Item: Used Toyota Hilux 2016 - present
Rating: 3
Author: What Car? Team

Our favourite pick-up truck right now is the<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/amarok/pick-up/review/n17220"> Volkswagen Amarok</a>;&nbsp;not only does it have&nbsp;a very practical bed, but it drives really well and has a gutsy 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine. You won’t find soft touch plastics in the interior, but the design is classy and the infotainment system is light-years ahead of the one offered in the Toyota Hilux.

If bed length is your biggest concern,&nbsp;you’ll need a<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/nissan/navara/pick-up/review/n17169"> Nissan Navara</a> for its massive load bay. What’s more, the Navara has a powerful engine and a commanding driving position, which will be great for filtering through traffic and picking your route while going off road.

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What is it like?

Ownership cost

Advice for buyers

Our recommendations

Alternatives

<h3 dir="ltr">Diesel particulate filter (DPF)</h3>

The DPF on examples that are left to idle a lot or complete only short journeys can block up with frustrating regularity. There is a specific button you can press to regenerate the DPF to help prevent this, but taking prolonged drives at faster speeds is a better option.

<h3 dir="ltr">Poor fuel economy</h3>

Fuel economy is not the Hilux’s strongest attribute, and is also not helped by that&nbsp;manual DPF regeneration switch. Using it injects additional fuel into the exhaust stream to increase the temperature in the filter,&nbsp;burning off the trapped soot. The 80-litre fuel tank is therefore necessary for decent range.

The Hilux is a bit too scarce to have featured in our most recent What Car? Reliability Survey, unfortunately. However, you can take some comfort in the fact that<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-reviews/make/toyota"> Toyota</a> as a brand finished in a great third place position overall, out of 31 car manufacturers.

If you would like to see the full reliability list, head to the<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2018-what-car-reliability-survey/n17798"> What Car? Reliability Survey</a> pages for more information.

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Pick-Up

Toyota is a company undergoing a quiet revolution, as it works hard to replace its sensible but somewhat bland reputation with one for being a bit more daring, in areas such as the styling of its cars and its enthusiastic leadership of cutting-edge technology, such as hybrid systems.

That process seems to be working for buyers, with the hugely popular and striking-looking C-HR SUV in particular attracting a great deal of interest. The latest version of the hybrid Prius is also rated highly by What Car?; it’s the first Prius to go on sale that our testers have felt can truly compete all round with existing petrol or diesel rivals.

However, it’s worth noting that this period of transition is also a work in progress, and that many of the firm’s cars are still rated as being no more than average among class rivals by our testers.

TOYOTA

HILUX

Great if you need a dependable workhorse that’ll always get you out of a muddy building site, but has highly compromised on-road manners

Used Toyota Hilux 2016 - present

There’s only one four-cylinder diesel engine on offer, which you’d think might&nbsp;be quite economical. Unfortunately, only the most basic manual Hilux&nbsp;manages to return a palatable 40.4mpg according to the old NEDC cycle, and road tax costs&nbsp;£250 a year. The automatic version is even worse and drops the combined figure down to 36.2mpg and raises yearly road tax to £315.

Any Hilux registered after 1 April 2017 falls under a revised road tax system and both the automatic and manual attract a charged a flat rate annual fee of £140.

No Hilux of this generation is old enough to qualify for Toyota’s cheaper Essentials Care servicing costs, which means you’ll have to pay full dealer pricing that can get quite expensive. An intermediate service is £250, a full version is £395, or there's the complete full plus package for £500. &nbsp;

Unless you’re buying an Invincible model, the chances are your Hilux will come without insurance friendly automatic emergency braking, so getting cover might be more expensive than it is for rivals.

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Great if you need a dependable workhorse that’ll always get you out of a muddy building site, but has highly compromised on road manners

If you’re prepared to sacrifice some luxuries and go for a basic Active Hilux, then an early 2016 example with an average number of miles can be found for £16,500. Step up the pecking order for an Invincible model and a 2017 car can be found for £21,500 - £22,000. If you want something a bit newer and posher, then a 2018 Invincible X with less than 10,000 miles could be yours for between £30,000-£31,000.

Check the value of a used Toyota Hilux with<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/car-valuation/"> What Car? Valuations</a>

The engine choice is already taken care of here, so you’ll just have to make your mind up about whether to go manual or automatic. The auto might give you better control in off road conditions, but&nbsp;is very slushy and makes the Hilux even slower. On balance, we’d go for the surprisingly slick six-speed manual instead. It’ll also cost less to run thanks to better fuel economy.

Most examples on the used market are the more practical double cab, which sacrifices bed length for a bigger and more practical body with four independently opening doors. The extra cab has to make do with smaller, rear hinged doors that require you to open the front ones first, and provides rather marginal rear legroom. The single cab has no rear seats, but offers&nbsp;the biggest load bed of the Hilux range.

Of the various models available we’d suggest avoiding entry-level Active and mid-range Icon and go for a higher spec Invincible model, mainly&nbsp;because it’ll come with extra safety tech for the full five-star euro NCAP rating. You’ll also get much better LED lights that will be useful at night. The leather seats of the Invincible X&nbsp;doesn’t turn the Hilux into a luxury vehicle, so isn’t worth paying extra for.

Our favourite<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-reviews/make/toyota"> Toyota</a> Hilux: 2.4 D-4D Double Cab Invincible manual

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<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Go-anywhere capability</li> <li>Work-ready load bay</li> <li>Robust, durable yet also pleasant interior</li> <li>Commanding driving position</li> <li>Heavyweight towing capacity</li></ul>

The popularity of pick-up trucks is growing in the UK, thanks in part to a fixed-rate company car tax for business users, due to them being categorised as light commercial vehicles.

But it's not just those savings to your wallet that makes the pick-up a compelling buy; incredibly durability, huge towing capacity and the surprising about of technology available means the majority are worthy for much more than just working on building sites.

Prices start at under £30,000 for examples such as the Ssangyong Musso, while top-spec models, including the Volkswagen Amarok, feature rear-view cameras, heated seats and smartphone mirroring. Just beware high running costs, as might be expected for vehicles of this size.&nbsp;

Pick-up

<h3 dir="ltr">Bed liner</h3>

A plastic or spray-on bed liner isn’t standard fit on most pick-up trucks, but it is a very useful thing to have, otherwise you’ll scratch up the paint in the often-exposed bed of the truck. This will then corrode over time, leading to future rust holes.

<h3 dir="ltr">Safety tech</h3>

Invincible models and above get&nbsp;a suite of autonomous safety tech including autonomous emergency braking. That’s important because, without it, the Hilux only has a three-star Euro NCAP rating as opposed to the full five when it's fitted.

<h3 dir="ltr">Dents and scratches</h3>

The Hilux is a 5.3m long vehicle and most models do without front and rear parking sensors. What’s more, basic Active models forgo a back up camera&nbsp;so it’s for&nbsp;low obstacles to go unnoticed. Check the exterior for damage, or evidence of poor quality paint repairs.

<h3 dir="ltr">Condition of tyres</h3>

The high sidewall of the tyres used on the Hilux means the alloy wheels should remain unscathed from kerb damage, but jagged rocks that you may encounter while driving off road can cut into the rubber. These cuts might look innocent, but they increase the risk of a blow out at speed.

<h3 dir="ltr">Spare wheel theft</h3>

The spare tyre on a Hilux is located under the bed at the rear. There will be a security lock on it from the factory, but this is worth inspecting&nbsp;to make sure it&nbsp;works correctly, otherwise, the opportunist thief might relieve you of your wheel.

<h3 dir="ltr">Chassis damage</h3>

Despite some impressive approach, break over and departure angles (31deg, 23deg and 26deg, respectively) you should still check underneath for signs of off road damage. Also, make sure any thick mud has been washed off the chassis; otherwise it’ll trap moisture and cause corrosion.

If you were asked to name a used vehicle that was figuratively bulletproof, then chances are you’d have replied ‘Well, that’ll be the<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/used-reviews/make/toyota"> Toyota</a> Hilux, of course’. For more than 50 years, the Hilux has forged a reputation for dependability when faced with the most inhospitable of environments. It’s also given buyers exactly what they wanted in terms of towing, payload capacity and cost of ownership –&nbsp;values it continues to strive for even in its eighth generation.

Under its long bonnet is a large capacity 2.4-litre four-cylinder diesel engine. Unlike the ultra-smooth and very powerful 3.0-litre V6 found in the<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/volkswagen/amarok/pick-up/review/n17220"> Volkswagen Amarok</a>, the engine in the Hilux is grumbly at idle&nbsp;and gets no better once you’re on the move. To make matters worse, it only produces 148bhp to shift a vehicle that weighs over two tonnes before you’ve added any payload, so you’ll be working the engine quite hard when merging onto faster roads.

Despite its lack of outright oomph compared with rivals, the Hilux can still offer a payload capacity of 3500kg – one of the best&nbsp;in the business. It can even tow a braked trailer of 3500kg, if required. Only the most powerful Amarok can top that.

The bed is impressive, too. With a length of 1510mm and a width of 1560mm at its widest point (1080mm where the wheel arches intrude), the back of the Hilux has been well thought out, even if a<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/nissan/navara/pick-up/review/n17169"> Nissan Navara</a> does have a longer bed and an Amarok has less wheelarch intrusion.&nbsp;At 475mm in depth, it’s deep enough to load up plenty of stuff, but not so low&nbsp;that you’ll need to clamber onto the tyres when reaching in to grab equipment out of the back.

Although pick-up trucks these days are almost as likely to be bought for family car duty as they are a workhorse role,&nbsp;the Hilux interior&nbsp;is durable rather than plush. Don’t expect any soft touch plastics or thick carpets;&nbsp;think of it more as a hose-down and wipe clean environment, even though top models come with leather seats. The driving position isn’t bad, but shoulder room isn’t great and rear occupants will find things a bit cramped.&nbsp;Shallow footwells mean they’ll have to travel with their knees bent at an uncomfortable angle, too.

This&nbsp;agricultural nature extends to the driving experience. The Hilux has&nbsp;rock-hard rear suspension that needs considerable ballast before the leaf springs will yield&nbsp;to bumps like the rather soft front suspension does. The latter&nbsp;also causes the front end of the vehicle to dive&nbsp;considerably upon entering a corner, while the rather knobbly tyres&nbsp;howl in protest if you try to carry speed through a bend. Don’t expect precision from the steering, either: it’s rather slow to respond for the purposes of off road driving. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The basic Active model comes with air conditioning, Bluetooth connectivity, auto headlights and electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors. You’ll need a mid-range Icon model for alloy wheels, a DAB radio, cruise control and a reversing camera; autonomous safety equipment only comes as standard from Invincible spec onwards, while top-of-the-range Invincible X is the only one to get sat nav as standard.

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Used Toyota Hilux 2016 - present review

Alternatives

What alternatives should I consider to a used Toyota Hilux pick-up?