Owners have filed 31 complaints on the Isuzu IMPULSE, covering 1984–1991. The system named most often is Electrical System (9 reports). Worst years by volume: 1991, 1990, 1988; cleanest: 1984, 1985, 1989. 2 reports describe a crash, 1 a fire. On average the car was 8.0 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Isuzu IMPULSE
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 31 IMPULSE complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 9 Read
After vehicle had been sitting all night, early morning it bursted into flames, near the battery. Consumer was told by the fire marshall it appeared to be a short circuit near the battery
As the weather is getting warmer the engine revs and drops uncontrollably. The car also stalls at any speed. I have had it even stall on the highway. I hear this is a common problem on this particular type of ecm unit, please check into this for me. If I hadn't taken a defensive driving course I could be dead right now
The defects are due to the improper manufacturing of the ecm module of this vehicle. The symptoms include an erratic idle with the idle revving up and dropping to the point where the engine dies. The idling will jump up to 2000 RPM, linger there until I blip the throttle, sometimes up to 3 or 4 times. On one occasion,…
Vehicle Speed Control 6 Read
Car races engine badly in the summer when temp over 80 degrees-wont idle
The symptoms of this fault are most notably erratic idle, idle revving and dropping, idle dipping often with engine dying, idle hanging high above 2,000 RPM, and engine dying or stalling for no reason with no trouble codes. These symptoms will often only occur in warmer weather as the metal circuits of the circuit…
My address is in ontario,canada postal code l5j-3n5. The symptoms of this fault are most notably erratic idle, idle revving and dropping, idle dipping often with engine dying, idle hanging high above 2,000 RPM, and engine dying or stalling for no reason with no trouble codes. These symptoms will often only occur in…
Engine And Engine Cooling 4 Read
The car will for no reason stall, even at high speeds resulting in a loss of power steering and brakes. This is the second one that I have owned, and the other one had the same problem. I was making a left hand turn, when the call stalled, and caused a loss of steering. A pedestrian was walking on the street corner,…
This is a reoccurring manufacturer defect. Please issue a recall on these engine control modules
This is the 2nd impulse that I have owned, and I thought it would only happen to my first one, but this one is the same way. When it gets warm out, the engine has idling problems. Then other impulse I had (1990) did it from day 1 at 55000 miles
Seat Belts 2 Read
Owner received recall notice, took vehicle to dealer and was told parts were unavailable
Seat belt buckle failed after recall repairs
Power Train 1 Read
The gear shift on vehicle does not hold while in park. Owner's child put vehicle in neutral whthout the key being in the ignition. Child's leg was broken in the incident
Latches/locks/linkages 1 Read
Driving along when hood latch released and flew up. Tt
Exterior Lighting 1 Read
Right tail light socket failed
Structure 1 Read
Wheel well rotted
IMPULSE years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Electrical System | 1 | 1 | |
| 1990 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1988 | Structure | — | — | |
| 1985 | Power Train | 1 | — | |
| 1984 | Fuel System, Gasoline | — | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 23 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 3 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 8.0 years |
A model average of 1.3 hides a worst series at 3. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the IMPULSE?
By complaint volume, 1991, 1990, 1988 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which IMPULSE years are the cleanest?
1984, 1985, 1989 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Isuzu IMPULSE have?
31 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1984–1991. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 1 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.