I was driving our Isuzu on a long highway trip, and all of the sudden the engine started making a loud knocking noise, which got louder and louder so I had to stop the car. It sounded like a rock drummer banging away in a garage. The weather was mild, not hot or cold. I had to get it towed all the way back to where we live, hundreds of miles away ($$) and our mechanic told us that one of the pistons had punched a hole in the engine. He said that it was caused by the engine running without any oil. We had to buy a new engine ($$$$), and even then we were lucky because one of our mechanic's affiliated service centers had a used Isuzu engine that had been recovered from a totaled vehicle. We were very displeased, to say the least. We had always changed the oil regularly according to the owner's manual. A few months ago, I checked the oil level of the new (used) engine, which had about 90,000 miles on it. There was no oil whatsoever in the engine, and we still had a ways to go until our next scheduled oil change. I filled the engine with 5 quarts of oil, but I was unhappily surprised that the low oil indicator hadn't come on (the low oil indicator never came on with the old engine, either). Now I have to check my oil level at least once a week.

I bought this car in 2001 and I still haven't had it for 1 year yet. I bought it new off the lot. I maintained it well, always getting the service done at the same Isuzu dealer and had regular oil changes. One day the oil light flickered on and off when I came to rolling stops. I mentioned this to my husband and said it was time for an oil change, but it wasn't even 100 miles over since the 3000 mark.

My husband is driving the car and he hears bad sounds coming from the engine so he takes it to a local station where they have to put 5 quarts of oil into it! He then heads to the Isuzu dealer and they say it's a common problem and drive it until it conks out. He drives it one more day and the thing just kicks the bucket..he barely gets it back to the dealership. They tell him that this happens frequently to 2000 Isuzu Rodeos and that they have 2 or 3 others waiting for parts for the same problem..they all need new engines!

I mention this to a friend and he said this happened to him. He said that because the engines are made of aluminum they warp and all the oil drains out and the engine seizes...nice!

So to top it all off it is taking a month to fix the damn thing between getting parts to the dealership and waiting in-line for my turn (remember the 2 or 3 others were there before me!) and then a week for the work AND Isuzu won't pay for a rental car for me while my brand new car sits in a lot waiting for a new engine!!!!

I AM IRATE!!!!!