Toyota HiLux for life

The Toyota HiLux has taken the number-one spot as Australia’s most popular vehicle many times in recent years, but this is a ute that has been part of life for generations of Australians for much longer than that.

We talk to three owners for whom the Toyota HiLux has served their family as a reliable, and durable, companion that has kept on exceeding expectations.

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Lawrence's 1987 HiLux dual-cab

For Lawrence De Pasquale, from Yass River NSW, 1970s and 1980s HiLuxes are what he is most drawn to, even if his family also owns more ‘modern’ Toyotas.

Like many, Lawrence’s HiLux story started young. When he was growing up, he travelled in the back seat of his parents’ 1985 HiLux dual-cab on family holidays deep into remote Australia.

“My parents had a 1985 LN65 dual-cab that we used to travel central Australia and the Victorian High Country with; that’s what started my passion for the HiLux all those years ago,” says Lawrence.

Lawrence bought his first own HiLux – a 1981 model – about 15 years ago and now owns four of them. Two of the utes (both RN46 1981 models) are part of a restoration project while an RN65 serves as a parts vehicle.

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Taking pride of place in Lawrence’s collection is an LN65 1987 HiLux dual-cab, which he has owned for five years.

“It belonged to a guy I worked with. I hounded him to sell it to me for about seven years! Eventually, he did, and I used it as a daily [driver] to begin with.”

The reason Lawrence has so many HiLuxes (and has no plans to move any of them on)?

“I like [HiLuxes] because they’re easy to work on and they’re reliable. Off-road, it’s just the lightness of them, they’re just more nimble, and don’t slide off the track as easily as a bigger, heavier vehicle.”

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Chris's 2023 HiLux Rogue

Chris Frizell from country South Australia doesn’t have a large HiLux collection, but it’s a model he has returned to time and again over more than 40 years.

From his first HiLux in 1980, Chris is now up to his fourth – a new HiLux Rogue.

He says what drew him to Toyotas initially was the sheer number of them around him in his formative years.

“When I was growing up, everyone I knew had a Toyota. It goes back a long way. It seemed like just about everyone back then had a yellow Corolla.”

Chris didn’t buy a HiLux as his first vehicle, but it was close. As he knew many people with good Toyota experiences, it seemed natural that his first car was a Toyota Celica. Chris would later buy another Celica, which proved to be just as good as the first.

But when Chris was 19 and working as a merchant seaman, he saw a new 4WD HiLux on the docks at Port Adelaide that ended up being transported on a ship he was working on.

With Chris becoming more interested in doing some camping and off-road motorcycling, he decided to have a closer look at the new 4WD HiLux – a more practical alternative to his Celica. That curiosity began a life-long appreciation for the HiLux that continues today.

Not long after, Chris walked into CMI, the local Toyota dealer, and bought a new 1980 2.0 18R petrol HiLux SWB (short wheelbase), one of the first ‘shorties’ in South Australia.

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Chris would end up being hugely impressed by the HiLux’s reliability and durability.

“I did 200,000-plus kilometres in that thing and didn’t spend a cent on it for extra maintenance.”

One thing that the HiLux has done for Chris is open the door wide to the great Aussie bush. His HiLux regularly took him all around the bush tracks of South Australia, including the Flinders Ranges and Gammon Ranges.

“It opened up possibilities for fishing, camping, getting out on the motorbike. You could go anywhere."

“In the late 1980s, I traded that in on the HiLux Extra Cab. That was also a petrol – a 2.2-litre [with] five-speed [transmission] and very reliable. That sort of experience brought me back to Toyotas. Then around 2005, I bought another HiLux: a Twin Cab 3.0 turbo-diesel. That was a good car, too.”

After a time driving other vehicles from other brands, Chris recently bought a 2023 Toyota HiLux Rogue. “I just keep going back to the HiLux. This Rogue I just bought will be my last car I reckon; it’ll last me until I can’t drive anymore, that’s for sure.”

What drew Chris back to the HiLux is his experience with the model over many years.

“I’ve been all over the place, done various things in HiLuxes and I’ve never had any dramas with them. I never had a problem mechanically, and I’ve given them a fair old hiding over the years – especially the first one,” he says.

Chris has seen big changes with the HiLux since he first walked into that CMI showroom all those years ago – except for in one area.

“I think what has changed the most is the technology and safety features,” he says. “From the 1980s petrol four-speed manual with nothing but seatbelts to the Rogue with four-wheel discs, [crash] avoidance technology, driver aids and the sound system. Still tough, but much, much better.”

What Chris likes most about his HiLux experience is that he knows the ute is going to do exactly what is says on the tin, every time. “Basically, I know I can get in [a HiLux], drive it, and it’s not going to let me down; they don’t fall apart. It’s been a good journey.”

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Charlie's 1998 HiLux SR5

For Sydneysider Charlie Munns, his mum’s 1998 HiLux SR5 has become more than just the family car. It has been around so long that it has become part of the family, as he explains.

“It was the first car I ever knew. Mum bought it brand new in Sydney in 1998, before I was born. It’s been the main family car we’ve had ever since. Mum decided that she liked that model through friends who had them, while dad had a previous-generation live-axle single-cab HiLux for his work, and that’s what solidified the reputation for the model. She wanted something reliable and dependable.”

Charlie said the ute was one that the family expected to keep a long time, so they wanted something a little different, a little special. “It was a car that was hard to find in that Opal Metallic Green colour; in fact, that was the only one at that time in the country. It was sourced from the Bathurst area.”

The Munns’ HiLux has been used as an urban run-about and holiday tow-hauler ever since.

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“We used to tow our sailfish catamaran to Port Stephens and back for the annual holidays for 20 years," Charlie says.

"When I was young I was quite ill, and that car got us to the hospital and back, even at three in the morning – we could rely on the car. It’s got a bit of family fabric to it.”

The HiLux has just less than 290,000km on the odometer now, and while Charlie says it’s had a bit of a cosmetic birthday, it’s mostly original.

Charlie sums up what it’s like to live with a HiLux for as long as he can remember.

“From a lifetime experience, we’ve had the same Toyota for 25 years, and it’s not just a car, it’s become a dependable part of the family. It’s always been the go-to car if we need to get something done."

“The idea is that I’ll take over ownership of the HiLux in many years’ time, and for it to stay in the family. There are no plans to sell.”