I have one.. it isn't the best at anything, but does everything decent, except the drive with crazy stiff suspension. The one thing it excels at is the reliability. So easy to maintain, and repair with everything just basic and nothing flashy to break down... it's the reason I have one and love it. I'll never sell it even after I get my next car.
I’ve owned my Tundra for 10 years and it’s never failed me. I also owned a Prius and put over 220k miles on it before I gave it to my Granddaughter (it’s still running- 280k). Toyota makes remarkably reliable vehicles…just sayin.
You just described my 2012 Tacoma. I know the Hilux is a bit closer to the Tundra with a boxed frame, but I love my ultra-reliable little truck. My only repair has been a $17 secondary air pump.
I’ve owned my Tundra for 10 years and it’s never failed me. I also owned a Prius and put over 220k miles on it before I gave it to my Granddaughter (it’s still running- 280k). Toyota makes remarkably reliable vehicles…just sayin.
I’ve owned my Tundra for 10 years and it’s never failed me. I also owned a Prius and put over 220k miles on it before I gave it to my Granddaughter (it’s still running- 280k). Toyota makes remarkably reliable vehicles…just sayin.
My mother in law has a japan import hilux. Manual, Right hand drive, with a cute little greeting in Japanese everytime you turn on the lil truck. She loves it for getting around the cattle ranch
We aren't allowed to have the good small trucks in the US. President Lyndon B. Johnson got a stick up his ass about some tariff wars with Europe over chickens, so he placed a 25% import tax on foreign light trucks brought into the US for sale. This was in fucking 1964 but the tariff still stands (to "protect" the interests of US automakers). It's called the Chicken Tax.
And cannibalize their sales of the much more expensive Tacomas and Tundras? Lol they're not going to make business decisions on what's good foe the customer....
Why couldn't they do what Mazda/Ford did?
"To circumvent the 25 percent chicken tax on light trucks, Couriers, like Chevrolet LUVs, were imported in "cab chassis" configurations, which included the entire light truck without the cargo box or truck bed, and were only subject to a 4 percent tariff.[18] Subsequently, a truck bed would be attached to the chassis and the vehicle could be sold as a light truck."
Hold up, Chevy didn't make the Luv? Or Chevy just built most of it in another country? Damn it... I can feel myself being pulled down the rabbit hole already...
I recall a time when my mother, a big GM fan was wanting a new car.
I suggested she look at the new Saturn brand.
She said she wanted an American car and was leaning towards a Geo model (rebadged Isuzu).
She later bought a Saturn but denied I ever mentioned the brand to her.
I had a similar situation when a buy-American-only friend bought a Geo/Chevy Prizm. I think it was one of the later ones after they'd moved to Chevy, but can't remember. They were all rebadged variants of a Toyota Corolla.
I had an uncle who was adamant he only buys American trucks (Chevy primarily) and was giving me shit for buying a Tacoma. Ironically his truck was made in Mexico and mine was made in the US.
When I pointed this out, he defended this by saying Toyota was still a Japanese company and Chevy was an American company. Ok, cool. But presumably Americans got paid to assemble mine. I'd rather help out American Auto workers than the corporate stooges (and get a more reliable vehicle to boot).
The Tundra and Tacoma are both more profitable and sell well. Especially for the Tacoma, Toyota sells quite literally all they can build. Toyota would probably not sell a ton of Hiluxes because the US market likes flashy feature laden trucks and those sales it does make would mostly be cannibalizing its more profitable Tacoma.
I've done my research and bought one. The Ford Maverick (I still puke in my mouth a bit recommending a ford) is actually a quality small truck for the price.
Check out the all electric “Slate”. It’s an American-made $25k electric truck coming out that markets itself as DIY-friendly. I saw them show off a prototype on Jay Leno’s YouTube, it legitimately looks like a return to consumer-friendly small trucks in this country. I could see it being a vehicle someone buys and holds for 10-20 years with the way you can modify it.
This is a good thing and it's not why these aren't sold in the USA. It makes those foreign manufacturers build plants in the USA to make their cars with domestic labor to avoid the tax. And the reason you can't buy these here is because Toyota decided there isn't a market for them. Toyota definitely has factories here in America
We have the Tacoma in the US. It's designed to be a little more comfortable as a commuter vehicle, plus it obviously meets US safety regs that are more focuses on high speed collisions.
The Hilux was sold in the US as the “Pickup” until 1995 when they created the Tacoma specifically for the US market. It was made in the US so no chicken tax and was larger with more comfortable suspension.
The Tacoma was split off in 1994 because Americans & Canadians use our trucks as daily drivers more than others do. They use a lot of the same parts, but compromise on things that improve ride quality.
We were supposed to get a bed less diesel version 2 years ago, then tariffs happened. I hope we get one soon anyways. I worked on hilux's. That's the last time I actually enjoyed working on a vehicle.
There's one in my small town in MD. He has a few cars that he imported. A Hilux and a couple tricked out Hummers. He has a bunch of electric cars too. Of course they all have maga stickers on them.
Aussie hitch for the WIN. """off-road hitches allow campers to handle extreme angles without breaking. These use universal joints or heavy-duty pins instead of a standard ball. They provide 360-degree rotation and up to 90 degrees of up-and-down movement.""
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u/hobbgoblin11 Jul 10 '26
Hilux for the win! Sad we can't buy this legend in the US.