Is Toyota Hilux a safe ute for kids?

QUESTION

Hi John,

Long time subscriber and firstly I want to thank you for what you do. You make a living out of it, but for people like me who watch all your videos, it's been an escape for these FO2020 and FO2021 times... Not only are your videos are interesting, but also, you back your knowledge with data and common sense.

Listening with attention to your video "What's the best 4X4 dual cab ute for families and towing in 2021?", I actually share some requirements with Mark Edmonds and your analysis made me decide on contacting you. Also, because I'm missing out on heaps of outdoor activities with the kids.

I am looking for a premium ute, so a Ranger or Hilux are my choices. We have a BMW X1 as the family vehicle, which I want to trade-in as part of whatever deal I decide upon. My current payout for that car sits at $18,000.

I will value and request your advice here regarding which of those two utes you would choose. Considering I have two kids (3yo and 11yo), safety is paramount). Off-road driving will mainly be ‘normal’ bush tracks and the occasional beach. I'm not one of those who go nuts on the towing bandwagon, as the only thing I may be towing in a couple of years is a small 5m fishing boat. So, many of the current utes will be more than enough.

Also, budget-wise, I don't want to pay more than $1000 per month, and I’m thinking of a 72-month deal. Whether it’ll be under finance or novated lease is to be decided.

Will a Ranger Wildtrak or Hilux Rouge match these requirements? These are my favourite.

By the way, with the information you've been sharing, are these utes in stock at the moment, or am I looking at the current 6-9 month wait?

Appreciate your time and help.

Cheers,

Jason

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ANSWER

Hey Jason,

Thanks very much for the kind words mate. I really appreciate your interest in my reports. Sorry about the delay responding - we do email triage, of which there’s a tsunami, and I answer all the hard questions personally every 3-4 days.

Ford is emphatically crap at customer service, so for this reason I don’t recommend Ranger (even though it looks good and drives pretty well). I’d buy the Toyota every time, because Toyota is an order of magnitude better at looking after customers.

They’re otherwise pretty similar vehicles and I’m sure the Rogue will do everything you need it to do. And this generation of Hilux has been in-service for many years now and proven itself quite reliable (having fixed the 2.8 DPF issues). Hilux is also quite safe, offering curtain airbags (unlike VW Amarok), it has plenty of crash-avoidance features, and you’ll get excellent resale value in years to come.

Consider saving a few bucks on the Rogue and looking at the SR5 which still gives you seven airbags, front/read parking sensors with reversing camera, adaptive cruise, collision avoidance with pedestrian detection, lane departure alert and road sign recognition, without the macho hair and makeup also known as black plastic trims and tray roll cover. SR5 has CarPlay/AndroidAuto, you get DAB radio and satnav, but miss out on the nine-speaker premium stereo system in Rogue. SR5 also gets the rear diff-lock.

Mull it over mate - take your time as it’s a reasonably big call. Definitely take a substantial test drive before buying (although that might have to wait until that’s possible) just to assess comfort, convenience, performance and dynamics, etc.

Ranger is also quite expensive, while the Hilux is still dear, it does offer similar spec-level as Ranger with a slightly smaller pricetag.

Please get back to me when you want to act on it - we can then investigate availability and pricing. Many new models are on back-order at the moment, but we’ll do everything we can.

All the best mate.

Sincerely,

John Cadogan

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