Anyone experience of these? Looking £7000 – £10000. It will be used for farm work, so offroad and towing trailers full of sheep. Obviously landie would be best, but hi-lux, l200 offer more value for money and presumably better reliability.
Cheers

My personal choice would be a hilux. Not an L200 (more of a posing machine). But I've only got experience of hilux/hilux surfs and landcruisers. Great off-road, reliable.

Navara

Nissan? What?!

Look at what the remote communities use, the icelandic guys that go out and about – they use toyotas. Across deserts they use toyotas.

I've heard bad things about navara engines.

My boss has a Navara and it drives like a pile of manure. I'd go for a Hilux personally as my mate's had too many issues with his L200.

What are your trailers like? If they are plated 3.5 tons then only the Landy will do Unless very recently the Japs have changed their kit to tow that much.
If you want mostly long distance road miles with ultimate comfort go for the L200. if you want the best off road performance and something you can mend your self which holds value then go Landy.
Want to get in without removing wellies then its a 110.

Haven't got own trailer yet, so can buy to suit car and do more runs if required. The landie is not in favour at the moment it's a dead series iii that's caused the hunt for a new car.

A dead SIII Landy – must be useless if you can't get a minimum of 28 years out of one.

🙂

Or was it not one of the last one's made?

Hi Lux.

Everything else isn't sensible.

I did have a Ford Ranger once though, I quite likes that (Mazda actually) but liked to spin out on greasy roundabouts. 😀

Yeah, it's lasted but the point is that you can get something much younger/better equipped than the landie

What ever makes your "thing" feel the most tingly

Defenders are relatively expensive, not least because they are hand built by Brummies, however that works to their advantage in that there's little you can't replace on them with a socket set and a big hammer. They are not the most comfortable, quickest, quietest or most pretty but they do tend to get the job done.

I would go fo a landrover every time for UK farms, unless you plan to do alot of road miles then go for the Hi lux.

Stay away from the Navara as mention above. My company (electricty company, so always in fields) have had massive issues with them, and we now won't order any more.

Another option could be the ford ranger – we have used for a few years now and the lads like them

"Defenders are relatively expensive, not least because they are hand built by Brummies, however that works to their advantage in that there's little you can't replace on them with a socket set and a big hammer. They are not the most comfortable, quickest, quietest or most pretty but they do tend to get the job done. "

Many problems can be fixed by shouting at them and merely waving tools around the engine bay as well.Unless of course it's sucked a huge peice of polythene into the carb and you end up taking everything else in the fuel and ignition system apart first to figure out why it keeps cutting out, whoops.

I paid £11k for my Ranger (plus an extra grand for the hardtop). It was 3 months shy of 3 years old when I bought it and I landed on a peach with only 2.5k on the clock without a mark on it.

It has leather, air con, 6 disc cd/mp3 player and averages 30mpg. It's quite nice to drive too.

I wanted a Navara – the engines are fine in the latest models (55 plate onwards), although there were some half shaft and clutch issues on 55 platers. They have more toys, look nicer and are more powerful than the Ranger, but expect 25mpg for Euro V models (Euro IV were slightly better) and you'll pay a couple of grand extra even for a higher mileage model.

My mate has an L200 Animal which is again more powerful than the Ranger (170bhp, same as the Navara), but other models in the range are 140bhp. I'm not that keen on it and they seem to look tatty quickly, whilst the interior (inspite of leather seats) seems 'cheap'.

I have no experience of the Hi-Lux, but the ones I've glimpsed inside just don't do it for me – in fact Toyotas in general never have.

Given the choice, without financial constraints it would be the Navara hands down, but as it stands I'm more than happy with my Ranger. As an aside as it's way out of budget – the long awaited new Navara apparently has 190bhp and boasts 40+ mpg

and in work mode………

Given the choice, without financial constraints it would be the Navara hands down

Hopefully the new Navaras are better than the older ones. However, as a fleet buyer, my company found them to be poor as a long term, heavy use work vehicle.

Our 4×4 choices are now land rovers and ford rangers.
That one above look very nice

Run L200 for 3 years fault free, just had a new one delivered for next three years.
Nearly went for a hilux but too expensive for not alot of spec difference

L200
We got a new one (the work spec) for the farm last year, replace a trooper which had replaced a 90 defender.

For reversing the float in and out of sheds its great it has a very good turining circle so can get the float into places the 90 defender couldn't.

The towing capacity is alright at 2.7 tonnes, the hilux can only tow 2.2 tonnes.

We looked at all of these new last year and the hilux came out bottom because of the rubbish towing capacity and price.

The Ranger can tow 3t, although I've never tried it and the turning circle is waaaaay better than my mates L200. Far bigger load bed too, although the Navara wins on that count aswell.

Is that the old or new L200?

'57 plate Animal, so new. I believe they've just brought out an extended load bed model though.

The ranger was the other one we were considering but the high first gear (a bit shit when towing), the fact that they are apparantly due to be replaced pretty soon and a better deal on the L200 meant we went for that. The new shape L200 definately out turns the ranger.

The high 1st gear certainly could be a problem (brought about by only having a 5 speed box), but the Duratorq engine is a cracker. The Ranger has been facelifted and made uglier to boot, so I would imagine a replacement is due any time.

It was due this year but was put off with the recession, so they just gave it a facelift.

Can't speak from personal experience for older stuff, only what I hear but newer landies seem to last. eg my dads has had no problems over 40 years but like I said thats only a newish one.
Landrovers are the only ones that have not got bodywork that is designed for fashion not practicalities. see pics above.
comfort is personal. I can't see an issue with a Landy having been all round the Uk in several 1970's one but my brother won't take his 09 one if he can take the disco.
each to their own.

Cheers guys. Will look at the ford, had noticed it but dismissed it without reason

P20 – Member
Cheers guys. Will look at the ford, had noticed it but dismissed it without reason

I did the same initially, as I wanted a Navara – however I let my head rule my heart for once and ended up with a decent motor for my money.

Pretty much every insurgent group worldwide who need to move a bunch of blokes around inhospitable country with RPG's and a .50 cal choose Hi-Lux. Top Gear tried to destroy one and it still worked despite being dropped from the top of a tower block when it was blown up. It'd certainly be my weapon of choice…

If you want a pick up get a HSV maloo R8, 100% without fail you will get there quicker and with a bigger smile on your face.

If your considering a Navara (or own one) make sure you have the safety-critical recall carried out. A faulty set of bolts on the rear axel can sheer and seperate the axel from the car itself 😯

axle

Stay away from the Navara!
I owned a 2006 auto and had nothing but problems with is ranging from the auto box giving up after 44000 miles to wheel bearings, electrical problems… the list goes on and on.
I also had friends with manual ones and they too had lots of trouble.
Problems wernt helped by the dealer constantly saying 'Oh thats not covered under warranty'!!!!

Owned 2 toyota hi-luxes of different ages and never had any problems whatsoever. They were used off-road every day and never let me down.

Also had 2 ford rangers and again never had a problem with them either.

As for the good old land rover… well just look at most farmers and somewhere they will have a land rover of some sort.

my brother has blown two clutches on a two year old Ford Ranger towing a trailing with an XJS on.

He would not reccomend one.

I was a Geotec Engineer early 2000 and drove both the Defender 110 (modded for extreme off road use) and the Hilux (both crew cab and "normal" version) 1000s of miles on road and many miles off road pushing both to their absolute limits – there was always a JCB that could scoop us out if we got stuck!

Defender – great off road, brilliant for towing, robust interior BUT horrible for long journeys and pretty damn unreliable.
Hi-lux – nowhere near as good off road – back end is too light for a start but completely and utterly bullet proof. Will tow a decentish load.

I love Defenders but if I worked on a farm I wouldn't touch one. Hi lux or Shogun every time. Defenders are easy to fix which is good because they breakdown regularly. You want a workhorse not a Donkey.

I've had a brand new L200 and I've currently got a 10 year old Defender 90 and a 20 year old 110 pick-up. For towing the 110 wins hands down, for manoeuvring in close country like woodland you can't beat the 90.

There are two good local garages within 10 minutes drive that can both repair anything on the Land-rovers at a reasonable price. The nearest Mitsubishi dealer is twenty-five miles away and charges an arm and a leg.

90% of the farmers I know have at least one Defender. Most of the others are probably Toyota. I don't know anyone that uses an L200 off-road, in fact the only person I know with an L200 is a gardener and he does a fair few miles.

Just man up and buy the Defender, they are simply the best you can get for off road and towing.. Narrow to fit through gate holes, SUPER reliable, great towing anything from trailers to artic wagons!!

I've got a Series 2a and a new defender and would swear by them, they may not be the most comfy for motorway miles (although mine goes to scotland regularly) or the roomiest up front but off road they simply can't be beaten..

Why can't you fix your old one??

Mate of mine had an L200 and bust the gearbox towing a trailer of builder's rubble (quite possibly over the stated max load).

The gearbox was rebuilt under warranty but the garage commented that it is a normal car 'box and not really up to serious abuse.

I have no idea whether this is true….