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I want to invest in a double cab bakkie, 4x4 or 4x2

what is the best to buy fuel wise, the lighest 2.4/2.7 liter diesel

Mazda drifter, Toyota hilux, maybe GWM, Mahindra,

Well I drive a 2.5TD ford ranger 4x4 double cab and can't complain. Its slow but great.

The big question is how much are you willing to spend. The new commonrail diesels are way more efficient than the older technology engins. All petrol 4x4's are thirsty. Any of the japanise brands has good engins.

If you buy a bakkie then why not a 4x4, then you can start a new hobby aswell.

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I do photography, and all my lenses and camera's is already so much

I just want a bakkie so that you go to places in Africa where you can get much closer to the wildlife than in SA parks

so for the time been I will mostly settle for 2nd hand

You want to go places in Africa, get a landy.

If you get a landy you won't have time to take your photos. Atleast there will be spares in africa. Hehe

More serious, in africa you will need a proper reliable 4x4 with low range. Second hand you can get something reliable from around R110k but then it wil be about 8 years old. Toyota's are expensive 2nd hand. And they have many miles on the odometer. You can get a great jeep, ford or landy for much less with less km on the clock. But please don't buy a discovery 2. They are useless off road. Have seen them got stuck on almost level ground.
If its a landy it must be a defender.

If you can afford more expensive cars in the range of around R250k. Then you can get a fortuner or D4D hilux with less than 100k km. Then your choice just got tough. And don't rule out isuzu. They sound like a tractor but they don't die.

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Get a landy, they go everywhere and plenty of room for all your things.

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@ Scipio I must agree that the land rover was a good vehicle but unfortunately the last real landrover was the series 3 from there it was a bmw, ford and now it is a tata

@ jesica Toyota and fuel economy is two words that are not used in the same sentence without a negative But ...they go anywhere and do not give drama and even a high mileage one still has a brilliant resale value. Not good if you buy but something to keep in mind, spares are more expensive than most other vehicles even more than bmw but you seldom need them.

Avoid discovery 1 & 2 but the 3 & 4 are brilliant vehicles when relatively new.
As for the rice burners (Japanese vehicles) one can not find fault with their build quality, most engines are relatively bullet proof if looked after.

One bit of advice I can give you is if a salesman tells you a diesel engine has just been rebuilt or the heads overhauled, walk away, the engine will never be the same again and cost you an arm and a leg just to keep going.
If you want a 4x4 buy a 4x4 and avoid the 4x2 it will never be the same regardless what some folks will try to tell you.

Not all petrol vehicles are thirst if I compare my petrol pajero at 7km/l to a cruiser 70diesels 3.5 -5 km/l I don't feel bad and I can do it faster.

Another bit of sound advice is to go on a course to learn your own limits before venturing out in the bundu, the best vehicle is worthless if you don't know how to use it properly

My advice.

If you want a great car to drive take a Jeep. Preferably an older model with a 4.0 V6 High output engine.

If you look for a better fuel economy buy a Landy.

If you have more to spend buy a Toyota.

As far as I know the diesel cruisers ger around 7 to 8 km/l but let's not argue.

The newer diesels get up to 14 km/l which is great. The only down side is the high presure turbo that is more likely to reduce engin life than the engins with low presure turbo's or no turbo's. If you go into africa you need an engin that can use their fuel. Its dirty. The newer diesels can't handle it. They are designed for 50ppm and 500ppm clog the injectors and the turvo might siez. So if you go diesel go with an engin that can take the fuel you will get in africa.

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thanks for all the advice guys,

thanks also Sparks, you right, I think I must 1st go on a course

Here are a few questions you need to ask yourself:

1. Are you mechanically minded?
2. Where do you plan to travel?
3. Will you be travelling alone (one vehicle)?
4. How long do you intend to keep the vehicle?
5. What weight do you intend to carry?
6. How many people (single, double cab)?
7. Average duration of trips?

i think it will be easier to answer you question with more accurate information once we know the above.

1. Are you mechanically minded? none at all
2. Where do you plan to travel? Botswana, Namibie, KNP
3. Will you be travelling alone (one vehicle)? yes I will
4. How long do you intend to keep the vehicle? hopefully 10-12 years
5. What weight do you intend to carry? just camping stuff
6. How many people (single, double cab)? 4 so a double cab
7. Average duration of trips? 2 weeks at the most

Hi

Look at Nissan Hardbody 3L d/c or Nissan NP300 2.5 diesel, you cant go wrong. Great vehicle and reliable. I,d say before buying a new GWM or one off those Chinese or Indian vehicles rather look at a pre-owned jap bakkie. Happy hunting(that is for a bakkie)

Two pieces of advice

1.) If seconhand make sure its got a full service record from a dealer, not Joe on the corner.
All high spec bakkies will be able to give you a print out of the bakkies services at a authorized "TOYOTA" dealer, the service book is a good guide but i have found that second salesman can alter or add services that newer happend. Thats why i say get service record from dealer.
2.) even with service record, get info on bakkie as what needs to be replace in the short distance, they vary from makes and moddels, we got ourself a Toyota D4d 4x4 with 120k on the meter end last year. Had to fork out R3500-00 to have the timing belt replace. It helps to know what expenses are waiting for you. Nobody told us that the D4D timming belt must be change on 150000km i was under the impresion that is was change on 100 000 like my other Toyota's. Mistake on my side to presume.

Get us much informatio and background on the bakkie. The old soppy story of it was a old lady's driving to church and Pick and Pay once a week, RUN.

You can get information about the previos owner from the traffic department.


I agree Toyota more to pay, but very relaible.

Look any advice you get even mine well have some sort of bias - i will try to state some general facts.

If as you say nam and bot then you are going to go to some wild places.

1. if you start this overlanding be very carreful with the weight you carry. My reason for saying this is things tend to break due to excessive weight. The only option is to either buy a vehicle that take the weight as standard - toyota land cruiser as an example or upgrade the suspension. The reason i mention this is 2 weeks overlanding you will be tempted to carry some heavy stuff and alot of stuff - fridge / freezer, more camping, spares for vehicle (even more required as you travelling alone)

2. As you are not mechanically minded i would go for reliability as the biggest thing when buying the vehicle. You will always carry basic spares and if it was a landy or toyota (japanese in general)in most places you will or could find a bush mechanic to help you fit the spares or even make a plan. Any other type of vehicle would worry me as the above rule would not apply.

3. Type of engine. Fuel consumption maybe a factor that you consider so consider looking or investing in a second tank or at least jerry cans which more than likely be on a roof rack. Be careful here the general rule in off roading is to keep the weight on the vehicle as low to the ground as possible. i would look for as simple an engine from both a durability point of view (keeping vehicle for 10-12 years) and also to reduce the things that could break. Some of the newer vehicles are good vehicles put i would not buy them if i were you to many electronics where things could go wrong and not chance to fix.