Had one for 3.5 years bought new in 2007...luckily ordered 2 weeks before that top gear special, so got a discount, auto box is one of the smoothest and a pleasure to drive, never heard anyone complain about the box before.

They hold their money, so you will have to pay well for a used one unless its battered and neglected, we got over 2/3rds of new cost back after 3.5 years selling direct to a trader (not a trade in), but the vehicle was as good as new and had been meticlously maintained.

They hold the money becuase compared to some of the others they are bombproof.

Ours didn't give any trouble, but the injectors were replaced under goodwill just out of warranty due to developing a well known injector rattle.

Unless they have been replaced with the modified type (ours were at the time), you really want an 08 plate or later, prior to 08 the injectors had certain seating washers that can leak, allowing blow by leading to carbon build up in the crankcase, this can lead to the oil strainer becoming blocked and has led to engine failure (Landcruiser with this engine similarly affected), Toyota have been generous with goodwill providing the vehicle has been serviced, but its something that needs checking as 07's are now 7 years old so goodwill won't be everlasting.

The 3.0 litre suffers more with this blow by problem than the 2.5.

Check underneath, the chassis isn't painted well so expect rust, exhaust rusts too.

You have to run very good tyres on these, they are tail happy skittish in the wet, Invincible spec especially which has limited slip rear diff which makes it very prone to slinging the tail out on wet roads empty, i discarded and sold on 2 sets of tyres incuding the OE tat before i found a make good enough.

Would i have another, yes, but 30mpg or less is the realistic figure and considerably less if you hammer it, i'd probably find a low mileage VIGO grey import with the 2.7 V6 petrol and get it LPG converted instead, plenty of room beside the chassis for one or possibly two 100 litre LPG tanks.

If i was buying a normal UK model i would go for an 08 to 10 HL3 3 litre auto, no LSD so less inclined to sling the tail out on wet roads, Invincible will cost more for basically a built in satnav, cruise and that LSD.

Newer model Invincibles have changed a lot, now feature various traction controls and climate control etc, which i personally would avoid as unecessary complexity on a commercial vehicle, others may disagree.

I really am most grateful for letting me have your experiences.

Most peoples opinion isw that these Hi luxs are bulletproof and that is why we see them on the TV news driven by rebel forces with guns monted on the back.

\Theb one I am looking at is a 60 plate auto with 45K and is on for £13500 plus VAT.

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Forgot to say you can get all the info you`ll need from the Hilux Pickup Owners Club forum, see you there !

www.hpoc.co.uk/community/

The Nissan Navara (post 2005, the D40 model, 2.5 diesel) was pretty good to drive, SWMBO had one for work for a couple of years. The rear seats (and this is true for almost all of these pickups) aren't that comfortable for adults, the knee-to-foot drop isn't that great, so people end up sitting with knees up in the air if tall.

The biggest problem I think they had with those was the fact that they were almost over-powered. Company car drivers used to go through halfshafts pretty regularly, the torque was that huge on them. SWMBO never managed that, but then again, she drives quite sensibly.

Over 2 years/30k miles, she averaged 33-35 mpg, which we thought was pretty respectable.

A friend has a Mitsubishi L200 (2008), and loves it. It's got about 120k on it, and nothing has broken on it at all so far. But he's a HGV mechanic, so it gets plenty of care and attention, which I'm sure helps to reduce wear and tear.