Owners have filed 17 complaints on the Isuzu Stylus, covering 1991–1992. The system named most often is Electrical System (5 reports). Worst years by volume: 1991, 1992; cleanest: 1992, 1991. 3 reports describe a crash, 1 a death. On average the car was 7.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Isuzu Stylus
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 17 Stylus complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 5 Read
Vehicle started on its own and ran into ur house at 7:30 am no keys, no one around, we have video of it after about 15 minutes. No safetyd efec tlisted
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 . , the symptoms may first show…
The ECU in the car has blown the original and a replacement motor
Vehicle Speed Control 5 Read
Idle control; the idle drops almost stalling the car, then flucuates between 900 to 2000 rpms and finally steadily revs at 2000 rpms for aproximatly 30 seconds then drops slowly to 900 rpms
The car surges without warning when idling. This appears sporadically and unpredictably. If the clutch is engaged, the car will lurch forward and stall. If not engaged, then the engine suddenly rev's very high. At times the engine idles high from start consistently for 5 or more minutes after starting, regardless of…
Erratic idle speed, revving and dropping, sporadic dying of the engine, hovering idle speed aourn 2,000 - 3,000 RPM which may or may not return to normal, uncontrollable acceleration under load on manual trans. Due to uncontrollable engine speed
Engine And Engine Cooling 2 Read
Vehicle idled poorly, it happened intermittently. Sometimes vehicle just shut down. Power steering went out
Experienced erratic idle, idle was revving and dropping, dipping often with engine almost dying. Mechanic says there is short in ECU
Power Train 1 Read
While driving, at approx. 50mph, wet pavement, vehicle started pulling to right, then suddenly front axle broke, went down an embankment
Steering 1 Read
Steering failed, causing loss of control/accident/injuries/fatality
Structure 1 Read
Requests crash test info
Seat Belts 1 Read
Defective seat belt buckles prior to recall
Stylus 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | 3 | — |
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 | 13 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.3 |
| Worst single series | 2 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 7.8 years |
A model average of 1.3 hides a worst series at 2. 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
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
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 Stylus?
By complaint volume, 1991, 1992 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 Stylus years are the cleanest?
1992, 1991 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Isuzu Stylus have?
17 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1991–1992. Of those, 3 describe a crash and 0 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.