very cool, sure is a lot packaged onto that platform!
My husband and I had a deposit on one in Vancouver, and the owner sold it to someone local. Crushed for "losing" what I thought was a perfect score for an RV, I sourced another one in Sask and drove out in a blizzard to see it, test drive it and had high hopes of buying it...UNTIL I saw it. Pictures do not provide perspective of size. It was very "cute", almost like a motorhome made for dolls! I am 5'3" and was BARELY able to stand in the motorhome. My hubby is just shy of 6 feet tall and there wasn't a single bed that he would fit on, he would NOT fit in the shower. Ceiling is about 5'5"-5'6" high in total, and it could perhaps sleep 5 children, but absolutely not 5 adults over the height of 5'7". Dinette was barely large enough for 2 people to sit. We were disappointed and opted out of the purchase.
Really cool in concept, loved the full fiberglass shell and 4x4, manual diesel option. The two that we found were LHD not RHD, and were very gutless, and I have read that upgrading to a larger turbo does help with that somewhat - which is what I had planned to do (and we were coming from a Eurovan...but in a head wind, this little Isuzu didn't have the "umph" that even our low torque Eurovan had, struggling to reach 80kph on the hiway).
Parts aren't that hard to source; as the Isuzu rodeos were sold in the US (though the diesels not as much), but Isuzu being one of the largest diesel manufacturers in the world means that parts shouldn't be too hard to source.
Only advice with any of these 4x4 motorhomes built on smaller/compact sport utes is GET DIMENSIONS of everything or photos of someone your size in them and on them to get perspective, as you REALLY can't tell their sizing/scale by the photos. I would have been extremely choked to have purchased one from an auction and shipped it over only to discover upon receipt that my daughters and hubby wouldn't really be able to use it, and it would be VERY tough to resell. The interior was also in pretty rough shape (looked great in pictures) with some mold smell (in the foam insulation I'd suspect), sagging headliners in the Coach cabin (which made the head clearance even tough for me) and the electrical a little dubious with a tiny 15amp plug in for the shore power.
Other cost considerations: many of these vehicles will need new all around tires as they will not be DOT approved to meet the out of province inspections, depending on where you live, may struggle with meeting the emissions standards and any leaks (even a pinhole) can lead to fairly costly "renos", having to strip the interior to the shell to address mold and moisture, but at least with a fiberglass shell, are repairable. -just may be a bigger job than anticipated. Japan is not a dry climate, thus know the risk of this when considering an RV from there and factor it into your budget. Pre-purchase inspections and details on the condition and photos at many auctions are almost non-existent, but if you can find one locally, at least check it out for yourself!!!
I hope this helps!!! (and sorry to dash hopes, it's sooo hard to find a "functional" RV for those who like to venture off the beaten path and is fuel efficient that isn't $200K)
Nicole
