An Isuzu VIN tells you which of three very different companies built the truck. In our vPIC decodes, 4S2 was a Rodeo, Amigo or Axiom from the Subaru-Isuzu plant in Lafayette, Indiana, JAC was a Trooper from Fujisawa, Japan, 4NU was an Ascender that GM built in Oklahoma City or Moraine, Ohio, and 1GG was an i-Series pickup from GM's Shreveport plant. Position 10 is the year and 11 is the plant. Check those first, then go straight to the frame corrosion recalls, because on an old Rodeo that is where the money is.
We decoded Isuzu patterns with NHTSA's free vPIC decoder on October 14, 2026. Isuzu has not sold a new passenger vehicle here in more than seventeen years. The Associated Press, via the Houston Chronicle, reported in January 2008 that Isuzu would stop distributing new passenger vehicles in North America on January 31, 2009, blamed GM ending production of the Ascender and the i-290 and i-370 for Isuzu, and noted that Isuzu sold only 7,098 vehicles in the U.S. in 2007. ABC News put the peak at 103,629 in 1999 and said parts and service would continue. New to VINs? Read how to decode a VIN first.
4S2: the Indiana trucks
The Lafayette-built trucks are the Isuzus most people picture. A 2000 Rodeo pattern starting 4S2CK58D decoded to a 2.2-liter four, a 2004 Rodeo starting 4S2CK58W came back with the 3.2-liter V6, and a 1999 pattern starting 4S2CM57W returned the 3.2 with four-wheel drive under a "Rodeo/Amigo" model name. Every one listed Subaru-Isuzu Automotive in Lafayette as the plant. A 2003 Axiom starting 4S2DE58Y also pointed to Lafayette, though vPIC flagged the pattern and filled fewer fields. vPIC lists a separate 4S6 code for Isuzu Manufacturing Services of America, and the one 4S6 pattern we tried came back with Honda as the make. That fits the recall filing below, which has Honda recalling 1998-2002 Passports alongside the Rodeo, so keep our Honda VIN decoder in mind for that twin.
JAC Troopers and the GM-built Isuzus
The Trooper is the Japanese one. Our 2000 and 2002 patterns starting JACDJ58X decoded to Fujisawa with the 3.5-liter V6 and four-wheel drive. The late Isuzus are GM trucks, and vPIC lists General Motors LLC as the manufacturer. A 2003 Ascender starting 4NUES16S and a 2006 starting 4NUET16S decoded to Oklahoma City with the 4.2-liter inline six, while a 2004 starting 4NUDS13S came back from Moraine, Ohio, which is why the plant code in position 11 matters. A 2007 i-290 starting 1GGCS199 decoded to Shreveport, Louisiana with a 2.9-liter four. Those trucks share parts with the GMC Envoy, Chevy TrailBlazer and Colorado, so our GMC VIN decoder and Chevrolet VIN decoder help with the shared codes.
Check digit and year
Position 9 is the check digit defined in 49 CFR 565.15, and a cloned VIN still passes it, so compare the dash plate to the title. Position 10 in our samples ran X for 1999, Y for 2000, 2 for 2002, 3 for 2003, 4 for 2004, 6 for 2006 and 7 for 2007.
Recalls on an Isuzu VIN
The Rodeo's frame recalls come with a deadline that most buyers miss. Recall 10V-436 covers 1998-2002 Rodeos and 2002 Axioms sold or registered in a list of salt states, where corrosion can attack the forward bracket for the rear suspension lower link. Dealers inspect, treat the area, add a reinforcement bracket, or offer a buyback if the rust is too far gone. The filing says the work is free for vehicles ten years old or less, and older trucks only get it free if presented within 12 months of the owner notice. 13V-547 does the same for 2003-2004 Rodeos and Axioms and the 2003 Rodeo Sport, with any repurchase based on the Kelley Blue Book private-party price. So on a Rodeo in October 2026, a "recall done" claim is worth checking, and a rotten bracket may be your problem now. On the Ascender, 13V-248 covers 2006-2007 trucks whose driver door module can short and overheat. Use our NHTSA recall check by VIN guide for the lookup.
History and price
Look, crawl under any old Isuzu before you look at the paperwork, then pull the history. A decode will not show a salvage brand, an odometer rollback or a flood title, and CARFAX says its reports draw on title, odometer, ownership and accident records. As of mid October 2026, a CARFAX report through us runs about $5.50 as a guest or about $4.50 as a member, and a CARFAX plus AutoCheck bundle is about $6.75, versus roughly $39.99 to $44.99 at retail. Confirm at checkout. We are a licensed CARFAX and AutoCheck reseller, not affiliated with CARFAX, AutoCheck, or Experian.
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!
Log in to leave a comment.