3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
98 Trooper is great but beware service problems
Date of Review: Jul 24, 2000
This is the second Trooper I have owned, the first being a 1994 Army Green with Brown interior- a great look that I have not seen since. I did not have a good experience with the 94, and you may be surprised that I went to another Trooper with the '98, however I'll give the the short version of the story to explain why. I bought the 94 in 1996 because of its looks, ride quality, roominess, and engine. However, after I had driven it for a few thousand miles, I noticed that the engine was starting to "ping" fairly loudly. I took it to the dealer that I bought it used from, and they explained that it was almost out of oil. After I explained that this was impossible, they clarified that the service manual states that older Troopers may burn up to a few quarts of oil for every thousand miles and that it is up to the owner to check the level at EVERY gas fill up to make sure the oil level is sufficient. Naturally I thought that was ludicrous. I could perhaps have understood the need for checking the oil this often for a ten year old or older beater, however not for a two year old truck. Even after calling up to the district office, they would not budge to resolve the issue. I had even bought an extended warranty bumper to bumper at purchase and they still would not cover a correction to this excessive oil burn problem - more than likely because it would have involved replacing major engine parts at great expense.
Instead of pushing this further or taking legal action, I traded in the 94 to an Isuzu dealer as I could not in good consciousness sell this directly to another consumer. This time I wised up and leased a new '98 so that any similar problems would be theirs at turn in.
The 98 has been excellent. It similarly is roomy, great headroom, which I have to have, strong engine HP, decent handling and best yet, it is not seen next to you at every stop light. It is not common like the Explorer and not highbrow like the Lincoln Navigator or the Benz. I recommend the Trooper, but beware of warranty service problems.
CarsBelowInvoic e
