Buying a used Toyota Hilux with only 1000 km of driving: my first impressions
The Hilux is a metallic silver variant, High Automatic (top of the line). It was registered in May and has run a little over 1000 km. It was 2 months when I bought it. Get it for a great price considering its age and mileage to date. And I think the price will be affordable, no matter which one you like, the all-new ones, or the Hilux second hand.
I will do a quick review of the truck, and some data from Wapcar.my, which has driven more than 1000 km. Please note that I am primarily a sedan person and have very little experience with BOF vehicles. So all these points are in this view. I can’t compare it with Fortuner or any other BOF SUV for the same reason.
Exterior
The uterus looks tough, mean and indestructible from the outside. This car has excellent road presence and is sure to turn heads. Since the previous owner has equipped some accessories (I have listed similar ones below), the visual appeal is greatly improved. I like the “cool” factor associated with pickup trucks in general, and this one looks more distinctive. Build quality is excellent and tough – try opening the rear doors and hood and you’ll know what I’m talking about (get a good workout in case you don’t have time to hit the gym).
Interior
Getting inside was a bit difficult, helped by handles (4 of them). That will make it difficult for the elderly. Once inside, you’ll be greeted by a rather modern and luxurious cabin (unless you like large touchscreens). The quality of the furniture and accessories is good and you will never feel uncomfortable. Plastic quality is good compared to the segment. Inside there are many storage compartments, with 2 cup holders near the vents for the driver and passenger. The upper glove box has a cooling function while the bottom one is lockable.
The front seats are very comfortable and you won’t have any problems on long journeys. Legroom is also great. The same cannot be said for the rear though. Given the size of this truck, rear legroom is limited. You sit more upright than you might call comfortable, so I’m not sure what the area would be like for longer rides. A nice point is the ability to raise the rear seat legs to store items. Toolboxes are located under these seats.
The ICE includes a touchscreen main unit that has all the usual connectivity options expected in modern vehicles. The sound quality is decent, but I might consider upgrading the speakers later.
The blue dashboard lighting at night is a nice touch. The same applies to the supply of AC charging sockets in the control box. I like the one-touch auto high-low feature right in the Rapid.
Engine
This car is powered by the same engine used in the Fortuner. One concern is DPF congestion. At about 2000 km, auto-regeneration begins, but nothing else after that. Toyota service personnel told me that these days these problems are less and that the original problems were caused by the adoption of new technology. The only problem they told me was to avoid frequent short-city trips and include more frequent freeway trips. It’s easy since the Hilux isn’t easy to navigate around town anyway.
Driving experience
Press the start button and there is a slight jerk when the engine is running. It soon settled into a quiet slow motion. On the move, the engine will feel refined as long as the revs are below 2000 rpm. Of course, you wouldn’t confuse this with anything other than diesel. Push past 2000rpm, then engine noise starts to come out. Though it sounds more explosive/busy than an industrial breakout. Not a very boring note.
I like the fact that, even in Eco mode, the box doesn’t shift gears too soon and doesn’t hesitate to shift gears. This is an issue I’m having with my Rapid, in D mode tend to shift very quickly and hesitate when shifting which is very annoying. This makes it easy to go fast in the city while still in Eco mode. I haven’t driven much in Power mode, but the performance is too good in this mode, a bit scary in a truck. I just wonder why is there no speedometer in mode D (it appears once in mode S)
Driving around town makes you feel like the “king of the road”. You overtake other cars, people let you pass, cars think twice before turning your car, etc. It’s a really great feeling, even though I’m not a street bully and I don’t unnecessarily preside over my surroundings. The only problem is that the horn looks more like a pipsqueak. Surprisingly in a car where the opposite is a villain. It reminds me of some movie villains that look tough and scary unless they start speaking in a childish voice.
Inside the city, the long size makes you feel uncomfortable, especially when you have to make a U-turn. Add to that the large turning radius that makes 3-point rotation the norm. I end up taking a longer path to the nearest roundabout to get around. Ride quality is expected of a BOF vehicle. It’s jerky/jerky/bouncy (as you might call it) and unless you’re on a flat stretch of road you’ll be aware of the pavement below. Sometimes there is also a side swinging motion.
The maneuverability is there again, as you would expect from a car. Slow and steady is the way to achieve this (imagine, I had an RS230 until last year, vice versa). Although things are not as bad as I thought. Let’s just say I expect it to behave like a ship, but it’s like a longboat. If that makes sense. Maybe I expected much worse.
The worrying aspect is the brakes, which in my opinion are not good enough to stop the car. Especially at high speed. I don’t know if that’s my experience with sedans, but I drive more carefully due to poor braking. Wind and road noise is also an issue as soon as you pass 100 km/h. Overall performance drops after this point.
Have any other Hilux owners here noticed the absence of the 80/120 km/h beep now found on all new cars?
Accessory:
I don’t know which of these were supplied by the dealer and which were installed by the previous owner. According to the accessory brochure provided by Toyota, these are the accessories currently being installed: front underbody guard, fender, fender, bed sheet, side visor, style bar, and wireless charging.
I am not reviewing any mods at this time. I’m usually slow to modify my car (the RS230 is still intact until the day I sell it!) and plan to use it for a while before considering modifying/adding an existing setup. The only thing I’m looking at is a cover for the charging bay, but I don’t see any options without removing the sleek bar. Can anyone give me ideas for the same?
I hope to update as often as possible
