Need a 4x4 ute, what should I buy???

[BPXR6T]

This ute will see a lot of kays and be used to tow a tractor to town occassionally, be able to flat tow a car in the event of a break down, and do a bit of light offroading. Because I'm doing big kays it needs to be okay on fuel. Looking to spend between $15-$20K and maybe a bit more for the right car. Any recommendations on what's good and what's not?

So far I've been looking at an 04 Triton with petrol 3.0L six, 04 courier with 2.5TD four cylinder, and an 04 Rodeo with 6 cyclinder.

[NFURY8 Ute]

I usto have a 06 navara duel cab t/d and was good on fuel with plenty of balls and can be picked up in good nick for about 20g.
Id go 1 of thm but thats just me

[Jimmyd]

If you want good fuel consumption forget the Triton & Rodeo, go the Courier/Bravo - the 2.5TD drives like a petrol, has bags of torque and if you get the right spec very comfotable to drive. In my expereience the Courier/Bravo has the better seating position relative to the chassis than the Triton or Rodeo - very important if you are driving long distances. Driving a Rodeo over two hours makes me phyiscally ill, Triton scews my back on anything worse than hiway tarmac, Courier/Bravo is the best of this bunch by a mile.

Are you looking at Single Cab, Sports/Club/Extra Cab or Dual Cab?

[paule11]

Had courier and rodeo courier was comfortable and had reasonable power ,good ride only things I didnt like was grinding on full lock turning circle could have been a little better and seat trim wore quickly, went ok loaded up.

Rodeo biggest POS I have ever driven.

I would check out a Toyota Hilux dont know how they are for towing but I have been very impressed by them for everything else

[BPXR6T]

Have been looking at the navaras too. I'm after a dual cab. I should mention I've never owned/driven a turbo diesel so don't have first hand experience with their towing abilities. Just looked up the specs of the various options on carbuddy and the triton is all but out. Has a six but with only 192nm and peak torque at 4500 it doesn't stack up well as a tow car. The courier has 86kw and 280nm at 2000. The navara 3.0TD has 110kw and 314nm at 2000rpm.

[winkle]

I've got a 2003 Navara ST-R D22 dual cab. Just yesterday I 'recovered' 18 liberated 10ft railway sleepers on my bogie trailer which would have averaged 120kg each. The Navara pulled these out of a reasonably steep hollow up a gravel track in 2nd low at 1500 rpm without raising a sweat and didn't slip once. Unladen, it will do 650km to a tank without trying. Still looks the goods with the alloy roll and bull bars, spotties and hard lid. My one criticism is that the ride can be a bit agricultural, but mine has an extra leaf so I can load it up - they are a bit underspung in standard kit.

[BPXR6T]

Just an update for those who posted in this thread. I ended up getting the below D22 Navara ST-R for just over $12,000. Would have preferred the 3.0TD instead of the V6 but I think I got a pretty good deal. Fairly low kays too and very clean inside, outside, and underneath. Came with Rhino racks, ARB bullbar, spotties, and aftermarket CD.

[ZA-289]

Thats a good deal! where did you find that? What year is it?

You would have been better off in the TD but at that price who cares!

[BPXR6T]

That's what I figured. TD had heaps more torque and better fuel economy but the deal was too sweet to refuse.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by ZA-289

You would have been better off in the TD

+1
If you're going to do a lot of towing, and high miles, seriously consider LPG. Do you have cheap gas near you?

[BPXR6T]

Not doing heaps of towing. Just have to be able to flat tow a car in case of a break down. Gas isn't too cheap around here at 65 cents. But I'll get gas on it eventually. Doesn't seem to bad on fuel. So far about 13L/100 and I haven't been trying to drive economically. I notice it sits on 3000rpm at 110kph so it'll be interesting to see how much juice it chews on hwy trips.

[mrniceguy]

I would recomend a 1979 F100 with a 500 cube+ big block. Very suitable for your needs.

[andy351]

thats an awesome deal at that price