This month our Rodeo's passenger-side illuminated vanity mirror quit lighting up (again), taking with it the driver's vanity mirror illumination. We also have seen a resurrection of the flickering ABS light that first plagued our Rodeo in January. The technicians at our service center have informed us that there has been a recall on the ABS monitoring systems and that they will replace ours … as soon as they have one in stock. For the time being, they can only reset the system's codes and hope for the best. For some odd reason, the panic button on our remote keyless entry system is no longer working, yet the lock and unlock buttons still work just fine. Our left side taillamp also went out this month, a new problem that doesn't really surprise us considering the trouble we've had with the rest of the electrical system. Non-electrical problems are limited to the grip strip on the running boards. Once again the adhesive is wearing thin, allowing the rubber strips to pull away from the running boards. This is the second time we've had problems with this; it was just replaced in December.

As promised, we have installed an OSI bike rack on our Rodeo. The bike rack comes courtesy of Performance Products and is a slick unit that mounts to the trailer hitch receiver on the back of our truck. The rack is capable of holding four full-size bikes and features a lock to make sure thieves can't make off with our mountain bikes. Unlike traditional bike racks, the OSI rack's innovative rear-mounted design means that riders don't have to lift their bikes above their heads when securing them to the rack. Despite appearances, the rack doesn't impede access to the hatch-gate because is swings wide of the truck when a lever is released. The bike rack came partially assembled in three main pieces and took two of our intrepid editors less than one hour to install. The only tools necessary for the operation are an adjustable wrench and hammer.

The Rodeo will be leaving Colorado soon, heading for warmer pastures in Los Angeles, California. Before this happens, though, we are going to make sure that we get some serious mountain biking done at one of Colorado's beautiful resorts where people trade two planks for two wheels when the snow melts. This assumes, of course, that our Rodeo doesn't have a full electrical meltdown before then.

Best Fuel Economy: 15.3 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 11.1 mpg
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: The left taillamp is out, the driver and passenger vanity mirror illumination is out, the ABS light is flickering on and off, the button on the remote keyless entry system is not working and the grip strips are pulling away from the running boards.