looking for dual cab ute opinions

[troutfish]

Hi,

I am due to change my car, and am going to go for a dual cab 4 x 4 Ute

I will do very limited off roading, will be a daily driver, plus take the family camping. I hope to get it on the beach a bit

I am trying to decide between the BT50, Triton and Ford Ranger

Interested to hear fellow forumites opinions

[kpac]

I like the Tritons, always been solid. But have nothing against the BT50... Are you going Diesel or Petrol? and do you need to tow or just carry?

[troutfish]

will be going diesel

i want to be able to tow, but this is not a work car (i sit in an office)

the load will be camping gear, and kayaks of course

[fisher]

What? No Navara???

[DaftWullie]

Just taken delivery of a brand new BT50, All the space and features of a luxury SUV up front and the 4wd ute features underneath and behind not to mention that sweet 5 pot pumping out 147 kw. Very nice car, however Mazda need to get their shit together, it has not been a nice nor easy purchase for me.

viewtopic.php?f=86&t=53360

[ArWeTherYet]

Buy a 2 wheel drive and a winch and with the money you save you'll be able to afford to get some fuel.

[troutfish]

it will be a lease car, so fuel included luckily

[grinner]

trout, i think the triton is a very nice looking vehicle.

i do worry a bit about mitsubishi as they have had a few scandals with hiding feedback on problems in the past. i think several executives commited hari kari after being sprung hiding data in the back of the filing cabinet.

need manual valve adjustment every 20 k as well (i think) which takes a bout 6 hrs of service time . can be exie at 100 an hour.

the older mazda were a very solid engine BT50 and nearly unbreakable in the diesel range.

i'm looking myself and test drove one of these but it only comes in a 4 litre petrol so wont be buying one.(toyota fj)

toyota need to get their act together big wait for most models

[koich]

The tray on the Triton is rubbish.

Seriously go look at a Navara.

[StevenM]

Why dont you wait a bit

like a month or two. Just finalising some NCAP stuff

check out the donk in this puppy

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor-ne ... 1tlbj.html

http://www.carnewschina.com/2011/10/27/ ... next-year/

http://www.foton-global.com/index.php?o ... sk=tunland

[Float]

I have just taken delivery of a new Ford ranger as a work supplied vehicle but I was only allowed the 2.2 L diesel version.

Feels good on the road although a little sluggish pulling a trailer. The only thing I am not really happy with is the gearbox, feels notchy especially going into 3rd and the gear spacing leaves a bit to be desired - 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd have a huge gap but 4th to 5th and 5th to 6th are very close. This may not be a problem with the larger engine (have heard they go very well) but with 2.2 if you change early especially going up hill you can end up sitting there going nowhere.

I had a Holden Colorado 3.0 L before this and the Ford is better vehicle simply because of the better range of extras it comes with. At the moment the trip computer says I am averaging 11.6 L/100 after 8,000 kms but I do tend to drive it like a hire car.

[troutfish]

the Chinese cars are going to take over the world, but i'm not ready to jump yet


re: the Navara, they seem a bit dear?

[Barrabundy]

Is the triton in the same price range as the ford/Mazda or are the latter many thousands dearer?

[BIGKEV]

The Mazdas and fords are essentially the same vehicle with different badges, this can give you a good bargaining tool between dealers if you want to play that game.

The STR Navarra (D22 model) and the mazda bt50 XT 4x4 are very comparable in price, there is absolutely nothing between them. But I think you'll find if you delve into it more you will get more value with the D22 navarra.

If you want to look at the new bigger mazda bt50 BOSS, it has a price tag that matches the top of the range hilux and the navarra STX is still 6-7k under this, so not quite sure why you thought they were pricey.

Navarra has had problems though with their clutches, which can be an expensive surprise in 2 or 3 years.

I'm going through the process at the moment of upgrading my Pathfinder and have been talking to a few dealers who all tell me that they have changed the clutches now, but I think they are still using a dual mass flywheel which to me seemed the main cause of the problem. Mazdas use a DMF too, and there have been plenty of problems with their clutches also, do a search on bt50 problems, for that matter do a search on any vehicle that your thinking of buying, particularly how the dealers have handled the issues.....

Good luck.

Kev

[Jenko]

I have just taken delivery of a new Ford ranger as a work supplied vehicle but I was only allowed the 2.2 L diesel version.

Feels good on the road although a little sluggish pulling a trailer. The only thing I am not really happy with is the gearbox, feels notchy especially going into 3rd and the gear spacing leaves a bit to be desired - 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd have a huge gap but 4th to 5th and 5th to 6th are very close. This may not be a problem with the larger engine (have heard they go very well) but with 2.2 if you change early especially going up hill you can end up sitting there going nowhere.

I had a Holden Colorado 3.0 L before this and the Ford is better vehicle simply because of the better range of extras it comes with. At the moment the trip computer says I am averaging 11.6 L/100 after 8,000 kms but I do tend to drive it like a hire car.

A friend of mine bought the Ford Wildtrak and he was never happy with the gearbox, it dropped its lunch within the first year and when he found out it was a common problem he sold it straight away.