Selling a dead or junk Isuzu

An Isuzu in the US is an orphan. The company stopped selling passenger vehicles here in January 2009, and the newest one the EPA lists is a 2009 model. Below: how that happened, which Isuzus drew the biggest share of federal complaint reports, and the full list of every Isuzu sold here.

How Isuzu left the US car market

Isuzu was founded on 30 March 1934 and has its headquarters in the Yokohama Gate Tower in Yokohama. The name comes from the Isuzu River, which flows near the Ise Grand Shrine, and translates as "fifty bells".

In the US, Isuzu built vehicles at a plant in Lafayette, Indiana. In early 2002, Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru's parent company, bought Isuzu's share of that plant, and it became Subaru of Indiana Automotive.

The lineup thinned quickly after that:

• 2003: the Rodeo Sport was discontinued.
• 2004: production of the Rodeo and the Axiom ended. North American sales had slowed to 27,188, and those two discontinued models made up 71% of that total.
• February 2006: the 7-passenger Ascender ended when GM closed its Oklahoma City Assembly plant. That left the 5-passenger Ascender, built in Moraine, Ohio, and the low-selling i-Series as Isuzu's only retail products.
• 2007: Isuzu sold 7,098 cars that year.
• January 31, 2009: Isuzu Motors America stopped selling passenger vehicles in the US.

The company itself did not go away. Isuzu still makes commercial vehicles and diesel engines. Its Elf, a medium-duty cab-over truck introduced in 1959, is still in production.

Which Isuzus draw the most complaints

NHTSA's public database holds 4,288 owner complaints across the 12 Isuzu models in the EPA list, counted on October 10, 2026. One model accounts for most of them.

These are complaints, not failures, and not a reliability rating. A model sold for more years and in bigger numbers collects more of them. The Rodeo ran 14 model years and, with the Axiom, made up most of Isuzu's North American sales by 2004. A short-lived nameplate like the Stylus or the Oasis had only four model years to gather reports. And the Ascender, the newest Isuzu here, has spent fewer years on US roads than a 1990s Rodeo, which also keeps its count down.

The common thread: trucks and SUVs

Of the twelve Isuzu models listed, just three are cars: the I-Mark, Impulse and Stylus. The Stylus was the last, ending with the 1993 model year. Apart from the Oasis van, every Isuzu sold here after 1993 was a pickup or an SUV. So an Isuzu still parked in a US driveway is most likely a Rodeo, a Trooper, a Pickup, a Hombre or an Ascender. Our junk truck and SUV guide covers what changes when the vehicle is bigger and heavier.

The other thing they share is age. With sales ending in 2009, no Isuzu on a US road is newer than a 2009 model year, and most are far older. If yours has not moved in a long time, read what to do with a car parked for years.

Selling a dead Isuzu as one piece

Leave everything on it. You do not pull the engine, the tires or the battery first. The whole vehicle goes as it sits, loaded onto a truck wherever it is parked.

1. Find the model year and, if the gauge still works, the miles on it.
2. For your Isuzu, say if the engine turns over and the wheels roll, and what's broken or gone.
3. Look for the title. On a vehicle this old it is often lost; start with selling a junk car with no title.
4. Say where the truck should meet it: a driveway, a back lot, a field or a barn.

Pickup is free anywhere in the US. When it is gone, deal with the plates and the paperwork.

Rather talk to a person? Call (877) 421-6008.

Every Isuzu model sold in the US

These are the 12 Isuzu nameplates in the EPA's fuel economy list. Years are model years.