84 Isuzu P'up diesel -- too good to let go?

[morgan]

A local guy (old farmer) has a Pup that he just uses for running to town (he pulls his cattle with a dodge cummins).

It has about 100,000 miles on it, and he says it gets about 40mpg in city driving. Std cab, long bed. Anybody know about this model?

[DogDiesel]

Morgan,
I have driven one. I believe a 4 cyl Izuzu engine, natural diesel, very detuned. Seen the engine run on my tours in South east Asia. Good engine.

Cannot agree more, the best way to get economy from a one ton truck is to get it paid for, buy an economy beater and drive it.

As a mechanic, this is the basic argument, the right tool for the job. Trying to build an adjustable one-ton wrench that rounds the corners off the economy nut.

If the price is right, buy it, drive it and save.

Wayne

[morgan]

Thanks for the response DogDiesel. At 6'3" and almost 300 lbs, my only concern is comfort. Also, I'd have to get rid of something else, and that would be hard at this point. I like my K2500 a lot, but this little Izusu pup would be better for my daily commute, but would not pull the larger trailers that I pull about 3x a year.

Are you in an Airborne unit now?

I am a Cherry Jumper, but got a medical discharge in '91. My brother in law is a Capt in the 82nd, was in Afghanistan last year, and in Iraq this year. His unit took some fire over the weekend, and we haven't heard from him yet. We're praying.

[johns216]

I have a 82 Chevy LUV with the Isuzu 2.2 diesel engine in it. It has been one of the best vehicles I have owned. It gets around 32-38 MPG.

[LanceW]

Can't help you on the diesel, but I can totally recommend the idea of buying a more economical vehicle for everyday use- our '94 6.5 dually has almost 195,000 miles on it, we bought a '91 Celica convertible in march for $3,000 for me to drive to work (in traffic, 15 miles, parking garage). It's not just the fuel savings- we don't have to deal w/ one-ton maintenance (brakes, tires, etc) and we also are not wearing the truck out as fast as we would have been. I think that even accounting for insurance costs this car will pay for itself in well under two years. Go for it

[tom.mcinerney]

Morgan-never heard anything but good about the little Isuzu diesels.
Wouldn't it be nice to swap insurance from the pup to the bigger rig when you want to drive it? If the drivers, rather than vehicles were insured, we could save a lot of energy{light daily driver} and increase ride reliability(two vehicles better than one)!

[DogDiesel]

Morgan,
It cost me $145 for liability on my economy rigg. I reap the savings in just a few months. My big truck gets about as good as any for its size, but as a daily driver, that is about $200 in fuel monthly compared to about $50 in the econ-rigg. Registration and taxes on NOT-new vehicles are reasonable. Not to mention tire costs, blah blah. I have been using two vehicles like this for over twenty years, one to tow my RV/trailers, one to drive daily, plus I can wedge that little thing in half the space.
Yeah, 82d Airborne. Go on winter vacation sandbox time in few weeks. I'm back worrying with getting the vehicles returning from combat in Afghantown fixed, ready for on-call flyout. Arranging contracts, etc.
Buddy, at your height and weight, I share your concern. While I'm only six feet and fairly lean 215, I cannot wear a hat in my econ-rigg. Even padded seat covers tighten the seating. But 40+ mileage makes forgiving; the hat fits neatly in the next seat or on the dash. I think the PuP has a little more room than my VW pickup.
Good luck with your decision.
Wayne

[Bill Voitel]

Morgan, A few years back I owned a small local delivery service one of the best vehicels I had was an 84 chev S-10 p/u with the 2.2 isuzu diesel. Wished i had a whole fleet of these trucks. 30 to almost 40 mpg (depending on who was driving it) It had about 345K when a guy blasted a stop sighn and hit it in the pax door. nothing left of it. it was very comfortable (I'm 6'3' but that was also 85lbs & 10 years ago) but it was a great littel truck if GM would put that motor or a t/charged version of that motor in an S-10 I would be standing in line to get one!

Bill........ :eek: