Extended drive: 2005 Toyota Hilux 3.0d 4x4

[mbt]

round-trip to Tagaytay with a 2005 Toyota Hilux 3.0td 4x4 M/T with four persons on board = wish that we'd taken a nice, comfy car instead hehe.

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it's stylish and huge and has a cheerful and spacious interior and has a reasonably strong engine (although it doesn't feel as tractable as other diesel engines for some reason) and appears to get great fuel economy and it works very well as a truck - huge bed, a proper four-wheel drive mechanism, feels very robust...

...but definitely not a daily driver if your daily drive doesn't include serious hauling: it's a nightmare to park, a nightmare in bumper-to-bumper traffic (at least until you get used to the Mt. Everest seating position) and a nightmare in tight office parking levels. the heavy clutch gets nightmarish in rush-hour traffic, engine noise intrudes somewhat into the cabin at highway speeds, jamming the uncooperative shifter into its gates feels like rowing a boat, and the body and bed shakes, rattles and rolls over bumpy roads. and did i mention the the punishing ride (with the bed unladen, at least)? whew!

in other words, the Hilux is proud to be a real burly truck and sneers at wussy "crossover" softies.

buy one only if you absolutely need a truck. because if you don't, well, you'll be happier with a Fortuner or RAV4.

but if you do need a truck and are willing to accept the trade-offs of a truck, say hello to the most powerful, most spacious, most stylish and likely most robust and most off-roadable diesel pickup on the market today. just don't expect to be pampered.