Dual cab choice?

[Grumbles]

I have no idea what forum to post this in but given the vast general knowledge of all things possessed by AULRO members I thought I'd give it a whirl here.



I am considering another vehicle with more space than the wagon style car but non Landrover this time.


On the short list are the Mahindra Pik-up and the Tata Zenon – both new or used. From what I read on the net reliability seems okay for both although I am open to contrary comments here. Not on my list are the Great Wall, the Foton or the bigger players in the dual cab stakes aka Toyota. Nissan, VW, Mitsubushi – used ones have too many kays for the dollars asked and broadly speaking all seem to have issues of some sort.



A key consideration for me is long term maintenance costs and to this end I'd like to avoid the expensive dual mass clutch/flywheel and the troublesome and expensive DPF issues.

A petrol engine would be great but generally this option is not available.

Any thoughts guys?

Thanks.

[Sitec]

Hope I'm not going to offend you here... But the first two on your list are the two I'd avoid!! Both very ugly... The Mahindra's build quality is not gud, and both have huge and I mean HUGE depreciation... Your money would be well spent (IMO) on a second hand/ex demo Amarok, or one of the last (original) Holden Colorado's. Now, I never thought I'd ever recommend a Holden, but my works ute is a Colorado, and I love it. It drives really well, looks good, seems to go places, and I'm half way thru a 3000km round trip with work (and collecting my ex army trailer), and I can't fault it!! We've always owned VW cars at home, so if I was in the market for a double cab, that's where I'd spend my dough! :)

[justinc]

If you can stretch budget to a 2012 or 2013 auto isuzu dmax you will be onto a good thing.

Jc

[Vern]

If you can stretch budget to a 2012 or 2013 auto isuzu dmax you will be onto a good thing.

Jc

Is that a biased opinion;):D:p

[Grumbles]

Nah Sitec – I reckon the Mahindra looks way cool....but then I loved my Lada Niva too.



I took yours and Justins advice seriously and spent two days surfing the net looking at hundreds of pages of mechanics and owners reports/experiences of all the major players utes. Then I went looking for cars for sale. As an aside if I was buying a used car then it had to be an auto. The cars mileages I was looking at in the $20G to $30G thereabouts bracket seemed to be at mileages which indicated major maintenance/repairs were imminent.



I also looked for petrol engined cars which seemed to be in the main trouble free – much more so than their diesel brothers - but there were very few available. I only looked at dealer cars. I have no intention of buying privately.. For my sort of use – lots of short runs - a petrol is probably ideal for me.



So it seems to come down to taking a chance on a used diesel car with major repairs being imminent or a new/demo Mahindra or Xenon with a new car factory warranty and for less dollars than a used mainstream car.




Dunno really – more thinking to be done.



Justin – you seemed to be on the money about the Isuzus too. I battled to find any issues at all. They were also very light on the forecourt as well.



Thanks guys.

[frantic]

Most other manufacturers have dropped petrol utes, the exception is toymota. They still sell the hilux with the 4.0 v6 which is a good engine. Petrol is about 5-10% of their sales so you can see why lower sales manufacturers just dropped it.
Here's a few in vic: New & Used Toyota Hilux cars Victoria - Find Toyota Hilux cars for sale Victoria - carsales.com.au (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/results.aspx?ipad=1&silo=stock&q=((((((((((((SiloType%3d%5bBrand+new+cars+in+stoc k%5d%7cSiloType%3d%5bBrand+new+cars+available%5d)% 7cSiloType%3d%5bDemo+and+near+new+cars%5d)%7cSiloT ype%3d%5bDealer+used+cars%5d)%7cSiloType%3d%5bDemo +and+near+new+cars%5d)%7cSiloType%3d%5bPrivate+sel ler+cars%5d)%26(Make%7b%3d%7d%5bToyota%5d%7b%26%7d Model%7b%3d%7d%5bHilux%5d))%26State%7b%3d%7d%5bVic toria%5d)%26Service%3d%5bCarsales%5d)%26Price%3dra nge%5b0..30000%5d)%26FuelType%3d%5bPetrol+-+Unleaded+ULP%5d)%26Doors%3d%5b4%5d)%26GenericGear Type%7b%3d%7d%5bAutomatic%5d)&vertical=car&WT.z_srchsrcx=makemodel&sortby=TopDeal)
A good idea to consider is putting on LPG. We had 2 prados on LPG, the last was a 4.0 v6 ,same engine as hilux, and with gas injection drove the same as on petrol as well as never backfiring like other LPG cars we've owned. The consumption was also almost identical, within 1/litre per 100 Km's.

Another alternative is to go outside the square and get something simple mechanically that won't really depreciate. With these you really do need to go gas, 180l tank is a good idea. ;)
New & Used Ford F150 cars - Find Ford F150 cars for sale - carsales.com.au (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/results.aspx?ipad=1&silo=stock&q=(((((((((SiloType%3d%5bBrand+new+cars+in+stock%5 d)%7c(SiloType%3d%5bBrand+new+cars+available%5d))% 7c(SiloType%3d%5bDemo+and+near+new+cars%5d))%7c(Si loType%3d%5bDealer+used+cars%5d))%7c(SiloType%3d%5 bDemo+and+near+new+cars%5d))%7c(SiloType%3d%5bPriv ate+seller+cars%5d))%26((Make%7b%3d%7d%5bFord%5d)% 7b%26%7d(Model%7b%3d%7d%5bF150%5d)))%26(Service%3d %5bCarsales%5d))%26(Price%3drange%5b0..30000%5d))&vertical=car&WT.z_srchsrcx=makemodel&sortby=TopDeal)
New & Used Ford F100 cars - Find Ford F100 cars for sale - carsales.com.au (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/results.aspx?ipad=1&silo=stock&q=(((((((((SiloType%3d%5bBrand+new+cars+in+stock%5 d)%7c(SiloType%3d%5bBrand+new+cars+available%5d))% 7c(SiloType%3d%5bDemo+and+near+new+cars%5d))%7c(Si loType%3d%5bDealer+used+cars%5d))%7c(SiloType%3d%5 bDemo+and+near+new+cars%5d))%7c(SiloType%3d%5bPriv ate+seller+cars%5d))%26((Make%7b%3d%7d%5bFord%5d)% 7b%26%7d(Model%7b%3d%7d%5bF100%5d)))%26(Service%3d %5bCarsales%5d))%26(Price%3drange%5b0..30000%5d))&vertical=car&WT.z_srchsrcx=makemodel&sortby=TopDeal)