Medigo's 2001 Isuzu VehiCROSS Project

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Figured I'd make a new thread to document my progress with another childhood "dream" car that I recently purchased. Been obsessed with the VehiCross longer than I can remember and found myself wanting a second fun car. As much as I enjoy my daily driver 2018 Lexus GS350 F-Sport, I figured I'd get something different to it. I'll admit I am not a track driver with how few accessible race tracks there are locally, other than the local autocross. But I always found myself intrigued with off-roaders and wanted something I could take down a logging trail without worry. I've only owned one SUV, which was more of a winter beater than a dedicated fun vehicle, a 2001 Jeep Cherokee 60th Anniversary Edition. Despite my short time with it, I felt a want for an SUV after selling it. Not a huge SUV/truck person, but there's a few that I'd want to own, with the VehiCross being rather high up the list. Sorry about the rambling, but here it is! My 2001 Isuzu VehiCROSS in Proton Yellow with little to no modifications. This particular one was the exact color I wanted and with no major off-road modifications, which sadly seems to be the common issue. Either turned into a rock crawler, winter beater, or mud slinger.

Acquired on August 18th, 2022. Purchased from Illinois and had it shipped to Maine for $989.
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Arrived in Maine the next day on August 19th, 2022. The previous owner was...quite the sports fan and had a lot of stickers all over it.
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First thing done was removing most of the stickers, apart from the ones on the paint that required a heat gun later on.
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The dealership the previous owner had bought it from had painted over the cladding to refresh the commonly faded plastic. But most of it was starting to flake off and I couldn't help but notice that the Isuzu emblem itself was painted over. Scraped off the black paint to bring back the chrome.

Before:
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After:
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Got it registered and figured I'd dig through and see what it'd need to pass the state inspection. Unfortunately required for vehicles under 25 years old, but it's nice to make sure it's safe for the roads. Turns out, it wasn't with quite a few things to address in terms of the inspection.

  • License plate lights were dead, hopefully just the bulbs needing replacing, but the lens covers were stuck with extremely rusted screws.
  • The tires were dry rotted.
  • The CV axle boot was torn on both sides.
  • Power steering leak.
  • Valve cover gasket oil leak.

Ordered some new Falken Wildpeak A/T tires to replace the dry rotted BFGs. Much meatier, but unfortunately there was damage from the previous owner's neighbor who backed into the front, so it'd rub while turning right. As I found out, that caused the radiator to leak and didn't realize it until I drove it 10 miles home to find my temp gauge almost maxed out.

Old dry rotted tires:
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New Falken tires next to the old BFGs.
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Before with the old tires:
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After with the new tires:
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Had the rear cladding off to try and access the plate lights, but they were beyond my basic tools.
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First drive home and....I barely made it before overheating.
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So I had to get it towed back to my work where I originally had it. But with how busy the techs are, I ended up towing it a second time (or third if you count shipping) to a friend's shop about 40 minutes north. Hoping he'd have more time to help with several things such as the radiator, plate lights, axle, etc.
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Unlike my previous threads, I hope to ACTUALLY keep this one updated. Hope you guys enjoy as this was something I had always wanted, deciding that I may as well try to enjoy things while I can.
 
Not the best resolution photos. Brought it to my friend's shop some time ago and finally got it back today! He did quite a bit of work and it totaled out to be...a decent chunk. Timing belt, serpentine belt, pullies, valve cover gaskets, rear plate lights, fluids, and the bent front bumper fixed/replaced.

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Valve covers were cleaned up while they were off.
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Also got a new radiator and an electric fan to replace the old clutch fan with a new radiator. Drove it home with little issues, other than a slight need for a steering alignment and the driver's side window didn't go back up. Did 70MPH well enough, although certainly a bit sketchy after driving newer cars for several years now. Took it for it's first proper fill up and already had some guys in a Honda Ridgeline pull up behind to take photos of the VehiCross. Unfortunately will need a new front axle as the boots are completely torn off, but otherwise it's good. With the need to replace the axle, it might still not pass inspection.
 
I'm not very familiar with Isuzu engines but I assumed they had a good reputation for reliability, along the lines of Mitsubishi and Toyota trucks. I remember back in the day seeing Troopers all over the place, although they're non-existent today. Was that Vehicross neglected?

I also love that it's yellow. I remember when I was a kid riding the bus home from school, somebody who worked at a UPS warehouse along the way always had their yellow Vehicross parked out front. It was always such a rare and cool truck, I still get excited when I see them.
 
Please put big mud flaps on it like a Paris-Dakar racer. Please.
Might need a good refresher of what that looks like. Might be something to consider.

I'm not very familiar with Isuzu engines but I assumed they had a good reputation for reliability, along the lines of Mitsubishi and Toyota trucks. I remember back in the day seeing Troopers all over the place, although they're non-existent today. Was that Vehicross neglected?

I also love that it's yellow. I remember when I was a kid riding the bus home from school, somebody who worked at a UPS warehouse along the way always had their yellow Vehicross parked out front. It was always such a rare and cool truck, I still get excited when I see them.
Unfortunately it does seem so as the previous owner said that he wasn't much of a mechanic... Not sure if Illinois requires state inspections, but it definitely would not have passed here in Maine. He had listed it for sale in August 2021 and I bought it in August 2022, of which he had only put on 100 miles on the odometer since last year. Clearly it's sat for longer than it should have and I feel a bit annoyed that I paid...quite a bit. The market's been all over for these with some people selling their 200k mile ones for $10k or >$5k.

I was torn between the silver or yellow, but ultimately decided on yellow as it brings out the design. They always stood out to me and just felt the "need" to own one. Not sure what brought it on as it's not going to be an investment, but I suppose it was my disappointment in seeing so few around at car shows. Wanted to share it locally with people.

Edit: Forgot to add that my old project I bought nearly 10 years ago was purchased by a fellow Toyota enthusiast. Thankfully he plans to get it restored as it was a bigger project than I could have managed back then, so it ended up sitting around. Had people asking to buy it for parts, but glad it will actually be restored.
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I've always been a fan of those & almost bought one years ago but bought a Tundra instead. How difficult is it sourcing parts?

Best of luck sorting it out.
 
I've always been a fan of those & almost bought one years ago but bought a Tundra instead. How difficult is it sourcing parts?

Best of luck sorting it out.
Thankfully most mechanical parts are shared amongst other more common vehicles. Mostly the Trooper, but I can also find parts from the Isuzu Rodeo/Honda Passport that are similar. Of course, the exterior bits are the biggest concern, which is why I wanted to find a mostly clean example. This one will need some attention, but nothing too major cosmetically.
 
Had a friend replace the front axle boots, ball joints, ABS sensors, brake rotors, pads, and flushed the system at his shop. Pretty much got it to the point of being safe enough for road use. But there's still a few things that need work, but I'll wait until next year as it's taken quite the financial hit on me with finding just how much the previous owner did NOT do on the vehicle.
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Things still needing attention:

  • Driver side window regulator
  • Loose wiring for plate lights and marker lights
  • All four shocks need replacing

I'm sure there's more, but I can't quite think of them off the top of my head. Thankfully, the snow hasn't fallen around here yet, but I was able to find storage for either really cheap or...basically free with another group of friends who rent a shop about an...hour or so away from my apartment. Definitely feels a bit depressing finding plenty of things to work on with it being a ~21 year old vehicle that really hadn't had any service done and not being able to drive it much. Especially with winter coming up and the concern of rust, I'll be storing it.
 
These are so cool, looks like a fun thing to roll around in. Great colour for it too!
I hope to do more with it, but it certainly sucks receiving the VehiCross at the end of summer and waiting for months to get things done to get it sort of safe for the road. I was craving an off-roader for a while and kind of wanted a two door SUV, but there isn't too much for offerings that really appealed to me. Almost considered the more reasonable and easier route of a 4Runner (not sure which gen would really work for me) or a Mitsubishi Montero/Isuzu Trooper as the Land Cruisers obviously have a high resale value that I couldn't quite justify spending on a "toy."

As I said in an earlier post, it was sort of a mix of a childhood want and a slight...annoyance that I don't ever see these on the road or at car shows. Wanted it for my own enjoyment, but....in some ways to bring to shows and "educate" people on. I'll be honest, if I had the money, I'd go for a current gen Defender 90 if I could afford it. I just love two door SUVs.
 
Finally pulled the VehiCross out of storage today! After parking it back in December, I really wanted to get it out after we had some 50 - 70 degree weather this week. Of course, next week won't be quite as warm, but the street sweepers have cleaned off the salt/sand from the roads thankfully. Also replaced the broken left turn signal light.

Forgot to take a before picture up close, but you can sort of see the broken piece in this photo.
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New assembly purchased and installed.
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Finally got some proper use out of the VehiCross this weekend, taking it to the New England Forest Rally. Almost sad to say it's sort of the reason why I bought the Isuzu, to be able to go out onto the rally stages without feeling like I was going to do something horribly wrong to my lower ride height daily drivers. (Didn't dare take my MK7.5 GTI to the rally) Never got so much attention while driving through the stage trying to find a parking spot, but certainly felt like I was "among my people." Had some fun driving through a bit of a mud bog in the parking field in the rally after all the rain we've had. People were cheering me on and taking video/pictures as I got through the mud pit. :lol: Wish I got a photo of it in or around the rally stage off road with the mud coverage, but felt exhausted and kind of wanted to get home.

Sadly things didn't end well as I must have blown a transmission cooler line while sort of thrashing it in the mud and ended up getting it towed to a friend of a friend's shop. The transmission got really rough during the drive home from the rally and had some really rough shifts and felt like I was missing a gear. Managed to get it to a parking lot and wait for a tow.
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Also rather amusing, it turns out the tow truck that picked me up was the exact same truck that took the VX to my friend's shop when I had the cooling issue.
 
This truck is reminding me of the Rav4 I got last year as a daily driver. I don't think I've ever owned such a neglected car in my life. It's literally cost me about $2000 in self-repairs since I got it a year ago.

Fortunately for you the Vehicross is actually a really cool, really rare truck so it'll be worth getting straightened out. Probably never want to do any serious off-roading but this thing would be amazing with some basic wheeling and camping gear installed, parked in the woods with a tent on the roof. What a weird car.
 
This truck is reminding me of the Rav4 I got last year as a daily driver. I don't think I've ever owned such a neglected car in my life. It's literally cost me about $2000 in self-repairs since I got it a year ago.

Fortunately for you the Vehicross is actually a really cool, really rare truck so it'll be worth getting straightened out. Probably never want to do any serious off-roading but this thing would be amazing with some basic wheeling and camping gear installed, parked in the woods with a tent on the roof. What a weird car.
Hoping to take it to some dirt road's I've shot in the past with press trucks/SUVs. Nothing too extreme of course, but that'd probably be the extent of my off-roading. It's nice to own a vehicle finally capable of going off the pavement since my Jeep Cherokee XJ that I never really did. Just sucks that the previous owner barely did anything for maintenance on it, but I suppose it's better than being rusty or heavily modified.

A couple photos I took of previous press vehicles on some of the off-road trails I know of that aren't...too far from me.
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