explorer

My dad had a 94 explorer and beat the ever loving crap out of it every single minute of every day. My brother still drives it with 130k on it and no major problems.

The auto hubs contain many parts made out of plastic and break at about 80k miles.

There is a vacuum regulator on the auto tranny that fails at about 100k and allows the engine vacuum to suck trannny fluid into the intake. To repair the $10 valve, you have to remove the carpet and access the valve through the floor access panel. The symptoms are vacuum lines blowing off their mounts for no aparrent reason. By the time the fix is made, the engine has drank a lot of ATF.

A section of brake line failed at 100k and had to be replaced, due to corrosion. Suspension-wise they are pretty solid though.

isuzu

The Isuzu 3.2/3.5 DOHC released in 98 has oil drainback problems which may or may not become a factor in longevity. If it becomes a problem and uses more than 1qt per 1000 miles, the engine could develop lubing problems and internal engine damage. This is not rare, but is not having to every single one by any means.

The Isuzu EGR system is a common source of problems if not cleaned regularly. Dealerships often replace the whole assembly if they are unaware of the cleaning process.

The hyrdraulic valve lash adjuster "tick" has been mentioned. Searching under "tick" will give you some posts to read. This was corrected with an engine redesign in 98 I believe.


I would reccommend the isuzu because of their terrible resale value. Isuzu has very little marketing presence left in the USA which means their vehicles are very cheap. They are overbuilt and use many inventive technologies, which makes them such a prize to those who know what they are looking at. Very stout suspension systems and few mechanical problems, overbuilt in terms of construction and materials. I'd also look at 5 speeds since you could get a nicer, newer 5-speed for the same money as an older automatic Trooper.


chris