The Rodeo has returned to Denver after a short stay in Detroit with news editor John Clor. Editor-in-chief Chris Wardlaw and family have been with the Rodeo for most of the month of June, and are surprised to see how much they are enjoying their time with the truck. Christy Wardlaw (Mrs. Editor-in-Chief) has been particularly impressed with the Rodeo. Within days of its arrival in Denver, Christy had moved her child's baby seat into the backseat, reset all of the radio stations, plopped her water bottle in the center console, and made herself at home. In fact, Christy has been so smitten by the attractive truck that she has suggested to her husband that they buy the Rodeo in November after the lease is up. There's something about driving a rugged V6-powered SUV around the streets of Denver that just feels right to Christy. The image, the visibility, the implied safety--they're all reasons that SUVs are so popular in the Mile High City.

Chris Wardlaw has been using the Rodeo as Isuzu and God intended, namely for trips to Home Depot for house supplies. After one such trip where he acquired a screen door, Wardlaw found that the easy-to-fold rear seats aren't really that easy to fold because they require the headrests to be removed in order to get a flat load floor. This, in turn, means that the headrests have to be stowed somewhere so that they don't roll around the back of the truck. Wardlaw thinks that Isuzu should mimic the rearward-folding headrest design used by GM in their compact SUVs. Allowing the backseats to be stowed without taking off the rear headrests could add some utility to the Rodeo.

Wardlaw has also found some new benefits to the rear hatchgate. The hatchgate allows owners to access the contents of the cargo area without having to open a heavy liftgate. After a trip to the grocery store, the Wardlaws found another positive attribute of the hatchgate: you can open it underneath a garage door without banging anything into the door. On most other SUVs and minivans, when you pull into the garage head-in, and then open the hatch, it rests on the garage door above. As items or people leave the vehicle, weight shifts, and the hatch rubs on the exposed metal of the garage door, leaving scratches. With our hatchgate-equipped Rodeo, you just open the glass, swing the tailgate sideways, and no damage occurs (but in small garages, you can't open the back with the garage door closed).

Our Rodeo's optional 16-inch wheel package gained some unexpected praise this month as well. During a spring rainstorm, Wardlaw passed a Ford Explorer stopped in a construction zone with a flat tire. The owner was totally covered in mud because the spare was located on the underside of the Explorer. Owners of Rodeos with the 16-inch wheel package don't have to worry about things like this since the spare is located on the hatchgate and is easily accessible without having to climb under the truck. The downside to the spare tire's location is that it hinders rearward visibility somewhat.

During their month with the Rodeo, the Wardlaws have been happy. Their main gripes concern the low quality of the cargo-area plastics (the hard plastic is scratched and gouged from countless loads of dogs and hardware), fuel economy, slow steering, driving position and ergonomics--all complaints we've made before. Still, Isuzu has pegged the Rodeo's engine and styling, things that count for a lot in the high altitude of Denver. Now that the Rodeo's gremlins may have been ironed out, it has become a pleasing ride.

Total Odometer Reading: 34,418
Best Fuel Economy: 19.7 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 16.8 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: None
Problems: Left brake light not illuminating as brightly as right brake light. Odd clicking noise occurring under half-throttle acceleration.