The last week or so I have been assisting a friend in his mission to purchase a double-cab Hilux 4×4 with low mileage (less than 60 000km). Now that seems pretty straightforward, but his budget was capped at R600 000. And although that price cap seems like a lot there wasn’t really a lot available and some that are available, are just too good to be true.
So why go the second-hand route? Well, a new 2.8 GD-6 4×4 double cab starts from R657 900 for a very basic model. Then it just goes up from there, to R999 000 for GR-S III. Obviously, the price of a used vehicle is lower, so if you want you can spend a bit extra on accessories, if you choose.
There was only one 2.8 GD-6 available that seemed to be the real deal, with 32 000km on the clock. It was a 2021 model and was available at a Ford dealership in the west coast. There were another two listings with the same mileage, both 2022 models.
Upon closer inspection, however, it turned out to be the same vehicle being offered by two different dealers… and with the mileage stated, it should have been listed at about R100 000 more. So, the red flags went up and I realised that if any vehicle was listed at “Low Price” it was probably a scam. If it walks like a duck…
It soon became clear that we would be looking at a 2.4GD6 and at a price below R600 000, there are plenty to choose from. But then a spanner was thrown into my search and the budget was dropped to R500 000!
Not one to give up easily, I continued my search. There are plenty of search engines for used vehicles and I found that the Automark and Motus site were not that great for searching on my mobile, but OK-ish on my PC. Cars.co.za was good but Autotrader was the easiest to navigate.
But back to my search for a Hilux double cab under R500 000 and with less than 60 000km on the clock. There were three hits. The first two were 2.8 GD-6 Legends, both 2021 models with cloth seats and no JBL sound system and both with 53 000km on the clock. More red flags. If it talks like a duck…
The last was a 2019 2.3 GD-6 SRX 4×4 double cab with 49 000km on the clock for only R460 000. We decided to go check it out. The dealership was located in Pretoria and was definitely not a fly-by-nighter. We checked the service history with Toyota. This is as simple as calling your local dealer with the VIN number and they will be happy to share the service history of the vehicle. It takes five minutes, and they will even tell you if there were major repairs captured on the system.
A five-year old Hilux is out of warranty, but Toyota’s service plans are for nine years/90 000km. So, apart from the 50 000km service the dealer had sent it for, this particular vehicle had at least another four services available. Service intervals are set at 10 000km or 12 months. The latter is not really strictly enforced.
So, we settled on the 2019 2.4 GD6 SRX 4×4 double cab. And with 110kW and 400Nm there is enough power and torque to do pretty much anything the 2.8 can do. We towed a 1.1-tonne camper trailer through Botswana last year and we never had any issues. On a mix of tar, gravel and 4×4 sand driving fuel consumption was around 12 litres/100km and with cruise control engaged, the bakkie managed to maintain a steady speed of 110km/h with a load behind.
After a week, the search was over, I honestly thought that it was going to be quite difficult, but with a little patience we found a gem. Besides Toyota, there are plenty of other options out there if you are looking for a double cab 4×4 for under R500 000 and we will be exploring a few of them over the next couple of weeks.
