[sailingoncheese]

i have a 1990 trooper, 2.6 4 cylender, stick. its got around 162 thousend miles on it and i have had to sink about 3 grand into it in the paast few months. its all been parts that have just worne out like the steering bearings, the starter, alt., and now the radeator and thermistat. so my question is how long are troopers known to go on averedge with out a engine or transmission problem or something major going out? i drive it everyday and not a huge amount of hard off orading. should i just make car payments on a new/used car instead of making a lot oc repairs?
thanks
-brian

 

[Tad]

I can't comment on your truck specifically, but just the fact that it has 162,000 miles on it doesn't mean that it is finished. You didn't say what the $3,000 was spent on exactly, but I'd bet almost $1k of that was on control arm bushings and the related labor. Those last about that long, and aren't trivial to install. The engine should last 250-300k, although be careful of overheating it. The 2.6 can blow a headgasket (or head) if it gets too hot. Either transmission in that vehicle should have a long service life.

Another thing, even worse case, drive it until it fails. You probably won't get $3,000 out of it if you sell it, so it is probably worth while to drive it a bit longer.

Do you like the truck? If so, you should consider keeping it. Does it need anything else that you know of? You might want to invest in a $40 Haynes manual to be able to change things like the thermostat next time. It isn't an involved process, and will save you a fair amount of money doing it yourself.

I probably shouldn't have sold my 88 Trooper, but when I did it had 245,000 miles on it. The replacement Trooper I purchased had 160,000, but it had been abused and neglected. (note to self: don't but another truck sight-unseen).

-Tad

 

[Adam]

What he said. :lol: Unless you are wanting more power, new features, fancy interior etc, i would drive the thing into the ground. You have fixed a lot of the common failure items. I would be that is the first time any of them have been replaced. I have a '96 Trooepr for a daily driver, but I am hanging on to my '88. It needs some fixing up, similar to what you have done, but it will be a great spare vehicle, so I can do more mods on my '96, or just to save gas once in a while. (16 mpg around town VS 11 mpg). In the world of indepdent rear axles, automatic 4wd, unibodys, and cheap construction, its hard to come by a capable, dependale 4wd like a 1st gen trooper. Hang on to it if at all possible. You will more than likely regret selling it.

Adam

 

[sailingoncheese]

the 3 grand was spent on a starter, alt., all the bushings up front, the fan clutch and now a radiator and thermistat. im looking at pickups right now but i will definetly consider keeping it a little longer. but my mom is all concerned that it will strand me some whare and to go to brooks institute of photography im requiered to have a reliable vehicle, kinda wierd but its the best of the best so i dont complain. anyway i was saying my mom is also the one who will help out a great deal in the purchas of a newer truck so i duno. thanks for the input.
-brian

 

[BillAmigo99]

I bought my car (not the Amigo, wife drives that for now) to avoid buying something new. I'm SICK of car notes. Did it with the understanding that I'd have to replace certain things. I've got a car budget instead of a car note. Also, if it does break down, I can rent a car for a day or two a lot cheaper than a monthly car note. It's one of the smartest things I've done. I haven't spent but a fraction of what I would have on car notes over the last year. The key is preventative maintenance and repairs (it's a '91). If it's rubber, swap it out. Get the car when you're done with school.

Just my .02

 

[DarkJester89]

Hey I've got 186k on mine.. if you do preventative maintenance the guy will never fail. Haynes manual.. advanced auto parts 23 bucks..will teach you almost 98 percent to 99 of what you need. The rest you could prolly find out on this page. My clutch is gonna need to be changed in the next few months (previous owner was not such a good owner) so I'm gonna do things to really long the life.. most likely until the body follows off the chasis.

 

[squatch]

My 1st one was running like a top at 300k when I sold it. 1st gen Troopers rock and car payments bite!

 

[vanduker]

Asking about if you should keep it on this board is like asking if you should stop drinking on a Jack Daniels forum. To have ended up here the members are almost always enthusiasts and do it yourselfers.

It sounds to me like the things you have needed done to your Isuzu you needed to pay someone to do. I mean no offense at all in that but if I had needed to pay a shop for most of the little here and there things like you describe as needing done I would most likely would never have got my first Trooper. Almost certainly I would not still be driving one daily.

It isn't that they are bad vehicles nor that they are harder than normal or more costly than normal to repair. Is just that when you factor in the gas mileage (which is poor) and repair costs (can be substantial if you need to hire it done) - it can make better financial sense to drive a newer car. As example you could buy a new Civic, get 30-35mpg and have a warranty. Your maintenance costs are near zero and your fuel cost is immediately cut in half. Sure you are out a car payment but in 5-6 years the car is paid off, still in good shape and you can either continue to use it or sell it for probably 2/3rds of what you paid for it.

Don't get me wrong - my current lineup is a 1999 Troop with 122k, a 1992 Celica with 115k and a 2009 Civic with 12k. Have owned 5 other 2nd Gen Troops. None has ever seen a mechanic other than myself but if I were paying someone to do the work the lineup would be a lot newer. Is it possible for you to do some of your own repairs?

 

[Sandhog]

I don't want to sound too philosophical but what has mileage to do with it. I'm on my third 1st Gen. Trooper, the first two had miles in the hundreds of thousands and had been poorly maintained. I bought a Haynes manual with the first one and and got an education from both. I became infected with the Trooper bug first time out and it only got worse. Today I own an '88 2 door with 53k original miles on her. We aren't talking rocket science here. There isn't, for me, a more perfect vehicle on the planet. Be it earth or Planetisuzu. I agree, a vehicle budget beats a vehicle note any day. I owned a 1973 Harley-Davidson for twenty three years. I knew that bike inside out and sideways. There wasn't anything I couldn't do with her. Same goes with my Trooper. I own a Chevy 283 c.i. small block engine with Corvette Power Pack heads and a 327 crankshaft. I need to find a '67-'72 Chevy pickup truck to put it in. I like being as independent as I can and not rely on corporate America to bleed me dry. Whether you buy new or not, I suggest you hang on to that Trooper just the same.

Yours Truly

Sandhog