Buying a new ute soon, help me out here.

The faithfull old L300 is getting a bit long in the tooth and the XF longreach was never a long term solution so I'm thinking about a new/ish ute.

It will need to be tray back and I'm rely leaning towards a highlux. I was thinking about a Highace... but the towing capacity is pitiful and I'm over the whole forward controll thing.... especilay the consequences skippy wanting to come and sit in the cab with me.

Highluxes, they are all over the place arround here... seems for every other ute of whatever the brand and model there is a hiace...krikey its a plague.

Considering Nissan's shenanigans of late there is no way I'll be buying anything with that brand on it...... While i'm at it, Ford and GMH I'm not at all keen on either.

now I'm thinking that 2WD will give me more roof clearance...I'd like to get into shopping centres with ladders on and still have a canopy with some capacity... but 4WD would be handy for recreational activities..... but then there is the extra running costs......hmm maybe I should buy two.

then there is the motor to be considered.....petrol 4 or 6 cylinder, diesel turbo or not......I'm still not convinced about turbo diesels and the ease of maintenance and the normal diesel is significantly less powerfull that the standard 2.7L 4.

Now all my northern relatives are very pro diesel... but I'm not convinced.
With the advent of VVTi petrol with its improved economy and power the charm of diesel seems to have lost its shine.

No I an a proudly working class man and could not care If I never owned a new car....so a usedy it problay will be.

The current series look all fine and beaut with their increased towing capacity and all that... but i dont like the look and they are built in..thialand.
the 2004 series were built in japan and there are still plenty of those going arround and 1.8tonne towing capacity is fine by me.

So.....who has one......is their much difference in economy between the 2WD and the 4WD.....or between the 4 and the V6.
Are the diesels as gutless as they seem on paper.
How are they on the highway.....they would have to be better than the L300, but I doubt they could be as good as the wifes RAV.

There seem to be a few mitsubishi Triton about... and an equivalent mitsui will be a couple of grand cheaper than a toyo.
The BT50's seem to have a bit of a fololowing Andiman (Rufflies man) seems to love his. But I'm not seeing the numbers on the road.

Ive toyed with the idea of a tray back cruser.... but the price and running costs are a bit of a stretch and I just don't think I need it

So what do you recon:?

cheers

Phone Kevin Rudd - I think he might have a ute that he'd like to get rid of!!

OK, first up, the Hiace is a van, the Hilux is the Yoot

I've got one of the current Hiluxes, mines a 2005 model 4L V6, bought it brand new and have just clocked up 110,000ks on it and yes it is made in Thailand and I haven't had a prob with it in all that time. Regularly tow 2 tonne behind it plus a tonne in the yoot as well. Pulls well with a full load and fuel consumption is good as long as you're not hoofing it,

Make sure you do your homework in regards to the 4cyl and 6cyl petrol motors in regards to fuel consumption, the 4cyl can be thirsty if you're loaded up or towing, have heard that it can be more than the 6cyl.

And lastly, if you get a one on gas, make sure it has gas injectors.

holden:2tsup:

wehave 3 rodeo utes (one i just baught) 2 ton towing capacity, and teh 2000model has a 1.5 ton pay load. pleasure to drive. exelent fuel economy. the 2 2000 models average 13km/l (7.7l/100km) and the 1989 model dose 14km/l. tones of grunt.

i have at one stage had 1m of concreat blend and 20 bags of concreat on teh old girl and she was still fine althow riding a little low:U.

i amm always towing an overloaded log trailer and with 1.3ton on it and the 700kg it weighs as well as teh mil and all my gear in teh back i came backl form the gold coast on the speed limit all the way no problems.

i would not buy anything else. althow when i go new i will have to buy the isuzu as teh colarado is diferant.

i now drive a 2004 workmate luxy.

when my company was in full flight we had 4 luxy's (88, 02,04, 07), a triton(old one, 92?), 99 v6 rodeo Duel cab.

The rodeo was the best car to drive, but the fuel was horrendous. so it was used locally only.

the luxy's were the pick of the litter(thats why i kept getting them), great on fuel. But the decision maker every time was the resale value. out of all utes on the market, $ for $ , the hilux holds the best resale value.

the triton was a mechanical nightmare.

i used the 07 luxy to tow a wake boat and it was a 2wd vvti 2.7 work mate duel cab. it had no worries on the boat ramp either.

years ago i had the landcruiser diesels 47's and the 75's, but at now over 65 k for a cab chassis, way way way out of a price range for a building company to have as work cars.
i would love to get the v8 diesel for myself though.:2tsup:

i shoulda mentioned i would only buy a deisel all petrols are hungry.

also on the deisel there is bugger all to go rong. and i can fix it all myself.:2tsup:

Yeh I do believe KRuddie wishes he never saw that ute... but by the time the media get finished with it it will have far too much mialegae on it :D

Yeh Yeh I'm well aware the hiace is a van.....I don't think they have baught hiace cab chasis in for donkies......I know mates with various highaces... and they are by far the pick of the vans... but the legal towing capacity is pitifull.

I dd want to know how the V6 hiluxes went on fuel.......from what I have heard they are a bit better to work on than many of the V6's.

The rodeo may be a fine ute.....its an isuzu but as soon ad you put a holden badge on anything it is like a curse. you have to deal with the holden dealer network and one way or another you WILL be buying you parts from Zupps....check the price of isuzu parts V's Toyota ..buying another ford after swearing off them was bad enough... but there is no way I'll be bringing a Holden home.... Thats apart from the shame.:no:

The older diesels were very much simpler than the petrol motors of the time.... but with common rail electronic injction on the diesels...a lot of the advantages go out the window.

The petrol motors haave significatly in past years.


the pre 2005 higluxes have 700/ 1800 towing capacity.. and the newer ones are well over 2 tonnes with brakes.....I notice that a bigger motor does not get you any more towing capacity in the higluxes.

One other big advantage of the highluxes is that parts are cheap and redily available... because there are so many on the road the after market parts makers are interested.

thanke for comments

cheers

Hi Soundman.

Bought a new 2007 Hilux 2wd vvti 2.7 work mate single cab with the heavy duty tray.

They are a prettty basic setup, Its done some serious long distance loads in hot conditions & has never let me down.

Gripes.....

1. Fuel tank filler spout needed re-angling, it kept blowing back & cuting off bowser pump. Took ages to trickle in fuel.

2. When tray is empty, rear wheel drive has a tendancy to fishtail on wet corners, so you'll need to be carefull till you learn it's got some grunt, came new with bridgestone R623 tyres.

3. No rear window demist.

4. No intermittent wiper speeds, only has slow & fast.

All up, these are hardly huge problems & can be upgraded if needed.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Cam

If you have an ABN and use your car for business, don't forget that you can get the tax investment allowance this year. That gives you a total of 72.5% tax deduction in the first year alone (50 + annual 22.5). would go a long way to making it all affordable

For some strange reason Soundman, I think an Austin 1800 ute is your true dream vehicle :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TP1

If you have an ABN and use your car for business, don't forget that you can get the tax investment allowance this year. That gives you a total of 72.5% tax deduction in the first year alone (50 + annual 22.5). would go a long way to making it all affordable

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I am very well aware of the advantages of the investment allowance... but because I pulled my head in and hid under a rock for a year, I wont be paying sufficient tax to make it worthwhile.....and I wont be in aposition to buy for about a month.
But you get that.

I know a bloke who is going thru the exercise and it works he gets a free car for 3 years and the exercise is cashflow positive in the short term.

I don't know about the 1800....I do remember them.:o:no:

I'm use to vehicles that are light in the tail....when I take the tools out the back of the van, I put half a dozen 10Kg sand bags in the back otherwise I don't get out of my driveway:D

No intermittent wipers is a bit slack.

Air con is a must.. and that isnt standard....and I have got very used to the cruse controll on the wifes RAV....and that definitely isnt standard.

cheers

I was determined to buy a ute about 18 months ago, and had decided it would be a HiLux. Until I priced them that was, and drove a Ranger (BT50 with a Ford badge -only a little bit cheaper). Dual airbags, cloth seats and aircon standard. Expensive options on the 'lux...