We've racked up miles on our Rodeo like an anteater sucks up ants! With two more months on our Rodeo lease, we're trying to be frugal and not accrue too many excess mileage charges, so excursions in the truck have been scarce as of late.

While driving to and from Denver International Airport, our editor-in-chief Chris Wardlaw noticed the steering wheel shimmying at speeds above 65 mph. We set up an appointment at Joe Tynan's Isuzu in Aurora, Colo., to get the rubber balanced. Wardlaw initially felt that the dealership seemed disorganized, and also had difficulty finding the service entrance due to the fact that several new VWs were parked in the service drive and signage was not immediately apparent. Wardlaw further mentioned that the service personnel were courteous, but some seemed to want to be anywhere except work. Oh, the plight of the service guys at Joe Tynan's Isuzu!

Later the same day, we received a call from a service tech who informed us the vehicle was ready to roll sans vibration. We arrived the next morning to pick up our Rodeo, but it took some time for them to locate the paperwork, which hadn't been processed yet. After 15 minutes of waiting and then doling out $35.95 to rotate and balance the tires, we went outside to where the cashier said the Rodeo would be delivered. We saw our vehicle, locked up, no keys, sitting idle outside the service entrance. We walked back inside to get our keys, irked by the inconvenience. Wardlaw said of his experience at Joe Tynan's Isuzu, "Overall, the people at Tynan Isuzu were generally nice and apologetic for their disorganization, but I wasn't impressed. The place seemed understaffed and generally chaotic." Note to dealers: apologies alone do not win over Edmunds.com's staffers!

We noticed a couple signs of age on our Rodeo. As reported last month, the passenger-side window is still making strange noises, but operates just fine, allowing in fresh air while down and keeping out Mother Nature's worst when rolled up. (Hey, windows'll do that nowadays!) We also observed that with all the body work performed on our truck, the paint on the hood no longer matches the front fenders or the bumper. In all fairness, Chris Wardlaw's got a pretty critical eye, but we don't hold it against him.

With both the Rodeo and our new Nissan Xterra long-term vehicle sitting in Wardlaw's driveway, the Rodeo got the nod as his hauler of choice. He explained, "I used the Rodeo instead of the Xterra to run errands for a singular reason -- 81.1 cubic feet of cargo space and a flip-up rear window. The Rodeo allowed me to carry a sliding door screen to Eagle hardware for repair. With the Xterra's fixed back glass and substantially smaller cargo area, this couldn't be done. Chalk up a point for the Rodeo." OK, we admit it, our operator-unfriendly hatchgate does have its advantages.


Total Odometer Reading: 36,182
Best Fuel Economy: 17.6 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 16.5 mpg
Body Damage Repair: $0
Maintenance Costs: $35.95
Problems: Steering wheel shimmy at high speeds due to unbalanced wheels.