Which double cab pick-up???

[A911DOM]

Another kind of 'what car thread' I suppose - sorry

Anyone with experience or opinion of the following line-up, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Blatantly Im thinking of buying one of these big beasts for tax avoidance reasons - (Plus I quite like the idea of a big wagon to bully my way through the usual school run mummy wagons).

I also have to do school run most days (3 kids (4,7,& 10 years old)) so it needs to be relatively sensible as a people transporter - Then a cross country jaunt to work. Not mega miles so fuel isnt a massive issue, although if one is especially bad it'd be worth noting - Oh, and it might be handy for towing the track car occasionally and putting the lawn tractor on the back etc...

The list:

1. Nissan Navara
2. Toyota Hi-Lux
3. VW Amarok

Oh, and to ask possibly the girliest question I will ever ask:

"What colour suits each best..."

Cheers in advance

[Jovial Joe]

Hi

Between the Nissan and the Toyota I opted for the former. Principle reason was for the 6 speed box in the Navara as opposed to the 5 speed in the Hi-Lux, which makes it a little noisy on a motorway run. The interior of the Nissan is in my opinion a far nicer one but then that's more subjective, fuel consumption is superior on the less powerful Hi-Lux though.
No experience of the new VW but the figures do suggest that it may be a little underpowered, especially when compared with the soon to be released 228bhp V6tdi Navara, although this is priced at the thick end of 30k. Which is a bit silly for a truck.

Black or dark green.
Regards

[V8mate]

Isuzu Rodeo. Really is the best all-rounder.

[TL1000R]

Having spent the last 3 years working for Nissan I would rather lick a hairy turd than own a Navara. Very bad build quality, mega expensive to service and fix, rubbish mpg, not that good to drive, shocking brakes even when empty.
If it was me I'd have the toyota for no other reason than it's a toyota.

[A911DOM]

Cheers JJ.

Appreciate the gentle nod on the colour front too chap

The reason I added that was because travelling back from the Ardenne yesterday, I spotted a white Navarra and it looked really quite good... Im sorry, Im sorry - I know thats the chelsea tractor colour of choice, but it seemed to suit it very well.

[A911DOM]

TL1000R said:

Having spent the last 3 years working for Nissan I would rather lick a hairy turd than own a Navara. Very bad build quality, mega expensive to service and fix, rubbish mpg, not that good to drive, shocking brakes even when empty.
If it was me I'd have the toyota for no other reason than it's a toyota.

Let me assume on behalf of everyone, that you no longer work for Nissan

I appreciate your honesty however - thats thrown a bit of a curve ball I wasnt expecting to be honest!

[Norfolk Enchance]

Had a Navara (in silver) for a few weeks now, so far no issues with build quality, drives well (for a truck- dont expect a luxury car like ride)

Brakes are fine, just remember what you are trying to stop.

Has all the toys electric heated leather seats, sat nav, dual zone, nice sound system with a hard drive for you music, bluetooth, cruise/limiter, speech operated, reversing camera etc

190 bhp with enough torque to stop the world spinning, getting 30 to gallon around town and 33 on a run, although if you start pushing it to high motorway speeds this soon drops.

[300bhp/ton]

A911DOM said:

Another kind of 'what car thread' I suppose - sorry

Anyone with experience or opinion of the following line-up, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Blatantly Im thinking of buying one of these big beasts for tax avoidance reasons - (Plus I quite like the idea of a big wagon to bully my way through the usual school run mummy wagons).

I also have to do school run most days (3 kids (4,7,& 10 years old)) so it needs to be relatively sensible as a people transporter - Then a cross country jaunt to work. Not mega miles so fuel isnt a massive issue, although if one is especially bad it'd be worth noting - Oh, and it might be handy for towing the track car occasionally and putting the lawn tractor on the back etc...

The list:

1. Nissan Navara
2. Toyota Hi-Lux
3. VW Amarok

Oh, and to ask possibly the girliest question I will ever ask:

"What colour suits each best..."

Cheers in advance

Dodge Ram, Ford F150 or Chevy Silverado, or even a Dodge Dakota.

Any of the V8's on LPG will match or exceed the slow lacking in HP UK spec diesels pence per mile wise. All will hold their money way way better. They are also better specced and much nicer to drive.

If you want diesel then the 5.9 Cummins in the Ram 2500 or the Duramax 6.6 V8 in the Chevy are fantastic motors and can still return lowish 20mpgs.

Either that or go back to basics and get a double cab Defender 110. Far more charm than the Japs and again staggeringly better residuals.

[RB Will]

Man up you said you wanted big

[Caulkhead]

This:



Everything else has cart springs that will break your kiddies backs, drum brakes that mean they will die if you try to stop quickly and will depreciate so quickly they will have no inheritance left.

Seriously though, get a Defender.

[TL1000R]

A911DOM said:

Let me assume on behalf of everyone, that you no longer work for Nissan

I appreciate your honesty however - thats thrown a bit of a curve ball I wasnt expecting to be honest!

No, I still work for Nissan, in the service department. Most Nissans are fine cars, some great, some boring but well made and then there is the Navara. The sales man will tell you it's great but ask anyone in the service side for their honest thoughts and they will confirm what i've said. Before you buy look into what each service will cost you. You will fall over. Ask how much it is to fix the 4wd switches when they fill up with water - they will!!!. They eat tyres and brakes.
I had one for a month as a demo and couldn't ait to get out of it. I took a Note instead just to be away from it.

[A911DOM]

All very interesting stuff chaps!

I like the 'bigger the better' yank stuff but have a real issue with availability where I am at the best of times.

If I could find someone peddling them out near me here I would be interested. (Any idea whether these come with the gas conversions already done, or is that for me to do privately afterwards?)

Okay - let me throw something else into the mix of requirements.


How would a Defender etc do on long journeys as I travel back and forth to the UK throughout the year and could do with something that has reasonable cruising and road manners as well.

Dont want much then

[300bhp/ton]

A911DOM said:

All very interesting stuff chaps!

I like the 'bigger the better' yank stuff but have a real issue with availability where I am at the best of times.

If I could find someone peddling them out near me here I would be interested. (Any idea whether these come with the gas conversions already done, or is that for me to do privately afterwards?)

Where abouts are you? There are quite a lot of importers and many just specialising in trucks.

You might well find one with LPG already converted too. It's fairly common. What sort of budget are you looking at?

A911DOM said:

Okay - let me throw something else into the mix of requirements.


How would a Defender etc do on long journeys as I travel back and forth to the UK throughout the year and could do with something that has reasonable cruising and road manners as well.

Dont want much then

This is quite open ended tbh. On one side a Defender is cramped and noisy. But on the other hand I find them hugely enjoyable and comfortable.

I have done many long trips in them and wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

Cruising speed, this depends what you think is acceptable. The Td5 and 2.4 TDCI powered ones respond very well to a remap and they'll happily sit at 65-75mph on a level motorway should you want too.

[Jovial Joe]

TL1000R said:

No, I still work for Nissan, in the service department. Most Nissans are fine cars, some great, some boring but well made and then there is the Navara. The sales man will tell you it's great but ask anyone in the service side for their honest thoughts and they will confirm what i've said. Before you buy look into what each service will cost you. You will fall over. Ask how much it is to fix the 4wd switches when they fill up with water - they will!!!. They eat tyres and brakes.
I had one for a month as a demo and couldn't ait to get out of it. I took a Note instead just to be away from it.

I agree regarding the servicing costs, although as the OP is looking at purchasing a double cab for their tax 'benefits' the VAT is reclaimable.
The 4x4 sensor issue is usually fixed under warranty, mine was and I presume on the models that are new to the market this problem has subsequently been addressed.
As for eating tyres and brakes, I changed all four boots at 28000 which I didn't consider too bad and at 46000miles am still on original discs and pads. Whilst I don't thrash the backside off the truck I wouldn't say that it's treated with kid gloves either.

300bhp/ton said:

This is quite open ended tbh. On one side a Defender is cramped and noisy. But on the other hand I find them hugely enjoyable and comfortable.

I have done many long trips in them and wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

Cruising speed, this depends what you think is acceptable. The Td5 and 2.4 TDCI powered ones respond very well to a remap and they'll happily sit at 65-75mph on a level motorway should you want too.

Set the cruise on the Nissan to close to a ton and it'll sit there all day. anyone wanting to do a long trip in a Defender's a masochist or just plain bonkers.

[HellDiver]

Jovial Joe said:

Set the cruise on the Nissan to close to a ton and it'll sit there all day. anyone wanting to do a long trip in a Defender's a masochist or just plain bonkers.

Depends on your tyre and suspension choices. A Defender on road tyres with road springs is a perfectly acceptable vehicle.

[Jovial Joe]

HellDiver said:

Depends on your tyre and suspension choices. A Defender on road tyres with road springs is a perfectly acceptable vehicle.

Don't doubt that but considering the OP is talking about 'tax' issues then I think we can safely presume he intends to buy a new vehicle. A Defender will still struggle to hit anywhere near 80mph though.
Regards

[300bhp/ton]

Jovial Joe said:

Set the cruise on the Nissan to close to a ton and it'll sit there all day.

Wow, so useful in a country with a 70mph speed limit....

Jovial Joe said:

anyone wanting to do a long trip in a Defender's a masochist or just plain bonkers.

Why? They ride just as well or better than any other more modern truck. Good driving position and comfy seats. Noise is really the only downer.

[HD Adam]

Doublecab F150 for me.

Lot's of room, toys and power and like 300 says, not that bad on LPG.

Yes, it's got leaf springs (it is a truck after all) and even though it's no Elise, you'd be surprised how well they do on normal roads.

Of course, you could always go for the supercharged version like me

[300bhp/ton]

doogz said:

Really?

You never exceed 70mph on the motorway?

Not often no and certainly never to get anywhere any faster. It's just false economy in terms of stress, aggression and risk verses such a small reduction in total journey time (if any at all).

[Tacagni]

Isuzu Rodeo a little agricultural but good on fuel can tow well, on our second one,in total had 8 years trouble free motoring (apart from a mouse chewing through the washer bottle pipe and fuel return pipe!!!)