BUYING USED TOYOTA HILUX N80 - Worth the money or overpriced? #automobile #autos #cars #4wheels #luxurycar #sportcar #highspee

Is the N80 Hilux overpriced or is it just as reliable as its older brothers? Welcome to our new series. In this series we're going to be going in-depth right down to the nitty-gritty on heaps of different models of four-wheel drive. We're going to be telling you what to look out for when you're buying used and if it is a good buy or a bad buy. For episode one we're going to be looking at the N80 Hilux. We're down in the Grey's lot today in Brizzy and they have so many of these things down here. In this used N80 deep dive we're going to be covering everything you need to know and look out for when you're considering buying one of these used four-wheel drives. We're going to give you an idea of what model you should be looking for, what issues these cars have had over the years and how much you can expect to pick one up for. Let's get into it. Quick little backstory for those of you that don't know, this is the latest generation of Hilux. It took over from the N70 from 2015 onwards. Now Hiluxes have always had a super good name for reliability and durability for being a trader ute and a tough four-wheel drive and that is exactly why the first couple years on the market the N80 topped the charts. It was Australia's number one selling vehicle. So if you're looking at buying an N80 second hand it's probably going to be three main models you're going to be looking at. The base model of Workmate, the SR and the SR5. Now the Workmate is definitely the most budget-friendly model but there's a couple of things you've got to remember. They're available in two engines and they're both smaller than the other models. Manual and manual transmissions but the later model ones you can get them in automatics. Now the next step up from the Workmate is the SR Hilux. These come with the engines. They are a step up from the Workmate but they're still quite basic. They've got the external tie-down rails on the tub, they've got latches on the side and they're pretty basic on the inside. Now the next step up from the SR is the SR5. This is famous across all Hilux models and what do we know about it? Well it's a luxurious one I guess you could say. It comes with heaps more creature comforts and inside they almost feel a bit more like a car to drive than the old trucky SR and Workmate. Now there is actually two other Hilux options available. There is the Rogue and the GR Sport but you might struggle to find these on the second-hand market at the moment as they've only come out the last couple years. They do come as packed with heaps more features from the factory but they make sure you certainly pay for them. Which model would I pick if I was going to buy a second-hand Hilux? Well being a four-wheel driver that means one thing. I'm going to want to do modifications to the vehicle so I'd probably pick an SR. It doesn't have as many nice things as SR5 but I'm probably going to modify a heap of them things anyway and maybe even take the older tub off. So I reckon SR would be the pick for me. You save yourself a bit of coin which means money for mods and the best part about no matter which model you buy you've got the Toyota tax. Obviously you've got to pay it when you buy it but that means when you sell it there's going to be hardly any depreciation. Another good thing about paying that Toyota tax is parts availability. They say Australia is cruiser country or Toyota country so no matter where you are within a couple of days I can almost guarantee you'll be able to get the parts you need to fix your Toyota Hilux and have it back on the track. Probably one of the biggest ticket items when you're buying a second-hand vehicle of any type is the engine. Now in the N80 Hilux there is four engines they come with. A 2.7 litre petrol, a 4 litre petrol V6, a 2.4 litre diesel and the 2.8 litre diesel. Most commonly found in all the ones that you're probably going to be buying. Now there was a couple of issues with these early on in the piece up to about 2018. There was DPF issues and they have all been sorted now. So the earlier ones they changed the exhaust system and some of the software to sort these problems out. It was mainly on the cars doing shorter city drives not getting out in the longer drives. They were just getting a big build up on there and never a chance to do a burn. So from 2018 onwards they've actually been fitted with a manual burn off button. So if you're not doing any big drives and you see this icon come up with your dash flashing you know it's time for a burn. What you can do is if you don't have a big drive in mind, park it up, press the button and it'll do a burn off while it's sitting there idling. Also the earlier models had dramas with the timing change. They could get quite rattly, skip teeth and cause engine damage but that is all sorted now and sorted under warranty. One more problem with the earlier models up to about the end of 2017, maybe the start of 18 was the factory turbos. They had a very small shaft and they did break but that has also been changed on the later models and upgraded to a ball bearing module. So all of those three problems I just spoke about are actually fixed under Toyota factory warranty. So if you're looking at a second hand car chances are there's nothing to worry about but just do keep it in mind if you're buying one of the earlier models. Another good thing to look for when you're buying a used N80 especially the 248 diesel engine is if it has a catch can fitted. These engines can really benefit from a catch can because they are known for getting very clogged up with carbon on the intake manifold. Now if it doesn't have one it's not the end of the world at all, just means you probably should factor fitting one into your budget and getting an intake clean into your budget and then the engine will be good for many years to come. Now these 2.8 litre diesels don't make a heap of power but they do return great fuel figures which is a good plus and also it means that there is a fair bit in the tune so if you don't want to tickle these up a bit there is plenty of room to make them have a bit of get up and go. How many kilometres is too many kilometres when you're buying one of these? Well it's a Toyota so it doesn't matter how many kilometres it's good to go some would say but a common rule for most common rail engines is around the 200,000-250,000 kilometre mark you're probably going to want to look at getting the injectors changed. Just for peace of mind make sure the system is all clean and running fine and that means the car is going to be good for many years to come so just make sure you factor the kilometres and a few things like that into your budget and you'll be putting up with this Toyota liability for many years to come. Underneath the N70 driveline, brake suspension all that sort of stuff they're still a relatively new car so there shouldn't be too many problems to pick up under here if the vehicle is being well looked after. We've got another video on the channel with heaps of tips and tricks on buying new so make sure you go and check that out for some little things to pick up underneath here. Now some pretty cool things about this N80 Hilux is it's the first ever Hilux model to come with a factory rear diff lock. Now that's quite common these days but still it's the first Hilux that's ever come with that so that is very handy that's one thing you can tick off your mods list already done rear locker done. Probably the only other problem I can find with these N80s is the factory Toyota clutch we know they're not great they're not great in the 79s they're not great in the Prados but also not that crash out in the high luxury so if you're buying a manual and it's lower kilometers and the clutch hasn't been replaced make sure you factor that into your budget. Inside the big N80 it almost feels a bit tacked together this dash has a hell of a lot going on it's got a big curve here it's got a curve there it's got a line across here it's got what looks like an iPad blue tack to the dash. The technology on this head unit is very far behind even the new models don't have Apple CarPlay the navigation is very glitchy few things like that it all definitely does work it's just I'm not sure if it's really what should be in a $40,000 vehicle. Driving position is good the buttons they're all in sort of good spots you've got rear locker here you've got your traction control off you've got your full drive dial everything is nice and easy to get to but just sitting back and looking at you're going to spend probably most of your time in here in the car it almost feels a little bit tacked together. In the back of the car here and this is an SR5 it's kind of a little bit of a letdown there is no air con vents in the back for passengers at all no charge points or anything. One thing I do like is the sitting position when you're sitting back here you are sitting higher than the driver and the passengers in the front you can see over the bonnet it's quite a good position you still have quite a bit of headroom this seat's quite far back and I've still got some legroom so that is good. Another thing I don't really like is this back seat doesn't come down it's fixed to the back wall obviously these ones here do come up and there's little storage containers under here but you know most modern dual cabs you can fold the seat down people have slimline batteries 12 volt setups compressors everything behind there this is fixed to the wall so not only is it not useful for any of that stuff it's super hard to put seat covers on there is a positive to these fixed seats though they've got ISOFIX points on all three seats so if you've got kids need to put a kid seat in that is very handy to keep them nice and safe. Overall while the interior does feel tacked together there hasn't been any major issues with it and compared to other four-wheel drives the Hilux's interior is actually pretty good. One of the things you have to look at for in any four-wheel drive is rust. Thankfully we've got Damian from Raptor to give you some tips on what to look for. I'm Damian and I'm the bloke who wants to bring workshop overalls back. I often get asked by family and friends to have a look at vehicles before they buy them so here's a few tips and tricks that I use that might help you when you next buy your dream four-wheel drive. Rust is a really important thing to look for when you're inspecting a vehicle because it can be really easy to hide and hard to find and it can cost you thousands if you miss it. So there's rust I like and there's some rust I don't like and this area on the top of the guard here is the stuff I like because it's really easy to fix. Basically all I'd need to do here is give it a really good mechanical sand, give it a coat of brunox, prime it, paint it, all good. The rust I don't like is rust that's in box sections and areas that are quite hard to get to or have hidden sections behind them. Those areas you really need to know your skill level to try and fix them so sometimes that might need a professional and that means money. So the areas I like to look at first are these sill panels and all the floors and bottoms of doors and areas like that that are structural because if they're no good we're in trouble. So under here is pretty wet which is pretty standard for a Hilux but by the look of it it's all structurally okay so I reckon that'll be fine. So the next thing I like to do is open up the doors and have a good look at the bottom of the doors. We want to make sure that all the seam sealer is still in there, there's no bulging rust or anything like that and also I like to check to make sure that the drain holes are all clear because if the drain holes have water in them then that means rust. These older Hiluxes are known to have a little bit of rust down in the bottom of the guards. They've got a little bit of a box section behind this area and that tends to make the rust come through. This one here is actually in quite good nick. It's got a little bit of surface rust and I think that's very easy to clean up. It's good to have a really good look at all of the subframes and the chassis and make sure there's no rusty holes or any damage and have a good look at the floor of the cab. Make sure there's no rust there and no welds broken. For a car of this age this one looks pretty good. So one of the other areas I really like to look at on these old Hiluxes is certainly the radiator support panel. These can quite often have a bit of rust down on the mounts and also on the bottom of the support. So important to give it a little bit of a shake, make sure it's all okay and just double check that there's no rust there because you don't want your radiator falling out. So we've just given this car a really good looking over and it's not perfect but I don't think there's anything you can't fix so I think it'll be a good buy. Now let's talk price. It is super hard to put an actual price on these things due to the prices fluctuating so much but if you spend between $30,000 and $40,000 chances are you're going to get yourself a pretty good N70. If you go the lower bracket around $30,000 you're probably going to get an SR possibly an SR5 but it's going to have higher k's around the $200,000 to $300,000. If you're going to spend $40,000 maybe upwards a little bit of that you're probably going to get a lower kilometre SR, definitely maybe a lower kilometre SR5 with a couple of tasteful mods. As we mentioned earlier on in the video we are down in the Grey's lot today looking at these N80s behind us. Now we're going to put the prices below in this video of what these ones sold for. The beauty of shopping at Grey's is you can come down and look at all the vehicles before you place a bid. So if you're in the market for used N80 make sure you jump on Grey's have a look online maybe even come down to one of the yards and have a look at a few. With all that said and done one thing I reckon is you need to actually make sure you're buying the car for the right purposes. Now if you're a diehard Toyota fan and you're buying a Toyota because they're unbreakable and you don't mind paying the Toyota tax, go for it. But if you're new to the full drive scene or new to the Toyota scene and you're only buying one because your mate is in your ear saying Toyota unbreakable pay the tax, maybe you should rethink it because personally I think there could be some better things out there for your money. Something that's a bit nicer to sit in, a bit nicer to drive and maybe you might even be able to buy a car a little bit cheaper and have some money spare for mods. In saying that I'm going to throw you over to my Toyota expert mate Jocko because he would be in my ear telling me that Toyota tax is worth it and he's going to give you a few handy hints on buying an N80 Hilux. Thanks Jesse and I can see you in one of these Hiluxes one day but anyway the mighty N80 Hilux super popular and for good reason. So as mentioned there are a couple of things to look out for mechanically on these vehicles particularly on the earlier models but well-known tuning shops like Performance Tourers do a lot of work with these engines they get good reliability and horsepower out of them as well as a bunch of upgrades with things like turbochargers so something to look for you can get good power out of these engines. As Jesse said they come with a Toyota tax but there's a reason why they're so popular if you're prepared to pay a little bit more for that Toyota tax and you've found one that's a pretty good example you should get reliable trouble-free four-wheel driving for years to come. Anyway Jesse hope that helps mate. Well there you go there is my mate Jocko's few helpful hints on buying an N80 Hilux. Coming from a Nissan man this is a pretty big call but I don't think you can really go wrong when buying an N80 Hilux they're still relatively new to the second-hand market not too many have been flogged they've all been well looked after and if you stick with that $30,000 to $40,000 budget you're going to get yourself a pretty tidy N80 Hilux. So we said at the start should you buy one or should you not buy one? I reckon if you're happy to pay the Toyota tax you definitely should buy yourself an N80 Hilux these things are good they're tough they're rugged they're super strong and they're a good deal. Well that's the first episode done of this series we hope you enjoyed it if any of you guys want us to do a video on a specific vehicle chuck it in the comments below and we'll see what we can do for you. Now that's all I've got time for today because I've got plenty of other cars to look at in this yard there might even be a few Nissans down the back but anyway I'll see you next time on 4WD 24-7.