mechanic that you can trust is huge.

As far as gas mileage, 4x4's get terrible gas mileage almost as a rule.
The 01 passport v6 is rated at 15/19mpg, compared to the industry leading small SUV of the same year (kia sportage) that with a 4cyl got only 16/20mpg.

 

[Burt Gummer]

This was one of the best deals on a rock solid Toyota Landcruiser I've seen for a while. If I wasn't out of town I would have snagged it.

These things are the built built, run forever rigs ever put down an assembly line. I would trust one of these with 250k miles to get over bad terrain point A to B over any new 4x4.

<broken link removed>

 

[OregonPlinker]

My buddy had one and it ran good. It was gutless but reliable and hes hard on his rigs. He had that rodeo for longer than a lot of his vehicles. We actually joke when he gets a new rig that he's gonna give it the "Josh test"... It did real good off road and in the snow. I like the jeep cherokees and grand cherokees as far as mid size suvs go. They get a bad rap too but Ive had good luck with 3 of them. You want to get the straight six if you can. Or the Hemi hahaha

 

[sheepdip]

RODEO/PASSPORT, long version of P.O.S.

 

[Unka-Boo]

Meh


Cherokee Sport if you're looking into small SUV in the same age bracket....damn near indestructible and sky's the limit for aftermarket support.

 

[mjbskwim]

Auto transmissions or expensive to fix on Isuzus

 

[Redcap]

Run, don't walk.

 

[IheartGUNS]

My bro inlaw had a 98 rodeo and it did what it was made to do...drive. He even took it way past the timing belt maintence with no problem. But eventually, it did give him problems after about 5-6 years of neglect.

 

[WhyteCheddar]

try this ;-)
http://www.northwestfirearms.com/non-firearm-item-classifieds/106858-2001-nissan-xterra.html

I would add about the Rodeo, that if Honda saw fit to put their name and reputation on this Isuzu built vehicle that you could probably do worse.