My Vito van has recently passed away, well the engine anyway. I was in the process of putting a forth seat in it but now i am going to get something which already has the seats in, which my wife can drive too, and also so i can seperate the bike stuff from the cab, so i see the double cabs are the beat, i do live rural so the 4 x 4 would be useful. I have been looking at the navara, l200, ranger and the hilux i have seen one comparison site which likes the navara and the hilux but i seem to like the l200 as it does seem to be that little bit cheaper, i have 8000 to spend any advice on these?

Whats the reason your wife can’t drive a van?

A big pickup is a similar size to a van and 4×4 versions almost certainly less manoeuvrable due to poor turning circle.

Had my van for about five years, just fitted a reversing camera and its surprising how much easier its made it, even for someone who drives a van for a living.

Pick up is tiny for load space in comparison to the vito.

She just wouldn’t, i have tried on other vehicles over the years she likes what she likes

Mrs t-r was the same.

Amaizing what they will drive rather than walk though when they have crashed their own car……

Now she has realised that vans are mot hard to drive at all and i have leave to buy a crew cab lwb van of some kind 🙂

I’ve got a t5 camper and a ford ranger. The wife loves the t5 (and previous t4) but hates driving the ranger dc. I got a ranger over most other pickups as we run them at work as our fleet go to 4×4 and the fleet manager said that they are very little fuss, not much goes wrong with them. They’re built by Mazda so basically a jap truck like Mitsubishi Nissan etc. they always seem better value for money than an equivalent (insert any other jap doublecab here).
Only thing I would say is that like any jap double cab parts are expensive.

Previously owned a Transit LWB, the missus was apprehensive about the size but I made her test drive it before we bought it on quiet roads and was amazed how easy it was to drive. Also managed fine in rural Cumbria for 3 years with snow, floods and mud.

Dual cab pick up’s/utes common as over here in Oz and spent a fair bit of time in them, if your using the back seats for passengers then your luggage is getting wet, also if they are adults it’s not that comfy. They are not secure, loading is more effort due to having to lift everything up into the tray. Did consider it for a while as they are easy to pick up here but couldn’t find enough/any positives to make me consider it.

Pickups don’t get a lot of love on here. Some of what has already been said is true, but if you want to keep the load space separate from the seats – and you need 4, then options are limited.
I love my ranger and mrsj is much more willing to drive it than the Ducato it replaced.
The big bouncy wheels, high torque engine, leather and all the toys also make it a much nicer place to be than many vans. Go and try a couple.