Haggis replied:

Hi Des,
Recently we bought a 2002 3.0D Dual Cab Hilux ute (not the turbo) and are pretty happy with it.

From reading magazine reviews you wouldnt touch a non-turbo diesel thesedays but the local Toyota dealer had the 3 lt non-turbo's on a special price and we drove a demo for about 100ks to try and figure out what was so bad about not having a turbo... Not having driven a turbo model to compare, I dont know how much better they go but for us, the NA 3.0D is just fine. Slower than a petrol, for sure, but its not like you are holding up traffic or having to thrash the guts out of it to get anywhere. A nice, relaxing torquey engine, pulls from almost nothing.

Took it offroad last weekend and it was phenomenal wrt torqueyness up hills etc. Mine is the 5LE motor (with EFI) but the non EFI motor from a few years ago only makes a few less KW and NM, so I dont imagine it would be that much different.

In regards to other aspects of the vehicle, we are also very happy. Some reviews complain about a bumpy ride but I dont know what their problem is... If you want to know anything else just post back and I'll be happy to answer your questions.

Cheers, Haggis

Old Soldier replied:

G'day Des, I was talking with a bloke quite recently who has had both the 3l non turbo and the 3l turbo in the last 18 months. He uses his ute to tow a camper trailer and said that there is no comparison between the two if you are towing. Where the 3l non turbo would throw up its hands in despair at the sight of a hill when towing, the turbo just breezes over them. Both are great utes - it just depends on how heavy the workload is going to be. Enjoy the bush :).