Hi to everyone that knows us from our various journeys throughout Australia and to new friends made overseas as well. Some of you may even know us from many forums, but as some of you are new to us and that of My Aussie Travel Guide, we thought we would take this time to bring you up to speed with our vehicles.
Well our NT Pajero as modified as it was and kitted out for touring has served us well, but we have decided that it’s now time we put together a special purpose touring vehicle that’s dedicated to getting us to all those special iconic and remote places. But a major factor has been the set up needs to have all the equipment on board for ease of use.
So join us in a “day in the life” of buying our new vehicle!
We started our research back in 2013 when we returned from a Gibb River Road adventure after considering whether would we get a Wagon or a Ute. We eventually decided on a Ute, particularly when it comes to storage and ease of use.
Decisions, Decisions….
Now for the type of Ute; it had to meet some criteria…it needed to have a minimum 3 tonne towing capacity, but still have good ball weight carrying at 3000 tonne, ie 300kgs minimum. Then we needed it to be able to handle the terrain we will push it through, so aftermarket accessories are a must, and of course, maximum payload stock after being modified.
It ended up coming down to one of these four Cab Chassis vehicles – a Ford Ranger, Isuzu, Patrol, or Toyota.
So after close analysis, we won’t take (bore) you through the decision matrix just now, but in the end, the 79 Series Toyota Cab Chassis won out…so let the search begin!
Next step was to visit a Toyota dealer for an inspection and get some questions answered in relation to the model line-up, options, availability, and price. After receiving sticker shock from the price!!, we left the showroom pondering our decision to go this way.
Break out the calculator!
We revisited the budget and wish list and decided we would now see what the secondhand market had to offer. So for a number of weeks, we would wake to daily Cars Guide and Cars Sales alerts, and each day another entry to the spreadsheet. We made the occasional phone call and looked at a vehicle close by, but nothing was working for us. It seemed like we were never going to find something that matched our budget and/or fitted our criteria. Basically, a higher price must meet all the “fruit” when it comes to accessories, a lower price is fine, but needs to meet our quality mechanical criteria, and then we would add the accessories = Answer…it’s not working to plan!!!
Ok, we were now back to looking at buying new, and revisiting our must/wants lists as timing for the vehicle to be completed now was coming into the equation. (Sounds like another adventure is in the planning)!
So did we eventually order that new vehicle? Our next blog will reveal all!