I got an update today that he contacted Isuzu corporate and verified the 7 year/75K miles warranty is transfereable and that he is in fact covered, so all's well there. The closest dealership to him apparently is San Leandro so he'll have to get a tow since the Axiom is leaking coolant quite a bit from the top of the engine.

Once the problem is discovered and resolved I'll share here as it may be relevant since the Direct Injection 3.5 is fundamentally the same engine as ours.

I'm VERY curious to find the cause as the vehicle was fine when I delivered to the shipping terminal, which was an hour drive for me. My gut tells me something happened in transport, but I can't imagine what it could be to affect the cooling circuit.