Afternoon all,

I've been on the lookout for a vehicle to use as a weekend machine for lugging stuff around (camping, biking, kayaking etc) and I wanted something a bit more practical than a Skoda Fabia vRS. Something bigger, and something that won't get stuck on a muddy field

I have been considering a Toyota hiliux, the "surf" ones looking the best. They look to be plenty big enough, and more than capable of lugging everything around. Does anyone here own one? I was wondering if there is anything to watch out for when buying second hand? I'll be looking to spend between £500 and £2000, with the left over money going towards a new F3F racing glider,.

Also, is there anything else out there that I would be better off considering?

Cheers
Andy

They are very thirsty, couple of colleages have them and say typically around 17mpg.

Use to have one as a company car, what a laugh, drifts round corners in 2wd fab fun but not good round sharp corners, needs a strong roll bar as the cabs no stronger than a car roof. I also resprayed my cousins one in military colours and made a huge bull bar for it. Mechanically little will go wrong with them but cousins ones rear brake bias valve failed which disabled the brakes totally causing him to flatten the back of ford ka, wifey in it was mighty pi$$ed off like (that’s why I fitted a bull bar to replace the trucks bent bumper). I threw the bias thing in the bin and replaced it with some pipe. They're not really very good in fields and get stuck easier than a Landy and are very slow if non turbo’d

[Edited on 10/11/08 by Mr Whippy]

I have one of these...

Avoid the 2.4d's as they are prone to cylinder head issues, other than that it's a toyota so pretty bomb proof. Mine's done a fair bit of off roading and only failed it's MOT on silly things..

Going off-road there isn't much to beat them tbh, even landrovers struggle especially when you fit decent tyers.

MPG is appauling, expect 20mpg at best and when driving like an old women.

If you want it to do a bit of green laning / off road centres you won't do better but expect to pay summut about £1500 for a reasonable one that isn't REALLY old...

Remember it's a HiLux at the end of the day so mods and advice are readily available and even top gear couldn't break one...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BJVdO82izcw

Thats me and my car and on road tyers, i.e. NOT mud tyers.

http://www.hiluxsurf.co.uk/

Bottom line, love mine

Elwood

P.S. It's no track day car


[Edited on 10/11/08 by e1w00db1ue5]

[Edited on 10/11/08 by e1w00db1ue5]

great car, reliable engine although the 3.0l diesal has decent grunt the 2.4 is gutless but reliable although for your budget you need to look out for ones that have been excessively used off road and suffere knackered shocks, steering racks etc but a test drive should highlight this.

check brake pads and discs as well as crunching gearboxes and excessive black smoke although the latter may just be a tune up you could be into a new fuel pump.

best thing is to hang around the hi lux surf web forums, they're very good for inside info. 17mpg means the car is running rich and probably accompanied by lots of black smoke, a decent set up 2.4 will give circa 25mpg as an average and 30-32 on a motorway run.

Sold mine last week - you could have had that!

Best car I've owned - but ditto the horrific fuel economy and avoiding the 2.4 unless it's got the new head. Even then there's not much in it between the 2.4 and the 3.0 litre in terms of insurance and fuel - so for the superior performance you are better off by far with the 3.0.

heads are starting to go on the 3.0 as well now - mine did! Also watch the service history. They need an oil change every 5000 km!

hee hee probably uses as much fuel in a week as my bike uses in a whole year

Avoid the red one from TG.........

I cannot believe that no one has mentioned the head cracking problem, everyone I know who has owned one has had problems with the head

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mark Allanson
I cannot believe that no one has mentioned the head cracking problem, everyone I know who has owned one has had problems with the head

---

You would get a far newer, and better specced land rover discovery for the same money.

I know its more than your budget but it puts it in perspective, i sold a 2002 116K mile disco ES with electric leather, climate, 18inch rims, tinted glass front fogs - all the trimming in a nice blue colour last week for £3100.

A W,X or 51 plate would be within your reach im sure.
Yes its a land rover and they have problems but what cars dont!

Although they're similar in appearence & share a lot of parts a Hi-lux pickup & a Surf differ a fair bit, the pickup has live axles front & back with leaf springs until the mk4 which will likely be above your budget. The Surf has coils on the live axle at the back & an independant front & usually automatic transmission which will no doubt explain some of the poor economy.
There is also the 4-runner which is more like the pick-up chassis with a body more like the surf.
I've been fettling farmer's pickups for years now & the Hi-lux's reputation for being tough is fairly well deserved, I've only had to weld one chassis & it was an unloved 20 year old dog. I've seen one cracked head, one gearbox failure & one had a big end seize (12,000 on one oil change!)
Spring bushes go a lot but they're cheap & easy to fix, brake calipers seize if they're not used a lot & the body can rust a bit. But in the main they're better in most areas than the competition