Manufacturer General Motors Class Mid-size SUV | Production 2003–2008 Platform GMT360
GMT370 (EXT) | |
 | ||
Assembly Moraine, Ohio, United States (SWB)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States (LWB) Layout Front engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive | ||
The Isuzu Ascender LWB (long wheelbase) is a mid-size SUV built by General Motors for Isuzu. Introduced for the 2003 model year, the 7-passenger Ascender was a re-badged GMC Envoy. It replaced the Japanese built mid-size Isuzu Trooper. A shorter 5-passenger, which was the SWB (short wheelbase) model which was a mid-size SUV was made available for the 2004 model year as a replacement for the Rodeo and the Axiom. A Displacement on Demand V8 was introduced in 2004. Isuzu once offered a wide line of trucks, cars, and SUVs but the Ascender was Isuzu's last and only passenger vehicle until the introduction of the also slow-selling Isuzu i-Series pickup trucks, which were also built by GM in North America. The Ascender was never sold in Canada as Isuzu had announced, at the time, its withdrawal from there.
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Overview
The Ascender is the only one of the six mid-size SUVs that was not actually a GM branded product. The Ascender LWB was dropped after the 2006 model year. Reviews warned of a thin dealer network for warranty repairs, and the Kelley Blue Book projected a relatively low resale value similar to the TrailBlazer. However, Isuzu offers a seven-year/75,000-mile powertrain warranty, and substantial factory incentives.
The Ascender ended production on June 6, 2008, as part of Isuzu's withdrawal from the United States market. The Ascender (along with the related GMC Envoy) were both replaced by the 2010 GMC Terrain, based on the GM Theta platform. 7-passenger versions of both SUVs were indirectly replaced by the GMC Acadia in 2007, based on the GM Lambda platform.
Engines:
Recall
In 2012, General Motors and Isuzu recalled more than 258,000 SUVs in the U.S. and Canada to fix short-circuits in power window and door-lock switches that could cause fires. The recall covered Chevrolet TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Buick Rainier, Isuzu Ascender and Saab 9-7X SUVs from the 2006 and 2007 model years. The SUVs were sold or registered in the United States also including Hawaii and Alaska and Canada as well.
General Motors announced the recall of 316,357 vehicles in late 2014, primarily in North America, to fix malfunctioning headlights. According to the company, a problem in the headlamp driver module could have led to temporary or permanent malfunctioning of the low-beam headlamps and daytime running lamps. This increased the possibility of an accident. However, the high-beam headlamps, marker lamps, turn signals and fog lamps are not affected by the issue. The vehicles that were covered under the recall are the 2006–2009 Buick LaCrosse sedans; 2006–2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer, GMC Envoy and Buick Rainier SUVs; and 2006–2008 Saab 9-7X and Isuzu Ascender SUVs.