At $12,999, Is This 2000 Isuzu Trooper Overlander An Underrated Deal?

With its bed, slide-out fridge space, and solar power battery backup, today's Nice Price or No Dice Trooper is the home away from home you never knew you needed. Let's see what an appropriate mortgage just might be.

Time heals all wounds. Or wounds all heels, as the Yogi-ism goes. The 1999 Chevy Camaro we looked at yesterday carried the sought-after factory SS package. In Chevy nomenclature, that stands for Super Sport; however, earlier in the 20th Century, that redundancy of letters carried a much more sinister connotation. During the Nazi regime in Germany, leading up to and during WWII, the SS was associated with the evil Schutzstaffel. A paramilitary group that served as Hitler's bodyguards and as enforcers of Nazi policies (i.e., war crimes), the Schutzstaffel, or SS, became associated with the worst of Nazi atrocities. 

It was such a negative association that just after the war, William Lyons chose to adopt the Jaguar name for his auto company, abandoning the Swallow Sidecar name and associated SS logo from pre-war times. No such negative connotation weighs down the more modern Chevy SS models, although in the case of yesterday's Camaro, its $29,500 asking price did. The majority of you found that too dear despite the car's history and purported as-new condition. That was reflected in the comments and the 83% 'No Dice' loss it suffered in the vote.

Before we dive into today's 2000 Isuzu Trooper, let's do a bit of housekeeping. I'm taking some time off over the next week. Instead of being here with you, I'll be on a whirlwind visit to Paris, France, and London, England. I'll even be traveling between these two historic cities by train under the English Channel, so I'll be sure to bring a towel. We'll get back to our regularly scheduled programming at the end of next week, but until then, stay judgy!

OK, with that out of the way, let's all think about the last time any of us saw an Isuzu Trooper on the road. Wait, let's amend that; when was the last time you saw any Isuzu on the road that wasn't a white-painted box truck delivering who knows what?

Isuzu has the odd distinction of having ridden the wave of SUV popularity with seeming success, only to inexplicably wipe out and hit the rocks just as the tide turned to crossovers. This was weird because not only did Isuzu's products seemingly hit the sweet spot of mid and large-sized SUVs, but they were all pretty darn good at doing their jobs as well.

So popular was the Trooper when it was being built that Isuzu enjoyed the attention of many a courter seeking to sell the model under their own brand names. That produced the Acura SLX in the U.S., the Opel Monterey on the Continent, and, a personal favorite, the Holden Jackaroo in Australia. G'day, mate!

This Trooper is all Isuzu, although it reportedly rocks a later 3.5-liter V6 from the Trooper's replacement, the Isuzu Axiom. Like the Trooper's original engine, that mill maintains an oddball 75° V but boosts output to 230 horsepower and a like number in torque.

Here, that's paired with the original five-speed manual and Isuzu's stout Torque-On-Demand 4WD system. Along with its replacement engine, the ad says this Trooper has an added lift kit, Ranch adjustable shocks, and silicon bushings for a tight fit on the suspension. In the front, a modded aftermarket Jeep bumper is fitted with LED lights and appears to be capable of housing a winch. The truck's bodywork appears straight and is mostly wearing its original metallic gold paint. The black mask (yes, that's not a removable bra) on the nose is a bit questionable, but you do you, brave Trooper seller!

It's this Trooper's interior that's most intriguing, however. The truck has been outfitted for overland duty, sacrificing seating for a plywood bunk that also serves as a cap for some squirrel hole storage. Additionally, that provides a mount for a slide-out fridge, although an actual icebox appears not to be included in the sale. Other changes for camping duty include solar panels and batteries, netting on the ceiling and walls for storage, and a versatile roof rack. The dashboard is a bit of a mess, what with all the various mounting stalks and charging cables, but it at least looks like it would keep you busy.

Craigslist

As for the condition, everything appears to be in serviceable shape, and the seller claims the 192,000-mile Trooper is mechanically sound, with no issues whatsoever. The title is clean, and the seller says that the truck has received regular oil changes with the good stuff, not Dollar Store swill. For tires, the truck has been fitted with 32-inch meats which fill the wheel arches satisfactorily.

So there you go. This is a unique opportunity to own one of the weirder—or at the very least, most eclectic—overlanders out there. Will it prove as versatile as a van? Probably not, but then no one's ever been accused of offering free candy or requesting help in finding a lost puppy out of a Trooper, so there are upsides to this as well. We just need to decide if this truck's $12,999 asking price is one of those.

What's your opinion on this modded but seemingly well-made Trooper at that asking? Does that feel fair given the presentation and potential? Or, like the rest of America, do you consider this another Isuzu that's a no sale?

You decide!

Los Angeles, California, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

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