04 Hilux surf and accessories

rcomms, Oct 13, 6:37am
I am looking purchase an 04 Hilux Surf and I am interested in any feed back on performance etc. we are going with the 3.4 petrol model.

Also looking at a nudge bar and roof racks for a ladder etc, will the 98 model surf nudge bars fit or do the hilux ute bars fit!

Anyone got experience with this model, the vehicle fits most of our criteria around size, cc rating and spec.
mugenb20b, Oct 13, 7:28am
Can't comment on the nudge bar department (they are useless anyway.), but they can be made to fit, that's not an issue. What you really want is a TJM or ARB type bumper, they will take down trees without damaging your vehicle, but they cost a few thousand dollars.

The 3.4 V6 is a good performer, and doesn't quite have the torque of the diesel. And, she's a thirsty little b***h.

If going petrol and need the size, get the 4.0 litre V6 Prado, then paying for fuel won't feel so bad.
rcomms, Oct 13, 7:39am
I guess the gas is going to be an issue, my subby legacy is a little thirsty but his will be a step up I am sure.
thejazzpianoma, Oct 13, 7:48am
My opinion is its hard to find a more over priced vehicle. Very little vehicle for your money. You could do SO much better.
mugenb20b, Oct 13, 7:53am
Which is why I suggested a Prado.
thejazzpianoma, Oct 13, 7:58am
Even more money again though, and really still not that much car for that much money.
I also have a suspicion that the bottom could fall right out of those in a few years leaving people with tens of thousands in depreciation. Not saying this is a certainty like Idid when I predicted the Suzuki Swifts and Yaris's collapse, but I can see it as a possibility.
mugenb20b, Oct 13, 8:02am
God I hope so.
ralphdog1, Oct 13, 8:09am
I have a 96 3.4 petrol surf.
Just got home tonight after having towed a trailer 1100km of an all up weight of around 1800kg. It did about 15l/100km. Not towing it does around 11.5/100km on a trip. If that frightens you don't buy one.
As pointed out above it does not have the low down torque of the 1KZ diesel, but it does have about 45% more power, all you need is the willingness to put your boot up it and let it rev. If you are going to do more than 10,000k a year buy a diesel, less then buy the petrol.
thejazzpianoma, Oct 13, 8:18am
Not towing, what do you get over a tank of typical mixed running!
ralphdog1, Oct 13, 8:24am
Don't actually know Jazz, we own it as our tug, 95% of the time it goes down the drive it is towing something, + the odd long trip. Mixed town/country running is what our daily runners are for.
If I had to guess I would say 12.5-13l/100km
thejazzpianoma, Oct 13, 8:29am
Cheers for that, might be interesting to check sometime. Fuelly people seem to average about 15l/100km but everyone's running is different.

I am just wary that he would be paying VW Touareg or even Mercedes ML Diesel money. They are just such a huge amount of extra car for the same money for one of the same year/km's(as they should be for the much bigger original purchase price, which from memory is over twice as much).

Plus if we assumed Fuelly to be about correct and they did a typical 15'000km a year that's about $2000 extra a year in running costs.

I know what I would buy.
rcomms, Oct 13, 8:32am
20-35ks per year at the moment although in the last 10 months did 40k
rcomms, Oct 13, 8:34am
Had originally looked at the hold lx8 adventra, but my work use has changed meaning a full sized SUV 4wd is more ideal.
thejazzpianoma, Oct 13, 8:35am
There you go then, that 40K would cost you about $5300 extra over doing it in a much nicer VW or Mercedes. I don't see the logic myself.

You will get a few redneck knuckle draggers try and have you on about the VW or Mercedes costing more in maintenance (which frankly I don't buy) but even if it did that sort of fuel savings alone is going to blow away any difference in service cost many times over.

Oh, and if you are wondering about performance from a diesel, go and drive one and be blown away. They will leave the Hilux for dead.
ralphdog1, Oct 13, 8:46am
I like mine, would buy another. But with the sort of k's you are doing you would have to be mental to even consider one (no offense intended), unless money is no object.

I should add Jazz, those figures are on 98, running on 91 it gets worse, it is cheaper cents/km to use 98.
thejazzpianoma, Oct 13, 9:13am
I wonder what octane that motor is actually designed for!

I have to agree though, that is what I have found in every vehicle I have tested including the couple that were supposedly designed for low octane. Although to be fair, I have only tested European vehicles.

You should see the difference it makes in VW FSI engines, even on 95 Octane the whole FSI deal is basically redundant. The VW can only get into FSI mode 10% of the time with 95 vs 60% of the time on 98.

Oh and you are right, even if they were to get consumption closer to yours, which wouldn't surprise me if most of the runnign is open road which is possible given the km's. The difference in running costs is still going to be huge. They would be mad to run a Petrol Hilux.

Plus, I did my comparison based on mixed running, so if the Hilux is cheaper for the open road use the Merc/VW will be as well so the impact on the difference between the two won't be as significant.