2001 Trooper, blown engine at 45,000 miles

Hello fellow Isuzu folk, and actually I don't wish to be called one of them right now. I bought a used Trooper in August, and by December 2003, motor blown, i changed the oil once, at 3000 miles since purchased, full castrol synthetic, tranny service, serpentine belt, and full check over. Vehicle towed off expressway, finally to Isuzu dealer in Waukesha wisconsin. Vehicle was at 45,000 miles, well under the warrantly limits, I told them to fix it, and they got me a new long block, a week later I went to pick it up, they wanted 8600 bucks to remove the vehicle from the lot, thus, it is still there, 2 months later. Isuzu Canada is denying the warranty, as it is a Canuck vehicle. The service company, Wilde Isuzu in waukesha, stated the motor failed because of a lack of lubrication......possible caused by a clogged EGR valve.

Isuzu canada has denied warranty, based on Wilde's analysis, Hmmm, thats a little over half of what i paid for the SUV!!!! AND, they DISPOSED of MY motor, thus the evidence is GONE!!!!! Assumptions and presumptions have left me stranded for 2 months now, with no hint of having this resolved. Get this, a vehicle well under ALL warranties provided by Isuzu, Isuzu refuses to pay for the repairs, they say its all MY fault (owned the vehicle for 3 months, then it blew) and they are refusing to even look at my case!!!!

And NOW i find out about a problem with oil consumption, so is Isuzu trying to cover up this motor by having it disposed of??? This is such a major fiasco, no help from Isuzu, and Wilde Isuzu in Waukesha only wants the money, after finding the most expensive long-block they could find, and charging near $150.00 an hour to install the new motor!!!!

Whew, anyone else been in this scenario!!! I am so angered by the actions of Isuzu, they have become non-approachable, and steadfast in their decision to deny warranty based on Wilde Isuzu's analysis, which has been proven to be wrong by several automotive tech personnel from GM, and Isuzu. What the heck kind of coverup am I involved in. please email me for more info, I would be really interested with what anyone else has to say about this matter. So incredibly frustrating!!!!
What is a warranty, really??

[email protected]

wildlife- what are the isuzu Canada warranty limits? did the dealer that performed the work tell you it would all be covered by warranty?
Joel

The dealer, before anything was done, never even mentioned the warranty for the vehicle to me. And I am not even sure as to why, because the vehicle is a 2001, and has only 45,000 miles on it. Why would they even think that warranty was NOT on the vehicle to begin with. I know that in the haste to get the vehicle fixed so that I could get back to Canada, I probably did not say all the right things, but that should not be an issue here, the vehicle was brought to Isuzu, and they went ahead and repaired it, and then presented me with a 8600 dollar bill!! And then disposing of the engine, WITHOUT even asking me what I wanted to do with it, and before the warranty could be properly applied to the vehicle. This is such a fiasco, and I am left out in left field without a vehicle, that I am making payments on, and also paying for the insurance, and I cannot even HAVE it!!! Wow do I ever need some help, from someone... HELP!!!!!

Unfortunately this is probably going to require the services of a lawyer. I don't know why, but the warranty coverage for Canadian bought & owned isuzus is totally different than US isuzus (I don't know what the Candian mileage & time constraints are). This is an aweful situation & I feel for you, but it is the owners responsibility to know & understand the particular coverage you have. You had to give authorization prior to that dealer doing work on your truck & I'm sure they are "mis-informed" about the Canadian warranty issue as well. They probably submitted the paperwork as a US isuzu claim & it got bounced back due to the truck's Canadian origin. Now the dealer wants their money. I know it's too late now, but in a case like this you ALWAYS want to make sure NO WORK IS PERFORMED unless it is covered by warranty. Again, I hate to see this happen to anyone, but you will need to do your homework now, make phone calls and gather all the blown engine data you can from the web to present to a legal service for advice. Good luck.
Joel

Yes, this is a very abnormal bizarre situation. I have never had damage as much as this ever happen to a vehicle, let alone one that is so 'new'. To whom does the finger get pointed at in this situation?? Of course the repair dealership simply wants their money, and I just don't have a spare $8600.00 to pay them.

I know that the owner is responsible for payment of work done while out of my home country, but this amount is just way too huge!!! I mean it is over half of what I paid for the vehicle when I took it off the lot. I did not opt for an extended warranty, as the basic powertrain warranty is 5 years/ 100,00 km, or 62,000 miles, and at 79,00km, I am well within the limitatons. And because this was the very first time I have ever been broke down, let alone be towed (first time for a lot of things!), simply the distraught feeling that I was feeling made me just want to get the vehicle repaired and on the road again.

I am not exactly certain in what order, OR if this warranty was ever even considered by Wilde Isuzu in Waukesha before they searched out a long block costing itself 6600. What I do know is that I followed the required service maintenance intervals properly, have all of the receipts (which is 1, since I only had the vehicle for 6200 miles) . So, I bought it with 69,676 km, changed oil at 74,104 and the motor blew at 79,104 km. Neat, huh? exactly 5000 km, or 3100 miles after the oil/filter change, and this time I opted for full synthetic Castrol 5W/30. And since Wilde Isuzu DISPOSED of MY motor, i couldn't even get an oil sample to Castrol, for a real examination. They offer a 500,000 mile warranty on their lubricants I think. And I do know that the repairing dealership has erred here, matter of fact, who HASN'T made an error, or several here???

Okay, I know I am getting just way too wordy here, and I have told this story so many tmes, I am really getting tired of the whole thing. Hey Isuzu, just let me have my vehicle back, and you corporate big-wigs work out the financial part of it. They certainly don't need my vehicle there,and they have held it hostage for almost 2 months now, and I have had ENOUGH!!!!

wildlife- I completely follow the details of your situation :banghead: , but I still don't understand the warranty issue :uhoh: . You say your (Canadian Isuzu) powertrain warranty is good for 5yrs or 100KM. You are still under BOTH the time and the mileage constraints. Why do they refuse to honor your powertrain warranty?? What is the exact reason they give for not honoring it? There are MANY posts out there now where 2000+ troop & rodeo owners have had their engines replaced under powertrain warranty with no problems at all!
G/luck
Joel

It sure is difficult when you know neither, neither what reason they are denying warranty, AND WHY they are denying warranty. The only contact that I have had with anyone from Isuzu, was a call telling me just after the new year that warranty has been denied, and the reason given was exactly what was written on the repair statement by Wilde Isuzu,

"Inspected and tested vehicle oerations---detected the engine locked up---internal engine damage to the lower block area, Detected the No. 2 cylinder connecting rod broke---the rod bearing seized up---causing the rod the break---hole through the engine block----

Possible cause by the EGR valve clogged with carbon, that caused the oil to overheat-----------"

...so that is what was written by Wilde Isuzu in Waukesha!!!! And that is the reason that I have been denied warranty, as stated by them. And since Wilde DISPOSED of MY engine, before any further analysis could be done, ALL that Isuzu of Canada is basing their decision on is the statement given by Wilde!! No one else looked at the engine, and it is simply their words themselves that have denied warranty. I believe that Wilde ASSUMED that the case was over, the warranty was not gong to be taken into consideration, and thus they dumped the engine, and are now expecting to be paid before the vehicle can be taken away.

Oh yes, this is so very frustrating!!!! And I have not been able to reach anyone higher up than Isuzu of Canada's customer service representative, who has stated the warranty denial, and gets irate when I call her back asking to reach ANYONE there who can tell me the whole story!!! I know that this should have been taken care of a long time ago, but as you see, it has not, and thus i am still sitting, without a vehicle, out of country, still paying for the bank loan, the insurance, and probably some storage fee is accumulating at Wilde as I speak!! So yes, aHELP!!!!! :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

From what I can find, "Isuzu Canada" is no longer in business. AFAIK, when a company goes out of business, so does your warranty. This may be the reason Isuzu USA is not honoring your warranty. You will need to contact the Canadian equivalent of the "better business bureau" to see if they can help you. Stay calm & cool with the dealership, maybe they can "adjust" the VIN# a bit so that this will be covered under Isuzu USA's 5yrs/60Kmile (subsequent owner) warranty. Like I say, MANY 2000+ owners now have had their engines replaced under warranty with little/no questions asked. New engines were even "over-nighted" from Japan and one guy at the 4x4wire isuzu site had his rodeo back in a day!
G/luck
Joel

When I bought the Isuzu from a GM dealer in Canada, at the time Isuzu was owned by them, which is one of the main reasons I bought the SUV to begin with, I was not familiar with any of the Isuzu products, but since Isuzu WAS owned by GM, I figured it would be a safe purchase. Then low and behold, a month or so later I see in the newspaper that Isuzu was dropped, and then i contacted my dealership to see how this would affect my vehicle. They said that GM would continue to honor the warranty and do the service work, just as if it were a GM vehicle, that was of course BEFORE I had the motor blow-up.

And because I have had so much time on my hands whilst I waited for a decision to be made about this warranty issue, I discovered many other instances of engine failure due to 'lack of lubrication". And apparently the motor itself being an over-bored 3.2 meant thinner walls between the cylinders, and higher operating temperatures too. Of course I was never informed, nor told of any problems with this motor, and of course if they told me, they would possibly lose a sale.....right??? So I end up with an engine with known lubrication problems, and it lasts me a total of 6200 miles after I bought it, it blows, and they of course deny any warranty claims, and they tell me that it was MY fault because failure was 'possibly' caused by a clogged EGR valve. And in the pre-inspection by GM, would that EGR valve have been checked before the vehicle went on the lot????

There does appear to be negligence on the part of both Isuzu and GM as well. So why do I have to be the one who has to go through all of this un-ending frustration because of a problem that was KNOWN by Isuzu???? Fair???? I definitely think not. I am sure to initiate a follow-up lawsuit against all parties involved after the vehicle is returned to me. i don't know what my rights are as a consumer to return the vehicle to the dealership, I have so far paid for 6 months of bank payments and insurance, out of which I have personally owned and used the vehicle for 4 whole months, and logged 6500 miles on the vehicle. will I want this SUV after it is returned to me??? And why would I after this fiasco??? Anybody want to buy a 2001 Trooper with a brand new engine??????

If GM Canada is doing service & warranty work for Isuzu Canada now, maybe your isuzu warranty defaults to GM's crappy 3yrs/36Kmi warranty (or Canadian equivelent). That being the case, you were out of warranty when the motor blew.

Joel

Actually, the original isuzu warranty 3 yr/100,100 basic powertrain still applies, the big mess is the order that procedures were done, and there were many assumptions made, which we all know are wrong!!! I am only guessing that work began BEFORE the warranty was taken into consideration, otherwise, why would they dump my engine, I don't even know if they contacted Isuzu Main before they began any work on the vehicle. You see, everything is SO screwed up!!! And I am NOT gong to be the one who suffers as a result of their improper procedure. My advice to any and all current Isuzu owners, please record your mileage, and for goodness sakes, check you warranty, cover to cover, to see if you are still within the boundaries of warranty inclusion. I myself do not believe I have any intention whatsoever of ever owning another Isuzu, EVER!!! I have never heard of such poor customer consideration and communication.

bottom line dealer screwed up
if they did not quote a new negine install and replaced it on their own you should not have to pay for it

yes, the dealership that repaired the SUV did screw up, and of course they are not willing to admit their fault. Isuzu is reviewing the case once again, well that was a of friday morning of last week. They did alot of wrong things, improper communication, and the worst of all things to do, ASSUME!!!!! Now they are trying to just get paid and forget about this fiasco. Unfortunately I am simply an end consumer, and I am being treated like dirt, and am not being taken care of properly.

They simply cannot assume that I would be paying almost half of what I paid for the trooper, 4 months after I bought it off the lot. I HAVE to get back to Canada, I am stuck without a vehicle, and need to get to work, of course they have not even offered me a 'loaner' to get around in while they hold my trooper hostage. This scenario has become very ugly, and I will document everything exactly as it happened so that nobody else has to go thru the pain that I have gone thru. Oh yes, I can see some real good follow up lawsuits in regards to this fiasco, they have treated me poorly, have not followed the proper procedure, nor even attempted to help me in positive way. I know I have been griping and angry for awhile now, but let me ask you folks out there, how would you feel if this was happening to you, or someone in your family...stuck, no communication, and wait, wait, wait. I think jail time is the only way to describe this endless waiting!!!!!

I wonder whatever happened on this one??

I'd sure like to know...