Reliable, Cheap daily ute

[scott_motors]

I say go for the Falcon ute, they stand alone.

My cousin has two, his own AU ute and a BF ute for work and they have never ever let him down, Both on gas, they are cheap as chips to run and leave the Hiluxes for dead. Even for a low budget there are plenty of good XF-AU utes around.

Going slightly off topic, It goes without saying, but you are better spending the money on a good secondhand Ford ute rather than a new Great Wall, sure it may be cheap but the Ford will plug on for centuries after the Great Wall has fallen to bits.

I also read a review in an old magazine on the TATA Telcoline ute, according to the tester, it was horrid.

[Drizz06]

Proton jumbuck

[OzJavelin]

Another vote for AU ute here .. had an AU XL V8 .. great work ute ..

[jcxr]

Ive got an '03 rodeo tray for sale @ $6,500. In Melbourne.
Neat, white duco, bench seat, 200,000k's.
Drives great, just had all belts done, ultra reliable. Major service just done.

[DFB FGXR6]

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago. Was looking a Hilux's but after a little reaserch, they are as thirsty as a much more powerful 4.0 Falcon six. So with a petrol Hilux you get a engine that is neither grunty of ute duties or economical either. And the Hilux's tuffness is a little over rated too, the one I looked at (05 model with 95,000km) had a leaky water pump. Ended up with a diesel Ranger. Top little workhorse. For your budget, I dont think you can go past a AU ute.

[alter_EGOXR]

thanks guys for all the valuable input. I agree with you guys and hiluxs being overrated. I came across a XG dual fuel ute for 2grand? is this a little too good to be true?
I would prefer an AU on gas, but finding one under 5g seems pretty hard. Are XGs reliable on gas? or should i just wait for an AU on gas?

thanks!

[BPXR6T]

See post 20. Still going strong at 280,000. I bought it for its reliability. Being in the country I need a reliable car that I can put big kays on without costing me an arm and a leg in maintenance.

[alter_EGOXR]

BPXR6T, i actually like the look at the XGs. Has a nice old school touch to it. I know the engine is bullet proof, but im not sure if having dual fuel would be very reliable. With dual fuel can i shut off the tank and just use petrol, if i am having problems with the gas ? Like for example the backfire issue?

Thanks again

[tezxr8man]

Originally Posted by alter_EGOXR

Hey guys,

As the title suggests, im looking for a ute that will be a good daily and very reliable. I have been looking at 1.8L hiluxs, but im thinking i should look at buying a holden or ford ute on gas?

what are your thoughts?

Thanks

XH falcon ute, they go forever

[BPXR6T]

Originally Posted by alter_EGOXR

BPXR6T, i actually like the look at the XGs. Has a nice old school touch to it. I know the engine is bullet proof, but im not sure if having dual fuel would be very reliable. With dual fuel can i shut off the tank and just use petrol, if i am having problems with the gas ? Like for example the backfire issue?

Thanks again

You can either turn the gas off at the tank or turn it off with the switch in the car to run on petrol. Just by your question it sounds like you're thinking dual fuel means your burning both gas and petrol at the same time like some of the dual fuel diesels. Not the case. If your having problems with your gas system then just switch back over to petrol using the switch on your dash and you're running on straight petrol. Only reason I use tank shut off is if I'm doing any work on the gas system like changing a gas converter etc. As for reliability. My fathers dual fuel falcon is now up to 800,000 kms and still going strong. Only things to go wrong in that time were one head gasket, one gearbox, and one gas converter fail. Grand sum of $1000 in parts at the wrecker over the 800,000 kms the car has done in the past 17 years. Much cheaper to maintain than my other cars which is why I'm running up the kays on my falcon instead of them.

[alter_EGOXR]

thanks BPXR6T.
in other words, what you are saying is if i have a problem with gas i can just turn that off and run straight petrol with no issues?


yeah tezxr8man, if the budget can stretch it i would love to get into a XH