NHTSA Complaint #10145131 — 2001 ISUZU VEHICROSS

I OWN TWO 2001 ISUZU VEHICROSS'S. I BOUGHT THEM USED 1 AND 2 YEARS AGO, RESPECTIVELY. MY FIRST ONE WAS PURCHASED WITH 11,000 MILES ON IT, AND THE SECOND ONE WITH 36,000 MILES ON IT. UPON PURCHASE OF MY FIRST ONE, THE POWER WINDOW MECHANISM ON BOTH SIDES HAD TO BE REPLACED DUE TO A FAILURE OF THE TRACK ALIGNMENT. I'M SEEING SIMILAR ISSUES WITH MY SECOND VEHICROSS AS WELL. MY FIRST VEHICROSS WAS FIXED BY A DEALER, UNDER WARRANTY, ON FOUR SEPARATE OCCASIONS. AFTER THE WARRANTY RAN OUT, THE ISSUE AGAIN PRESENTED ITSELF, AND I HAD TO PAY OVER $600 TO GET THE ISSUE FIXED. EVEN THEN, THE ISSUE REAPPEARED AFTER ONLY A FEW MONTHS. MY SECOND VEHICROSS HAS THE SAME EXACT ISSUES WITH THE WINDOW BINDING, AND TRACK MISALIGNMENT, CAUSING THE MOTORS TO WEAR. UPON COMING IN CONTACT WITH AN ORGANIZATION OF SEVERAL HUNDRED VEHICROSS ENTHUSIASTS I DISCOVERED THAT THIS TYPE OF WINDOW FAILURE IS EPIDEMIC WITH THIS MODEL CAR. SOME OF THE OWNERS HAVE HAD MULTIPLE FAILURES -- I.E., THE WINDOWS HAVE BEEN FIXED ONLY TO FAIL AGAIN, SOMETIMES THREE OR FOUR TIMES. I HAVE CONTACTED ISUZU BUT THEY DENY THERE IS A PROBLEM. ON THE OTHER HAND I UNDERSTAND THERE ARE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS BY ISUZU THAT DO RECOGNIZE THIS PROBLEM. SINCE THERE WAS A LIMITED DISTRIBUTION OF THIS PARTICULAR MODEL CAR -- SOMEWHERE IN THE AREA OF 4000 PLUS OVER A FOUR YEAR PERIOD -- IT APPEARS THE WINDOW FAILURE RATE IS A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF THAT TOTAL NUMBER. I WOULD ASK THAT THE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATE THIS PROBLEM, INCLUDING INVESTIGATION OF THE INTERNAL ISUZU DOCUMENT MENTIONED ABOVE. IF THERE IS, AS IT APPEARS, A DESIGN FLAW IN THE WINDOW MECHANISM, THEN THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF VEHICROSS OWNERS WHO HAVE IMPROPERLY BEEN CHARGED TO REPAIR IT, SOMETIMES MULTIPLE TIMES. *JB