Any suggestions on pickups from experienced users.. I was tempted by a new shape Hilux, any known issues with these or any other manufacturers worthy of a look?
What Pickup ?
- Thread starter Blackwood Outdoors
- Start date
Coddy
Well-Known Member
Amarok. Selling my 2nd one and 3rd one on order for March.
New Hilux underpowered. If it had more poke i may have considered it.
Ranger, ok, but they are full of electrical issues so be friends with Ford workshop mechanics.
New Navarra ok, but not great at towing. (Merc version just a Navarra plus £10k).
L200 old in the tooth.
New Hilux underpowered. If it had more poke i may have considered it.
Ranger, ok, but they are full of electrical issues so be friends with Ford workshop mechanics.
New Navarra ok, but not great at towing. (Merc version just a Navarra plus £10k).
L200 old in the tooth.
I am watching potential changes to the pickup market closely. My personal opinion is that most of the diesel engines have too many problems; mainly emissions control related. There are also less and less "work vehicle "options, single cabs are getting rarer. I used to have a petrol engined Hi Lux which was ok; maybe there will be a Ford Ranger with the 2.3 Ecoboost petrol coupled to the 10 speed auto box, but would be surprised if they offer that in single cab or work spec.
Closest thing I know to a desirable pick up would be a Landcruiser from south Africa; right hand drive and diff locks etc to order.
The world is changing and I think not always for the better.
Closest thing I know to a desirable pick up would be a Landcruiser from south Africa; right hand drive and diff locks etc to order.
The world is changing and I think not always for the better.
@theroedeerguy
Well-Known Member
I am very happy with my new Hilux and don’t find it underpowered at all either driving as normal or towing.
I really rate the automatic gearbox and it does everything I need it to with ease.
Residual value is probably the strongest with a Hilux and so far reliability has been excellent over the 1.5 years I’ve been running mine.
Good luck choosing!
Regards
BP
I really rate the automatic gearbox and it does everything I need it to with ease.
Residual value is probably the strongest with a Hilux and so far reliability has been excellent over the 1.5 years I’ve been running mine.
Good luck choosing!
Regards
BP
timbrayford
Well-Known Member
Functionally the Nissan Navara is a great vehicle but there have been serious qc issues with underbody corrosion protection. Nissans resealed parts of my chassis as part of their "non-recall" recall without charge but I'm unimpressed about the areas of rust that they didn't remedy. The plate retaining the spare wheel rusted through a few months ago and the wheel dropped off (fortunately no one got hurt) and Nissan customer services were pretty dismissive about this stating that it "happens all the time". This is the third Nissan P/u that I've bought from new in the past 25 years and the first one that I've had issues with. To be frank I'd say avoid buying one until the qc issues and attitude problem at Nissan are sorted.
CarlW
Well-Known Member
I use older 3L Hiluxs in the UK and in Mozambique. They are pretty much unbreakable. I have destroyed engines on Navaras and on L200s in the past.
Need (want) a new toy but not willing to drop engine power. New Hilux therefore a no-go. Ranger has the power and drives nicely but has a reputation for electrical problems. Amorok also has the power but doesn't have any track record in harsh terrain. The new V6 Mercedes sounds fabulous but is expensive for a rebadged Navara.
Difficult at the moment. I too will be interested to see the replies you get to this thread and to hear people's experiences of the new stuff currently on the market.
Kind regards,
Carl
Need (want) a new toy but not willing to drop engine power. New Hilux therefore a no-go. Ranger has the power and drives nicely but has a reputation for electrical problems. Amorok also has the power but doesn't have any track record in harsh terrain. The new V6 Mercedes sounds fabulous but is expensive for a rebadged Navara.
Difficult at the moment. I too will be interested to see the replies you get to this thread and to hear people's experiences of the new stuff currently on the market.
Kind regards,
Carl
Unless Mitsubishi have sorted their engine issues with the new model avoid the L200 like the plague. The head went on my 2014 plate at less than 50k (out of warranty). Well known issue that I sadly hadn’t picked up on before buying.
Cawdor118
Well-Known Member
All the guys I know with them have had problems. Hilux is the old trusty.
jimmy milnes
Well-Known Member
Hi Carl.
Is it true that the merc and nav use the same Renault engine?
Would be interesting at service time to see the difference in costs for the same parts in different boxes !!
Regards
Jimmy
CarlW
Well-Known Member
I wonder...
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
"Get yer coat lass, ye've pulled" 
Markfox
Well-Known Member
The facelift 2016 onwards 3.2 ford ranger auto is a nice truck
I’ve personally had no issues with mine mechanically or electrically
It drives nice and good off road with BFG A/T’s
It’s a bit thirsty tho averaging 23MPG steady driving and it does seem to drink the Adblue
I think personally for my next truck I’ll go for an Amarok V6 my reason for this is it’s got a V6 engine rather than the i5 in the ranger and an 8sp auto rather than 6sp, it’s got permanent 4x4 as aposed to selectable 2/4 but only if the wheels are already spinning and then you have to deselect 2 wd after your free off the mud etc
I’ve personally had no issues with mine mechanically or electrically
It drives nice and good off road with BFG A/T’s
It’s a bit thirsty tho averaging 23MPG steady driving and it does seem to drink the Adblue
I think personally for my next truck I’ll go for an Amarok V6 my reason for this is it’s got a V6 engine rather than the i5 in the ranger and an 8sp auto rather than 6sp, it’s got permanent 4x4 as aposed to selectable 2/4 but only if the wheels are already spinning and then you have to deselect 2 wd after your free off the mud etc
caorach
Well-Known Member
I've been running a new L200 for nearly 3 years now. It is OK but I couldn't bring myself to rave about it either - there were a few wee niggles but they were mostly "cosmetic" in terms of the steps rusting and the steering wheel leather failing, so far I've had no major mechanical problems. The engine is very efficient and it is somewhat smaller than the others with, importantly, a tighter turning circle. By and large pickups, including the L200, are too big to actually be very effective off road. It is very comfortable on the road and on long trips and with easy driving, plus 20 - 30 miles per week off road, I'm seeing about 36mpg. Mine would be in low range/diff locked maybe 2 times per week so although it doesn't see hard use it is seeing what I'd consider reasonable use as intended.
I think in the last few years it has been "all change" in the pickup market and I've seen goodly numbers of people have bad things to say about all the "newer" model pickups so you need to be careful that you are not hearing reports from a friend of a friend who knows someone on the internet who has a 20 year old one that was good, or a magazine review where they drove one for 24 hours. I think all the newer ones seem to have a good number of problems and can't really see much between them in terms of reputation. With this in mind I'd suggest you drive them all, I was looking for a hilux when I ended up with the L200 for example, pick the one that best suits your needs and then hope for the best.
I think in the last few years it has been "all change" in the pickup market and I've seen goodly numbers of people have bad things to say about all the "newer" model pickups so you need to be careful that you are not hearing reports from a friend of a friend who knows someone on the internet who has a 20 year old one that was good, or a magazine review where they drove one for 24 hours. I think all the newer ones seem to have a good number of problems and can't really see much between them in terms of reputation. With this in mind I'd suggest you drive them all, I was looking for a hilux when I ended up with the L200 for example, pick the one that best suits your needs and then hope for the best.
Swedish
Well-Known Member
Good point. My trucks of the past have been worked hard for business both on and off-road. Perhaps averaging 30K/year. My current truck is not used for business and I got it purely for carting stuff around (house renovation) and stalking so to be fair, it doesn't get used hard and won't be doing more than 8K/year.
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