Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

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Scottie5.3
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by Scottie5.3 »

Land cruisers are built for a purpose, there not meant to be luxurious, they are tough 4wds that handle the bush well, if you want luxury buy a 200 wagon. The ford/Mazda engines are ok till they fail, then after you've remortgaged the house to pay for it. see how many are still going strong in ten years. Who's owns a Mazda and had the dual mass flywheel let go? I've done a heap of them. Sweaty put simply Toyotas are worth more cause they are simply better built, and better in every other aspect? Really mate try working on them and seeing the different problems people have everyday with them.


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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by seano »

Have a look at the Dmax. Good value
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by nomad »

Oh I forgot to mention that the bt50 has very poor passenger windows. They wont even stop those thieving c%^$ when they bash it with a brick :evil:

The cruisers are now a 'soft' 4wd imho
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by Scottie5.3 »

Nomad how are they a soft 4wd? They still are the only 4wd other then the patrol (not sure about brand new shape) that has retained a live axle front and rear, only downside in my opinion is they didn't put coils in the ass end. They run the biggest engine you can buy on the market. Sorry not understanding how anyone could say that, yeah 200s are soft but not the 70 series. Remember when anything IFS was laughed at, well everything has gone that way now to "soften" the handling and make it stick to the road better which works but not good for 4wdriving in general. Everything has gone softer in last ten years but at least Toyota and Nissan retained the live axle for true 4wdriving fans.
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by sheps »

Hay scottie5.3 there are plenty of makes with live axles front and rear. Suzuki, jeep, landrover etc etc
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by Scottie5.3 »

Yeah I know but forgot about them when ranting lol plus I was mainly thinking of the more common 4wds around.
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by nomad »

Scottie5.3 wrote:, yeah 200s are soft .
70 series dont count as they are work trucks.

They have soft suspension not made for off roading without upping the suspension.
I remember a toyota article years ago reading that Tojos are made for mum to take the kids to riding practice or for dad to take the trailer boat to the ramp via a sealed road..
The last new cruiser i had used to bottom out if you drove over a matchstick with a bag of shopping in the back. :lol:
I complained to old man toyota and they upgraded the suspension no questions asked repeating the story about mums and dads.

Direct quote was that most cruisers (70s not incl) rarely if ever go off the sealed road
Also they have bumps and lumps protruding everywhere over the lights etc. Can imagine the smash repairers rubbing their hands in glee..
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by barratrooper1 »

I own a 08 hilux, and after i bought it 2nd hand, heard all the stories about injector problems ,comon rail,dirty feul etc and 2 years later, ive just had services and put diesal in it. Ive also put a few dents in it 4wding and had water in through the doors, and mud and sand and cr.p through the seats floor etc. I love my hilux.
If i only wanted a hiway family 4wd, that was going to get a regular wash and vaccum, I like the ranger, but in reality, its like giving a pig a five star dinner!
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by Scottie5.3 »

Of course 70 series count, they are still a land cruiser. But I know what you are getting at, after the 80 and 100 series I wouldn't own a new cruiser WAGON. New dual cab 70 I would love, just have to modify the ass end to take coils, cut down the tray, few mods, it would be a weapon.
Barra trooper you got a 08 model, 90% of hiluxs with issues were "06/07" just working out the faults with the brand new 1kd but after 08 they are all good normally
Anyways we probably aren't helping Ol mate buy a car here lol
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by Wadescott »

I've got a xlt ranger tows my 5.2 formosa no worries can't fault it
The ranger and BT are pretty much identical, have a look at the BT all parts have Ford stamped on them
When I got mine I narrowed them down to the ranger, Amarok and V6 navara
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by Lats »

Love my ranger
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by MattyA »

hear all these funny stories about Amarok.....well I have always been a Toyota man until now. Amarok are well made, similarly priced, good on fuel, drive well and extremely comfortable. I've looked under the bonnet in mine, some of the parts are stamped with the Audi symbol and Audi written under it. I found out that Audi, Porsche and VW are all owned by one company and was told Lamborghini is also.

That aside. I cannot fault mine. Bearing in mind that it is still quite new.

How much do you use it off road? I seriously considered a new SR5 (same price as Highline Amarok) but you don't get anywhere near the value with the Hilux, and when you're sitting in the front seat in the Amarok you don't have to rub arms with the passenger like you do in a Hilux because they are way, way wider inside. Tray is massive, rear springs nice and tough. My only gripe is that there is little in the way of aftermarket suspension at the moment but I'm sure that will improve in coming years.

I also didn't like the way they have fitted a reversing camera as an ugly afterthought to the back of the new SR5s. Looks ridiculous. Quite amused as well when the Toyota salesman said "oh this year we have brought out a 5 speed auto"....Amarok 8 speed.

Horses for courses mate, up to what you can afford and what you like.

Matt
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by mickkk »

Funny how Toyota fans just put the blinkers on and will not look at anything else, there are a whole heap of live axles out there (not that I really think they are needed, esp. in Darwin where you have to drive about 2000kms to find a hill . I think 15 years ago the reputation was well dissevered, but I think the tritons and caught right up in 2006 to the luxes, and now the likes of the bt50, fords, etc. etc. have all over taken the Luxes well and truly. The only real advantages of the Lux I see now days is availability of after market parts and parts availability when something goes wrong out the back of woop woop.
The way the new luxes have been going through cluches and injectors I think they have lost their unbreakable badge.
I also think its is a little unfair to compare a 8 year old design to the next gen dual cabs is a little unfair, but when Toyotas keep asking the same price it is a little hard not to I guess.

I think the best value for money be far are the tritons, Dual cab turbo, 5 year warranty for $28 /$29k. Cant beat that.

I think the VW are by far the most advanced and ahead of their time. Their auto transmission is by far the best in pretty much any 4wd. Twin turbo 5 cylinder motor, etc, they are thinking out of the box, and I think is the front runner and will be a great ute to buy...... in about 5 years. Once all the bugs, faults etc are ironed out.

I have not looked into the rangers / bt50, but they seem very popular. I have herd a few stories with the bt50 and electrical problems. but no matter what ute you look at you will hear stories of this problem and that problem.

There is more choices in the dual cab market then ever before. But that just makes the decision even harder haha. This is just the opinion of a bias triton driver. But good luck and have fun looking.
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by CharFin »

I just had the same delimma. My 93 hilux 2.8L diesel was starting to feel the 350K+. I couldn't find any real stand out, each with their pros and cons and price variations. Spoke to a guy with a ranger work car who had the gear box replaced under waranty, tows chemicals to farmers but wasn't overly happy with it. We all know about hilux and other common rail systems and what dirty fuel does to them. I still like the new hilux but its a narrow gap. I settled on a Isuzu DMax , mid range LSM and picked it up last week. About $45k with factory bull bar and tow bar probably nearly $10K cheaper than a similar spec hilux. Can get a base model for $37K drive away. Probably better off with arb bars but I didn't .dmax has good ground clearance, some bash plate protection, excellent economical engine with stainless timing chain, drives well on the tar but haven't tested it in the dirt yet. Nothing too flash about it or over special electronics. Just a good allround drive.... even if a little truck like....which is fine by me as I don't want it to feel like a Corolla. Test drive them all don't over react to horror stories and get what suits you and your budget. Save some cash for mods.
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Re: Ranger/BT-50 or Amarok

Post by Hemi »

MattyA wrote:hear all these funny stories about Amarok.....well I have always been a Toyota man until now. Amarok are well made, similarly priced, good on fuel, drive well and extremely comfortable. I've looked under the bonnet in mine, some of the parts are stamped with the Audi symbol and Audi written under it. I found out that Audi, Porsche and VW are all owned by one company and was told Lamborghini is also.

That aside. I cannot fault mine. Bearing in mind that it is still quite new.

How much do you use it off road? I seriously considered a new SR5 (same price as Highline Amarok) but you don't get anywhere near the value with the Hilux, and when you're sitting in the front seat in the Amarok you don't have to rub arms with the passenger like you do in a Hilux because they are way, way wider inside. Tray is massive, rear springs nice and tough. My only gripe is that there is little in the way of aftermarket suspension at the moment but I'm sure that will improve in coming years.

I also didn't like the way they have fitted a reversing camera as an ugly afterthought to the back of the new SR5s. Looks ridiculous. Quite amused as well when the Toyota salesman said "oh this year we have brought out a 5 speed auto"....Amarok 8 speed.

Horses for courses mate, up to what you can afford and what you like.

Matt

One of my families companies run Amarok's.... Cant fault any of them, been brilliant.
Funny to see comments from people knocking european cars....! Especially toyota owners, go to the massive factory just out of Phuket and see where your hilux's are thrown together.. Biggest joke on the planet...

x2for this comment....
Horses for courses mate, up to what you can afford and what you like
"Bite off more than you can chew - Then chew like hell.." - PETER BROCK.
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