Cargo space - 100 series vs Hilux with canopy

Thanks for the reply! I'm starting to lean towards a Hilux dual cab. Don't care for the power windows, etc, but definitely need the storage space at the back.

A couple of questions:

- what is the approximate length of the tray?
- how many baby seat connectors are there? Could you fit two baby seats and one young child in the back seat?
- did you convert to LPG?

I'll do the measurements when I get home tonight.

There are two holes in the rear for babyseat connections. I have two in at the moment.

I reckon two baby seats and a small child would fit, though two baby seats and booster seat would probably not.

I haven't converted to LPG, can't rack up enough Km to justify. Though if the Qld gov gave a $2k rebate like WA I probably would have by now, if anything for emissions sake.

One issue is if you plan to do a lot of serious offroad work and bouncing out of ravines and stuff, don't get the any lux 99 - 2004 as these have the 7.5" diff and when one wheel in the air is raised and spinning and hits a firm surface, it's when not if that the diff breaks and a $2-$3k repair bill. I don't really do stuff that runs that risk but horses to courses. And that info is not first hand and I have not broken a diff, so even though I sound like I know what I'm talking about that comment is basically from other forums, but I'm not willing to test it.

Part of the reason i got the lux is they are going cheap and cheaper, ignore what people are trying to sell them for and wait for when one hasn't sold and make the offer. The guy I bought my 2000 5LE lux off with 140,000km in Jan this year got offered a trade in of $13k at jeep dealership. So if you find one for sale for $18k that's been for sale for a while, there's probably a good margin to bargain around with.

I still love it. Got a power chip and the dyno chart was posted on this forum, next is a mandrel header and that will do for me other than a sports exhaust when the existing needs replacement.

These are estimate figures cause there are a few places you could take the measurements from, like there is a cargo liner in mine and do you take it from the edge of the cargo liner or behind, and of course the canopy sits over the tray area so that's always going to give a bigger dimension than internal of the tray.

So, internal in the tray from cargo liner to rear fold down section, about 1.35m, sideways measurement from liner to liner 1.4m.

The height with the high top canopy is over 1.10m in most places but that varies a lot because of the support beams and curvature of the canopy.

Hope that helps. I unfortunately don't have 2 baby seats at home at the moment so couldn't test 2 plus a booster. But it's registered for 5 people so there'd be a middle seatbelt, but I don't expect you'd be able to tether a booster to the behind the seat.

Also, if this is going to be your only vehicle I must warn you getting the baby/booster seats untethered is a pain in the rse. As the seats are flush against the back of the seat, it's very hard to get the tension right, and when you want to undo them, it's very hard to get the tension undone. Possible, just really annoying. The baby safety capsule is dead easy cause the tethered strap is in two parts, but the next standard baby seat and tethered boosters are painful.

Hope that helps.

Thanks - that's some really useful stuff!

I've heard that the ride comfort isn't as good as softroaders/cars - is that your feeling as well? I drive a 20 year old car currently, so maybe it won't even be noticeable.

It would mostly be used as the holiday/camping vehicle, and maybe some daily commuting.

Well the guy I bought it off made the IFS front end firmer he said, with some new shocks i suppose, and with the canopy on people say that adds the weight to stop the back bouncing around - even a bag of cement without the canopy will do the trick, if you find it noticeable. The ones I drove without a canopy or any weight seemed fine at the time.

So no, I find the ride perfectly comparable to my Toyota Echo and my previous 2000 RV6 prado. However, the engine is much noisier than either of those, but you get that with diesels and particularly the ones made .

Best to test drive a few.

I saw last night even the factory turbo's of 2000 are coming down ($20k) close to the price i bought my non-turbo at 6 months ago (damn), though the fuel economy jumps 20% with the turbo on I hear on forums. 12L/100km as to my average 10 or less/L 100km. I keep up with traffic fine, and I ain't in no rush anyhow.

oh, and i'd love to daily commute in my lux, i like the ride height, I like the feel of the gearbox, i even like the sound of the diesel engine cause I can hear it. And people ALWAYS let you in ... (obviously Top Gear fans)

It's just the bicycle is a lot cheaper for me at the moment and I am lucky enough to have bicycle lanes all the way to work ...

I've been seeing a lot of Hilux owners with dreamy asking prices on their ads! Don't see many below $20k with plenty of mileage. Did you find that the actual selling prices of these were generally much lower than what they were originally asking?

I'm probably leaning towards a petrol model, with the view to do an LPG conversion. The diesel prices have been a bit scary as of late.

I saw a factory turbo diesel dual cab at $20k yesterday.

Lots of LN167R's like mine, 3.0D non-turbo, clearing in the mid to high teens.

I compare mine to my prado, 13 - 14l/100km on the road and hit high or low range and it jumps to 16l+/100km, high as 18 - 19. Swear in low range and bogged in sand you can see the damn petrol gauge move.

In the hilux I get 10 and 10 and 10 and 10 and sometimes 9. With my new chip i'm hoping for 8.

Now this is where the cluey maths comes in, here in Brisbane the diesel can be found at a staggering $186/L while the petrol is at a tantalising $1.68/L. But is this real economy? the economy I get on my hilux is at most time greater than 20% of my prado v6 petrol. But the percentile difference of $186 as to $168 is only 10.7%, so I'm actually 9.3% better off with the diesel. And I get further miles, and take it off road and the difference can be astronomical.

What you can do is go diesel/gas, the results are apparently more impressive than petrol/gas and least performance wise. Same rebates apply.

Anyhow, lots to think of there.

and one more, the one I bought in January was listed at $20,500, bought it for $18,000.

But he had his new vehicle parked beside it was was going overseas, perfect sort of situation for a buyer. Even after the test drive and I said I was interested he told me "he'd been rung by someone" who wanted to pay $19k straight away. I called his bluff and didn't move.

Due to the price of diesel I reckon you could get them down now a lot more. As I said, he confessed to me he'd been offered $13k for a trade in.

Mine had 140,000 km on the clock. But being a diesel, this makes it just about run in. Service history very very important.

Eg

http://www.tradingpost.com.au/Automotive/Used-Cars/4WD-Utes/AdNumber=7994859?BackToResult=true


This would be a tradie that's probably been to the beach once or twice and made a squillion over the last few years non stop building houses and wants the new u beaut D4D ...

I own both an '02 DC hilux with a canopy & a 100s & both are set-up with drawer systems. What the 100s looses in depth makes up for in width & may be a touch higher. As Craig said.... problem with the ute is reaching into the back of the tub to reach gear, but I had 'wing doors' fitted to the canopy which helps but access is still limited.
IMO if you NEED a ute get the hilux..... otherwise get the 100s. I loved my hilux until I (reluctantly) got the LC. I won't be going back to the hilux .... not now. :) They just don't compare.
Jase

Dave,

Mazda/Ford have actually taken a step backwards. The old Courier/Bravo will take a set of drawers 1500 long whereas the BT50/Ranger will only go 1400.

Jim.

Huh. There you go. I hadn't noticed. They look very similar but I hadn't run a tape over them.

You can get a LOT of gear in the back of a Courier/Bravo with drawers. 1400 is still extremely deep compared with a 900mm deep wagon.

You can't match the sort of space that depth affords with a canopy, with a Patrol or Cruiser let alone a Prado.

Dave

Well said, having gone from a hilux d/cab to a 100 series ourselves 6yrs ago, would NEVER go back to a hilux. Cabin space, comfort, backseat comfort and space. NO comparison. If your only criteria is storage space, hilux maybe just in front. But loses on every other front.