BHPian logout<\/strong> recently shared this with other enthusiasts<\/p>\n A long term wish of owning a pick up came true finally with “The Red” coming home.<\/p>\n Wanted to replace my Endeavour and looked at Kodiaq, Fortuner and Jeep Meridian.<\/p>\n Kodiaq of course is the best of the lot for our needs but sales support was not good from Gurudev and Kun. I have already owned a Yeti and had a hard time with service and with sales experience itself being not great I had drop the idea.<\/p>\n Had a test drive of the Fortuner and the Hilux on the same day, back to back and found that Fortuner has a feel of driving a car, Hilux felt well built and heavy which was similar to LC200 which I had driven some time back. I’m not talking about the suspension but the overall build, appearance and ruggedness.<\/p>\n Meridian was very bland and uninspiring, it was comfortable in the 80-100km\/hr and above that the engine felt like it was straining extremely. I don’t know if the test drive vehicle was like that because the AC was also very bad. It was an easy decision to drop it.<\/p>\n So Hilux was the one left and though I was glad that I finally can buy a pickup, I had to convince my family due to the ride quality. But it was a big resounding NO from them.<\/p>\n After many days of discussions we decided to retain the Endeavour and buy Hilux as the 2nd option. So basically it is like Hilux is my personal vehicle<\/p>\n Initial impressions (comparisons are with my Endeavour 3.2AT):<\/p>\n Took a short drive to Cuddapah, around 700kms up & down.<\/p>\n I find that in the highway, above 80kmph, the ride quality becomes smooth. Overtaking is a breeze.<\/p>\n Small potholes & patches have to be taken at around 40kmph while in Endeavour I used to go at 60kmph.<\/p>\n In the narrow roads we have to be conscious about the length.<\/p>\n In the city it is amazing that there is no lag when we start from the signal, in Endeavour there is a lag and by the time we accelerate an autowallah would have come from the side to the front.<\/p>\n Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.<\/p>\n\n