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Toyota Hilux road test reports and car reviews

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Toyota Hilux road test reports and car reviews. Submit your own review of the Toyota Hilux, read other driver's opinions or visit the best road test web sites available on the web.

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Toyota Hilux reviews by year of make: 1992 2007 2008
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Toyota Hilux car reviews

Number of reviews: 4

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Mike Scott, Cheshire

Toyota Hilux Surf SSR-X 2.4TDI Manual 1992

Not a bad motor really, drove well, needed a 6th gear, 5th gear wasn’t tall enough. Mine was a slightly rare modified jap import though, so it had a high-flow full-through exhaust, 5" backbox. Induction kit, boost was increased, noisy wastegate etc. Buy a 90’s landcruiser amazon 4.2 V8 instead. Beast.

Submitted: 06/02/2010 20:07:28 | ID: 4562

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Lew, Northamptonshire

Toyota Hilux 3.0 Invincible auto 2007

We’d intended to get a used Amazon, but very strong used values coupled with hefty road tax penalties made us think about a pick up instead. Automatic is a must, Ford were just about to launch their own 3.0 litre automatic ranger, but no one at Ford could tell me where the engine or gearbox came from, and not wishing to be unpaid R&D for a new model we decided to check out others. Navara went into limp mode on the test drive and my wife hated the sound and drive of it, so that left new Mitsubishi L200 which looks odd and we really wanted a 3.0 litre for the extra torque anyway. It only left Toyota which was what we wanted anyway and having owned a Landcruiser 3.0 litre Diesel before which was completely reliable and built like the proverbial brick outhouse I knew the motor would be good... but you still have to check the opposition to confirm. So we test drove the Hilux, both liked it and Toyota did us a fair price... dead lucky here, we ordered 2 weeks before Top Gears North Pole trip was shown, wouldn’t have got any discount after that as no one knew of the new model prior to that. Vehicle turned up sure enough for 1st Sept, all good. Righto, the gearbox is a dream smooth changes and good instant pulling power, small criticism here, the engine has huge low speed power, maximum torque from 1400rpm, so even though the gearbox locks in 4th when up to speed it will change down before needed, shame Toyota couldn’t have put some sort of manual override button, we could semi permanently lock top gear on the open road, but hey ho as I said a minor point in the grand scheme of a good auto box. Nice little touch, there is a release button for the gearstick beside it, so you don’t need to turn the ignition on and put foot on brake to select neutral if you want to roll forward on a slope or example. Engine is very willing, reasonably quiet, and pulls like a train. The vehicle is high geared in top something like 2200 rpm at a genuine 80mph, so high speed cruising is easy though you can pay at the pumps for that. Fuel consumption varies between 27 and 30ish, the former if you boot it and you could get worse than that, the latter for normal running, which I think is reasonable for a 2 ton brick. Didn’t go for leather, 2 reasons didn’t like the one bland grey colour and it’s slippery and cold (no seat heaters) for my wife’s bum ;) that’s 3 reasons... Very good to drive, can be skittish in the wet, tyres need to be carefully chosen, I’m a user of winter tyres anyway during the cold spell and this vehicle is transformed on higher quality tyres, the original fitments weren’t the greatest in my humble opinion. Following that idiotic biased Elk test video on youtube Toyota had the knee jerk reaction of stopping using the 16" wheels on the Invincible and fitted 15" instead, they tried to get us to have new 15" (HL3) wheels under warranty but we’ve not had a problem with the handling save for my above comment over tyre choice, so we are still running the 16" wheels, if I’d wanted an HL3 I’d have bought one and saved myself a couple of grand. The paint seems a bit easy to scratch, and I daresay we’ll be having it repainted much better in a few years time, as this truck is here with us till the end of it’s days (or ours). This seems to be a problem with many new vehicles, this modern paints just don’t wear like the old stuff. Underside prone to rusting, definitely a case for heavy spraying with rustproofing chemicals/paint underneath. Mirrors though they are electric and very good being huge and well placed are not heated even as an option, this was a bad oversight and Toyota should really have offered a retro fit service to their customers with this... whether the 2009 facelift model has heated mirrors I know not. I have a bit of a feeling that they didn’t want Hilux pinching too many sales from Landcruiser, so didn’t make them too luxurious, mind you their pretty good anyway. Well it’s now exactly 2 years old, no problems at all as expected. Toyota’s service dept is it’s usual efficient self and the servicing costs are reasonable say around £180 for intermediate (year 1 and 3) and £270 for full (year 2), I don’t think that’s bad at all, and I do pay extra to have a new fuel filter annually, that for some reason isn’t in the service schedule, but I like my vehicles serviced proper like, and I slip in a half yearly oil change myself. Engine oil change is recommended at 9K miles by the way. The fuel filter has proper primer plunger fitted, unlike much of the competition which is just another old fashioned belt and braces approach to the way they build their working vehicles, a good thing as far as i’m concerned. Hope this is a little help to anyone considering a Hilux, I would recommend without hesitation, relatively simple tough pick up that should turn out to be totally reliable, and seems to be keeping it’s value quite well where the competition is being given away at 3 or so years old.

Submitted: 04/09/2009 12:21:13 | ID: 3512

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Justin Miles, Devon

Toyota Hilux 2008

It’s every boys dream, whether they like to admit it or not, to drive a pick-up. Partly inspired by "living the American dream" of throwing a rucksack and a couple of fishing rods in the back of the truck and heading off into the wilderness for a weekend fishing camp; and partly by the notion of being able to chop down trees, dig holes, chuck tools in the back, and generally look like a roughty toughty tree surgeon type. If you live in the UK the chances are that your dream pick up is the doyen of it’s class, the Toyota Hilux. The Hilux has a reputation, and quite rightly so, for being the roughest, toughest, gruffest piece of metal ever formed into a utility vehicle. A few years ago Mitsubishi, realising that they could never out-do Toyota in the working pick up stakes, moved the goal posts and set a trend for a fashionable new style of pickup with the L200. With an advertising campaign aimed at prizing young professionals out of the seats of their sports cars and into something different (their TV ads featured beautiful people riding jet-skis straight onto the back of an L200) yuppies up and down the country were ditching their BMW M3’s in favour of the more rugged, go anywhere, do anything Mitsubishi L200. Whilst all of this was going on Toyota never ventured off of the path - they kept on making the same brutally rugged work truck. They stuck to what they were good at, and they kept their place at the top of the monkey tree. Then it all changed. For some reason, totally beyond my comprehension, Toyota changed tack and the Hilux metamorphosed into one of the new generations of "lifestyle" truck, just like the L200. Why? Why would they do that? It’s a little like overpainting the Mona Lisa with a ridiculous clown smile just to keep her "fresh" and "modern". The same fantastic performance levels are still there, but buried deep underneath a fashionable space age looking façade. The new Hilux doesn’t look like a work truck any more. Scratches, scrapes, and dents suited the old style Hilux, they looked like they were meant to be there - a little like an eye-patch on a pirate, or a red tie on a conservative MP. I can’t imagine being happy with even the slightest scratch on the new Hilux. At the first sign of a blemish I’d be straight down to the guys at the Plastic Surgeon for an invisible repair before I was hit with insomnia and fits of v omitting (please note the very deliberate plug for Sean Taylor and Rob Mouser of The Plastic Surgeon!). Once you’re behind the wheel of the new Hilux Invincible though, everything changes. Sat up in the cab you forget that you’re behind the wheel of one of the worlds best 4x4’s. The sumptuous leather, host of gadgets, minimal engine noise, and ample sound system all lead you to believe that you’re in a rather pleasant saloon; A BMW 3 series maybe, or the Saab 9-3. On the motorway the Invincible was, well, invincible. Acceleration was positive, and it sat quite comfortably at the maximum speed limit on Britain’s roads of 70 mph (which I obviously never exceed, even when test driving a new Porsche!) Around town the Hilux Invincible was easy to manage. Superb visibility combined with a good steering lock and more than a little luck meant that I could reverse into parking spaces without so much as a bead of sweat showing on my ever enlarging forehead. Then I got a little carried away, and in my not too wise wisdom decided to head out onto the farm to have a bash at the deeply rutted and very steep woodland rides cut into the hillside by the Dartmoor National Park Authority. My excitement was rapidly building as the Invincible made the journey through the narrow country lanes an interesting pleasure. I was almost disappointed as I pulled up at the top of the farm driveway. Heart pounding and breathing like a telephone pervert I slipped her into full four wheel drive for the next part of the journey. We crossed the flat field with ease - mind you, even the BMW X3 could have made the trip without a slip so it’s hardly worth writing home about. A little mud splattered the sides of the immaculately shiny Hilux as we (me and "her" - "her" being the car) powered through a small stream and up over the grassy bank beyond. Hmmm - I’m not so sure that even the slightest bit of mud suits this new generation of Hilux; I had to get out and wipe it clean! The M5 was a distant memory as we powered up and around the steep woodland rides which are usually the domain of quad bikes or tracked forestry vehicles. She took the tight, twisting bends in her stride, the one slight fault being user error rather than any failing on my part. Time flew by, and before I knew it, two hours had passed and I was leaning on the closed gate at the bottom of the hill sharing a flask of coffee with the farmer (who very kindly pointed out more than a few bramble scratches - Plastic Surgeon here we come!) The Toyota Hilux Invincible that I tested, along with every other Hilux in the range, is still that superbly performing 4x4 that I love; it just happens to be hidden behind a pretty mask. It’s a fantastic bit of kit, but I still wouldn’t want to use it as an every day work truck.

Submitted: 10/02/2009 09:49:34 | ID: 2497

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Iain Macleod, Aberdeenshire

Toyota Hilux Invincible 200 Limited Edition 2008

Best pick up currently available on the market. Goes like stick and is as fast as a V6 Range Rover Sport 0-62mph. Only downside is the 15" wheels fitted. Toyota need to resolve this. As for looks apart from the wheels its the biz.

Submitted: 27/08/2008 10:15:05 | ID: 1827

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Number of reviews: 4

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