Hi Everyone. I've been away from the forum for nearly 5 years, during that time I sold my 4Runner and moved to Australia. Since I've been here I've always planned on getting back into a Toyota. For the longest time I wanted a LC70 V8 turbo diesel, and when they finally released a 4-door version in 2013 I thought I'd get one for sure. After numerous test drives I realized it just wasn't practical for a recreational vehicle, and it drove like a tank. My other options for Toyota diesel was the Hilux, LC Prado, and Rav4. We drove the Rav4 TD, which was OK, but really worth the near the $50k+ asking price. After driving a Prado across New Zealand I was sure that was the right car for us. We negotiated a price then in the 11th hour I changed my mind and went with a Hilux SR4 4x4 diesel. I did this because in the US I thought many times about selling my 4Runner for a truck, and my wife already has a Passat Wagon TDI, so in reality the Prado would just have been a 4WD version of that. Enter the 2014 Hilux, which now has leather interior and a 5-speed automatic (hello Toyota, it is 2014 after all). I love it so far, I'm very happy to be in a Toyota diesel, I can't imagine ever going back to a petrol model. Glad to see this forum is still kicking around....

 

Awesome the infamous Hilux. I think all Yota lovers in the USA are obsessed with this truck including me, I would buy one in a heartbeat if they sold them here.

How are the MPG's so far?

 

Awesome. Wish I could get one here. I don't know why none of the manufacturers seem to want to bring diesel options to the US. GM finally is with the new Colorado, but that's beside the point since it's not a yota.

 

I'd buy one too. Very nice

 

It's rated around 30MPG, mine only has 200km on it so I've not even seen the needle move more than a couple of mm. In Australia it's considered a "light commercial" vehicle so it's no frills. The fact that it has navigation and leather is quite surprising, but Toyota's hand was forced with the Ford Ranger 3.2l 5-cylinder TD, Isuzu D-Max 3l TD, Mitsubishi Triton TD, and Nissan Navara TD. There is so much competition in this space, none of which are sold in the US and that's a shame. Why does one need to buy a 6-7 liter pickup to get a diesel, there's nothing wrong with these 3 liter 4-bangers. To be honest, this makes the small Toyota's perfect, even the Rav4 has a diesel engine over there. A 4 or 6 cylinder petrol engine is a slower moving SUV is downright boring, at least the diesel makes it interesting. Anything rocking petrol only over here would be low on sales, even Honda started selling the CRV in diesel this year.

 

I hope it gets the Isuzu 3.0 liter turbodiesel, but more likely it'll get the 2.7l which is an absolute piece of garbage. The Holden Colorado over here has that setup, while it shares most of its components with the Isuzu D-Max, they went down their own path on engine and transmission, which was a mistake because the D-Max powertrain is vastly superior.