Bought a Toyota Hilux: Here’s how it compares with my Ford Endeavour

Seats are firm and comfortable. A bit more under thigh support for the driver seat would have been better.

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A long term wish of owning a pick up came true finally with “The Red” coming home.

Wanted to replace my Endeavour and looked at Kodiaq, Fortuner and Jeep Meridian.

Kodiaq of course is the best of the lot for our needs but sales support was not good from Gurudev and Kun. I have already owned a Yeti and had a hard time with service and with sales experience itself being not great I had drop the idea.

Had a test drive of the Fortuner and the Hilux on the same day, back to back and found that Fortuner has a feel of driving a car, Hilux felt well built and heavy which was similar to LC200 which I had driven some time back. I’m not talking about the suspension but the overall build, appearance and ruggedness.

Meridian was very bland and uninspiring, it was comfortable in the 80-100km/hr and above that the engine felt like it was straining extremely. I don’t know if the test drive vehicle was like that because the AC was also very bad. It was an easy decision to drop it.

So Hilux was the one left and though I was glad that I finally can buy a pickup, I had to convince my family due to the ride quality. But it was a big resounding NO from them.

After many days of discussions we decided to retain the Endeavour and buy Hilux as the 2nd option. So basically it is like Hilux is my personal vehicle

Initial impressions (comparisons are with my Endeavour 3.2AT):

• Very easy to drive in the city except for the turning radius.
• Engine is quieter.
• The rear doors need to be closed with a bit more force.
• AC is good in this climate, don’t know how it will be in summer.
• Fuel efficiency is good. City: 9-10kmpl normal mode, Highway:12-13kmpl normal mode.
• Seats are firm and comfortable. A bit more under thigh support for the driver seat would have been better. Right arm rest for the driver is not comfortable for me, it is a bit retracted.
• One glove box is cooled.
• Touchscreen is upright which is not convenient while driving, a bit slanted position would have been better.
• Worst windshield wipers I have ever seen, a must change.
• Huge difference in ride quality between the front & the rear. As my family says, it’s like sitting in a car in the front and sitting in a truck in the rear. The front is also bumpy but the rear is worse. The family joke is that NHAI should check the quality of newly laid roads by taking a drive in a Hilux, one can feel even tiny imperfections.
• Looking for a reasonable priced tonneau cover is a chore, Toyota’s own is very expensive.
• Absence of TPMS is a bummer.

Took a short drive to Cuddapah, around 700kms up & down.

I find that in the highway, above 80kmph, the ride quality becomes smooth. Overtaking is a breeze.

Small potholes & patches have to be taken at around 40kmph while in Endeavour I used to go at 60kmph.

In the narrow roads we have to be conscious about the length.

In the city it is amazing that there is no lag when we start from the signal, in Endeavour there is a lag and by the time we accelerate an autowallah would have come from the side to the front.

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