I'm closing the loop. This is the post I made when test driving vehicles and convincing the wife the Isuzu really was the best deal out there at the time. And mine lasted for 13 years. Of course, I commute to work on a motorcycle a lot, and I deploy overseas every now and then, but still. I also banged up the Rodeo offroading in the Grand Canyon park the first month I had it, took it airborn "Dukes of Hazzard" style, and more. The just sucked up abuse. A great, truck-based body vehicle at a fair price.

But she couldn't handle a blown oil seal. 1400 miles with little-to-no oil will destroy any engine. I found a new engine with 90k-ish miles on it, but then the electrical problems surfaced. If I only had an oil gauge on the dash.

The end to my Rodeo is listed here: http://forum.planetisuzoo.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=119857
It even features a PDF of this post, that I found with embedded pictures still working.
Also, the black trim on a gray interior (what I purchased) looked much nicer that Isuzu's promotional pictures of black on brown.

Hopefully I'll get her sold soon. I live in AZ and she's dead at a mechanics in Fort Worth, Texas. As soon as he buttons her up, I'll put her on the block.

I was here from the both of this (and prior) boards to today. Isuzu people are good people. I'll save the bookmark and check in every now and then.