by HK1837 on Wed, 28 May 2014 10:42 +0000
I have been looking at replacing my 2011 V6 auto SR5 as it is 3 years old in July. I only bought the SR5 as I wanted the curtain airbags and ABS as the SR didn't have them back then. Main reason for going for the bigger engine was it came with the A750F 5spd auto, diesel only had the cr@ppy 4spd auto. So have been looking at 2013 plate, 2014 compliance SR's. Manuals are very cheap especially in cab-chassis. You can pick them up for $37k drive away (plus tray). Utes $38k in 7/2103 plate MY12 model with VSC pack. $39,500 for My14 manual ute. Cheapest auto MY14 ute I've found is $40,990 but there are some 7/2103 examples around you'll get for $37,500 except they are the awful 4spd auto. I did find a good engine MY12 7/2013 plate SR ute (V6 auto) but they won't budge below $38,500 which even though it has the good engine it is probably the hardest car to sell in 3 years time (SR, no VSC, V6 and auto and 7/2013 plate in old sepc) so resale wise not a wise choice despite how much better the petrol engine versions are than the diesels (I only do 15,000kM pa so the few hundred in fuel savings is not worth the pain of having to put up with the diesel).
So if I can find a MY14 SR auto ute cheap enough I may buy it, and put my 17" Speedy Prado wheels, big tranny cooler, tranny temperature gauge, sheepskin seat covers, floor mats, weathershields, towbar etc on the new one. Only hassle is my Eclipse AVN726EA unit won't work in the MY14 so may have to sell it and get Carbon Car System's sat-nav and reverse camera. Otherwise i'll keep the SR5 V6 and put a tray on it.