i'm wanting to go offroad a little more... and might get rid of the car soon, any recommendations on a ute that is good allround? model & year (hilux,cruiser,ranger, mazda ect ect)what would be more reliable and your experience, cheers.
troopy
They are the best rip out the rear seats
Paint the rear with a tank linner and throw in the wetties kites and boards till your heart is content
They will also launch your kite for you
Land Cruiser. But you pay for the name. After you decide on a model, come back again and ask which engine.
^^^^
Why wouldnt you want to drive on the beach if you could, its fun and you get away from crowds and can use to launch kite, dont have to put kite down to get a drink out the back of the car either bet there's a million reasons that driving on the beach is a good/fun option
^^^ wow, grippy tires!
I love my hilux, but heard good things about the bt-50 and triton if you're looking at a ute
TROOPY all the way
my troopy Malcolm is flat out doing 120
but i can get 1200k off 150 ltrs if i sit just below a 100
plus the room factor
^^^ new Tritons, BT50, Hilux, DMax and Rangers are getting pretty competitive on price at the moment, which is making the secondhand market pretty good. $20-25k will get you something quite reasonable of any of them and only 2-4 years old.
Ppl moan about the price, but at the end Of the day, you just cannot beat a Toyota. They have stood the test of time over an over again.
Oh and I have an 04 turbo diesel dual cab hilux for sale. Manual.
Pm for price.
Have had my Toyota landcuiser wagon since new 1996 and 600k. Hz80 diesel. Just use it as a beach car now, but unreal. Goes anywhere, full of boogie boards, sand and kite gear. Will go another 20 years I'm sure. Great buses.
Get a wagon and stick a liner in it. I honestly don't understand dualcab utes. Yes you can carry 4 people, but you can't carry long stuff inside a ute, rear legroom in most dualcabs is farked, many secondhand dualcabs have a scratched up half rusted tray.
$25K gets you a damn fine Prado T/D. You can fit a 10' SUP inside with 4 shortboards. How would your 'lux ute look...?
But like I said - anything on your list will go down the beach just great. You already said manual T/D so you are already going for good fuel consumption.
I like the look of the new(ish) FJ Cruiser...
www.toyota.com.au/fj-cruiser
Sandstorm, or Retro Blue...
FJ Cruiser is petrol only. A big benefit of a wagon over dualcab is traction in the wet.
Stay away from manuals in BT50/Ranga.
Triton has atrocious departure angle, this will get you into trouble more than you think.
I don't like toyota's but the Hilux is the nicest to live with. VW has alot of kit but it has a shocking turning circle, the driving just didn't gel with me & it seemed smaller inside than the lux.
Diesel consumption great on the beach but manual td on 110 highways is crap.
I hear good things about the dmax ute for the price. Don't like the mux interior for space.
Lucky enough to drive troopy, pager and prado over the past few years and prado probably ticks all the boxes. But troopy had my heart for where she took me
If I may hijack a little while people are talking 4x4s, any opinions on defender over troopy? Just wondering about any mech deficiencies on the defender given the price diff new. I know defender not as comfy too, but drove ok on hwy to me, so much room for toys...
Cheers
Hiluxs are great utes, I've had 5 of them and they never miss a beat. They have however changed the thickness of the body metal which is now ****e. The last 2 I got both hand dents above the door handle within the first week.......from closing the door?!?! The extra cab is now 3.5yrs old and is the most dented up ute I've had. Resale value destroyed.
Looking at rangers next time.
Love my Holden Colorado dual cab. Need a ute for work but was worried about getting smaller tray than I already had ( ford one tonner ). Looked at all makes here are pros and cons. Hilux and navara clutch issues bt and amarok to pricey. But the big factor ranger and Colorado I could fit a longer tray 2000mm. Went withcolorado as the rangers 2.2 motor was not enough and the 3.2 motor was an extra 8000. I've had the Colorado over at Fraser Island and it didn't get close to getting stuck unlike many other more expensive cars
defender... big plus for alloy body but in general they are a mechanical liability.
How did you not feel that in even a small crash your legs would be cut off at knees & disembowelled by the steering wheel?