Maybe this truck is just what some people are looking for, meaning those who buy Kias, Hyundais, and Suzukis for the warranties, yet are left wanting for a pickup truck. Because that seven-year/75,000-mile powertrain and three-year/50,000-mile basic warranty is the only reason to even consider the 2006 Isuzu i-280. True, there’s a fairly negligible difference in price when compared to mirror images from Chevrolet (Colorado) and GMC (Canyon), but the ability to easily find one of the General’s dealers and repair shops would likely offset those few hundred dollars in savings.

To its credit (and the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon, for that matter), the 175-horsepower engine under the i-280’s hood provides adequate acceleration, and easily cruises along with quick-moving traffic, provided you’re talking about a perfectly flat road surface. Highway passes and slight inclines beg for a downshift to third or fourth gear, and hopes for a granny gear might arise if one maxes out the 1,532-lb. payload or 3,200-lb. tow rating. You can wring that four banger out to redline for a bit of spirit, but the motor’s raucous and unrefined nature will be giving you second thoughts. Much like those drivers will be thinking should they attempt any lively driving with this Isuzu, since the steering is mostly devoid of road feel, the tires squeal aplenty and the body rolls all over – driver and passengers alike will feel as though they’re still riding the waves even after returning to the sand of the beach. Granted, small $20,000 pickups are meant more for light hauling and commuting than apex-carving, but the Isuzu i-280 takes poor handling to the extremes. Thankfully, the brakes, though a bit touchy, worked well and were easy to modulate.

Hop inside the 2006 i-280 to find wide but flat front seats with integrated headrests. Over a 300-mile run to see some amateur racing in central California, a front passenger and I made it without any comfort complaints and enjoyed the rubberized center armrest, tilt and rubberized steering wheel, and sufficient leg and head room. Had we made the same trip on the rear jump seats, however, I most certainly would have different views to report. The seat bottom folds down, the seat back is fixed to the rear cab wall, and the result is a space that’d be inhospitable for even small children. Plus (and this slays me) our truck lacked a sliding rear window (that requires opting for the $1,569 Luxury Package) and all i-280s come with fixed rear side windows – fresh air be damned. Though the rest of your body may be immobilized in the rear seats, you can still shift your eyes from side to side to survey the 2006 Isuzu i-280’s interior quality. In our test truck, we noticed large gaps between the doors and dash, a loose passenger door switch panel, loose A-pillar covers, and some rattling from the center armrest. Though the materials were mostly hard plastic, everything else seemed to be firmly planted. The exterior build was much the same, with huge gaps where the headlights, hood, and grille met, and large gaps around the taillights. It seems that Isuzu won’t be benefiting from GM’s purported focus on tighter gap tolerances.

And that brings us full circle, back to question of why someone would buy this truck – the engine is average, the ride is average to below average (for this type of vehicle), and build quality is lacking. But, yes, there’s that impressive warranty which, when you think about it, addresses none of those concerns, with the possible exception of repeatedly popping a loose interior door switch panel back into place…free of charge, of course.