What is striking about the Toyota Hilux?
This question has never been easier to answer: everything! In the United States, every patriotic has Yank a pick-up, but you rarely see them in the Netherlands. So there will be a hit, between all those good compact Dutch uniform sausages. Unlike the fashionable SUV stuff, the Toyota Hilux can really do something in the terrain. It has a limited slip differential, low gearing and a system that allows you to smoothly drive up and down a steep slope without rolling forward or backward.
The Toyota Hilux has been around since 1968 and is famous and infamous. Famous for the many Dakar rallies he has undergone and his indestructible reputation, notorious for being a preferred means of transport for dubious warriors in the desert precisely because of this reputation.
The current Hilux is a facelifted version of the eighth generation. It got a new 2.8-liter turbo engine with 204 hp and 500 Nm of torque. After all the electric cars we drive, the wonderful diesel genagel suddenly sounds like a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven: beautiful, but from a different time.
What’s good about the Toyota Hilux?
The Hilux’s towing weight alone is generous: it can pull 3500 kilos. You can transport 1100 kilos in the cargo box – ideal if you need to bring a washing machine to your daughter’s student dorm, or if you want to get the garden ready for the summer. Want to go mountain biking? With a well-aimed throw, you simply put the bicycles in the cargo area, which is also lockable. In addition, the loading floor can be moved at an additional cost and you get an anti-slip layer. Incidentally, the trunk space in liters is disappointing: 625 liters is hardly more than a Volkswagen Golf Variant.
We are happy with all those buttons and functions with which you can really drive off-road. The Hilux is not afraid of mud trails, rivers, cliffs and desert sand. He feels at home in Sassenheim, the Sahel and the Sahara.
Toyota will not let you suffer in the bush: the Hilux has leather upholstery and heated seats, an extensive sound system and adaptive cruise control. You can cover long distances with it: the chassis is comfortable, although the diesel noise gets on your nerves in the long run.
What could be better about the Toyota Hilux?
You could be annoyed by the ubiquitous diesel noise. The engine makes more noise than a petrol engine in the Toyota Yaris, which was Car of the Year 2021, but that actually contributes to the intransigence. If the diesel engine starts to nail passionately after a push of the start button, you immediately have the tendency to crush the little Aygootje in the parking space in front of you. Just as a stately Rolls-Royce or Mercedes S-class behind the wheel of a Hilux no longer makes any impression.
A real disadvantage is that the Netherlands is not a country for pick-ups. Navigating narrow streets full of Picnic’s electric vans is no mean feat. Fortunately, the Hilux has a reversing camera, so you can maneuver accurately in a parking space to the millimeter. The five-speed automatic is not the epitome of smoothness.
The dashboard is not that new anymore, with a small multimedia screen and, above all, many old-fashioned buttons. Delicious, actually. Those buttons seem more future-proof than a vulnerable mega screen with functions that you don’t use 80 percent of the time …
When will the Toyota Hilux come to the Netherlands and what is the price?
A price is always complicated with cars like the Toyota Hilux. Almost everyone buys a pick-up with a gray license plate, otherwise it is priceless. The price of the Toyota Hilux Xtra Cab (with a small luggage space behind the front seats, but no possibility to place a back seat) is 32,895 euros for entrepreneurs.
We drive the Toyota Hilux with a double cabin and automatic transmission. It does have two rear doors, but no rear seat, so you can drive it on a gray license plate. The price of the Toyota Hilux Double Cab is 41,995 euros for entrepreneurs and 68,426 euros for private individuals. There is also a cheaper version with a less powerful 2.4-liter engine, which costs 37,745 euros for business use. If you, as a private individual, do want a back seat, then you have to order the Toyota Hilux Double Cab with a yellow license plate and our test car suddenly becomes a lot more expensive: 108,495 euros.
What do I think of the Toyota Hilux?
A pickup truck evokes an inexplicable greed. I live in a big city and never do odd jobs, yet I looked out of the window with great satisfaction at that huge car in front of the door. Perhaps its greatest appeal is that the Toyota Hilux is averse to fashion trends. He is not the most handsome in the class and above all very practical. But what a powerful feeling it gives when you get in and look out over the traffic from the high cabin. …