Why is the Toyota HiLux so popular? Does the Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max ute rival still deserve its 'unbreakable' reputation? | Opinion

Toyota's HiLux is one of the most popular utes in the world.

Remote-area workers, mining staff, farmers and tradies punish these utes every day in tough, sometimes atrocious conditions – they're even used extensively in war zones around the world – and the HiLux remains the go-to light-commercial utility for those who need a work truck capable of enduring the worst anyone can throw at it and yet still keep trucking on.

It's been on sale here in Australia for more than 50 years and it's consistently been a best seller.

Why is the Toyota HiLux so popular? Let's consider some crucial factors.

Reliability

By the time the HiLux arrived here soon after its 1968 launch in Japan, Toyota's LandCruiser had already firmly established a proven reliability here in Australia since the late 1950s.

The HiLux's reliability is legendary and that legend started long before – and extends far beyond – its contemporary top-selling status.

In 1968, the first-generation HiLux was a single-cab two-wheel-drive (2WD) body-on-chassis ute with a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine punching out a measly 57kW. It had independent front suspension with wishbones and coil springs at the front, and a leaf-sprung live axle at the rear engineered to cope best with loads.

Compared to a modern ute, it was woefully underpowered … but it was unstoppable.

And it had to be because it had been imported to be used on mines and in the construction industry in Queensland.

The third-generation HiLux, from 1978 to 1983, notably included a diesel engine, double-cab body and four-wheel-drive variants.

The HiLux has since gone through numerous updates, iterations, engines, and body styles, but its popularity has remained steadfast.

The reason behind its overwhelming success is grounded in pure logic: if you work in challenging conditions, often a long way from civilisation, in an environment in which mechanical failure can prove fatal due to your remoteness or the harsh conditions, then you want to be assured you're driving the toughest, most reliable vehicle in existence.

Sure, other utes have been more comfortable, had more features and even more safety gear onboard, but HiLuxes, especially early-gen examples, were able to be fixed on the run, or at least made drivable via a bit of bush mechanic's skill.

This is one of the main reasons the HiLux is such a popular fleet vehicle over a variety of industries, especially those in which working conditions are the harshest of the harsh.

And if components on the HiLux do actually break or stop working, Toyota has the most extensive service and spare parts networks in Australia, possibly the world. Chances are The Middle of Nowhere will have the spare you need at that exact moment something goes wrong.

It may have softened a little bit in recent years and it may be leaning more towards being an urban adventure vehicle nowadays rather than the go-anywhere, do-anything ute that it once was, the HiLux is still at heart a tough, no-nonsense ute.

Reputation

Deserved or not, the HiLux has a rock-solid rep as a hardy work ute that will get you to where you want to go – and get you back to base – every time.

And this reputation has been built on a 50-year foundation of toughness. In fact, it's not hyperbole to say that country towns, even coastal farming communities, have been built on the backs of utes – and most of those utes have been, and continue to be, HiLuxes.

And, yes, remote-area mine sites, for better or worse, have been established and maintained via the use of HiLuxes.

Over the years the HiLux has developed a rock-solid reputation as being unbreakable, reliable and one of the easiest vehicles to find spare parts for, even in the most remote areas.

That reputation has waned in recent years, especially in the wake of much-documented diesel particulate filter (DPF) issues in recent years which have sullied that reputation a bit. (Read more about Toyota's DPF issues on our Problems page.)

Also, more and more anecdotal tales of the HiLux not actually being so wholly reliable – or at least as reliable as it used to be in the “old days” – have caused the crown to slip even further in recent times, but the prevailing opinion is that the HiLux is still the light-commercial utility of choice and it continues to sell by the truckload.

What I reckon

As the Toyota LandCruiser built its heritage here from 1959 on the back of punishing work as part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme, the HiLux deserves its enduring reputation because it's been a hard-earned one, built on 50 years of extreme use around the country.

And though reliability standards may have slipped in the past few years, the simple fact remains: the HiLux is a tough ute that's repeatedly proven itself in the harshest of conditions.