Thread: Economics of old trucks vs new trucks

Good thread. Have been going through similar questions myself over the last while. Had an immaculate GQ Patrol (170k NZ new and 2nd owner) which I was too scared to scratch so sold it on and bought a $6k manual 95 series Prado with 440k on it (motor 240k). Have replaced head, along with 3" exhaust/dump pipe and EGT/Water temp gauges. Goes really well and doesn't matter if it gets scratched up, though you wouldn't know it had as many kms on it.
Issue is, a double cab would be more practical for chucking dead animals in the back etc rather than in the cab. So was looking at the 1GR hiluxs as they've got a good rep. Guys in the States are getting a million miles out of them. Only down side I've seen so far in NZ, particularly with the Prado 120 1GR, is they sludge up the motors due to not getting enough hot running, being used to run errands around town etc. Quick look under the oil cap and down the fill tube is pretty telling.
Thinking I'm going to keep the old girl and build a set of drawers for the back, get a canvas liner made up to go around the sides and rear of the back seat for any wet gear, animals etc and run it till it's too prohibitive to do so. As someone mentioned earlier, rust will probably be the killer one day.

Gotta have a photo of something in this thread.

I have the wonderful circumstance that I cant afford to get into a late late model wagon that I can change out every couple of years before the dramas start.
As such I have a 94 Pajero. Its the vintage where I can do a lot of the work myself and there is little electronics to go wrong.
Done a head gasket-still not sure I had to- and a bunch of repairs after the timing chain let go and busted the cam, bent some valves and punched a hole in the timing cover.
If I wasn't able to do a shit ton of the work myself it would've gone to the wreckers. Managed to get some second hand parts cheap but it is still 300ish for decent head gasket and head bolts, plus repairs to the head and another cheap used cam
And I still had to get the pump retimed properly. All up close to $800?
I was close but only going off marks not proper DTI up the back of the pump. I just don't have the gear or experience
I would like the slightly later 3.2 paj but wouldn't touch the models until 2006 when they went from the time bomb electronic fuel pumps with an ECU for the truck (close to 5K to redo) back to a more conventional model but they are out of my price range.
Ah well

I've just purchased a brand new Hilux. Not sure of the economics vs an older truck but sure am looking forward to taking it out on a few adventures

Originally Posted by cb14

I've just purchased a brand new Hilux. Not sure of the economics vs an older truck but sure am looking forward to taking it out on a few adventures

Yep, I brought a new one in 2014, and went straight out and scratched the shit out of it in the scrub. May aswell start like you intend to finish


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@cb14 more details, I am hanging out and hope they do a better run out deal closer to release of the new hilux

@MSL What kind of deal did you get on the 14 model? take it was a hilux

The purchase price, reasonably extensive mods and 2 years of running costs (24,000km) and maintenance of my 1994 diesel Hilux so far are less than the first year depreciation on a new Hilux

But it is pretty slow

I allow 3k per year to spend on my 80 series for maintenance, been doing a lot of thinking about going more modern or sticking with older and so far keeping the 80 going is still better than the depreciation rates of new (and I just love my 80 )

Well mate I feel for you, after all, if you had of been driving a Colorado you would have only one stop and that would have been your bladder choice as you would have gotten there much quicker.. no refueling cause it goes harder with less fuel.
and, and ,
The best thing is, if you drove the Colorado instead of the Ford you wouldn't have had all those children point and laugh as you drove past
.

Originally Posted by jakewire

Well mate I feel for you, after all, if you had of been driving a Colorado you would have only one stop and that would have been your bladder choice as you would have gotten there much quicker.. no refueling cause it goes harder with less fuel.
and, and ,
The best thing is, if you drove the Colorado instead of the Ford you wouldn't have had all those children point and laugh as you drove past
.

Harsh, but fair.

must have put the extra oil in before leaving home

Not so sure that a hunting and shooting forum website is the best place to find out about trucks and towing but a couple of things of interest; modern auto transmissions are not anything like their forebears, they are like comparing the Wright Brothers efforts with Rocket Labs, Ford USA are the world's biggest producers of light trucks, 10,000 F250/350/450's per week, F150 production outnumbers them, you haven't been able to buy an F series truck with a manual transmission since 2010, Dodge and GM have dropped them too. There is no way that you can drive a manual with the efficiency and versatility that a modern auto provides. As far as durability goes, take a look at what commercial US owners do with their trucks, we are just playing in the sandpit here in comparison. The same will/has happened here, no Ford Ranger manuals for a couple of years now. Regarding towing, Ford USA states that you must have approximately 10% of your towed weight on the pin, I regularly tow 3.5 tonnes with my 2014 auto Ranger in it's standard configuration and haven't encountered any problems to date. I previously had a 2003 F250 V8 diesel with a 5 speed auto and am happy with the performance of the Ranger in comparison, not the same truck but does the job fine. I have owned Toyota Hilux, Prado, 3 x Landcruisers, Mitsubishi L200's and have zero brand loyalty. New vehicles cost in terms of depreciation, older cost in terms of maintenance and downtime, for a commercial owner downtime is a killer, in the end buy what you want, that's what I do.

Originally Posted by jakewire

Well mate I feel for you, after all, if you had of been driving a Colorado you would have only one stop and that would have been your bladder choice as you would have gotten there much quicker.. no refueling cause it goes harder with less fuel.
and, and ,
The best thing is, if you drove the Colorado instead of the Ford you wouldn't have had all those children point and laugh as you drove past
.

They go faster because they get lighter every day , check the front radiator cross member hiding under the skid plate .

Originally Posted by bigbear

@MSL What kind of deal did you get on the 14 model? take it was a hilux

54k with proper tyres, tow bar etc.


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