You're basically right. If you were never to accelerate/decelerate, the differences in tire size would not play a large role. However, the number of stop and go cycles (city driving) can affect the impact of these tire size differences.
Tidester,
yes sir, the wheel, brake rotor, axle shaft, lug nuts, differential carrier, ring gear, and any other components that would be attached to the assembly and rotate with the tire would need to be considered. I was just trying to mathematically show the impact of the larger tire size. Torque required to accelerate the tire and its assembly is increased algebraically, however, it is not linear in relation to the tire radius it is exponential to the radius by a factor of 2(R^2). Thanks for the point though.
Dielectric is right, for all practical applications, if you have the "test" tires available and mounted on the rim, you can use the "acceleration down the slope" test to determine the moment of inertia. It would be easier, and possible. The method I mentioned earlier would require you to know how the mass or density of the tire as it varied with its diameter. This would not be possible unless you started cutting tires or obtained the data from the manufacturer. Uhhhh, I would need to look up and find that formula as well.
rolling resistance...ok, I won't mention it anymore as I don't have clue number one as to how it's changing w/respect to width/tread/pressure...other than the obvious of not running your tires at super low pressures.
here's a link to some tires with rolling resistance numbers ;-)
I apologize for any confusion. Let's try to summarize.
I think, as a group, that we can agree that tires larger than the stock tires on our Troopers (MY 98-02) will generally reduce our gas mileage even if it is marginal.
Can I have a second on that motion? Any concurrence?
I feel like I'm back at college in a physics class.
Must say that it's quite a buzz to read about everyone's experiences and opinions. I just regret that I can't meet any of you. Now if Trooper's were amphibious.....
Just got back from a business trip to Portland Maine. While there I took in a few of the sights including Ocean Drive in Kennebunkport (sp?). Drove past George Bush Sr.'s summer home and spotted a Trooper in the driveway. Probably belonged to a caretaker, Secret Service, friend or relative - but it was cool to see a Trooper in George's driveway. I was kicking myself for not bringing a camera... Lots of pretty country up there! Would love to go back in the fall when the colors are changing.
While this is not news/info related to a Trooper, its worth announcing, I think.
My wife and I have just found out that she/we are pregnant with our first child. The baby is due in December. We are very excited, but I am a little stressed. I have law school exams for the very last semester of my law school education in December, hopefully, it will work out. In the meantime, I am also attempting to change careers, looking for a position with a law firm. For those who believe, please pray for us.
We'll be looking a little harder for those third seats now.
My bottom line is that I like the handling and performance of my 265/75's. My city mileage, some but not a whole lot of stop and go, is slightly lower and my highway a little higher. I am running these newer tires at about 7 lbs higher pressure than the stockers. This presumably results in a lower rolling resistance. In addition, it could also be these Michelins have less rolling resistance by design.
I got the 2002 annual auto report. Not that I put a whole lotta stock in what they say...however they did put the Trooper in their reliability matrix this year and it faired well. 99 was the most recent model. Their write-up has changed a little, not quite as harsh? Maybe they are watching their lawsuit p's and q's?
Consumer Reports called the Trooper far and away the most reliable best built SUV in its class (the scale was -5 to +5 and the Trooper was a +4 all others were -3 or worse) and then proceded to say they could not recommend Trooper because it might roll over.
I just wrote out another paragraph of venting on this but I deleted it to spare you the negativity.
Please don't buy any Consumer Reports publication. If you have a subscription cancel it. If you must read Consumer Reports do it at the book store without buying it. I would love for Consumer Reports to have to drop its top of the line product just like Isuzu has had to do.
The Jackaroo has been in Australia since 1984 and never had I heard about rollover problems with them. Also, I have had mine for around two and a half years and it never felt like it was going to roll. Even when driving hard through some winding roads in the Snowy Mountains.
Try having power mode on, in cruise control, a somewhat tight left hand bend with a sudden uphill grade half-way through it and cambered the wrong way, at about 90km/h. It's no sports car, and it was a hair-raising experience, but it had no intention of rolling.
Actually, the only rollover scare I had heard about was Suzuki Sierra. And that was a very long time ago.
Consumer Reports is a USA magazine that reported the Suzuki Samarai a long time ago to roll over easily. For that story they got free advertising on the news. That's all it took to adict them to sensationalism at the expense of the truth. Since then they have attacked the early model Trooper and the 1995.5 Trooper (my particular model that I own) and very recently the Mitsubishi Montero (the big Mistsu SUV under a different name for Australia most likely).
I have the VHS video of the 1995.5 rollover "test" that Consumer Reports says was a fair test and the video shows the Trooper was put through maneuvers that would correspond to 1.2 lateral Gs. More than double the Gs that any of the other SUVs in the test were put through. The Trooper was slolomed at the outside cones while the others were slolomed at the inside cones providing a much straighter path.
The Mitsubishi Montero rollover video was actually run on the news. They drove it fast and rocked the steering back and forth rythmically such that each successive turn added to the body roll built up in the turn before. After about a dozen such wild steering inputs the Mistsubishi was up on two wheels. All they proved was you can roll anything if you want to bad enough.
Isuzu took Consumer Reports to court and forced them to admit to deliberately falsifying the "test" to cause a news worthy event. What they did not prove was that Consumer Reports intended to harm Isuzu. Of course not, all they intended to do was make it into the news. Consumer Reports even spun the court results to sound like they came out on top in articles in their magazine. IIRC it was something like Consumer Reports found innocent on 8 counts brought against it by Isuzu, instead of Consumer Reports guilty in 9 out of 17 counts.
The real proof is that there is hardly ever Trooper rolled.
Consumer Reports should have a Buyer Beware Disclaimer on the cover. You can be sure they will tell a lie to make a buck.
1. What they did in that Trooper test was really unethical/despicable/etc. and it bugged me.
2. I still read the magazine and find value in some of the automotive information they produce.
3. "Consumer Reports even spun the court results to sound like they came out on top in articles in their magazine." Yes, they did. This was the equivalent to Toyota not admitting fault in the recent sludge/gel issue. Once CR had gone so far and been so vehement that the test was valid and fair, they could not afford to admit they were wrong. So they didn't admit it. That's really bad and it sucks, but it's how companies do things.
4. I don't think CR does these attacks (Samurai, Trooper, Montero) for the sake of publicity. I'm sure they are pleased that they get the publicity, but I think their reason is they actually think they are reporting information that the public will benefit from. They think they are doing good by reporting this stuff, and they think their testing methods are valid. Unfortunately, with the Trooper, once they got a whiff that the vehicle was a little tippy they went hog wild and did everything they could to make it tip over.
5. I would love to see that video! If anybody is willing to mail me a copy, I would really appreciate it. I'll send you advance payment for shipping, etc.-- however you want to do it.
I think CR takes "donations" or "tips" from the automotive industry. That is how the world is everyone is looking for a handout and CR is no different. Suzuki, Isuzu and Mitsu missed their payment and payed dearly with the results. In Australia the Montero is the Pajero I've been trying to get the video so I can put it on my website, if anyone has it and can convert it over I'll host it up.
I definitely think they take pot shots and single out certain manufacturers. If you read comparisons they destroy a drivetrain in one vehicle, and then tout how good the very same one is in a different one. I do buy it every now and again however. I think it is a good source for information, however, not always good information. I take it for what it is worth, biased opinions loosely based on fact. I think where they come off wrong is that they try to sell themselves as an un-biased, not for profit group. When in fact they are just the opposite.
There was some trooper talk in the pilot forum. Someone mentioned the trooper having 5 cup holders? Is that thing in the center console box supposed to be number 5? I have never used it, or could even think how it could really be used?
I use a wide bottom cup made by Alladdin sold by gas stations with a logo or at the grocery store or for a huge price at the coffee shop and it fits perfect which leaves the other two cup holders for the kids and wife.
"4. I don't think CR does these attacks (Samurai, Trooper, Montero) for the sake of publicity. I'm sure they are pleased that they get the publicity, but I think their reason is they actually think they are reporting information that the public will benefit from."
I think it cannot be anything other than publicity financially motivated. Any notion that the Trooper "test" was a test and not a publicity stunt would be dispelled by viewing the video.
Paison, how do I convert the VHS video to something you can post on your web site? If I mail it to you can you do it and return the VHS to me?
I'm not sure how to get it into a video file. I think someone on here had one they were gonna convert and e-mail me. If I figure out how to digitize it I'll let you know.
I gotta say, overall I think you guys have the wrong idea about CR. There's more discussion of CR in the Consumer Reports forum (in News & Views?). Some folks have taken time to post some good explanations about CR. They aren't 100% in favor of CR, but they explain the thinking behind how CR does stuff. If you're gonna bash 'em, I'd say it's worth hearing the other side of the story.
Their info and conclusions are not always accurate or consistent with the other major automotive mags, but taking CR as "biased opinions loosely based on fact" seems to be way off.
Who are posting over there are probably the brainwashed people like everyone else that takes CR at their word. I mean in the same exact issue they ditch on Isuzus for "old technology that is long in the tooth" and other manufacturers as "traditional tried and true components, classicly styled" They are full of crappola!
Well this topic pops up every year or so, but I will repeat:
At the time of the CR rollover mess, Trooper was no worse than middle of the pack for real-world SUV rollovers per 100,000 miles driven. By far the worst at that time was the Bronco II. Did CR go after Ford? Of course not.
CR claims to be unbiased because they don't accept advertising, but what people don't realize is that they DO accept "donations". Is it a coincidence that CR consistently has singled out small manufacturers like Suzuki, Isuzu, and Mitsubishi for this? All of these vehicles were quality SUVs when CR went after them, while leaving worse domestic SUVs alone. Mighty strong coincidence if you ask me.
The only SUV's I have seen rollover in the real world were both Jeeps - one cherokee and one grand cherokee. Both on their roofs when I came upon the two accidents. It is all in how you drive, I could have rolled my Prelude if I wanted to bad enough.
The fifth cup holder is the big openning in the console. IIRC it came with a piece that snapped to the top of the openning which would keep a cup in place.
I don't have good explanations for why CR hammered the Samurai, Trooper, and Montero unfairly. I don't believe it's an anti-foreign vehicle thing. Think about this: for the most part, CR totally bashes the American brands for their subpar quality/reliability (CR gets this info from the reader surveys), so I don't consider them to be a pro-American outfit.
The folks posting on the Edmunds CR forum are NOT the "rah-rah, everything CR does is great" folks of whom paisan speaks. There are plenty of those people in the world, including my dad. Those folks are really letting their auto views be swayed way too much by what CR says. I am constantly trying to get my dad to scrutinize CR, what they do, and how they do it. His faith in CR is pretty much blind and that's disappointing.
There is some good critique, both pro and con, of CR on the Edmunds board.
We have a similar outfit in Australia that produce a magazine called Choice. They seem to have similar issues with their reporting, but I can't say that I have seen them go to extremes to cause sensationalism. Also, what they publish generally has little effect on the buying public here. Car magazines and motoring organisations have by far the biggest influence.
As an example, Holden is the top auto manufacturer in Australia with the Holden Commodore by far and away the top selling car.In Choice reviews, it would rate somewhere in the middle pack for quality. In motoring reviews, it would be one of the best value 6cyl rear wheel drive sedans available.
I guess it comes down to the psyche of the public in the end. Personally, I like to do my own thinking and research. Which is why I bought the Monterey and not the Mitsubishi or Toyota.
I have been following the Trooper replacement program for some time.
That said, I am highly disappointed with what has turned out.
A friend of mine works at the SIA plant and mentioned that Isuzu would start a decontenting program that would make them the cost leader in the GM SUV lineup. That is what I want. I do not want a bloated SUV that looks like I am seeing it from one of those 'fat' mirrors at the carnival.
What I was really hoping for a decontented Tahoe with a duramax and a manual transmission.
That said, does anyone have any additional information on an Isuzu decontenting program? I have googled it and not found anything.
I mean the ASSender will be a decontented Envoy. The last Isuzu product is the Axiom I just hope I can pay off my Trooper before even that disappears. Although if I'm lucky Tonight I'll win the $220M lotto in NJ and just buy me a car company!
sorry paisan, but I'm buying the winning ticket tonight here in Michigan.
If I win, I'll buy Isuzu back from GM and get Subaru to let us merge. We can start cooperating with the Subie folks in making cool, different, fun, practical trucks to complement their cars.
I have a '95 Trooper, and it came with the stock two holders that you have. IMO, they are not very good. Recently, I replaced the ashtray for the split-bench-seat (your middle row), with a cup holder. The ashtray is removed with just two screws, and the cup holder takes its place. The newer Troopers have these cup holders, so it's just a replacement part for the new ones. IMO, they work better than the front two cup holders, but still aren't the best. The good thing is that it maintains the stock look of the interior by matching the plastic coloring, grey in my case, almost perfectly (hey, 7+ years of American South West sun, and the fading is virtually unperceivable). It was a little less than 30 dollars IIRC, which is quite a price for two cup holders, but considering they won’t be around much longer, and I plan on keeping the Trooper forever (I’ll convert it to run on electricity when and if the engine/tranny die), I said what the heck.
I am not planning to have it snap. It seemed sturdy, as I could play with it off the truck. The weakest part seemed to be the two screws, which I can easily fix something up for :-) It looks good, and since I hate smoke, except for the occasional cigar that will not be smoked in my vehicle, I figure I would throw that old ashtray out. It is an alternative to buying those ugly door cup holders. I do not know what it is about them, but they just do not appeal to me at all, even if they are more functional and only 50 cents at Wallyworld.
I'm looking for a new truck/SUV and came across a 1998 Trooper with 75,000 miles, asking price (at dealership) is $10995. Any input on the pros/cons of this model year or things to look out for? I'm into reliability and longevity, my '91 Toyota pickup (ext.cab 4x4 with 22RE) is getting traded at 230,000 miles.
Seems like a decent price. Not sure why the dealer's initial asking price would actually be decent (it's usually inflated), but that seems the case with that figure. However, condition (both mechanical and cosmetic) is important and that will have a big effect on the value of this vehicle.
Can you tell what trim level it is? All 1998 Troopers are "S" models but there are 2 major option packages which are available only on auto trans models. The Performance Package includes several things, including a better 4WD system (called Torque on Demand, or TOD) than the standard shift-on-the-fly system. The Luxury Package, which requires the Performance Package, includes leather interior, dual power front heated seats, giant moonroof, fog lamps, etc.
What else can you tell us about the truck? Manual or automatic? If automatic, does it have the TOD system? If there's a button to the right of the steering wheel, above the radio, that says "4WD Auto On/Off" then this Trooper has the TOD system.
If it's a manual trans Troop, then $10,995 isn't a real good price. If it's an auto trans but without the Performance Pkg, then that's an okay price. If it has the Performance Pkg, then that's a pretty good price. If it has the Luxury Pkg, I'd say the price is very good.
As a point of reference, our 98 Trooper has 63k miles. It's got the Performance Pkg and the 6-disc in-dash CD changer. It's been well taken care of. I'd like to think we could get $12-13k if we sold it privately. Perhaps that's a bit optimistic, but I have all service records, truck is in good shape, never off-road, etc.
Is the dealer an Isuzu dealer or some other dealer?
Even if some of the smart maintenance items have never been done on this truck (differential fluid changes, etc.), I'd say the damage hasn't been done since it's got only 75k miles. But note that this vehicle is totally out of the warranty period. Also, if you want to treat the truck right and the dealer can provide no service history, you will be looking at quite a few maintenance items if you want to get the up to date on the maintenance schedule.
The main thing is timing belt change interval, which is every 75k miles. You might tell the dealer you want the timing belt changed as part of the deal, so you don't have to spend $300-400 on that in the near future.
I think that would be great! A re-incarnated Trooper as a Mother of all Foresters. It would have Subaru's all the time all wheel drive with good fuel economy and Subaru's horizontally opposed engine concept. But the ForesTrooperSter would be horizontally opposed turbo diesel with the new non turbine acoustic wave turbo / supercharger that does not have lag. It would also have low mounted batteries and a mechanizm to store braking energy. It would have a 30Kw auxiliary electrical output for worksite or home backup. And it would still have enough raw diesel power to pull 7000 lb. up the longest steepest grade, not super fast, but in a practical way like the Subarus do now. The ForesTrooperSter would have a road feel and off road ability like the Trooper only much better since it will be more than a decade newer design. The low center of gravity would deny CR the ability to get it up on two wheels. (maybe they could build into the vehicle computer the smarts to figure out when and idiot (CR) driver is trying to get it up on two wheels and stop them) And the final nice feature: the OnStar will be a user removeable optional item so they can only track where you go and listen to you if you want them to.
I like the 2003 Forester a lot but it cannot tow my boat.
Perhaps I'm totally unrealistic guys, but I certainly would not sell my Trooper at anywhere near it's book value. The way I figure it, since my Trooper is in mint condition, and essentially like new, anyone buying it would have to pay close to a new price. I am not of the mind set to buy a vehicle and then take a depreciation loss thanks to the fickle nature of the buying public. My Trooper is what I expected it to be when I bought it. I plan to keep it for a very long time.
Took a dirt drive of a 2002 turbo diesel automatic Jackaroo yesterday. Absolutely awesome!
This vehicle doesn't have TOD, just shift-on-the-fly part time 4WD. It just about idled, up a 38 degree incline at less than 1500 rpm in 4H range. The engine braking coming back down was fantastic, just come off the throttle in 4L and she came down nice and slow.
Does anyone have any experience on what sort of life expectancy the factory brake pads on a Trooper have?
Mine are upto 43,000 kms, and my last couple of cars usually had the front pads replaced by now. The Trooper's are showing some wear, but not a great deal.
Several people have chimed in over the past year or two with their experience. Here's mine: 98 Trooper, 63k miles, no brake work yet. Haven't had the brakes inspected, but was thinking about doing that to get an idea of how much pad life is left. Don't want to burn through the pads and damage the rotors!
Trooper brake pads, at least here in the USA, seem to last a very long time. Several folks have reported more than 60k miles from a set of pads. This is much better than the experience I've had with all other vehicles I've ever owned.
I think it will depend on what kind of driving you do. I live in the mountains and my 96 needed new pads and rotors turned after 34K, which the mechanic said was typical for my type of driving. I heard the warning noise up front when I applied the brakes and thus took it in. Upon inspection the front brakes looked worse, but when they actually took them apart the rear brakes and rotors were in worse shape. I would recommend a good inspection at 30k if you do a lot of braking during normal driving. If it's mostly highway driving you might get twice the life.
Comments
You're basically right. If you were never to accelerate/decelerate, the differences in tire size would not play a large role. However, the number of stop and go cycles (city driving) can affect the impact of these tire size differences.
Tidester,
yes sir, the wheel, brake rotor, axle shaft, lug nuts, differential carrier, ring gear, and any other components that would be attached to the assembly and rotate with the tire would need to be considered. I was just trying to mathematically show the impact of the larger tire size. Torque required to accelerate the tire and its assembly is increased algebraically, however, it is not linear in relation to the tire radius it is exponential to the radius by a factor of 2(R^2). Thanks for the point though.
Dielectric is right, for all practical applications, if you have the "test" tires available and mounted on the rim, you can use the "acceleration down the slope" test to determine the moment of inertia. It would be easier, and possible. The method I mentioned earlier would require you to know how the mass or density of the tire as it varied with its diameter. This would not be possible unless you started cutting tires or obtained the data from the manufacturer. Uhhhh, I would need to look up and find that formula as well.
Thanks for the comments.
here's a link to some tires with rolling resistance numbers ;-)
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/general/news/mtbtest_en.html
I apologize for any confusion. Let's try to summarize.
I think, as a group, that we can agree that tires larger than the stock tires on our Troopers (MY 98-02) will generally reduce our gas mileage even if it is marginal.
Can I have a second on that motion? Any concurrence?
-mike
Must say that it's quite a buzz to read about everyone's experiences and opinions. I just regret that I can't meet any of you. Now if Trooper's were amphibious.....
-mike
While this is not news/info related to a Trooper, its worth announcing, I think.
My wife and I have just found out that she/we are pregnant with our first child. The baby is due in December. We are very excited, but I am a little stressed. I have law school exams for the very last semester of my law school education in December, hopefully, it will work out. In the meantime, I am also attempting to change careers, looking for a position with a law firm. For those who believe, please pray for us.
We'll be looking a little harder for those third seats now.
-mike
Best of Luck to you all!
-mike
I just wrote out another paragraph of venting on this but I deleted it to spare you the negativity.
Please don't buy any Consumer Reports publication. If you have a subscription cancel it. If you must read Consumer Reports do it at the book store without buying it. I would love for Consumer Reports to have to drop its top of the line product just like Isuzu has had to do.
Jim
The Jackaroo has been in Australia since 1984 and never had I heard about rollover problems with them. Also, I have had mine for around two and a half years and it never felt like it was going to roll. Even when driving hard through some winding roads in the Snowy Mountains.
Try having power mode on, in cruise control, a somewhat tight left hand bend with a sudden uphill grade half-way through it and cambered the wrong way, at about 90km/h. It's no sports car, and it was a hair-raising experience, but it had no intention of rolling.
Actually, the only rollover scare I had heard about was Suzuki Sierra. And that was a very long time ago.
I have the VHS video of the 1995.5 rollover "test" that Consumer Reports says was a fair test and the video shows the Trooper was put through maneuvers that would correspond to 1.2 lateral Gs. More than double the Gs that any of the other SUVs in the test were put through. The Trooper was slolomed at the outside cones while the others were slolomed at the inside cones providing a much straighter path.
The Mitsubishi Montero rollover video was actually run on the news. They drove it fast and rocked the steering back and forth rythmically such that each successive turn added to the body roll built up in the turn before. After about a dozen such wild steering inputs the Mistsubishi was up on two wheels. All they proved was you can roll anything if you want to bad enough.
Isuzu took Consumer Reports to court and forced them to admit to deliberately falsifying the "test" to cause a news worthy event. What they did not prove was that Consumer Reports intended to harm Isuzu. Of course not, all they intended to do was make it into the news. Consumer Reports even spun the court results to sound like they came out on top in articles in their magazine. IIRC it was something like Consumer Reports found innocent on 8 counts brought against it by Isuzu, instead of Consumer Reports guilty in 9 out of 17 counts.
The real proof is that there is hardly ever Trooper rolled.
Consumer Reports should have a Buyer Beware Disclaimer on the cover. You can be sure they will tell a lie to make a buck.
2. I still read the magazine and find value in some of the automotive information they produce.
3. "Consumer Reports even spun the court results to sound like they came out on top in articles in their magazine." Yes, they did. This was the equivalent to Toyota not admitting fault in the recent sludge/gel issue. Once CR had gone so far and been so vehement that the test was valid and fair, they could not afford to admit they were wrong. So they didn't admit it. That's really bad and it sucks, but it's how companies do things.
4. I don't think CR does these attacks (Samurai, Trooper, Montero) for the sake of publicity. I'm sure they are pleased that they get the publicity, but I think their reason is they actually think they are reporting information that the public will benefit from. They think they are doing good by reporting this stuff, and they think their testing methods are valid. Unfortunately, with the Trooper, once they got a whiff that the vehicle was a little tippy they went hog wild and did everything they could to make it tip over.
5. I would love to see that video! If anybody is willing to mail me a copy, I would really appreciate it. I'll send you advance payment for shipping, etc.-- however you want to do it.
-mike
I think it cannot be anything other than publicity financially motivated. Any notion that the Trooper "test" was a test and not a publicity stunt would be dispelled by viewing the video.
Paison, how do I convert the VHS video to something you can post on your web site? If I mail it to you can you do it and return the VHS to me?
Thank You
-mike
Their info and conclusions are not always accurate or consistent with the other major automotive mags, but taking CR as "biased opinions loosely based on fact" seems to be way off.
-mike
At the time of the CR rollover mess, Trooper was no worse than middle of the pack for real-world SUV rollovers per 100,000 miles driven. By far the worst at that time was the Bronco II. Did CR go after Ford? Of course not.
CR claims to be unbiased because they don't accept advertising, but what people don't realize is that they DO accept "donations". Is it a coincidence that CR consistently has singled out small manufacturers like Suzuki, Isuzu, and Mitsubishi for this? All of these vehicles were quality SUVs when CR went after them, while leaving worse domestic SUVs alone. Mighty strong coincidence if you ask me.
The fifth cup holder is the big openning in the console. IIRC it came with a piece that snapped to the top of the openning which would keep a cup in place.
Where are the other three cup holders?
The folks posting on the Edmunds CR forum are NOT the "rah-rah, everything CR does is great" folks of whom paisan speaks. There are plenty of those people in the world, including my dad. Those folks are really letting their auto views be swayed way too much by what CR says. I am constantly trying to get my dad to scrutinize CR, what they do, and how they do it. His faith in CR is pretty much blind and that's disappointing.
There is some good critique, both pro and con, of CR on the Edmunds board.
As an example, Holden is the top auto manufacturer in Australia with the Holden Commodore by far and away the top selling car.In Choice reviews, it would rate somewhere in the middle pack for quality. In motoring reviews, it would be one of the best value 6cyl rear wheel drive sedans available.
I guess it comes down to the psyche of the public in the end. Personally, I like to do my own thinking and research. Which is why I bought the Monterey and not the Mitsubishi or Toyota.
That said, I am highly disappointed with what has turned out.
A friend of mine works at the SIA plant and mentioned that Isuzu would start a decontenting program that would make them the cost leader in the GM SUV lineup. That is what I want. I do not want a bloated SUV that looks like I am seeing it from one of those 'fat' mirrors at the carnival.
What I was really hoping for a decontented Tahoe with a duramax and a manual transmission.
That said, does anyone have any additional information on an Isuzu decontenting program? I have googled it and not found anything.
-mike
If I win, I'll buy Isuzu back from GM and get Subaru to let us merge. We can start cooperating with the Subie folks in making cool, different, fun, practical trucks to complement their cars.
-mike
-mike
Any help or input would be much appreciated!
(21 million tomorrow night, which will enable me to buy a few rigs from Paisan, but I'll pass on the dealership).
And it's Ascender :-)
Steve
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SUVs, Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories Message Boards
Can you tell what trim level it is? All 1998 Troopers are "S" models but there are 2 major option packages which are available only on auto trans models. The Performance Package includes several things, including a better 4WD system (called Torque on Demand, or TOD) than the standard shift-on-the-fly system. The Luxury Package, which requires the Performance Package, includes leather interior, dual power front heated seats, giant moonroof, fog lamps, etc.
What else can you tell us about the truck? Manual or automatic? If automatic, does it have the TOD system? If there's a button to the right of the steering wheel, above the radio, that says "4WD Auto On/Off" then this Trooper has the TOD system.
If it's a manual trans Troop, then $10,995 isn't a real good price. If it's an auto trans but without the Performance Pkg, then that's an okay price. If it has the Performance Pkg, then that's a pretty good price. If it has the Luxury Pkg, I'd say the price is very good.
As a point of reference, our 98 Trooper has 63k miles. It's got the Performance Pkg and the 6-disc in-dash CD changer. It's been well taken care of. I'd like to think we could get $12-13k if we sold it privately. Perhaps that's a bit optimistic, but I have all service records, truck is in good shape, never off-road, etc.
Is the dealer an Isuzu dealer or some other dealer?
Even if some of the smart maintenance items have never been done on this truck (differential fluid changes, etc.), I'd say the damage hasn't been done since it's got only 75k miles. But note that this vehicle is totally out of the warranty period. Also, if you want to treat the truck right and the dealer can provide no service history, you will be looking at quite a few maintenance items if you want to get the up to date on the maintenance schedule.
The main thing is timing belt change interval, which is every 75k miles. You might tell the dealer you want the timing belt changed as part of the deal, so you don't have to spend $300-400 on that in the near future.
Hope this helps.
I like the 2003 Forester a lot but it cannot tow my boat.
Took a dirt drive of a 2002 turbo diesel automatic Jackaroo yesterday. Absolutely awesome!
This vehicle doesn't have TOD, just shift-on-the-fly part time 4WD. It just about idled, up a 38 degree incline at less than 1500 rpm in 4H range. The engine braking coming back down was fantastic, just come off the throttle in 4L and she came down nice and slow.
I want one!
Does anyone have any experience on what sort of life expectancy the factory brake pads on a Trooper have?
Mine are upto 43,000 kms, and my last couple of cars usually had the front pads replaced by now. The Trooper's are showing some wear, but not a great deal.
S a v v a s
Trooper brake pads, at least here in the USA, seem to last a very long time. Several folks have reported more than 60k miles from a set of pads. This is much better than the experience I've had with all other vehicles I've ever owned.