Toyota Hilux

Overview

What is it?

The world’s best-selling pick-up truck… if you leave out America. Which is like saying Burger King does the most popular cow sandwich on Earth… if you forget about McDonalds. But even excepting the USA’s insatiable thirst for open-bed freedom on wheels, the Toyota Hilux is a sales phenomenon. Since 1968, Toyota’s shifted more than 18 million of these humble workhorses to everyone from farmers to freedom fighters. And now it’s a Dakar Rally winner, too.

So has Toyota stuck to the recipe for this latest one?

No. Toyota has been poring over the spreadsheets, and in recent years they’ve made grim reading for the Hilux. Since 2012, pick-up truck sales in Europe have doubled, swept along in the torrent of clamour for all things 4×4 and SUV-ish. But while truck sales have boomed, the Toyota’s market share has been eaten into by the likes of the Ford Ranger Wildtrack and VW Amarok – trucks aimed at wooing lifestyle enthusiasts in Shepherds Bush as much as they impress actual sheep-herders in the bush. In 2021 Toyota shifted a grand total of 47,480 Hilux units in Europe, which doesn’t exactly provoke the age old hot cakes analogy.

So what’s changed?

Toyota’s reacted to the trend for people desiring high-spec, well-kitted pick-up trucks with powerful motorway-happy engines. There’s now the option of a 2.8-litre engine on the toppier trim levels, instead of the workaday 2.4-litre. Inside, the range toppers boast heated leather seats, an automatic gearbox and Toyota’s latest smartphone-literate touchscreen. There’s even a JBL hi-fi and LED lights.

New for 2022 are extras such as a panoramic view monitor, an auto-dimming rear view mirror and dual-zone air conditioning, while automatic service reminders, e-call and remote diagnostic functionality are standard across the board.

And what about the mechanicals?

Toyota used to place a multi-tonne load in the Hilux’s bed, then tune the suspension. That meant a bouncy, unsettled ride when the truck was unladen. Because most lifestyle pick-up truck drivers never place more than a bottle of screenwash and a pair of trainers in the cargo bay, the latest Hilux has been tuned to ride best without so much as a bag of sand slung in the bed.

Great news… and very worrying. Not just because the Hilux is supposed to have the simplicity and longevity of Stonehenge, but because this tactic isn’t necessarily a winner. The Mercedes X-Class was long ago dropped from UK sale after its premium take on Nissan Navara underpinnings failed to convince the pick-up truck faithful. They’ll sniff out a faker in moments.

So, has the Hilux lost its way, or reinforced its position as a modern motoring icon? We’ve tested the two top-spec models: the Hilux Invincible and Invincible X, to find out if they’re worthy of the best-seller or not.

The Toyota Hilux is a predictably unpretentious machine, and its attempts to court lifestyle truck buyers have done little to alienate its core following while rounding off some of its rougher on-road manners. The most welcome upgrade is the new 2.8-litre engine, alleviating the older cars’ tardy performance particularly when fully loaded.

The cabin remains grim in areas and it’s a cumbersome beast to helm around, but if anything that’s a constant reminder this isn’t a vehicle to pose in – it’s a tool, a faithful workhorse, and a dependable business partner.

Driving

What is it like to drive?

Hate to puncture the suspense here, but the Hilux drives like A Pick-Up Truck. Like everyone who builds trucks of this shape and size, Toyota talks a good game about SUV-ifying the experience, but the combination of leaf springs, fat tyres, a tall ride height and the weight distribution of a lonely see-saw mean all of these things share some pretty common traits. You’re unlikely to mistake the road manners for a Range Rover’s.

While you sense the ride’s more settled down at the rear than pick-ups of yore, and body roll has been contained for such a tall beast, you’re still jostled and rattled about on your Brunellian ladder frame and 19th Century frontiersman suspension. The twirly, sluggish steering is slow and remote, devoid of any feel, and the brakes are grabby. Roundabouts are less than fun.

Keep going…

Toyota stubbornly stuck with carthorse springs – albeit with new bushes – to stay true to the Hilux’s roots. While admitting they give away ride comfort and refinement, Toyota insists you’ll forgive that when they soak up years of maintenance-free punishment that’d cripple coil springs. If this truck is your business workhorse, time off the road equals money out of your pocket, and for that hardiness you’ll likely accept a bit of roughshod road performance.

On the whole, the six-speed automatic gearbox guesses the right ratio at the right time, and teamed with the 201bhp, 369lb ft four-cylinder turbodiesel engine, the Hilux makes respectable progress.

How respectable are we talking?

Officially, it’s good for 0-62mph in 10.7 sec, while the entry-level 2.4 lags behind with 148bhp, 295lb ft and a 2.7sec tardier nought-to-sixty sprint, while barely being any more economical. The boon of the 2.8 is it doesn’t need thrashing to keep up with traffic, though be aware if you’re happier with a manual your torque output drops to 310lb ft with a stick-shift. 

The Hilux’s more relevant vital stats are on the money. It’ll tow 3,500kg, the payload is just over a tonne, and the load bay itself measures 1525mm long by 1645mm wide.

And what if I want to go off road?

There’s now an automatic limited-slip diff which works in two-wheel drive mode and means you can get surprisingly far into the wild before engaging full-time four-wheel drive. The transmission offers a low-range mode for serious off-road work, and there’s a foolproof hill descent assistant across most of the range. Ground clearance is a lofty 310mm and it’ll ford streams up to 700mm deep. Across the range, engine idle speed has been lowered a smidge, so the car now creeps more smoothly – useful in the rough.

Interior

What is it like on the inside?

We tested a Double Cab Hilux, but on low-spec models there’s also the option of a two-door Single Cab or an Extra Cab with small rear suicide doors. The double-cab offers seating for four regular-sized adults, though five will be a pinch thanks to the narrow middle seat and of course, you’ll all have to sit bolt-upright thanks to the vertical rear bulkhead. The doors are oddly lightweight and need a bit of a slam to shut first time. 

Up front, Toyota’s included a game of ‘count the materials’ in Invincible X versions. Clue: they’re all plastic. There’s plastic pretending to be glossy piano wood, plastic playing at being metal, plastic masquerading as wood and even plastic not doing a very good job of being plastic.

It’s a mishmash, and a VW Amarok is more coherent, but the Hilux feels tough and hard-wearing in the right areas. The steering wheel is downright abrasive, though it’ll exfoliate your rough hand calluses on the drive home. 

The 8.0-inch touchscreen fitted to all versions except the entry-level Active is Toyota’s familiar Touch 2 system, with shortcut hard-keys surrounding the screen. You can avoid the dated-looking native interface thanks to Apple and Android compatibility, with local charging USBs. 

The nine-speaker JBL hi-fi on top-spec Invincible X versions is extremely powerful but almost seems out of place, like fitting underfloor heating to a portacabin. Elsewhere, it’s all very no-nonsense. The heater is powerful, the seats comfortable. Clear dials, chunky steering wheel buttons, hefty grab handles and lots of stowage. What’s missing? Reach adjustment in the steering column, chiefly, and easily reachable heated seat buttons. 

Out back, there’s a three-year warranty on the plastic-lined load bed, and if you go for the top-spec Invincible X trim there’s a burly tailgate handle to match the thickset body cladding and front bumper.

Buying

What should I be paying?

Prices for a basic Hilux – that’s the Single Cab Active 2.4 – start at £29,220, and rise through Icon, Invincible and Invincible X grades (plus the three bodystyles) to peak at £41,320 for an Invincible X 2.8 Double Cab. Of course, those numbers tumble if you’re buying a Hilux as a commercial vehicle, with CV on-road prices ranging from £24,988 to £35,738.

Residual values are strong given a Hilux is known to be tougher than any man-made object save for a Nokia 3310 (ask your parents). That means financing costs are very competitive – the ultimate Invincible X can be yours for £300 a month, which is a heck of a lot of metal for your money. 

There’s a five-year warranty and roadside assistance package and the Toyota Professional Scheme will knock 50 per cent off your servicing labour bill if they take more than seven days to repair a fault. Probably because the mechanics are busy looking up ‘faulty Toyota’ in a dictionary.

Our test car averaged 29mpg, matching its claimed economy on a mixed test route, but had only covered 750 miles in its short life, so that’ll likely improve further still with a few more loosing-up miles under its wheels.

Keyword: Toyota Hilux