2006 Isuzu Rodeo 3.0L Diesel · CP06 AEF

A twenty-year-old pick-up with this MOT profile tells a story of a working vehicle accumulating age-related wear across its suspension, steering and braking systems, with the 2022 test simultaneously producing a pass and a fail on the same date for defective front position lamps. Across seven recorded tests spanning 2015 to 2022, the vehicle has never recorded a clean pass with no advisories; every test has flagged at least one item of concern. The advisory pattern is consistent and recurring rather than incidental, pointing to progressive degradation of the front-end running gear and corrosion beginning to take hold around the suspension mountings. Two failures within the record (the 2017 headlamp aim and stop lamp issues, and the 2022 position lamp failure) are relatively minor electrical items, but the underlying advisories reveal a chassis and suspension package that is steadily wearing out at close to 144,000 miles of use. The recorded mileage of 143,986 miles over a twenty-year documented life equates to roughly 7,200 miles annually, which sits close to the typical band for a vehicle of this age. However, the MOT history contains a notable testing gap of approximately two and a half years between the 2022 test and the previous 2018 entry, with no recorded tests for 2019, 2020 or the early months of 2021, suggesting a period either off the road, used only on private land, or operating below the MOT threshold during that window. The mileage accumulation between the 2018 test (recorded with implied mileage progression from prior entries) and 2022 cannot be precisely verified, but the consistent advisory pattern across the gaps indicates the vehicle has not been left fully static; it has been in active service throughout, accumulating wear on consumable chassis components at a steady if unspectacular rate. For a prospective buyer, the front suspension and steering components flagged repeatedly should be the priority inspection areas. The anti-roll bar linkage wear noted in 2022, the offside track rod end play recorded in the same test, and the lower suspension arm ball joint play flagged in 2021 all suggest the front end now warrants close attention. On a test drive, listen for clonks or knocks from the front suspension over speed humps and uneven road surfaces, and feel for any vagueness or looseness through the steering, particularly around the central position where worn track rod ends and anti-roll bar bushes typically manifest as imprecise turn-in and a tendency to wander. Given the 2018 advisories regarding corrosion around both front and rear suspension component mounting prescribed areas, inspect the subframe, strut tops and radius arm mounting points for advanced surface corrosion, and check for any uneven tyre wear across the front axle, which the 2022 advisory on edge wear suggests has already begun. Additionally, the 2016 underseal advisory covering brake pipes and the 2017 brake hose ferrule corrosion advisories warrant a thorough under-bonnet and underfloor examination, looking for any fresh corrosion, weeping brake fluid, or perished flexible hoses that may now require renewal. A bouncy ride quality over undulations would suggest the rear shock absorbers, flagged in 2022 for worn bushes, may also be nearing the end of their service life.