Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 77 total)
  • I think I want a Hilux.
  • donsimon
    Free Member

    Anyone have experience of running one of these as an everyday vehicle?

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p5SafSWieA&feature=related[/video]
    And let’s see some more epic vids too. 😛

    nealglover
    Free Member

    Pickups are great. (in places where it hardly ever rains) 😉

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    I reckon this would be more fun for the school run and a bit of green-laning
    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7FThqI71aU[/video]

    IanMunro
    Free Member

    .

    chewkw
    Free Member

    Get one with 3 litre engine.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    3.0L Manual Invincible is on the radar at the moment.

    chewkw
    Free Member

    They are proper workhorse so if you find one in good condition go for it. You will not be disappointed with it’s reliability but the rear seats can be a steep i.e. 90 degree ish. The front is ok but then I have not sat in the latest model so they might have improved it.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    The front is ok but then I have not sat in the latest model so they might have improved it.

    The newer models seem to be more car like in the comfort stakes, or that is to say less industrial.

    chewkw
    Free Member

    don simon – Member

    The newer models seem to be more car like in the comfort stakes, or that is to say less industrial.

    Go for it if you are not bothered about bullying other road users … :mrgreen:

    I want one too but not sure how to justify one.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Pickups are great. (in places where it hardly ever rains)

    Or where stuff gets nicked.
    You will either need a tray top (less storage than a small car)
    or a cover which makes storing anything a PITA.

    Do you go off road?

    donsimon
    Free Member

    I want one too but not sure how to justify one.

    Because it’s now just a big lump of a car.

    You will either need a tray top (less storage than a small car)
    or a cover which makes storing anything a PITA.

    It’s only me so I can either use back of cab or get a canopy.

    Do you go off road?

    Not yet. 😈

    walla24
    Free Member

    Use one every day for work (exploration geo in aussie bush)….Hilux are the business, tough as nuts, great on fuel (compared to other utes)

    nealglover
    Free Member

    Pickups are great. (in places where it hardly ever rains)

    Or where stuff gets nicked.
    You will either need a tray top (less storage than a small car)
    or a cover which makes storing anything a PITA.
    Do you go off road?

    Exactly.

    Pickups create more problems than they solve I reckon.

    They look good, but for me at least, it was the least convenient way of being able to carry 4/5 people and some kit I’ve come across.

    walla24
    Free Member

    if you need to move 4/5 people and kit you def need the full double cab

    nealglover
    Free Member

    if you need to move 4/5 people and kit you def need the full double cab

    That’s what I had. Hated it.

    Now have a T4 Multivan. Far more practical for carrying people and kit I reckon.

    CountZero
    Full Member

    Stick a .50 cal or a rocket launcher in the back, and you can start your own insurrection! Truck of choice for freedom fighters the world over. 😀
    Top Gear tried to destroy one once, you may recall.

    shorts_in_winter
    Free Member

    They are bloody awful on the road, amazing off road though. They are agricultural, with a jiggly and very fidgety ride, the older ones are renowned for falling over when going round bends too!! Oh and the dual cabs are also very uncomfortable.

    They are obsessed with them over here (Australia) and are the weapon of choice if you plan to go off road, if most of you travel is on the road though they are extremely compromised! They are also bloody big so not ideal for UK roads and parking spots!

    Must admit I don’t get the fascination with them, if you go offroad a 4×4 will offer comparable performance with more comfort and security and if you spend most of your time on the road get a van or big estate car.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    They are obsessed with them over here (Australia) and are the weapon of choice if you plan to go off road, need to add more girth

    zokes
    Free Member

    Also, off road, unless you are carrying weight in the back, the rears can struggle for grip as there’s not much pressing them down. Also the rear suspension is from a Roman chariot in terms of sophistication.

    shorts_in_winter
    Free Member

    Tis true, always a few pictures floating around of Hiluxs that have flipped or crashed on pit ramps at mine sites.

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Also the rear suspension is from a Roman chariot in terms of sophistication

    That does mean it rides the same when broken – no need for expensive repairs….

    Only get one if you intend to use it properly

    chewkw
    Free Member

    Don’t blame Hilux blame the unskilled drivers. 🙄

    So what 4×4 do you propose in the jungle of Borneo for illegal loggers? 😆

    hora
    Free Member

    Chap who prepared the artic TG challenge one commented that they had to carry out bulkhead strengtheninetc g whereas the older version alreasy had it.

    Hob-Nob
    Free Member

    I work for a company that runs a fleet of them for work (agriculture).

    It puts me in the unfortunate position of having to use one a few times a week.

    Where to start. The ride can only be described as appalling at best. It is ‘better’ (I use that word in the loosest sense) when it’s got half a ton’s worth of ballast in the back, but then it handles like an ocean liner due to it’s COG being up in the clouds. Tow’s like a turd as well.

    The interior is dire. It is evident that this is where the plastic from Honda’s in the 80’s ended up.

    Wind/Road noise is very high. Chose to be deafened by either that, or poor stereo.

    Rear bench seats. No other word than useless.

    Storage. Laughably bad considering the thing is actually bigger than my LWB T5 Transporter. I think I could actually get more in my wife’s Seat Ibiza.

    Flatbed – need a lockable roller really unless you want stuff nicked every time you stop.

    Engine/Fuel. We have a collection of 3.0 & 2.5(?). Stunningly slow in all capacities, have a drinking ability similar to George Best on his best form. Our accounts team have MPG checked them for the 2 years we have run them so far. Not one has averaged over 21mpg in a combined 350,000 miles.

    However, that being said, as an agricultural vehicle a lot of the issues are for that reason, they are designed to be used, abused and wrecked around the farm. It’s somewhat ironic they arn’t very good offroad though (I mean proper offroad rather than farm tracks).

    So, unless you’re a farmer, no.

    Spin
    Free Member

    When hitching in Canada once I got a lift with an old boy in one of those BIG pickups. He asked me if we had such things in the UK and I told him I used to drive a Hilux at work to which he responded:

    “Son, over here we call that half a truck.”

    retro83
    Free Member

    IanMunro – Member
    I reckon this would be more fun for the school run and a bit of green-laning

    I had no idea those things actually existed other than as RC cars. Looks like great fun!

    geoffj
    Full Member

    Got a Ford Ranger – <keegan> love it </keegan>
    Hilux is probably the best out there.
    For kit / bike carrying there’s nothing better IMHO – I’ve got a canopy on it.
    I don’t need it as a daily driver, but I do use it for airport commutes, collecting firewood, lugging bikes/kayaks and towing the caravan. Mrs J has a normal car if we need to go posh.
    Rear seat spice isn’t great, but the kids are only young and I don’t have to sit in it 🙂
    Certainly the most versatile of my recent vehicles – Landrover 110 and LWB High-Top Ducato.

    Ming the Merciless
    Free Member

    We have them at work, awful things. The load space in the flatbed is a manual handling nightmare and the racking and extendy shelf thing they’ve fitted to get around this loses a large chunk of the load area. Ride is terrible on-road and our lot saw fit to get them with faux wheel drive tyres so they are absolutely shite in muddy fields.

    The old landrovers were much better, if a bit more maintenance intensive.

    oliverd1981
    Free Member

    I’d much rather have a BRAT or a caddy, don’t get the obsession with being jacked up to the moon.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    Thanks all, handlingwise, are they better or worse than flatbed Transits?
    Spacewise, I’m lost as to how a Seat Ibiza can have more space.
    I can’t help thinking that many complaints are borne from trying to drive a 4X4 in the same manner as driving a sports car.
    In regard to photos of rolled cars, the internet will throw up evidence to support any argument I have for or against.
    The Ford Focus is pretty unsatble too.

    😯

    hora
    Free Member

    yoshimi
    Full Member

    Guy here at work has a HiLux and swears by it – he loves it

    I currently have an L200 – top of the range with every extra, it’s crap!

    Just ordered the VW Amorak – makes the HILux look tiny 😈

    They have their drawbacks – parking in town, doing a weekly shop and having to put everything on the back seats, no matter how refined they are they drive like a truck – but for all the faults I do like owning one……..although if I had the choice I’d be thinking about a Vito kitted out!

    yoshimi
    Full Member

    More refined than a transit, plenty of torquem plenty of speed, fairly comfy, just don’t expect to driuve it round corners like you would a normal car – but I think you know that already

    Taff
    Free Member

    It has to be a back to the future one!!! One of the guys in the Dragon DH races had one similar for a while. Beast

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    From doing lots of motorway miles, they are the one vehicle on the motorway that I keep a big big distance from as they always appear to be very unstable when having to take evasive action or brake hard, I’ve seen some very scary things with them.

    I know its pretty much all down to tyres, but there were certainly a few a Moutain Mayhem that were struggling in the mud where normal cars were doing ok!

    nealglover
    Free Member

    What do you actually want to use it for ?

    Do you actually need a flatbed load space.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    From doing lots of motorway miles, they are the one vehicle on the motorway that I keep a big big distance from as they always appear to be very unstable when having to take evasive action or brake hard, I’ve seen some very scary things with them.

    I know its pretty much all down to tyres, but there were certainly a few a Moutain Mayhem that were struggling in the mud where normal cars were doing ok!
    Both elements there would appear to be down to diver error.

    donsimon
    Free Member

    What do you actually want to use it for ?

    Carrying me on a day to day basis in relative comfort.
    Carrying the bike and me on weekend camping expeditions.
    Ocassional European trips to pick up stock, which is bulkier rather than heavy and ocassional trailer duties.
    Not having to worry about getting stuck in the snow.
    Keeping hold of my point free licence, too many speed cameras in this country.
    Future: Off road camping trips to Spain/North Africa.
    I used to commute 140km a day in one of these, so my eyes are quite open.

    hels
    Free Member

    They are very popular in New Zealand, the land where it’s nearly impossible to fail a warrant of fitness, and there are no motorways. Need a couple of sheepdogs in the back to complete the image. And some shotgun mounts on the front. And a dead bush pig strapped to the front grill.

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    “Both elements there would appear to be down to diver error. “

    Which rather confirms my thought that they tend to be driven by kn@bs 😆

    In fairness if people want one then get one, but personaly I think they are dangerous, not very practical and dont do any one thing particularly well (apart from carrying sheep or dogs)

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 77 total)

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