New Crew Cab

muckymanor

muckymanor

Well-Known Member
A friend of mine is thinking about buying a 192 Crew Cab for his business and farm. It would be doing some towing. What would you recommend to be the best 4x4 crew cab on the market at the moment?
 
ranger or amarok?
ranger by far in a way the most popular down my side currently, had a new model hilux myself for a year, couldnt stick it, shock the hell out of me on bad roads to work,
 
Both of the above are v popular around here mucky, I do like the look of the ranger tho.
 
vanderbadger said:
ranger or amarok?
ranger by far in a way the most popular down my side currently, had a new model hilux myself for a year, couldnt stick it, shock the hell out of me on bad roads to work,
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Mf 7715 said:
Both of the above are v popular around here mucky, I do like the look of the ranger tho.
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Reliability wise, what are they like? Having a L200 ourselves, while it didn't ever leave us stranded, I wouldn't recommend it to him. Have heard of Rangers giving engine problems (know one lad that had an oil pump go in a 2 year old one). Are Hilux still as reliable as ever? What about D-Max - seems to be a few of them around too?
 
Whatever pickup he decides on advise him to get it reasonably well specced. Base level models are absolutely horrible to look at and to travel in. Hi Lux aren't nearly as popular as they were around here and I'd nearly say the Amarok is ahead in numbers. The troopers of old were the absolute kings around here until the ball of shite 3 litre were introduced. Isuzu aren't popular at all now. Not around here anyway.
 
muckymanor said:
Reliability wise, what are they like? Having a L200 ourselves, while it didn't ever leave us stranded, I wouldn't recommend it to him. Have heard of Rangers giving engine problems (know one lad that had an oil pump go in a 2 year old one). Are Hilux still as reliable as ever? What about D-Max - seems to be a few of them around too?
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only had one for that year and had no bother, hilux is addblu now but they probably all are nowadays
 
Surprised no one mentioned Nissan Navara, hard to beat for comfort and rated to tow 3.5 tons.
 
Did you consider a fiat fullback, its the exact same as an L200. It might be a little cheaper with a fiat badge.
 
jf 850 said:
@Arthur bought new Fiat Fullback 2 ? Year's ago. Progress report?

I think they have gone off the market since though.
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What can I say, if it gave trouble within 2 years I'd be well disappointed but it has been trouble free, good on fuel as pick ups go doing high 30's mpg until you put a trailer or cow box on it then it will do mid to high 20's, , bit choppy/juddery on poor roads more so than the demonstrator I tried, plenty of get up and go, quiet and comfortable on better roads but afaik Mitsubishi have an L200 replacement coming out next year.
 
It's a 201 at this stage that he is looking at.
About 10% of the time it will be towing up to 2.5 ton - so whatever he buys will need to be rated for at least 3 ton. It will also be used for load carrying - up to 1 ton.
Anyone got experience or a view on the smaller litre engine pick ups?
Ford have a new 2.0 litre engine in the Ranger.
What about the D-Max with the 1.9 litre engine?

Price varies greatly as far as I can see.

The Amarok is a beautiful machine but you are looking at €45k for a basic spec.
D-Max with a fairly good spec can be bought straight at €34k.
Basic Navara is €40k
Ranger at €38k
new model L200 €35k
Mercedes x class can be bought on a special at the moment for €35k.

He would be the sort of guy that would be buying a machine which he would drive for 15 years. Reliability would be important, image wouldn't, nor trade in wouldn't bother him.
 
muckymanor said:
It's a 201 at this stage that he is looking at.
About 10% of the time it will be towing up to 2.5 ton - so whatever he buys will need to be rated for at least 3 ton. It will also be used for load carrying - up to 1 ton.
Anyone got experience or a view on the smaller litre engine pick ups?
Ford have a new 2.0 litre engine in the Ranger.
What about the D-Max with the 1.9 litre engine?

Price varies greatly as far as I can see.

The Amarok is a beautiful machine but you are looking at €45k for a basic spec.
D-Max with a fairly good spec can be bought straight at €34k.
Basic Navara is €40k
Ranger at €38k
new model L200 €35k
Mercedes x class can be bought on a special at the moment for €35k.

He would be the sort of guy that would be buying a machine which he would drive for 15 years. Reliability would be important, image wouldn't, nor trade in wouldn't bother him.
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Is this man's business as a sole trader? It can get very messy with tax law if a limited company without a number of staff.
 
muckymanor said:
No
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My understanding and why I didn't buy one is if you are audited and the crew cab is owned and bought by the company, if you cannot show that it was required as part of the business for transport of employees or customers it will be liable for benefit in kind, which depending on mileage can be prohibitive, just check with accountant before buying is my advice.
 
WestCorkBoy said:
Is this man's business as a sole trader? It can get very messy with tax law if a limited company without a number of staff.
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any issue with a sole trader buying a crewcab and also using it for commuting to PAYE job ...ie all diesel expenses put against sole trader income ? Running both a car and Landcruiser here and thinking of getting rid of both and just going for a new crew can also , I’m thinking of going for a new auto D-Max it’s rated to tow 3.5 ton and apparently can do 44 MPG when not towing from some of the reviews I have seen. Any one have with the new 1.9 engine?
 
mfman said:
any issue with a sole trader buying a crewcab and also using it for commuting to PAYE job ...ie all diesel expenses put against sole trader income ? Running both a car and Landcruiser here and thinking of getting rid of both and just going for a new crew can also , I’m thinking of going for a new auto D-Max it’s rated to tow 3.5 ton and apparently can do 44 MPG when not towing from some of the reviews I have seen. Any one have with the new 1.9 engine?
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If you've no other mode of transport and your audited you'll be in trouble. You're better off just being straight and putting a portion down as private use.
 
mfman said:
any issue with a sole trader buying a crewcab and also using it for commuting to PAYE job ...ie all diesel expenses put against sole trader income ? Running both a car and Landcruiser here and thinking of getting rid of both and just going for a new crew can also , I’m thinking of going for a new auto D-Max it’s rated to tow 3.5 ton and apparently can do 44 MPG when not towing from some of the reviews I have seen. Any one have with the new 1.9 engine?
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Have you considered leasing for business use.
 
Bluffegan said:
Have you considered leasing for business use.
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Do you have any figures? I spoke in depth with my friend about leasing.
He got only one quote on leasing for a Nissan Navara.

€37500 value crew cab is quoted at €105 per week.
That's €5460 per year.

He compared it to borrowing the money for it.

They'd sell him the Navara at €34500 (Which surprised me that there was so much wriggle room)
He could go to the bank and borrow the whole lot @ 8% and pay €700 per month
That's €8400 per year.

Now here's the third option.
PCP
Lay €7600 as a deposit. PCP = €124 per week.
That's €6448 per year.

So when you look at all that over 5 years:

Lease would cost him €27,300 and then he's have no asset at the end.
Borrowing €34500 would cost him €42,000 in total.
PCP, laying a deposit of €7600 would cost him €38840 inc the deposit over 5 years and he would own the jeep at the end. (It would have cost him almost €4000 less than borrowing the money from the bank)

If you are talking tax wise, depreciation or writing off against tax, which of the above beneficial methods would be most beneficial to him
 
Surely they have a low interest rate loan with a new vehicle? If not id find a manufacturer that does.
 
muckymanor said:
PCP, laying a deposit of €7600 would cost him €38840 inc the deposit over 5 years and he would own the jeep at the end. (It would have cost him almost €4000 less than borrowing the money from the bank)
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I thought there was a catch with PCP that you had to pay a balance at the end, or can you set it up however you want?
 
marco said:
Surely they have a low interest rate loan with a new vehicle? If not id find a manufacturer that does.
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Everywhere has - but you'll pay the list price.
He has learned that he can not only knock quite a bit off one by buying straight, but can also increase the spec.
 
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