10,000 report Toyota Hiace + suggestions to improve ride please?

[lamborghinifan]

Well for the last 5 years I've had a number of work vans, all VW's all Turbo Diesel. 2001-2009 models, FWD, + AWD. great to drive, never really thought too much about them. lots of little and big things have gone wrong with them and they are expensive to service and repair. about 45-50k to buy new.

bosses got sick of the expense and I was given a new '10 Toyota Hiace, 3.0 Turbo Diesel, LWB. About 35k to buy, $150 fixed 5 year servicing.

i never appreciated the VW's until now.
After 10,000k's:-

RWD is good, turning circle is fantastic, AC good, seats relatively comfortable. driving position overall ok. no bonnet to speak of is unnerving though. electric windows good. the cargo area is very functional

lack of cruise/c annoying, middle seat only useful for midgets or people up to about 165cm and quite skinny- it would also best be described as a "bench." bluetooth audio is so bad it is unusable- even after software upgrades.

3.0 TD is very torquey but is 9 years behind the equivalent VW. very slow, and i'm barely convinced it is a turbo. it is very hard to feel it kick in. overtaking is now a luxury i can rarely acheive. nothing above 105 ish. needs a 6th gear- maybe.

and for the really bad bits. the ride is simply awful. it lurches about, it finds ruts corrugations, bumps that in any other vehicle i'd be pressed to notice. any puff of wind on top of this and it becomes simply dangerous. at any given time unexpectedly it can lurch a foot either side. on one country trip i had the wheel at a 10-15 degree angle into the wind and at any wind break, such as a tree it would dive in the direction of the wheel. this coupled with having no bonnet scares me.

i've hauled many different loads all across the country, overloaded utes, caravans, old cars, new cars. i'd rather tow the caravan.

it has about 500kg permanantly, mostly sitting low. removing the ladders makes only a little difference.

has anyone else had this experience? the slowness i can live with, but the lurching/wind etc. any suspension upgrades help? airbags? even different profile or width tyres/rims. (old territory rims mmmm).

any suggestions would be great. but the purpose is not to toyota bash, please.
.
thanks ed.

[XR Martin]

They do need bigger rims and tyres, but they are six stud and there isnt alot of extra room under the guards.

Only good thing about the Hiace is its reliability, everything else is sub par.

[Kryton]

My dad used to work for Telecom in the late 80;s - early 90's and by the sounds of it, the Hiace has not changed one bit.
No power, no comfort and a bastard in the wind.
Doesnt take much to roll one either, as a great deal of Telecom employees got to find out for themselves.

[Jason[98.EL]]

Originally Posted by davway

My dad used to work for Telecom in the late 80;s - early 90's and by the sounds of it, the Hiace has not changed one bit.
No power, no comfort and a bastard in the wind.
Doesnt take much to roll one either, as a great deal of Telecom employees got to find out for themselves.

Might be a good thing to get rid of the old bus ( i know it's a new 2010 model )

we rolled ove one a few years back so

i think toyota need to pick thier act up

[NeillNZ]

I have owned a few 'forward control' vans over the years and I'm sold on the idea of upgrading the wheels and tyres. The difference between the stock light duty truck tyres and something like Goodyear Cargo G26 is amazing. The most noticeable improvement is the ability to point the vehicle in a strong wind.

Funnily enough I'm thinking for my next van I might get a VW.

[mik]

i`d bet the factory springs and shocks are pretty average, i had an old g60 nissan patrol some years ago , it had the hardest front springs i`ve ever felt, i bought some after market ones from lovells springs, they made made a huge difference.

[EB#]

Originally Posted by mik

i`d bet the factory springs and shocks are pretty average.....

Agree with Mik. Have a chat to a Pedders workshop or other suspension specialist for options
on aftermarket springs and shocks. Not sure if upgraded sway bars are also available for these vans,
but this sort of package would offer great improvements.

Some suppliers may include:
Pedders
King Springs
Lovell Springs
Whiteline

[lamborghinifan]

fuel consumption:(from memory)

2001 VW LWB with 2.5 Td combined 9-13L/100
2002 VW SWB with 2.0 Td combined 10-13L/100
2008 VW LWB AWD 1.9Td combined 13-15L/100
2009 VW LWB FWD 1.9 TD combined 12-15 L/100
2010 Toyota Hiace LWB RWD 3.0 Td 11-13 L/100

All the vehicles had basically the same load in them, driven my a mix of staff. we still have all the vehicles bar the 2001 VW, which i had just before the Toyota. Pro's and con's for each vehicle no clear winner. although the VW did have 200k on it.

The A/c makes no noticable difference in the toyota to power or economy, but makes a substantial difference to both in the VW's- all models. very easy to stall with the AC on in the vw's, and considerable fuel increase.

[Stoney!]

They have now replaced the 1.9 and 2.5 with 2.0TD and 2.0 TTD respectively.

Stoney!

[lamborghinifan]

guy from pedders just quoted me $1900 to put heavy duty rear springs and shocks, and heavy duty front shocks. said the last guy he did it for is a regular customer who loves it.

and out of interest, cruise control fitted is $800-900

[Dr Smith]

Originally Posted by lamborghinifan

fuel consumption:(from memory)

2001 VW LWB with 2.5 Td combined 9-13L/100
2002 VW SWB with 2.0 Td combined 10-13L/100
2008 VW LWB AWD 1.9Td combined 13-15L/100
2009 VW LWB FWD 1.9 TD combined 12-15 L/100
2010 Toyota Hiace LWB RWD 3.0 Td 11-13 L/100

All the vehicles had basically the same load in them, driven my a mix of staff. we still have all the vehicles bar the 2001 VW, which i had just before the Toyota. Pro's and con's for each vehicle no clear winner. although the VW did have 200k on it.

The A/c makes no noticable difference in the toyota to power or economy, but makes a substantial difference to both in the VW's- all models. very easy to stall with the AC on in the vw's, and considerable fuel increase.

When the diesel particulate filter was introduced to the VW's fuel consumption went up.

[Barry_v]

If you think hiaces are gutless, try a mazda E2000/ford econovan! or a kia pregio for that matter.

As for the ride, you could wind down the front suspension (its torsion bar) to get it a bit softer. tyre pressures also have a lot to do with ride quality.

[CAMS290]

The Europeans have got making vans down to an art, I came back from Alice Springs about 4 years ago when there were no limits in the N.T, and i was flabbagasted to see a Mercedes Sprinter van sitting up my **** at 200kph, it belonged to a bloke that raced superbikes all over Australia and had some Brahbus enhancements done to it, was good for 230kph, imagine doing that in a Hi ace.

[duaned]

The Hiace is chalk and cheese to the power of my Mercedes van. I swear I sometimes need to rely of a gust of wind behind me to make the top of steep hill, even un-laden! But cross winds are also an issue, just like your Hiace. Mines FWD, and the slightest cross wind requires maximum effort fighting the steering wheel to keep this baby between the white lines!

[lamborghinifan]

i know that the 2008 VW will quite happily sit at about 180kph no worries.

yes i have driven the econovan/mazdavan/express but at what 17-23k? you'd expect them to be rubbish. for 35k the hiace should still be better than it is.

[ebxr8240]

Yes it seems they have fixed the drive by wire issues .LOL..

[Stoney!]

It's a shame to hear they deviated from VW as im sure the Hiaces large. breathless donk would be heavier on fuel, specially now with the vee dubs ultra efficient 2 litre twin turbo.

But.... ppl see a smaller asking price and dive for it, quality costs money!

Stoney!

[Dr Smith]

I currently own a MY07 T5 90,000km which replaced a 1997 T4 with 300,000km and before that it was a Mazda E2000 and before that a Nissan Urvan...as long as I can afford to pay the repayments on the VW it will be my one and only choice...900kg in the back, trailer with 1200+ kg. I have 20cm of space between my shoulder and the side glass or over 1m of bonnet/dash to my knees which counts for huge safety on top of ESP, 6 airbags and 128kW/400nm. In those 3 years I've averaged 10.2L/100km for a van that has a tare of just under 2000kg and is a six speed auto..

[Iggypoppin']

Can't say the hiace is a big choice of van for the tradies at work. The VW models are a BIG hit, albeit they do cost a tad more to take care of. I must say though, there are quite a few Toyota owners who refuse to upgrade to a VW van equivelant just because "it's a Toyota so it's better". Such a horrible mentality to have. The VW owners have few complaints and enjoy the van/working with the van much more. Mercedes also have a large following with the blokes I chat to day to day. The quality and comfort is far and beyond better than toyotas; I would expect this from a van manufactured by Mercedes though. But vw know what they are doing. Suffer the servicing costs, you'll thank yourself later.

[Stoney!]

Originally Posted by Iggypoppin'

Can't say the hiace is a big choice of van for the tradies at work. The VW models are a BIG hit, albeit they do cost a tad more to take care of. I must say though, there are quite a few Toyota owners who refuse to upgrade to a VW van equivelant just because "it's a Toyota so it's better". Such a horrible mentality to have. The VW owners have few complaints and enjoy the van/working with the van much more. Mercedes also have a large following with the blokes I chat to day to day. The quality and comfort is far and beyond better than toyotas; I would expect this from a van manufactured by Mercedes though. But vw know what they are doing. Suffer the servicing costs, you'll thank yourself later.

Well said, Mercedes vans are good yes, some can be had with their gutsy 3.0 TD V6 which im sure would be a lovely smooth peice of machinery.

Stoney!

[smoo]

Originally Posted by Stoney!

Well said, Mercedes vans are good yes, some can be had with their gutsy 3.0 TD V6 which im sure would be a lovely smooth peice of machinery.

Stoney!

Yeah 200 hp, would haul ****. I read the other day Mercedes are bring out 250hp in their Vito and Sprinters?! Being Iveco agents we get a few Iveco Daily 170hp 6 spd vans in at work which are about as big as they get, and go pretty well, but 250hp would be unreal.

Some people have their heads so far up their **** they think the Japs make the best cars, namely Totota. All you have to do is compare them to the German Toyota (VW) to see how far behind the times they really are. Too bad a lot of people put down their hard earnt before they realise. Will be interesting to check out the new VW ute when it eventually arrives.

[Franco Cozzo]

Did you give the Hyundai iLoad a go?

[russxr67]

Originally Posted by Big Damo

Did you give the Hyundai iLoad a go?

I did, am I am loving it.

Never thought i would own a Hyundai but after taking a demo turbo diesel for a drive i was sold.

SO much better than the Toyota Hiace it replaced it's not funny. It goes hard,stops well but more importantly drives amazingly well for a van. It was about 7K cheaper than the equivalent model in Toyota. 5 years warranty too.

One of the guys i work with has the VW van and had some problems with the auto at 160,000. Cost 4k to fix

[Action71]

Originally Posted by russxr67

I did, am I am loving it.

Never thought i would own a Hyundai but after taking a demo turbo diesel for a drive i was sold.

SO much better than the Toyota Hiace it replaced it's not funny. It goes hard,stops well but more importantly drives amazingly well for a van. It was about 7K cheaper than the equivalent model in Toyota. 5 years warranty too.

One of the guys i work with has the VW van and had some problems with the auto at 160,000. Cost 4k to fix

+1

They are a mighty van for the price. Had mine for 4 months now.....a very happy Hyundai owner - never thought I would say that 6 months ago.

BTW, I was unable to find a dedicated iLOAD forum so I just kicked off my own, hope the mods don't mind me giving it a plug here.

http://iload.freeforums.org/index.php

[JC]

Originally Posted by lamborghinifan

Well for the last 5 years I've had a number of work vans, all VW's all Turbo Diesel. 2001-2009 models, FWD, + AWD. great to drive, never really thought too much about them. lots of little and big things have gone wrong with them and they are expensive to service and repair. about 45-50k to buy new.

bosses got sick of the expense and I was given a new '10 Toyota Hiace, 3.0 Turbo Diesel, LWB. About 35k to buy, $150 fixed 5 year servicing.

i never appreciated the VW's until now.
After 10,000k's:-

RWD is good, turning circle is fantastic, AC good, seats relatively comfortable. driving position overall ok. no bonnet to speak of is unnerving though. electric windows good. the cargo area is very functional

lack of cruise/c annoying, middle seat only useful for midgets or people up to about 165cm and quite skinny- it would also best be described as a "bench." bluetooth audio is so bad it is unusable- even after software upgrades.

3.0 TD is very torquey but is 9 years behind the equivalent VW. very slow, and i'm barely convinced it is a turbo. it is very hard to feel it kick in. overtaking is now a luxury i can rarely acheive. nothing above 105 ish. needs a 6th gear- maybe.

and for the really bad bits. the ride is simply awful. it lurches about, it finds ruts corrugations, bumps that in any other vehicle i'd be pressed to notice. any puff of wind on top of this and it becomes simply dangerous. at any given time unexpectedly it can lurch a foot either side. on one country trip i had the wheel at a 10-15 degree angle into the wind and at any wind break, such as a tree it would dive in the direction of the wheel. this coupled with having no bonnet scares me.

i've hauled many different loads all across the country, overloaded utes, caravans, old cars, new cars. i'd rather tow the caravan.

it has about 500kg permanantly, mostly sitting low. removing the ladders makes only a little difference.

has anyone else had this experience? the slowness i can live with, but the lurching/wind etc. any suspension upgrades help? airbags? even different profile or width tyres/rims. (old territory rims mmmm).

any suggestions would be great. but the purpose is not to toyota bash, please.
.
thanks ed.

Lower it and fit some 20s - that'll sort it out.