Ok this might be a long story...
Well when I met my Husband to be he had a Landcruiser Ute (when I was a kid I remember saying I wanted a jeep or toyota troopy "when I grow up", my first car turned out to be a 2 door honda that didn't like the rain much
).
Anyhow moving on I think it was on our honeymoon we decided we might have a big family so the honeymoon was actually kind of cut short to go car shopping in Perth, we traded in the ute for a Landcruiser Troopie!
Then after the first kid came along reality set in (no longer wanted to have 9 of them Lol) and we promptly traded the Troopie for a 80 Series Landcruiser....much better, don't have to climb over the groceries to get the kid out!
Add another kid a few interstate moves and a flash new camper, now we needed a 2nd car for the first time. So add another Toyota Landcruiser Ute to the family.
Well a change in camper trailers and then again a move interstate (NSW to WA) saw us trading in the 80 series for a Subaru Forrester, that wasn't well researched and basically done to save the hassle of transferring the 80 (before the new laws came in doh, it was a bit porky on the weight). So I think we traded it to the first dealer that wanted it, and figured we'd save on fuel anyway (that was the recession and fuel prices were through the roof, particularly diesel). At that stage good buy camper trailer because we were building and needed the money plus it was a 4x4 model that the suby couldn't tow too well.
Anyway not long after that we figured we really werent softroader types.... I mean the Subi isn't a real 4x4 yet it's not a normal car either, so hello Toyota Hilux (fits the two kids and I can take the bins to the tip). Should have kept that camper now!
In the meantime the ute he had brought in NSW wans't that great as a long term keeper so he upgraded that, same thing expept in top nick and turbo diesel.
Hello a bit of financial hardship (probably thanks to that flash ute as well as building a house etc etc) so goodbye Hilux. That was replaced with a cheap car (my current Daihatsu).
And now we're about to say good bye Landcruiser Ute, can't really bear to have it sitting in the shed for about 10 years until we retire. It really bugs me that the only 4x4 we have we can't all jump in and go camping somewhere or just for an offroad adventure etc, and especially since Landcruiser man brought a cheap car that's cheaper on fuel for him to drive to and from work.
I must say we were actually going to keep it and possibly get another 4x4 good as a daily driver for me and for trips as a family, but that would still mean having three cars two of which are 4x4's. The only saving grace was that we test drove something that Landcruiser man would be happy to trade his beloved for!
Now we thought about Dual Cabs but I think I've finally given in to the fact that for camping we'll have to tow a trailer regardless, and having had the Hilux dual cab albeit an older style I'm still not sure I want to go back there. So now we're looking at buying a Jeep Wrangler...wohooo! Besides Hubby said he could see himself in that after the kids leave home so whatever converts a Landcruiser man I've got to be happy with that! Me well I've always loved jeeps and I was as impressed with the test drive as I was with the looks, and with that regard I had my doubts I thought the Jeep would just be one of those cars that you love from the outside but in reality would probably never really want to own (like the new Mini Cooper for example). And to be fair we test drove the Mitsubishi Triton too, I love that on paper and the looks however after a test drive it just left me really unimpressed, too modern I suppose, the BT 50 was better but nothing like the Jeep, after going for a drive in the Jeep I just couldn't wipe the smile off my face!
So if it all goes well we'll be halfway there, next thing when finances allow will be to think about some sort of trailer set up, probably not a camper trailer as such but we'll see.
Now perhaps we should have kept that Troopy into which we put a Brunswicks Chev and as a result lost a lot of money trading in in a hurry to buy the 80 before moving states! And then perhaps we should have kept that 80, but even so that would have been getting a bit long in the tooth (it was a 91 model I think). I definitely know we shouldn't have brought the Subaru and probably shouldn't have brought the Hilux (considering Hubby's always called them "****luxes"). But at least we came to our senses when we considered converting his Cruiser Ute into a dual cab, that would have been a lot of money down the drain and it's what prompted us to look into just buying a 4x4 instead.
I think there is always a method to ones madness, I don't really regret owning any of the 4x4's, maybe regreat all the money lost during the process though. But things just seem to have their own way of working out in the end, so if it's meant to be it probably will be. But in the end I guess DH will always be a "Cruizer" man at heart. Hmmm well time will tell on that one!
So yeah perhaps we have been loyal to the Toyota brand and even when we buy the Jeep I've been told I'm not to utter the Nissan word in this house, I know that's definitely not on any consideration list (unfortunately). In my opinion it's just too hard to look past value for money these days. Granted most 4x4's seem to be going the same way and prices are incredibly expensive, but you know for $40-$50k we can get a pretty kitted out and capable Wrangler compared to maybe scratching the surface in any Toyota and most definitely having to look at used models. Well we could literally swap a 5yr old ute for a new wrangler (if we were going for the sport model). In my opinion only Toyota was a brand to beat but I think these days the playing field has leveled a lot more except for maybe the price.
