Owners have filed 12 complaints on the Isuzu Trooper II, covering 1987–1990. The system named most often is Engine And Engine Cooling (4 reports). Worst years by volume: 1988, 1990, 1989; cleanest: 1987, 1989, 1990. 2 reports describe a crash, 2 a fire. On average the car was 10.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Isuzu Trooper II
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 12 Trooper II complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine And Engine Cooling 4 Read
Manifold burned a hole through oil cooler hose, causing oil to leak out of engine while driving on highway
Engine gaskets and cylinders failure
Multiple engine failures. A pin hole in the cylinder allowed the antifreeze into the combustion chamber
Electrical System 3 Read
Engine compartment fire while driving; smoke started coming from underhood, pulled over, checked, fire in area of firewall; cause unknown; vehicle totaled
Computer is not activating the fuel pump relay, and the dash indicator stayes on, causing the alternator not to receive a sensing voltage and consequently the battery has to be charged manually. Occasionally the indicator lights go off and the charging system is normal. Basically, a piece of '!@#$%. I should have…
Faulty electronic control unit idle erratic, revving up and down stalling and dieing for no reason
Power Train 1 Read
Child took the vehicle out of park without the key being in the ignition, resulting in a rollaway
Tires 1 Read
Blow out of a firestone atx p235/75r15 that was purchased new in a set of replacement tires. The tire was installed on a 1990 isuzu trooper
Visibility 1 Read
Heater core exploded hot water and anti freeze entered the vehicle, driver sustained second degree burns to feet and ankles
Service Brakes 1 Read
Cylinder cover cracked
Suspension 1 Read
The contact owns a 1988 isuzu trooper ii. The contact stated that after taking his vehicle to an independent mechanic for regular service, they informed him that his rear suspension had rusted and was too dangerous to drive or to repair. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been contacted. The…
Trooper II 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 2 | — | |
| 1989 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 1988 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1987 | Engine And Engine Cooling | — | 1 |
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 | 12 |
| Average complaints per series | 1 |
| Worst single series | 1 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 10.3 years |
A model average of 1 hides a worst series at 1. 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 Trooper II?
By complaint volume, 1988, 1990, 1989 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 Trooper II years are the cleanest?
1987, 1989, 1990 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Isuzu Trooper II have?
12 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1987–1990. Of those, 2 describe a crash and 2 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.