Your questions answered: Is there a new Toyota HiLux coming soon?

We’ve well and truly passed the ‘Happy New Year’ stage and have settled into another round of new cars and imminent new arrivals for 2023.

Given the EV excitement of 2022 – where a record 33,410 new EVs hit the road – this week’s carsales email inbox shows there’s still enthusiasm swirling around going electric.

There’s also some trepidation around charging as the queues at many public recharging stations over the summer holidays expose the weak points in Australia’s fledgling EV infrastructure.

We’ve also got more Toyota RAV4 Hybrid interest this week as well as someone looking to trade in their V8 Holden Commodore for a family car with more badge cred.

And given all the attention around the new Ford Ranger, Toyota buyers are rightly asking about HiLux…

Question:

Answer: Toyota recently made some tweaks to the HiLux to provide some resilience to the Ranger, which is a better car on every measure except the one Toyota pushes so hard: reliability. Even then, we don’t know that the HiLux has an edge over the new Ranger, because the latest Ranger hasn’t even been on the road for a year.

That’s something that will come after many millions of kilometres have passed under the wheels of many thousands of cars.

As for other changes to the HiLux, the main one is the widening of the track on the Rogue model.

That same broader footprint will apply to the new Toyota HiLux GR Sport (which replaces the Rugged X), which also gets a more powerful diesel engine.

But a new-generation Toyota HiLux isn’t expected to surface until at least 2024 and it’s not certain whether it will be available with V6 power in the form of the Japanese brand’s new 3.3-litre twin-turbo diesel.

Question: Every year I wait in hope that I’ll finally be able to afford an electric vehicle. Now that the calendar has ticked over to 2023 I’m wondering if this will be the year? Will we finally get some cheap EVs in Australia? – Morgan H

Answer: Cheaper, yes. Cheap, no. Sorry to be so blunt, but the cost of batteries means that EVs are still relatively expensive to manufacture. That’s why there tends to be a price premium over regular internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

That said, the price differential between EV and ICE is swinging in favour of the electric vehicles, in part because prices of ICE vehicles are rising.

We’re also expecting a lot more EVs in the country this year, both in terms of the models on offer and the volume of each. That competition could sharpen prices and even lead to some deals throughout the year, the latter dependent on consumer demand (the more cars a manufacturer is struggling to sell, the more likely they’ll sweeten the deal).

Some of the newcomers that will play in the budget end of the market include the GWM Ora and BYD Dolphin. That said, we wouldn’t expect much change from $40K for each.

Question: I have been wondering and asking for ages but never got a good answer, why are cars serviced by kilometres rather than hours? I live in the country and mostly do highway k’s. Surely there is a lot less wear and tear on a car humming along the highways than stopping and starting in the city. – Rob E

Answer: You’re right that highway running is kinder on mechanicals than stop/start/city running, except perhaps for wheel bearings… That’s because on a freeway the engine will be at the low to middle engine revs in a high gear, so the cylinders won’t need to fire as much (and the crankshaft won’t need to turn as much) as it would around town. But the wheels are still turning quickly, hence the mention of bearings.

And we certainly have reservations about the longevity of starter motors in cars fitted with idle-stop systems, whether or not car-makers fit beefier units and claim they can handle a higher number of duty cycles as a result.

Some car brands do have usage-based service schedules, such as BMW, but bear in mind all others require servicing within both set distance and time periods.

We recently asked Toyota whether it would consider lengthening the six-month/10,000km service intervals that apply to its commercial vehicles and 4WDs. Short story is they’re likely to stay as they are because Toyota says it needs to account for those people who will be putting the vehicles under stress (towing, lugging heavy loads, driving off-road, etc).

In other words, the short service intervals are designed for the worst-case scenario (even then, a lot of brands call for more frequent servicing if you’re using a vehicle under harsh conditions).

We suspect that’s why most brands stick to a kilometre servicing limit. It’s a relatively easy way to ensure all cars get serviced at the suitable time, even if they’re having the oil changed sooner than it may really need to be done.

Question:

Answer: We sure can, happy to assist. The BMW M3 and Alpina B3 are quite similar in their mechanical make-up but different in character. The Alpina is more relaxed with softer suspension, a quieter exhaust and torquier power delivery, whereas the M3 is ‘racier’, but to be honest still more than liveable now it has adaptive suspension and a torque-converter auto gearbox.

Coming from a pre-facelift Mercedes-AMG C 63 S wagon (which had a very firm ride), I think you'd find even the M3 softer and more comfortable, as well as extraordinarily fast thanks to all-wheel drive, whereas you might find the B3 a bit too soft.

Just to throw a curveball into the mix, the Audi RS 4 has been around a few years now but remains a very good car and about $40K cheaper than the M3 Touring. It’d at least be worth consideration.

And for an even curvier ball have a look at the Genesis G70 3.3T wagon. It’s not quite as fiery as a C 63 or an M3, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had from the twin-turbo V6.

Question: I’m looking for some advice regarding our cars. Although my husband adores his Commodore, we (he!) have realised it isn’t as family friendly as we had anticipated with young kids and we are looking to sell it for another sedan.

I don’t know too much about cars, but it is a white manual SS-V 2016 Holden Commodore Redline. I think kms are around 80,000. We have only had it a couple of years so are hoping to get as much as possible on a sale/swap for another type of sedan. We haven’t sold many cars privately at this $ level so I’m not sure if that is the best way to look at selling, or a trade in. What would your thoughts be on selling it? Is there a large private market for these cars still? Is a trade-in a waste?

As for a car to replace it, we want a sedan, not an SUV, and are looking at second-hand examples for $45-50K. At this stage we’re considering a variety of mid-sized luxury models. – Caitlin R

Answer: There’s a very healthy market for the last of the locally-built V8-powered Holden Commodores at the moment. You’re likely to get more selling it privately, and there’s sure to be plenty of private buyer interest, but you’ll also get plenty of interest from dealers when you advertise it.

Short story is you should have no issue selling it. Don’t go crazy on the price, but aim for something healthy.

As for something to replace it with, obviously you’ll be going backwards on price. But there’s still lots of very decent buying.

If you can get a G20 BMW 3 Series it’s a really good thing. It’s a previous carsales Car of the Year winner and would be the best to drive of the later-model luxury sedans.

The Volvo S60 and V60 are also worth a look. Not as slick to drive as the BMW but a bit more space and a classy interior.

For a left-fielder we’d also throw a Tesla Model 3 into the mix. Yes, a new one will cost more, but by the time you get a state-based EV rebate you’ll get one new for around $60K – plus there’s no stamp duty. And if you can package the financing up through your work you may be able to avoid paying fringe benefits tax (FBT) by taking advantage of the government’s recently announced Electric Car Discount Bill.

Question: I was considering buying an electric car but have been put off by some of the queues I read about at charging stations over the Christmas period. Isn’t this just an admission that we’re not really ready for EVs? Am I going to end up having to wait every time I head out of town? – Jane C

Answer: We’re still in the infancy of EVs in Australia and there are certainly still challenges ahead. Chief among those is charging when you’re on a road trip.

Unlike petrol/diesel cars, many EV owners will do all their charging at home. It’s only when they head more than a few hundred kilometres from home that they’ll need look at public charging alternatives.

And, yes, some of the public charging stations had queues on the busier days over the recent break.

Blame it on numbers. The 33,400 new EVs sold last year represent a 60 per cent jump in the total number of EVs on our roads. The relatively modest public charging network struggled to keep up when lots of them were out and about.

It wasn’t helped by some of the higher-powered faster charging stations not working. We’ve experienced some of those 350kW ones not working. Once that happens you end up with EVs that would only have needed to stop for 15-20 minutes suddenly needing to stop for much longer at a nearby slower charger. That compounds the charging problems.

We’d expect these EV issues to be relatively short-lived. Governments around the country are pumping hundreds of millions into charging infrastructure and private industry is following suit.

So we’d expect to see many more fast chargers open up throughout 2023.

That said, in this adjustment period you need to be prepared for some short-term charging pain here and there. Maybe leave a bit earlier or factor in an hour or two of charging.

Question:

Answer: The Toyota RAV4 Hybrid still has the best overall drivetrain for an everyday SUV. It’s nothing special in terms of excitement or performance but provides a terrific blend of liveability and low fuel use. Hence its appeal in a market segment that has been surprisingly short on decent hybrid options.

But in its entirety the car is not the slam dunk it was a couple of years ago. Blame it on age, which is wearying the cabin against fresher competition including the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and recently-arrived Nissan X-TRAIL. The RAV4 has also been given some price rises that have partially diluted its appeal.

There’s also the very real challenge of getting hold of one. In hybrid guise the RAV4 has been hot property and some would-be buyers have been quoted 18 months or more to take delivery. We’re expecting a new model around then, so there’s a chance some people ordering a new one may never actually take delivery of the model currently in dealerships.

So, yes, a RAV4 Hybrid is a great five-seat SUV option. And if you can get hold of the hybrid soon-ish then it’d certainly be worth considering.

But there’s also the Nissan X-TRAIL e-POWER hybrid due soon. It works very differently to the Toyota hybrid system because e-POWER only ever uses electric motors to drive the wheels; the petrol engine is purely a generator used to create electricity.

As for non-hybrid alternatives, the Kia Sportage took the gong in carsales’ most recent Best Mid-Size SUV mega-test.

Got a question but don’t know where to find the information you need? Email us at editor@carsales.com.au

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