No low range until a recently introduced pauper spec manual model was added....................
Wank tank utes-What to buy?
- Thread starter David Cavanagh
- Start date
No low range until a recently introduced pauper spec manual model was added....................
All utes have deficiencies. The HiLux has a low and vulnerable transfer case that is easy to take out. They aren't too good in mud. The year of a ute is important and user chatter is valuable. The 2003 Rodeo and 2009 BT50 were crap for example. The Triton quality was awful but the new ones have a good reputation. This year the makers have all played musical chairs with shared platforms. Big utes like the Ford F150 were popular with people with horse floats and goose necks so people bought expensive F250's imported from Canada. If a forklift was rough putting a ton bulka bag in the tray the chassis broke. People think these cars are unbreakable but people bend and break chassis and do real damage. A Land Cruiser ute stuck in a creek towing a fuel trailer. D4 applies a bit of force via a cable and ute breaks behind the cab. Brand new but govt so nobody cared. The ads for utes are amusing but some people seem to take them seriously. Used hard they don't look flash for too many years. Low travel leaf spring suspensions are not ideal for really difficult surfaces but they make sense in a work vehicle. Some suspensions amplify bumps instead of damping them. Like a Hino. For the price of some of those big utes you could buy a 3 tonne medium rigid.
The only farmers who bought the Benz Navarra ute had demanding wives out to impress the neighbours. Maybe that's an element in the cities.
The only farmers who bought the Benz Navarra ute had demanding wives out to impress the neighbours. Maybe that's an element in the cities.
As a former seller of new trucks I could never understand why a lot of people bought utes to tow their shit around. As Russell said, a 3-4 tonne light truck (Particularly one fitted with a Detroit locker) will satisfy the towing and carrying requirements of any small business and really aren't any less comfortable on the road. In Europe, tradies use white, unmarked windowless vans so they don't advertise that they might be full of tools. Some can also tow 3.0 tonnes but they can also carry over 2000 kg payloads themselves, not the piddly loads of a crew cab ute.
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We have been discussing that. Her Nissan is a Pathfinder which is just a Navara station wagon. I pointed out that her $5000 saddle lives in the boot of the Pathfinder but she thinks a ute with a conopy will work.
Hers has 3 tonne towing but new Pathfinders do not have the same tow rate as Navara, they've filled them up with bling and lowered the engine specs making them useless.
She does about 50,000 kms a year usually towing 2 horses and all the gear. Often having to drive into muddy paddocks to get the stupid animals.
I'm not really interested in anything VW. We've heard about $27000 tranny's and big dollar engines and VW parts prices are horriffic. Plus VW factory and there dealers will look you in the eye and lie to you.
when we moved to the sticks we went looking for something to bring our stuff up here that didn't cost a fortune and didn't ride like a truck. On looking about we found that we were sitting on bricks and the cabs were a tad spartan... Until we tried an old BA tray, WOW, comfy seats, homely cab, nice to drive - aaah, yes, bit light in the rear with no load, but soon fixed with some sticky tyres.
The attractive, homely cabs must make the twin cab monsters attractive to at least half the buying team.
Bob
So Russel and Kim what would you recommend in the 40k price range?
I know what Kims saying about vans, all wreckers use utes and one of our on sellers came to pick up a 406 bonnet and it wouldn't fit in their Hi Lux so we had to deliver it to their customer in our little Kangoo. To me these wank tank utes have a tray to small to be a ute and a cabin to small to be a car. In my world a van makes so much more sense, we can also deliver engines in bad weather, they can't.
Rachael's world is different, needs 3 tonne towing, 4x4 and a back seat for the dog.
Something like this? GVM 4500 kg GCM 8000 kg. https://usedtrucks.isuzu.com.au/use.../isuzu/npr/wa/2006/920812/?query=&f=v~1-z~30- or buy a pantech and sell/swap the body................pop a dog box on the tray, only 4x2 but!
Our list was narrowed to Hilux, BT50 or the Isuzu. Toyota too dear for what it was, the Mazda probably had the most comfortable cab and the biggest discount. Now would also consider the Triton with a ten year warranty being advertised. Mazda had a few features like rear LSD and was nicer to drive than the Triton or Toyota. But if your daughter has a Nissan there is nothing wrong with the Navarra and she may be happier with one. Just read the spec sheets carefully and try for discount. Our 2009 BT50 does hard work but has had a lot of trouble. In some ways I'm surprised we bought another but the 2019 is a much better unit. Gearbox in the old one has held up probably because we never tow in 5th. The Isuzu has the best reputation and the engine is considered good. Towing horses you can't have a fault, we've had a breakdown in the old ute with a horse behind and it's not easy to deal with.
David, your summation of the limitations of dual cab utes is spot on, obviously derived from real world experience and not from just driving to the supermarket and showing off. Even a decent van would be a better and more useful alternative.
A van is not suitable for agricultural work. Towing a double horse float from a paddock in winter requires a heavy four wheel drive.
Ok but it won't move a float from a boggy paddock or cross a table drain. You wouldn't think a table drain would be such an obstacle but to many vehicles now including small wheeled light trucks they are. The advantage of a flat tray is that it can take bulky loads and be loaded by a fork lift.
Hi David,
my opinion of big ugly utes is that they're big, ugly, and not a patch on a car. You don't say but reading between the lines I'm guessing your daughter is looking for one as the "sole vehicle" for day to day use? In my case with my 505 Wagon becoming more elderly & also eligible for Historic Rego I decided a ute would be a better 'carry all' than the wagon but have selection of cars for daily drives so went for the cheapest / nastiest solution - hence the Mahindra {alright a 'Great Wall' would've been yet nastier
}. Got to say I'm impressed - its brutishly, agriculturally simple - exactly what I wanted. Fuel economy is impressive. Ride quality shakes the fillings out of your teeth {'til you got a load in the tray } but no different to every other Ute I've been in. Only downside is there's only two seats across (some have 3) which has led to Ute +car outrider being needed on a few occasions. Irony is that with all these proper cars to choose from I end up driving the ute most of the time
Good luck with the search.
Rob
my opinion of big ugly utes is that they're big, ugly, and not a patch on a car. You don't say but reading between the lines I'm guessing your daughter is looking for one as the "sole vehicle" for day to day use? In my case with my 505 Wagon becoming more elderly & also eligible for Historic Rego I decided a ute would be a better 'carry all' than the wagon but have selection of cars for daily drives so went for the cheapest / nastiest solution - hence the Mahindra {alright a 'Great Wall' would've been yet nastier
}. Got to say I'm impressed - its brutishly, agriculturally simple - exactly what I wanted. Fuel economy is impressive. Ride quality shakes the fillings out of your teeth {'til you got a load in the tray } but no different to every other Ute I've been in. Only downside is there's only two seats across (some have 3) which has led to Ute +car outrider being needed on a few occasions. Irony is that with all these proper cars to choose from I end up driving the ute most of the time Good luck with the search.
Rob
how very true
I think they're probably all a much of a muchness for this use scenario... Its the 4WD requirement for wet paddocks that's constraining you to these, and its not as if you're plowing down dozer lines through gullies or something.
If it were me, I'd probably buy new and do the maths on purchase price and depreciation - and just buy whatever was the cheapest to own over the warranty period and flip it then. That may well be the Hilux even though they're expensive to buy.
Its lucky these bloody things are so popular, you'll have no trouble unloading it at 5 years or whatever and Im sure youd make sure its kept well serviced etc.
If it were me, I'd probably buy new and do the maths on purchase price and depreciation - and just buy whatever was the cheapest to own over the warranty period and flip it then. That may well be the Hilux even though they're expensive to buy.
Its lucky these bloody things are so popular, you'll have no trouble unloading it at 5 years or whatever and Im sure youd make sure its kept well serviced etc.
My neighbour has had a BT 50 for 3 years. Lots of gearbox problems from the start (under warranty but had to fight for service). other wise good unit.
Gearbox was the BT50 weakness but they seem to have fixed it. The rest of the car is ok but no better than it has to be.
Wait until you get a B Double of lambs stuck in a paddock.
Wait until you get a B Double of lambs stuck in a paddock.