Gday.
I recently bought a 2014 5 speed manual 4wd Triton dual cab. Never had a Triton before but have 5 Magnas since 2003. 3 of them being Awd's (still have one) Over that time have had a great run from the Magnas so hopefully the Triton will give similar service.
I've also had (way back in the day) a 1982 Datson 720 ute and 2 Navara utes more recently. Have never had a 4wd and wasnt really looking for one now. The current Navara is a 2001 model and the only safety features are a bit of a crumple zone in the front of the chassis and seat belts. I'm almost 60 and whilst my reflexes are still good atm whose to say what they will be like in the next few years so we decided to get something a bit more modern with abs brakes, air bags etc etc.
As I said above, I wasnt particularly looking for a 4wd or a 2wd that looked like a 4wd, which pretty much narrowed the search doewn to a Hilux but when I started looking at prices being asked for cars with reasonable klms on them, I revised what we were looking at.
I'd started looking at used Tritons, (after a very expensive divource some years ago, new is out of the question) expecting to pay in the early$20K's for something with 100,000klm on it. Anyway a couple of weeks ago I just happened to do a google search for Tritons for sale in our area and came across on ethat had just been listed on the Trading Post for $23K. We went and had a look and discovered that the old bloke had bought it new in Dec 2014, fitted, from new, a canopy, side steps window tint, towbar, trailer brake controller and auxilary battery and then had only put 20,000klm on it. He offered it to us for $22K. Under the bonnet looks like new. There are a few small marks here and there on the trim and paintwork but overall its in excellent condition.
So far (only done about 300klm) we are very happy with it though after not having driven a manual for over 6 years, getting used to a clutch and gearbox again took me a couple of hours. (you never really forget though) The difference between it and the old D22 Navara are like chalk and cheese.
Regards
Peter