Our old Isuzu Rodeo rarely made it from home to school without breaking down.
We never did determine exactly why the Rodeo would lose power while cruising on the highway, but every time it happened we were able to pull off to the shoulder and restart the engine without trouble.
The process became a quirk of the car, which served me and at least one brother well in our college years.
The Isuzu didn’t last long in the family once college was over, because our view of the brand had soured a bit. In early 2009, the brand left the U.S. market for good.
Memories of that old Rodeo came back this weekend after reading that GM and Isuzu will team up to introduce a new pickup to the world. Will Isuzu try to come back to the U.S. market?
The short answer is no.
However, Isuzu and General Motors have signed a deal that will give the Japanese automaker a platform to build a midsize truck to sell in major markets around the world.
The U.S. and Canada are not among those markets, even though small trucks are making a comeback in the States. The Toyota Tacoma continues to be a top seller, and the new Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon twins are set to give it a formidable challenge. Now would be a great time to bring Isuzu back.
While my personal experiences with an Isuzu weren’t great, I’ve known plenty of people who loved their small Isuzu pickups and one who still uses an old Chevy LUV (which is a rebadged Isuzu) for dump runs.
A small, inexpensive Isuzu pickup would probably sell pretty well again. Buyers here will have to settle for the midsize Colorado and Canyon for the time being, but with GM in a partnership with Isuzu again, we can hope that anything is possible.
Should Isuzu bring its new midsize truck to the United States?
-tgriffith
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I agree,,But I feel like if GM is involved in much of a big way isuzu will get the S**t end of the stick ,They always have.I will never forget waiting for the new 1996 isuzu truck was due at our local isuzu dealership .Several of the local isuzu repeat buyers were waiting for a chance at fresh new truck ..Sure enough in a few day my salesman calls me and said, There here !! And we only have 3…I even left work a Little early went buy the bank got out 2g`s for a down payment ,I was ready !!When I got there my heart sank ,,It was a F*******n Chevy S10. And Oh yeah they still had all 3, One older gentleman and I looked it over ,His comment to salesman was if I wanted an S10 I would have went to the Chevy store.That my friends was the beginning of the end I believe…I did buy a new rodeo later that year and a Trooper for my wife 4 years later still have the Troop just tripped 265k and still running strong ..Then they Replace d the Troop with the Assender..WTF!!!Remember this company sold the most import SUV S for almost 15 years running …Think about that for a min, There should be a documentary on Netflix about this stupidity,,,wow!!!!! I still own several today..there Great vehicles if it’s not some Rebaged GM junk..I hope they come back ..But this time keep your stock ,,and isuzu call the punches this time…and I will be the first to buy a new isuzu pup…Let’s do it!!!!! Thanks
They are not the same company at all.
I had to comment when I read that the last respondent had dependability issues with his 90’s isuzu pickup. I have purchased over 15 new vehicles over the past 40 years and my 1994 isuzu pickup was probably the most dependable vehicle that i had owned. After 6 years and 140,000 miles I never had a seconds problems with it and it was worked very hard. The toyota tacoma that replaced it, has been equally dependable but it has developed creaks and rattles that the Isuzu didn’t have. I am current hoping that the 2016 Isuzu diesel truck makes it to the US
Isuzu and Honda are the same company
Come on Roger do little research before you comment,,,isuzu sold rodeos to honda for passport s and troopers to them for Acura SLX,in return isuzu had the honda oddesy ,it was called an isuzu oasis…Hondas Pilot is made by Honda…