offroad vehicles

thika

Sealiner
Also got a 320 CDI Merc

540 NM torque

7,2 l/100km  since I last zeroed it

6.6sec - 0-100

260 kmh by myself!

Shit on beachwork!

Toyota  is the answer!
 

Mr-Dicks

New member
No worries lofty. Hijack away. All you guys' comments are welcome. They definitely help.

The 3.2 five cylinder 147kw/470Nm ford ranger has a waiting list of at least three months and there are only a few (if any) in the hands of new owners. Also I'm quite a bit away from being able to afford it yet so I'm looking at a minimum of 6 months to a year before I get one. So needless to say, the comments on other vehicles are most welcome.

That being said, I had a slight logistics issue on a recent order and my Fiesta just didn't cut it. So I told my buddy about it and he's got a 2001 model hilux double cab that he said I could buy off him. It's a fetrol version so I assume a 2.7ltr. It had clutch replaced about 20 000kms ago. He gets about 550 to 600kms off the 80ltr tank. Tires look good but interior is a bit worn. He doesn't go offroad and only really travels from home to work (blue downs to parow). Occasionally he goes down to grabow (spelling). It has 305 000kms on the clock though.

It has difflock, nudge and tow bars, canopy and is accident free. For my purposes (until the "full offroad bug" hits or I can afford the ranger) should be sufficient for some occasional sand driving and deliveries etc. My problem is the high milage though. Is it a decent vehicle and should I be concerned? He wants about R70k for it. Is that a decent price or should I be paying much less?

*edit to add* how difficult and/or expensive is it to convert this vehicle to full 4x4?
 

Lofty

Senior Member
That bakkies is very good,heavy on fuel but the engine should do another 300 000.Dont try and convert it to a 4x4,buy a 4x4 and save yourself a lot of money and frustation.The list for such a conversion is very long and costly.
 

Nightfox

Senior Member
Whitewash wrote:
Hi,

I drive a double cab and all I can say is, there's no equal. The versatility is mind blowing. On the one hand you have a good looking vehicle for the office and a safe family car. On the other hand you can quickly drive the garden refuse to the dump, deliver your own paving that you bought from Builder's on Saturday and no need to worry about something smelling fishy after Friday evening's fishing outing at Strandfontein pool.

The choice becomes a bit more complicated when deciding on brands. Toyota, Isuzu and Ford has, for a long time, been market leaders in South Africa.

If it was me that had to make the decision these would be the points to consider:

Ride Quality and Package: Ford Ranger (Not the 2.5 though, the 3.2 is the only choice)

Trade-in / resell value: Toyota Hilux.

If you were to compare features on both these vehicles there is very little different, except that Toyota comes standard with cruise control and climate control.
the new ford ranger 3.2 has superior power over the toyota, 27 kw more and a massive 130 nm of torque. water wading is also class-leading, 800mm without a snorkel, electronics and air intake is purposely moved to the top of the hood for this. the cabin is larger than the toyota as well as rear legroom. its the only pickup to score a 5-star euro-ncap safety rating. ground-clearance is better and so on and so on....as you can see its not only comfort features that score better than the toyota but features that really makes a difference such as performance, safety and cabability.
 
So for me it would be all about the resale later on and for that reason I will NEVER buy any other bakkie than a Toyota.
at the moment resale is better, yes, but as the new ranger already dethroned the toyota, expect this to change.
PS. As Fanie said, the automatic is the pick of the bunch, you can still select 1st or 2nd gear in off road conditions, there is almost no limitations compared to a manual box.

Further, don't think that you are going to do a proper over-landing (say Cape to Morocco) trip in a Hilux or any other double cab type vehicle, they're not built for that. If it is an over-landing vehicle you're looking for, buy a Toyota Land Cruiser.
 could'nt agree more :fishn:wfish 
 

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L Hooker

Senior Member
I have a 3.0lt toyota dbl cab 4x4 my previous bakkie was a dbl cab 2.5 4x4 and before that it was a Ford 2.5 dbl cab..
Before that was a toyota kzte.. so my point is i like the look of the new Ford, however i was burnt so badly with the resale of my first Ford that i will never buy Ford again. I also had problems with annoying rattles in the Ford as well as side shaft seales breaking after towing my boat (twice and it only had 65000km's on the clock). If i was too purchase Ford i'd make sure to buy a 2nd hand one to try reduce the loss when you want to trade in!! Not knocking Ford as i;m sure there are very happy Ford owners however i've just had better experiences with Toyota's plus the resale is excellent!
 

Lofty

Senior Member
My decision to buy the Isuzu and the Ranger come from when I was about 15 years old, my dad had a 2.4D Hilux that gave endless troubles, the starter then the gearbox then overheating , I can still see the engine hanging in the garage trying to fix something again that broke and staying 40km from town on a farm without a bakkie is not nice and I remember hearing the swearing.LOL I promised my dad never a Alfa Romeo or a Toyota.
 

barryfish

Senior Member
I have 4.0 v6 ranger, I have to sell it as I can now.... and the fuel it uses is ridiculous, so what do I get???

I bought the ranger for 275K super cab 4x4 2007, The new ranger supercab 3.2 4x4 is 380k+ _+440K for d/c.I drove one, last week. it's ok not much difference in the drive, my bakkie feels the same, power wise etc, yes the new ones smells better and the suspension is newer and tighter.

To be honest I cannot see myself spending close to half a million on a bakkie, I can buy a awesome car for that price!. with many many bells and whistles. can get a year or so old / demo disco 4 for that???

The price has increased drastically 5 years on, with the discount I got, more than double, and the interior finishes really are not that great, so it's got a blue tooth, I fitted a Sony radio to my ranger with blue tooth and the phone and music works 100% was only 1500 rand.

Toyota offered 80K for trade in ranger on 330K D4D extra cab. sorry not going to happen. Toyota hilux does not have needed towing capacity.

my ranger is 2007 with 135000 original one owner km on and has been off road rarely, though has pulled boats up slips and carried some wood / trailers nothing that I would not expect a bakkie to do once or twice a week, it's not everyday just occasional bakkie use the rest is like car use.

I have replaced clutch at 100 000. cv's front / shocks all round / prop shaft and some bit n pieces. and to be honest i would have expected the Ranger being a 4.0 v6 bakkie to hold up / last much better than this, I just do not see it happening and do not feel it happening.

I looked at the prop shaft on the new ranger, looks more complicated than old one, which has 3 CV joints in the prop shaft which are not available as a spare parts, so you have to get new or good used one, not what I would expect, perhaps I am expecting too much. Heard some rangers have been prone to g/box diff prop issues.

Would i buy another ranger, at 400K not a chance!

Current Ranger runs perfect no issues, and I would keep her, if it were not for the fact that even tho I do very few km, live 5km from my factory, I may drive 30km a day on business, sometime none, and on average and I use more fuel than my 2 x 1.3i bantam, which travel daily to sites, client's and to and from home 40km away loaded with staff. (2 bakkies put together)

At one stage of high fuel prices, one bantam was in use so I parked the ranger and used the bantam, I worked it out, it was cheaper then not to drive the ranger and pay the installment, fuel and insurance on the bantam, It cost me less every month to have 2 cars and not drive the ranger.

So I have to go diesel, bakkie 4 x 4 is a must, will have to go single cab :( and I cannot go auto, there aren't many

So Landrover Defender as perhaps I need a more industrial vehicle to tow the boats and wood as the Ranger in my opinion did not cut it, light on fuel and servicing 2.2 puma motor. BUT can you believe they want 360K and it does not have central locking / electrical windows or any maintenance plan. shheeezzzz, then I can't test drive one as they have none on the floor, say check the ebrochure on the web, for a 360K vehicle?

Is it just me or has the pricing of the new vehicles just spun out of all reason with deteriorating standard and quality, but with good packaging, looks, desire etc.

So like you, to find the right vehicle, that costs less than a house is difficult.

Anyone know of a like new used 2010/2011 defender h/c p/u with low low km, available from a reputable dealer? I am sure that needle is in here somewhere......
 

Lofty

Senior Member
My Ranger is a 2000 model 4x4 DC 195 000 km that took me to Namibia twice and to Transkei twice and all over SA since I have it and only needed to replace one small roller bearing on the left front wheel on the auto hub of the 4x4.

I know that the gearbox and diff is a weak point but I look after my vehicles and that is something I can replace if it fails, I cant replace a R40 000 engine .I went to engineering shops all over and look what engines was mostly rebuild and all of them told me to go for the Ranger because of it good engine.

One drawback is consumption 8.5 to 9km/l and my fishing is taking a knock because of the fuel price. My 2.5D Isuzu 4x4 my fishing bakkie I sold December with tears in my eyes because I absolutely loved it, slow but light on fuel and never ever any problems, it was advertised and two guys wanted to mo3r each other as who was going to buy it.

I had to sell the Isuzu because it was a single cab and I needed the double cab to tow my off-road trailer and for weekend always and 4x4 trips with the family. My wife wanted to get a small car so I had to sell the Isuzu and bought her a new Cross Polo. The problem now with the fuel price is that it cost me R160 to Gourits and to drive to Grootbrak to pump prawn cost me now R65, that is for one fishing outing without all the other goodies you normally take with. I never moans about spending money but now its becoming ridiculous.

 
 

barryfish

Senior Member
Lofty i would be happy with 8.5

Must say i have never been left stranded nor has she ever broken down.
i replace items when they need to be so she don't break down and I question with the age /km should i be replacing the items, as if the mechanicals cost as well as the fuel, shoo,, I may as well buy that 500K vehicle as I will be spending the same on average.

I must say the motor is 100% and I enjoy the vehicle and the power, never been stuck off road, it is just way too inefficient.
 
You wont go wrong with the 2.7 petrol hilux, but if you want 4x4 buy a 4x4. The 2.7 is a great offroader, and would most definitely reccomend it. There is 2 things that stand out with hilux's excluding the good resale value, and that is that you dont have to worry about mileage, they just keep going with only minor wear and tear, and a very important aspect is that they are spread our all over africa and its the one bakkie you wont have a hard time getting spares in remote places.. The 2.7 has a flat spot on low revs but is a cheap fix on the dyno ajusting the computer box.. Hiluxe is miskien nie die vinnigste bakkies nie, mar hulle is gebou om te hou!!
 

RINEX

Sealiner
Lofty wrote:
My Ranger is a 2000 model 4x4 DC 195 000 km that took me to Namibia twice and to Transkei twice and all over SA since I have it and only needed to replace one small roller bearing on the left front wheel on the auto hub of the 4x4.

I know that the gearbox and diff is a weak point but I look after my vehicles and that is something I can replace if it fails, I cant replace a R40 000 engine .I went to engineering shops all over and look what engines was mostly rebuild and all of them told me to go for the Ranger because of it good engine.

One drawback is consumption 8.5 to 9km/l and my fishing is taking a knock because of the fuel price. My 2.5D Isuzu 4x4 my fishing bakkie I sold December with tears in my eyes because I absolutely loved it, slow but light on fuel and never ever any problems, it was advertised and two guys wanted to mo3r each other as who was going to buy it.

I had to sell the Isuzu because it was a single cab and I needed the double cab to tow my off-road trailer and for weekend always and 4x4 trips with the family. My wife wanted to get a small car so I had to sell the Isuzu and bought her a new Cross Polo. The problem now with the fuel price is that it cost me R160 to Gourits and to drive to Grootbrak to pump prawn cost me now R65, that is for one fishing outing without all the other goodies you normally take with. I never moans about spending money but now its becoming ridiculous.

 



My next bakkie will be a Isuzu or Ford.Find it very hard just to think of getting rid of my trusty Suzy.Im getting a 1000km out of my 83L tank of diesel,so im in no hurry lol.
 

wmpruis

New member
I love my Ford bakkie and if I have to buy new it will also be a Ford bakkie. Although my bakkie is HEAVY on petrol it is very very reliable and Petrol on it works out cheaper than a new bakkie with installments. Also I drive to work and back with my Uno and the bakkie is only for fun and fishing.

I only really needed to use 4x4 only once since I owned it. Other than that I chose the difficult route when it is raining while I am going to a fishing spot. So keep in mind that if you are not going to need 4x4 you will save. Make sure you will use the 4x4 if you buy a 4x4.
 

Mr-Dicks

New member
Hi all,

It's been a while since I checked on this thread.

Thanks for all the valuable feedback you guys have provided.

Business is a bit slow at the moment so the T6 Ranger remains that ever elusive carrot dangling from a stick.

I've considered other options in the meantime though and the early 2000 3.0 KZ-TE 4x4 is my definite second choice. Problem is that no one sells them :(

I vowed that I would never buy a new vehicle in SA. Prices are ridiculous and the build quality (like someone said before) is of an ever diminishing quality. Resale on a new vehicle is also just an extra kick in the gonads.

However, that T6 is definitely an emotional purchase for me. When I can afford it I'll certainly buy it (Amarok seems nice also though). But till then I'll either keep the Fiesta and stick to the path frequently traveled or get the Hilux.

Thanks again, your experiences and inputs have been very valuable.
 

Strepie

Sealiner
I just bought a 2010 Isuzu DTEQ for a steal. Getting it on Friday, can't wait. My current Isuzu also sold within 24 hours!
 

barryfish

Senior Member
Hey strepie,

I have been doing more checking and looks like I may have to eat humble pie here.....and am awaiting 2 dealer quotes for a 3.2 supercab ranger.....

After checking and checking, I really want 4x4 auto box / tow 2.5 - 3 ton, all i can find that has these options is a ranger 3.2 T6 in supercab...

oh well, at least will do more than the _+ 4.5km /lt I get current!

Amarok have a 30K factory discount to pass on. best deal so far, worried bout the post mplan costs tho, not cheap on this these Germans

Given up on the defender - way to expensive as it has 0 features / mplan etc.
 
There is a new Amarok coming out soon. A 2,5ltre bi-turbo diesel with auto gearbox!

Has anyone noticed that there are no complaints about the VW and that the build quality is better than the Ford and the resale wont cripple you like a Ford and it is cheaper than the Ford...

I think I'm going to buy the 2.5!
 
barryfish wrote:
Hey strepie,

I have been doing more checking and looks like I may have to eat humble pie here.....and am awaiting 2 dealer quotes for a 3.2 supercab ranger.....

After checking and checking, I really want 4x4 auto box / tow 2.5 - 3 ton, all i can find that has these options is a ranger 3.2 T6 in supercab...

oh well, at least will do more than the _+ 4.5km /lt I get current!

Amarok have a 30K factory discount to pass on. best deal so far, worried bout the post mplan costs tho, not cheap on this these Germans

Given up on the defender - way to expensive as it has 0 features / mplan etc.
Amarok will tow 2,8 tons!
 

barryfish

Senior Member
And amorok have 30k to give back from the factory, works out less than the navara and has better specs, just where's the extra cab?? Or when is it comming?
 
barryfish wrote:
And amorok have 30k to give back from the factory, works out less than the navara and has better specs, just where's the extra cab?? Or when is it comming?
LOL, you don't want to pay VAT??

I reckon I would need a double cab. Going fishing we are often 3 or 4 up and the space for my oversize friends (and me) will be necessary!
 

barryfish

Senior Member
For 40-+K vat claim they welcome to sit in the back, or take their own car. D/cab load bin too small and nostly just me, wife has SUV so more a work boat bakkie
 
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