I have a auto dmax am happy enough with it does everything i want with good fuel economy to boot.

Tony, I have owned a BT50 (which is a disguised ranger). Good car. Plenty of torque for towing.

All of the utes you've referred to are good vehicles. These modern day DI turbo deisels are very reliable.

I like the D40 Navara best. Though, I hear the triton's are worth a look too - very comfortable for the back seat passengers, which is often overlooked.

One of the work utes is a Ranger XLT crew cab,which I drive a fair bit,took it down south a couple of weeks ago,loved it,fuel economy wasnt bad,filled up before we left,drove to eagle bay, drove around down there a fair bit and filled it from a quarter of a tank in mandurah on the way back,comfy,not too soggy and shed loads of torque.If you dont mind me asking what was the problem with the navaras,i have a single cab D22 2.5 CR,its a company vehicle but i wouldnt mind knowing if theres something i should keep an eye on?Cheers, Paul.

tony
i have the navara for work and its excellent. most of the other guys have rangers and love them
I recon the newer diesels are all much the same

Very good ute especially in the sand..  Although mines the auto petrol fuel economy is not the best.  300-350 from a tank but  then its pretty much fully load work ute and towing trailers pretty much every day... still better than the 03 one tonner I had.

I have been looking for the same three ton towing etc in duel cab.  and would go the triton over the navara any day..

The triton seems to float on the sand..  Have done lots of beach towing with a tandem axel jetski trailer carrying two sit downs and a stand up.  mates just towing single trailers with the nasvara get bogged and i have to pull them out...

Also be carefull on towing capacity.  Some vary between petrol and disel or manual and auto formats...

Navara's we had on site where the basic D22 4x4 crew-cabs, mine spat it's transfer shaft at 65k and my off-siders spat 5th gear at 75k, off all the utes, the Navaras all felt tired at 50~80k on them, And yes mine work is hard on them with work on gravel roads 80% of the time and out in the bush to bore fields etc. I think the new D40's are a huge step up from what I've seen from the older range.
Other issues we had where seats that sagged and got lumpy, tire wear compared to the Hilux's. We only used Coopers on site as well.
I must say I'm leaning towards the Triton at the moment or the Ford Ranger, as they have good deals. Dmax / Colorado's look the goods, but less family focused than the others. Hilux just prices itself out of the ball-park.
I'm trying to stay under $35k for a new vehicle, as it's going to be a novated lease and this is the target figure for me.

th bro in law is going down the same road at the moment.He is leaning toward the colorado as the auto is the only one in the field that has 3 tonne tow cap.

Tony, i have a navara d40 rx 2006 model and have had it for a year and a bit. Top car in my eyes. 2.5lt turbo diesel and it pulls the 5m ally with ease. I drive ALOT too for fishing/surfing down margs way and never skipped a beat. 1 and only fault i can say is that its a little low stock standard but most stock 4x4's are until they get there 1.5 lift.  

hi everyone im dean and based in victoria--great web site and look forward to talking to you all i have a baron outrider boat just purchased not many of them in vic im told--any comments welcome reguarding these boats as i am not that familar with them

Gday Toni,

I have the Ranger 3L dual cab and is a great car. Done lots of trips towing the boat and it does it very nicely. Around town with a fair few added weights to it I am still getting under 10L/100km.

Mates have the hilux's and also great cars

I have the Manual dual cab Colorado 3 tonne towing & has no probs towing my 3 tonne boat, around 10L/100k unloaded & about 17L/100k with the boat. If you want 2.5 tonne towing then that will exclude the hilux mate as they only have 2250kg rating, plus their gross combination is down too so you can't carry a full load when towing unlike the Colorado & Damx not sure about the rest.

but as colt_striker said not enough tow capcaity.

And just a heads up colt_striker, you can't carry a heavy load and tow 3T - been down that path with my Rodeo and current Colorado.

We have a 4X2 Colorado as a second ute at work (diesel) and it carries a load no worries (200 - 1000kg), tows well and returns a pretty healthy 8L/100km regularly.

thanks guys,

mostly be towing a horse float with two big grass-burners in it! Don't need to tow more than 2,5tons and anyting heavy in the tray.

well saw a few dealers today and this evening, and looks like the Ford Ranger XLT 3lt turbo diesel in 5 speed auto is the go, best deal by a few thousand dollars, good towing capacity and good fuel economy, plus they tossed in a recces tow pack as a sweetener! Hilux was nearly $12k more and Navara to same spec level $9k more!!! Colorado was nice, but only a 4 speed auto and level of fit-out nothing near the Ford. I did like the Mitsubishi Triton GLX-R, but just could not justify the extra $10k over the Ford in price, no matter how good it is.

Thanks to all for your feedback and advise,

My folks have the BT50 as a 3l turbo diesel, its really gutless. The powerband seems very narrow. Its like driving a petrol with better fuel economy or something...

Well to give you some idea of the savings that can be had, you can drive away in a Ranger XLT Auto turbo diesel, with all the fruit, side step, tray liner, 12volt power point in tray, colour matched canopy, roll bar, tow bar (3ton rated), six shuttle CD player, mags and 245 tyres etc. all for under $38k drive away!!!!

I was shocked at the prices differences, still even when I told them what I could get else where, they still gave silly quotes! In fact my mate paid more for his hail damaged Navara with no fruit for free!!! and then cost him still another $2k for tow pack and some extra's!!! WTF. Yip we warned him, but hey it's his money...lol

well got the rego details today for the new truck, canopy coming on Friday.

So if anyone is in the market for a 4x4 tow vehicle, we selling the Jeep Grand Cherokee of ours for $9,800 otherwise it goes to the dealer on the weekend for $9,500.

cheers
Tony