3 buying choices.... suggestions?

[4g63]

Fellas,

i am about to purchase a pickup, i have narrowed it down to 3 choices;

- 2012 hilux 3.0 manual - 245,500
- 2012 ranger 3.2 manual - 295,000
- 2012 ranger 2.2 manual - 249,500

the hilux, tried and tested beast but the new line of rangers seem to have a lot to offer.
the 3.2 is deterring me with that price tag and i am a fan of efficiency... i don't know if i need a 3.2 tdci when they say there is comparable power to a 3.0 hilux in the 2.2.

so, i'd like to hear what you fellas think. would like to make a decision this week.

thanks.

[Aaron 2NR]

hilux.....

[civic minded]

mahindra

[4g63]

yeh, i feel i might go with the hilux, but i like the payload and towing capacity of the 3.2 ranger

[FilterProz]

hilux on resale ..cant be beat...

[venum]

high output 2.5 Sportero



steups buy the damn Hisux

[badart]

both the hilux and the 2012 ranger are great vehicles but the deciding factor for me is servicing and availability of parts . if u plan on servicing at the company it would be better to choose TTTL. My family services at both TTTL and Ansa, i normally drop the vehicles and pick it up and the customer service is chalk and cheese, also Ansa is normally more expensive. if you go with the hilux alot of places outside can service it not sure how many of these places know anything about the new ranger, maybe in time.

[Team Loco]

hilux. there is no replacement for displacement

[badart]

^ well said

[tourniquet]

^^^soooo........he should get the 3.2L Ranger then
OP I really don't think you could make a bad choice here. However, if you're willing to spend $295K on a pickup, but really don't think you'll really need all that power from the 3.2 ranger, I say go with the Hilux, and use some of the "extra" $49,500 on a lift kit, AT tires, arb type locking diffs, etc
Plus, and this is just a personal thing, I really don't like buying the first set of vehicles after a new generation is revealed, I just get the feeling like I'm a guinea pig for these companies

[4g63]

just to confirm, badart was saying that TTTL service was better right: i would just do what i need to do to maintain the warranty... i was able to do a lot on my own without voiding it with southern sales... oil changes, diff oil changes, grease crosses (not sure if they do that anyway) etc. but i def. prefer good customer service... i hate to get a footprint of grease of an empty soft drink bottle or the worst so far... some cigarette ashes on the floor.

I also don't want to be a guinea pig with the new engine.... the have a lot of paper benefits, but i have to see how they perform over some time as tourniquet said. i also hate dealing with sales reps who just like telling me the ranger is the most powerful and the best... quoting hp ... they don~t consider the vehicle is a heap heavier... anyway, they have some manuals in the south branch. i went to richmond st. today and they just had the girl versions. so saturday they are bringing me a 2.2 and 3.2 manual to dig out. i am very interested to see if that 2.2 is comparable to the 3.0 hilux. i will rip it up in the hills in the back of vistabella. i don't doubt the 3.2 is a beast... how much of that power is available for us to use after hauling the 3200kg carcass around i will try to determine on saturday. I will try to post a review here for those who may be in a similar predicament.

i prefer the hilux from before, but not a fanboy, if i find something better i will buy it. i hated the previous rangers, these though may have some potential however, they need to look at their pricing... it is a really expensive van.

just so you know, from the next shipments, the rangers will be going up by a further 8000. so that should also influence these decisions... i don't believe we should pay huge prices just because something may be good... i don't know how m. rampersad sells so many vehicles.
(for pricing on all vans i checked check my post on the last page of the new pick up prices at the top of the forum)

[4g63]

if the 2.2 is as powerful as they say, then it would be great to have a small diesel sipper pushing out some good payload. which i why i like japanese over american philosophy on cars...

[lighthammer]

i like the payload and towing capacity of the 3.2 ranger

what you goin and tow and haul dey pardnah? heavy equipment orrrr?? You have a boat or trailer? Hope you have your heavy T license.

Don't forget your insurance costs too eh (most new vans will insure for arund $12,00 or more, depending on your level of NCD).

how much of that power is available for us to use after hauling the 3200kg carcass around

That's the MGW rating eh, i.e. the max weight of the truck with its full rated load capacity.
TARE is the unsprung weight of the truck..... 3.2L engine will be overkill (trust me - even the 3.0 TDCi in the older ranger was overkill).

Before you go and spend all your money on such an expensive truck, make sure and weigh your options carefully eh.... you sounded hesitant to buy the fully loaded 3.2 ranger, so I doubt you wanna go load up yourself with a big montly loan payment (unless you have real cash - in which case I'd be happy to come with you for a test drive... you know... for science!!)


Took me 6 months to buy my truck (and all the info I have is in my blog)..... there's no substitute to doing your homework and putting the miles in on those test-drives, no matter what ppl might say on the internetz (please excuse me, my esteemed and learned colleagues on this forum *cough*)

[civic minded]

buy the hilux boy - you cant go wrong with a hilux.

[4g63]

i agree with you light hammer... that's what i meant about hauling around the 3200 kg... say with a tray full of concrete blocks....but yes, i mean with the heavier weight of the vehicle itself.... i think 1870 kg or thereabouts? have you driven both the 3.0 and 2.2.... if you are game.... saturday morning i am going to deal with a 2.2 manual and a 3.2 auto. I don't think i want to spend 300K on a van so the 3.2 is just for comparison.
toyota kinda annoyed me today since they apparently are not bringing many manual models... they have 2 fassy looking beige ones coming all the way in february... and tried to offer me a 4x2 lookalike...
i don't want to be forced to buy a ranger, so will check it out and see how it pulls me up those hills with the ac on... though the hilux may no longer be much of an option with that next year timing.

i will probably be pulling a small trailer with a small boat at max or a skid steer some time in the future...
insurance i don't care about too much because i will drop some level 3rd party on him.
do you know if all those towing specs are for the 2.2 also? i like the extra tray space and toyota really needs to spruce up their interiors... the fabric hilux is nice enough, but the ranger is a lot better inside. i really liked the hilux and was tipping heavily on that side of the scale until i realised i couldn't get one until next march or so.

you have an idea about hilux service costs? my bt-50 at southern sales used to be between 250 and 600 on average and bigger things a little more... i have to find out how much i can do myself without voiding the warranty which i maximised on with the bt-50.
ford told me, average 1500 + VAT per service... every 5000 km or so... they cah be charging me that to change my oil...i doh plan to let them change my oil anyway if i could help it.

you have any reviews on these 3 vans in this post? i'll check your blog and see.

[4g63]

oh, what did you end up buying?

[civic minded]

how about checking M-rampersad - if you will be towing a trailer - they have the Ford ranger wildtrak (someone told me it is the authentic one now and i need to check it out). If it is the authentic wildtrak then it came with Hill Descent control , trailer sway control, voice activated control a/c center box...

[sliderz1]

oh, what did you end up buying?

he bought the 'best value for money' truck IMO

[4g63]

the problem with m rampersad is that you can't get a van without some heavy rice....

and their prices are usually above the firm by a good bit for all that rice..

[Aaron 2NR]

^ maska had an original wild track as well as m. rampersad....no aftermarket accessories....





http://www.facebook.com/mrampersadauto/photos_albums

[civic minded]

If they are selling it for 350k for the original 4x4 3.2l wildtrak then that is a good price , I will check as soon as I get some time. Btw the firm is sellin the limited - 3.2l for 329k.

[Aaron 2NR]

i don't know tooo much about ford but cm this is the interior of one in the showroom






this link below is the 4x2 wildtrack whose interior looks a lil better (control wise)



http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 028&type=3

[badart]

Btw 3 months+ is normally the waiting time for a hilux from TTTL

[civic minded]

yup that looks like the authentic wildtrak, i can see the trailer sway controls, hill decent and traction controls. This would be the 5 cylinder 3.2L turbo diesel . The main problem i have with these guys is warranty. I still trust firm warranty over M rampersad and others. But really and truly - if you can afford 350K pickup truck then warranty issues shouldn't bother you.

[4g63]

alright i went and had a more detailed look at the ranger before driving it....

i was a bit disappointed with the features... comparing to the hilux manual which is about the same price...

hilux has bluetooth... 2.2 ranger no bluetooth....3.2 does have it though
hilux has like maybe 10 cupholders...ranger has 2 in front and 2 if the centre armrest a the back is folded down.... so if you have someone sitting there or a car seat for a kid... you basically have 2 cupholders...and i saw 2 spot on the back door that can maybe work to hold bottles.... at any rate, poor compared to the hilux.... the bt-50 has 7.
ranger doesn't come with running boards....hilux manual does.

so i find the value for money is poor compared to the hilux. 250K and you cah even give me a running board ras?
the "technician" was also trying to convince me that the ranger has a locking diff. at the back....
he spent like 10 mins telling me how it is a locking diff./lsd.... if it id have this, then it would then be worth the money. of course he couldn't tell me how to lock it... and that it was automatic...

i dunno what you guys think.

i still don't know what lighthammer bought... what is the best value for money pickup?

[civic minded]

dude your kinda confusing now - if you want value for money , why are you looking at luxury pickups.... refer to here.

viewtopic.php?f=41&t=327141


Lighthammer own a mod Navara.

[lighthammer]

I here....

Lol I like how allyuh calling house and land price for van (just kidding, Hehehe).

@4g63 - back in 2010, I was shopping for s truck too... Did 6 months worth of resesrch and test driving. I was *this* close to ordering a 4x4 manual, fabric hilux.. I reach as far as telling the bank to call Toyota and make arrangements. But the next morning I decided intesd to get a manual, 4x4 fsbric navara, fully loaded.

Main reason?
Cost and value for money.

4x4 manual hilux, fabric seats, fully powered - $225,000
Equivalent navara - $202,000.

For what I had planned to do with the truck (modify for offroad), reseale didn't factor in too much for me. Plus I could fully modify my navara and still not be a much as a fully loaded hilux.


So brother, its always gona be a hard decision, but all I can tell u is to buy the truck based on your needs and personal requirements, and not solely on what ppl say on a forum. If you really want my personal opinion, I would go for the hilux.... For the same reasons ppl said above.

Ford has a propensity to chsnge their models every 2-3 years, hence market resale and parts availability aren't as robust as other brands that been around for years (hilux and navara). Yeah, bt 50 and ranger been around since 2006, but I'm sure they gonna stop making parts for them soon.

[4g63]

so ford didn't bring my van down after all so i didn;t get to test it... however, the rangers are really lacking in features compared to what we read about on the net...
for the manual models and 2.2 automatic there is no cool box, no hill start assist (though i think this makes you loose some skill), no bluetooth, no tray power outlet, no running boards (as in the hilux)...
but what is really horrible that may be a deal breaker for me is that there is nodoor lock on the back door... you have to use central locking to lock and unlock the back door... how retarded!
so if you want to get out of the back seat, you have to ask someone in front to press the door unlock button for you or stretch across and do that in order to get out... if a bandit is coming for you... salt... if you have a carseat in the centre of the the backseat, then you are really going to be in a dred mess.... that is the worst feature on the van. of course no trailer sway and hill decent control, no traction control, no roof rails...

comparing to the hilux, it doesn't have all of these features either, but i still get bluetooth, sd card and usb deck, running boards and a 3.0 diesel.
i tested a prerunner.... 4x2 with the same d-4d 3.0 engine... was a little more sluggish on the takeoff than i expected, but maybe i was expecting too muck. plenty low end torque... i took it up over the lady young and went up a few very steep hills of that route and near to malik.... it performed well on those with no hints of stalling even with ac on (as is a problem with the bt-50 and older 2.5 rangers).... even from a dead stop with a low rev up hill pull off, it seemed pretty comfortable. mid end response is good. i pulled it up a couple hills at low revs (1000 - 1200 rpm) and it performed well without stalling...
external looks of the hilux i really like, but toyota never fails with their basic and uneventful interiors. while the 4x4 is good enough, the prerunner i think is pretty ugly.
the ranger is great on the inside in terms of looks and feel. the consol is a little in your face and the driver feels a little more free in the hilux than ranger but the seats, gear shift etc. are way better in the ranger.
tomorrow i will drive the ranger and then make a decision. i will be comparing the 2.2 model to the hilux. they are now telling me that the 3.2 is what should compare with the hilux and that that 3.0 equivalent to the ranger 2.2 was the previous ranger 3.0 they meant..... in that case, there may be little competition in terms of value for money.... manual hiliux 249K...now 255K and manual 3.2 ranger 295K ... now 303K.... no additional features for that additional 46K over the 2.2....
i really like how the ranger looks, but features are sorely lacking and i have yet to see what the engine can do. will try to post something after i test it tomorrow.

still open to hear comments and views. i have a ranger and a hilux booked... just to make a decision now.

[civic minded]

All the little features and gadgets in the ranger are found in the 3.2 limited and wildtrak . They are not found in the 2.2l

[droppa]

pal i see u did some good research here, one test u shud do is a brake test, 100-0kmph and see the outcome....

from my personal experience with "playing" with the older 3.0 ranger and 3.0 lux, the lux had way better brakes, there was something wrong with ranger brakes, as if the vehicle was too light, abs wud kick in quite easily, the lux however "stop like man"