IIRC, the 1989 vintage v6 was a GM engine and tranny.  The reliability was
less than the 4 cyl.+manual, and repair costs were astronomical.

The only problem that I know of on the 4 cyl. was the cracked heads, which
is a (relatively) easy fix.  That went away sometime in the 1989 model
year.

--Kamus

I can't speak for Peter, but I believe that the 1990 V6 is a GM 2.8L
(basically the same as an S-10 pickup or Chevy Cavalier).  Isuzu used
the FWD block (Cavalier) in a RWD configuration.  I am not aware of
any particular problems with the auto trans in these vehicles, but
that doesn't mean they don't exist.  The V6 is not as powerful as you
might hope.  On the bright side, if the engine dies on you, you can
get a GM 3.4L V6 from a Lumina Z34 and it's as close to a drop-in
engine swap as you're likely to find.

Those engines are very durable.  Not very powerful, but they last a
long time.  I've seen them with well over 200K and running strong and
read recently of a guy who put over 375K on the same motor (2.8L V6)
in an S-10 pickup.

Not exactly a steal at $2200, but for $1900 you'd have $300 to spend
on maintenance that is likely to be needed before too long.  After
all, at 190K and nearly 15 years old, it's going to need something
before too long--just like any other vehicle of similar age/mileage
would.

HTH,
Tom G