Toyota HiLux Problems

WITHOUT knowing the strength of the wind gust that caught the door it's hard to comment on your son's case, but we have had no reports of problems with the HiLux's body. We have had a few reports of clutch problems and this does seem to be an issue with the vehicle.

WITHOUT knowing what you do with your cars and how you drive them, it's hard to comment. But if you drive them normally, I would think you do have a claim against Toyota. Having to replace a gearbox at 40,000km, and even at 80,000km, is unacceptable under normal use.

THE new Toyota HiLux has the best dials I have seen in recent times. The graphics were white on a black background, so there was good contrast and they were lit whenever the ignition was on.

IT DEPENDS what you regard as incredibly thirsty. Four-wheel-drives tend to be thirsty. They're heavy and have to drag all that extra four-wheel-drive gear around, and the Rodeo's petrol V6 is a 3.5-litre unit. If fuel consumption is a key consideration for you, try a diesel. Fuel consumption will be much lower, and you won't lose too much performance.

THE new Toyota HiLux has the best dials I have seen in recent times. The graphics were white on a black background, so there was good contrast and they were lit whenever the ignition was on.

TOYOTAS have a bit of a history of clutch-wear issues when geared for highway work, as is the latest HiLux. But usually the problem surfaces only if you're doing a lot of low-speed driving or towing. This could be an explanation in your case, but we'll wait for other HiLux owners to contact us and see what they have to say.

IT'S a common problem with all cars and I would be most surprised if your Prado doesn't have a similar inaccuracy. By law carmakers aren't allowed to have a speedo that reads slow, but they can have one that reads up to 10 per cent higher than the actual speed. If the speedo reads lower than the actual speed you could be inadvertently booked for speeding and have a claim against the carmaker, but if the speedo shows a higher speed than it actually is there is little chance of you being booked inadvertently and therefore you will not have a claim against the carmaker. The simplest solution is to establish the level of the inaccuracy and drive accordingly, or buy another GPS and use that to keep an eye on your speed.

YES you can have extra child-seat restraints fitted to the HiLux and Triton dual-cabs, but it must be approved by an accredited engineer to satisfy the authorities. Contact your state registration authority and they will give you a list of accredited engineers who could do the work for you. In all honesty, however, buying the Navara is a better way to go.