School me on 3.5l troopers...how many miles is too many?

PirateMcGee

Expedition Leader
Looking at a 99 5spd (brand new clutch) Trooper LE. One owner that is supposedly flawless inside, outside and mechanically. They are asking only $2,300.......

However, I am wary of troopers/isuzu's after my sister's rodeo.

Few questions:

First is it worth it to get a trooper with that many miles? How long of a life can be expected?

School me on the oil burning issue

Typical gas mileage with the manual?

Things to watch for?

Other thoughts?

Thanks! I have been tossing around the idea of selling my sport and picking up a gen3 montero but this trooper popped up and it looks pretty pristine. My fiancee and I are a one car family (plus two scooters and bikes and feet haha) so I only really use my sport for trips, camping, bad weather etc. so I need the vehicle to be really reliable.

Thanks!
 

philndz

Adventurer
Prices are certainly higher than the average car, with certain parts apparently constructed mostly of gold.
 
Last edited:

BIGdaddy

Expedition Leader
Mine's doin' pretty good with 164,000 on the ticker. Uses a qt every 1200-1300 miles or so.

I've had it since the middle of this year, and so far so good, driving 40 miles roundtrip every day during the work week.

I'm going to change the spark plugs out with fresh ones, and swap the oil to Rotella non-synthetic diesel oil, as others have used this with good effect on the oil consumption issue.

I also need to swap out the fluid on the tranny, but it's a bit involved, as there is no dipstick. There is a known way of filling it, though, that includes filling the case with a fluid pump till it's seemingly full, turning the car on, then off, and then topping off, as the torque converter apparently sucks up quite a bit of fluid and leaves the level low in the last step isn't done. (Don't quote me on the exact steps, it's written up on Planetisuzoo, that was just my impression of the type steps needed to swap out fluid)
 
Last edited:

BigSwede

The Credible Hulk
I've never had a problem getting parts.

Gas mileage isn't going to be great, this is a heavy, body-on-frame SUV. Don't know what the EPA estimated mpg is, I would think probably 18 highway, 20 if winds are really favorable.
 

BigSwede

The Credible Hulk
First is it worth it to get a trooper with that many miles?

You didn't actually say how many miles it has...

Things to watch for?

Just check for frame rust.

Nice thing about the manual tranny is you don't have to worry about the marginally competent auto tranny. Folks with the 3.5L manual tranny Troopers seem real happy with them.
 

newworld2004

Adventurer
mine with 230K on it , 2 dr very rare, as far as parts go if you go to ISUZU Planet there is a great guy who can supply parts.
 

Attachments

  • trooper.jpg
    trooper.jpg
    36.2 KB · Views: 243

Frank

Explorer
I am on my second trooper and enjoy owning it. Lots of little things have gone wrong with it and parts usually have to be ordered. It's big and it rides like a tank, but it will take you anywhere.
With 164k on mine, mpg seems to be somewhere around 15, mostly highway driving. It is an oil burner, usually about a qt every thousand miles or so.

This guy seems to have some super clean low mileage Troopers, but with a bit of a hefty price tag.
http://www.roverclassic.com/othercarsforsale.asp
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,539
Messages
2,875,663
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top