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JiB

Help me pick a ute!

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Hi all, been looking for a ute for a while now. I need something that is:

- comfy enough to daily

- good on gas

- hella' reliable

- can tow 2 tonne comfortably

- airbags

- abs

- isn't too ugly

I've been looking at the following:

05+ Toyota Hilux double cab, 3.0L D4D

Fulfills all of the above, except they're really really expensive to buy. I don't think I'd be worried about high k's. They are some nice examples that I keep missing out on around the $15,000 mark.

03+ Holden Rodeo double cab, 3.0L turbo diesel

Basically a slightly cheaper, slightly worse Hilux. It's not as comfy, not as good on gas, not as reliable.

04+ Nissan Navara D22, 2.5L turbo diesel

Much cheaper to buy, hard to find double airbag models and pretty frigging ugly. I also hear horror stories about the engines failing.

02+ Ford XR6 ute, 4.0L

Hella' comfy, pretty robust, safe, looks good (relatively). Horrendous on gas.

01+ Holden S ute, 3.6L or 3.8L

Not as comfy as the XR6, prefer the ford's engine, but seems more composed in general. Even more horrendous on gas.

Has anyone had experience with any of the above? Any advice?

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I think you'd be incredibly lucky to score a D4D Hilux for 15k.

Does it have to be 2WD or 4WD cause this can make a difference on the price.

For 25k you can get a half decent Ranger/BT-50 and IMO these are the best balance for price & value for money.

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I think you'd be incredibly lucky to score a D4D Hilux for 15k.

Does it have to be 2WD or 4WD cause this can make a difference on the price.

For 25k you can get a half decent Ranger/BT-50 and IMO these are the best balance for price & value for money.

I've missed out on four or five Hilux's in that price range in the last month due to my work schedule. But a dealer has more coming in for me to look at next Wednesday. They're not that rare around that price., maybe it's because I'm only looking for 2WD's as I don't need 4WD at all.

Granted the examples I've been looking at are around 200,000km's, but they're don't seem to show any signs of wear/fatigue as opposed to Nissan/Ford/Holden equivalents.

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I've got an uncle with a 180km Ranger, he's owned it since new in 2007 and it's immaculate as he has really looked after it, he's only done very minor things in upkeep. Toyota's are a good product, I just think they're a bit over-rated. Yeah should be able to do a 2WD hilux but as you said I'd also imagine they'd be high k's

Edited by The Diesel Guy

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Not much help,

But I have driven a 2010 Hilux half a dozen or so times (friend's car) and I am always happy to drive it. It may be auto and a diesel :rolleyes: but the torque it has is bloody impressive.

Or re mortgage your home and get a VW Amorak :D

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I'll get heart attack every time at the fuel pump.

nah, 10l per 100km tops? I mean it's only a 8 litre V10 on stilts.

Looks tough IMO.

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Lol at the thought of seeing Jono in that Ram. You need a beard and a lumberjack body to pull one of those off properly. Would be ace for road rage though, I would permanently have 16 Japanese imports stuck under mine.

Can’t say I could ever picture myself buying or wanting a ute and if I did it would have to be a Holden as they don’t drive half bad for a utility vehicle, do mean burnouts and make you look much cooler than you actually are.. only two seats though and no off roading plus they are a bit thirsty.

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I have the XR6 ute, and these are real agricultural, any old garage can fix them, motors are $700 to replace if ever required, they can be good on gas if you drive them with fuel saving in mind, tow good, haven't checked but 2.0t easy I carry 1.5t in the tray, hold their money resonably well, go hard when you need them, want to know more let me know hitting 50k in my one. They chew their rear tyres keep 38psi in them, and can chew out abs and rotors but all cheap to fix.

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Parents have a Ford Falcon Ute, LPG which keeps the gas bill down?

Can tow a drag car easily and looks OK for a Ford I spose.

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I have the XR6 ute, and these are real agricultural, any old garage can fix them, motors are $700 to replace if ever required, they can be good on gas if you drive them with fuel saving in mind, tow good, haven't checked but 2.0t easy I carry 1.5t in the tray, hold their money resonably well, go hard when you need them, want to know more let me know hitting 50k in my one. They chew their rear tyres keep 38psi in them, and can chew out abs and rotors but all cheap to fix.

Go the Falcon, Jono.

Why? They drive like a car. They're tough, can handle a big load and get along ok.

Bit bumpy in the ride when the tray is empty and you get pretty good at changing pads and discs.

They also bring new meaning to the term 'chassis rigidity' but it's only a ute.

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02+ Ford XR6 ute, 4.0L

Horrendous on gas.

01+ Holden S ute, 3.6L or 3.8L

Even more horrendous on gas.

I know the Fords are shocking but i don't understand the other statement.

My nieghbour has a Ford '02 XR6 ute and it far worse on fuel than my '93 Holden VR ute.

He also has a '98 high roof LWB Transit that he put a 3.8 Ecotec Holden motor in, even with the high ratio Transit diff' it gets better mileage than his XR6 ute,

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Lol at the thought of seeing Jono in that Ram. You need a beard and a lumberjack body to pull one of those off properly. Would be ace for road rage though, I would permanently have 16 Japanese imports stuck under mine.

Can’t say I could ever picture myself buying or wanting a ute and if I did it would have to be a Holden as they don’t drive half bad for a utility vehicle, do mean burnouts and make you look much cooler than you actually are.. only two seats though and no off roading plus they are a bit thirsty.

Bahaha, I'd need a step ladder for that thing! One of the reasons why a ute suits me is the amount of crap I'd like to throw in the back of cars that seem to fuxxor them (billet, scrap metal, drums, karts).

If petrol weren't an issue I'd have a black VU SS ute (secretly a dirty bogan at heart). But it is an issue, so I'm still weighing up the diesel options..

Go the Falcon, Jono.

Why? They drive like a car. They're tough, can handle a big load and get along ok.

Bit bumpy in the ride when the tray is empty and you get pretty good at changing pads and discs.

They also bring new meaning to the term 'chassis rigidity' but it's only a ute.

They are very comfortable and I like how the motor drives - unfortunately, the tray is a ~200mm narrower than a Hilux - which would mean taking wheels off a kart as opposed to just rolling them on. Also a little frightened of the petrol costs involved.

BA ute is definitely still in the running at the moment, really did like the XR6.

I know the Fords are shocking but i don't understand the other statement.

My nieghbour has a Ford '02 XR6 ute and it far worse on fuel than my '93 Holden VR ute.

He also has a '98 high roof LWB Transit that he put a 3.8 Ecotec Holden motor in, even with the high ratio Transit diff' it gets better mileage than his XR6 ute,

Wow, really? My mate's BA XT did 11L/100km's, vs 12-13L/100km's of the 3.6 S. Perhaps it's a different story with utes? I was only basing it on second hand information - I did like the grunt of the xr6's vs the S's (the commodores did drive a lot better though).

The tray's with the VU+ were even narrower which doesn't help me :(

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with deisel be aware that road user charges are about 5 c kilometre.The mileage and the torque are still worth it tho.To put it in perspective that 5c a k adds about 30 bucks a tank for my little 120d.

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Lol at the thought of seeing Jono in that Ram. You need a beard and a lumberjack body to pull one of those off properly. Would be ace for road rage though, I would permanently have 16 Japanese imports stuck under mine.

Can’t say I could ever picture myself buying or wanting a ute and if I did it would have to be a Holden as they don’t drive half bad for a utility vehicle, do mean burnouts and make you look much cooler than you actually are.. only two seats though and no off roading plus they are a bit thirsty.

Crewman is 5 seater. Considered instead of E39.

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Crewman is 5 seater. Considered instead of E39.

Have you ever tried sitting in the back seats of a Crewman?

Sit in the back for an hour trip and you WILL want to kill the idiot designer who thought the Crewman was a good idea.

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was thinking that^^ , they're like rx7 and other jap coupe seats.. shouldn't f**king be there cause they are so uncomfortable!

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with deisel be aware that road user charges are about 5 c kilometre.The mileage and the torque are still worth it tho.To put it in perspective that 5c a k adds about 30 bucks a tank for my little 120d.

Its easy to clock back Toyota's and the like compared to the more modern stuff. Quite a few Toyota Diesels only travel a 2000km in-between WOF's ;)

Hell I know of mobile auto sparky's who can alter even the modern diesels.

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Its easy to clock back Toyota's and the like compared to the more modern stuff. Quite a few Toyota Diesels only travel a 2000km in-between WOF's ;)

Hell I know of mobile auto sparky's who can alter even the modern diesels.

i've had a few diesels and none of them covered more than a few hundred ks while in my ownership :ph34r:

im shopping for another as a daily now because the e30 is about to get a makeover and i miss travelling 600ks for $80 round town

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i've had a few diesels and none of them covered more than a few hundred ks while in my ownership :ph34r:

im shopping for another as a daily now because the e30 is about to get a makeover and i miss travelling 600ks for $80 round town

Ahahahaha - legend. Wished I could do this but with digital dash's these days it's a little more difficult.

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Don't know if anyone has mentioned them. But the 05+ Ford Couriers are great. Plenty of tourqe and go. Do drive like a ute though as they are a work horse. Brother paid about $17K for his 2wd version just over a year ago. We have towed the race car with it many times and she pulls it along really well.

Shelley was saying today she is getting one soon. 4WD version for around that price.

I still see many of those Hilux's in shops getting that Direct Injection carbon clogging sorted out. Seen a few with Diesel bug too which is strange. They both got that from Caltex Diesel though.

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Wow, really? My mate's BA XT did 11L/100km's, vs 12-13L/100km's of the 3.6 S. Perhaps it's a different story with utes? I was only basing it on second hand information - I did like the grunt of the xr6's vs the S's (the commodores did drive a lot better though).

The old mans BAII XR6 in car form does under 10 open road. really, really bad.. in town.

(It's really a shame it missed out on having a 6 Speed ZF Auto)

If you can live with the fuel consumption, I'd rather the Falcon. but in any other story, a DoubleCab diesel would be best.

depends how much open road you are doing I reckon.

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