I owned a 1996 Isuzu Rodeo since September 2002 until I was hit in a car accident in July of 2009, car was totaled. My father in law any myself worked on the car ourselves the whole time. As far as maintenance, this car worked out really well. The worst problem we had was the starter replacement. Because of the engine components, you can't drop the starter out of the car, unless you either take apart the starter in place, and therefore, you will have to reassemble the new one as well, OR, you drop the exhaust, taking it apart at the exhaust manifold on the engine. These bolts can be tricky to get off, since they are more or less melted on from the extremely hot environment. I would suggest dropping the exhaust system as the solution.