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Thread: Are you looking for a new bakkie?

  1. #1
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    Are you looking for a new bakkie?

    Well, I was a couple of weeks ago - so did a bit of running around and research. Who knows, maybe it will help some one out there. Before getting one i was using my wifes car (2004 palio - now 191K km) and my old bakkie (bantam 1989 195k km) and got to the point where one or both cars where about to die. I do not do a huge amount of kms a year, around 10K for business, most of which are on the highway. I do not carry heavy items, but often quite bulky - boxes of shoes ect. I am Vat resisted so decided to take advantage of that (otherwise would have confided a toyota avanza) and by a bakkie and claim the vat back. 1 tonners are too expensive and running costs (petrol consumption) too high. I wanted air -con. So looked at the half tonners - bantam, corsa and nissan np200.

    I quick scan of the internet shows the Nissan is junk - so toss that.

    Quite even between the bantam and the corsa - bantam quite a bit cheaper but they have stopped making them (why I do not know), not a big problem though - you will still get parts for many years to come - and being a ford they are reasonable + servicing is also reasonable and cheaper than the Corsa's running costs. After test driving decided bantam was the way to go..........but then.

    Enter the Daihatsu Gran max. They had an advert on TV saying they where giving a free canopy, so decided to go have a look (before it was just out my price range).

    It's quite hard to compare the Gran Max to a half tonner - but because of the price I will.

    Bantam - more comfortable (as in sitting) and looks nicer, (Gran Max is a bit of a pig) and service intervals are longer 15000km instead of 10000Km. Parts will be cheaper and easier to obtain.

    Both should be fairly reliable - the Gran Max is a toyota in other parts of the world and the same engine is in Toyota's avanza 1.5.

    The gran Max has a much bigger, flat (no wheel arches) load bed. It's also got drop sides (only usefull with the canopy off, but uses full all the same!). Great fuel economy - they say 7.5l 100kms ( we will see) and carries 1 ton (bantam 600km). I would say if both had standard canopies on - the gran max would carry double the volume of a standard 1/2 ton. I am very tall - 6 foot 6, so NO bakkie is going to be great and the bantam or corsa would be better than the gran max, but it's not too bad. Did around 200km yesterday and it was ok.

    Anyway, decided as it is for deliveries, to go with the gran max - that huge load bed was just too tempting. Bought the hi spec with aircon, abs, 2 airbags, canopy, rubberized, immobilizer, tow bar and JVC usb/cd for just under R140K - same price as a new corsa 1.4 club.

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    Gold Member Martinco's Avatar
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    Great !

    I hope it will give you many years/kms of trouble free service. Please, if it does not. post it back on the forum so we all know
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    ever want a reliable bakkie...an 1800 courier or mazda b1800...had 2...the first one i bought brand new for R27000 and i sold with almost 450 000 km on the clock...total expensies including new tyres a radiator and a start motor...not even R15000.

    bought my second one...second hand for R10 000 with lots of mileage...body in bad shape...went to pirate part shop bought new panels for a couple hundred bucks...and relplaced the motor with an import...spent about 10 000 in total motor...body parts and spray job...ran up the mileage never gave me a days trouble sold the vehicle 6 years later for 6000 more than i paid for it...the only thing to carry as a spare is a condenser...other than that these vehicles in my opinion for the price is the best value for money...i do realise a 2.4 hilux diesel bakkie is the best most reliable vehicle but the 1800 for the price...comes a close second.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pap_sak View Post
    Quite even between the bantam and the corsa
    At first glance, perhaps. But wait until you have to replace the front brake discs. You have to press the wheel bearing - an absolutely ridiculous design flaw for a wearing part that needs to be replaced every 45 000km or so.

    And that about sums up the deep-down difference between the two i.m.o. The modern Corsa utility design is well-thought-out genius from beginning to end, the Bantam design is... not quite as smart.

    And the Corsa is a heck of a lot tougher than it looks.

    I've held onto a Corsa utility well past when I'd normally sell it to see how durable they really are. Over 265 000km of hard abuse so far and it's still nearly new. And I'm not kidding about the "hard abuse" part. That was the original reason I didn't sell it, I would have felt guilty passing it on knowing what it has been through.

    Now it has become a fascination. Just how far will it go before it starts giving major grief?

    In terms of "major" work that doesn't fall into the normal service cycle of the first 100 000km, so far we've had to replace the windscreen wiper motor, the water pump and the clutch. The clutch went at about 180 000km (we do pressure plate and thrust bearing as standard part of clutch replacement).

    Still doesn't even need an oil top-up between services.

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    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    I also consider myself a bit of a Corsa expert having several on the road. They're very rugged and reliable. The windscreen wiper shafts have a habit of seizing, I replaced 2 but I lube them regularly now and no further problems. I' ve never replaced a clutch yet on any but the highest mileage one is only at 185,000. One of them blows headlight bulbs regularly (every 6 months).
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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AndyD View Post
    The windscreen wiper shafts have a habit of seizing, I replaced 2 but I lube them regularly now and no further problems.
    I think I'm going to add that to our in-house maintenance routine. In fact, maybe we should recommend to GM that it is added to routine services.

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    I had to visit my other shops yesterday with stock and need to put up a sign (750 x 2400) so needed ladder and tools + 5 big boxes of stock, Gran Max was about 1/3 fill - love it! getting used to the "sit up and beg" sitting position, it's actually not bad - still wouldn't want to more than 300km a day regularly in it - but as said, I am pretty tall and find most cars cramped.

    Visibility to the right blind spot is non-existent, so will by one of those little mirrors from MIDAS

    Turning circle is fantastic, better than my old bantam or palio.

    Engine. Lot's of torque low down and quite perky from 0-60. Cruises quite happily at around 110km and sounds a bit strained at 130km, but that could just be me - I never like to push cars.

    If I traveled lot's of km's a day and/or carried 1ton on a regular basis I guess I could be wise to spend the extra and get the Hyudai/kia bakkies or for toughness hi-lux/isuzu's. And if you knew you did not need the extra space then the corsa for it's reliability and comfort. But if the gran max turns out to be reliable (it has a fairly good pedigree) then I think it will become like the L300 or the half loaf, an odd bakkie you wished you had bought at the time.

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    My first bakkie was a Opel Corsa and I was very impressed with the way it handled, the amount of people it could carry on the back as well as its fuel efficiency, but I guess it is all about the intended purpose with the bakkie. Hope you get all the performance you need from the Gran Max though.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    Sometimes it can be quite interesting when old threads get reawakened. In this case:
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave A View Post
    I've held onto a Corsa utility well past when I'd normally sell it to see how durable they really are. Over 265 000km of hard abuse so far and it's still nearly new. And I'm not kidding about the "hard abuse" part. That was the original reason I didn't sell it, I would have felt guilty passing it on knowing what it has been through.

    Now it has become a fascination. Just how far will it go before it starts giving major grief?
    Well, I finally sold that vehicle 2 months ago. About 430 000km on the clock. And the only thing that was really looking tired was the seats and the soft parts of the door interior panels.

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    And still have the Gran Max...just under 28,000km now. I have closed the business and did think of selling it and buying a half toner but the pro's of keeping it outweighed the con's. I only have two real con's - petrol consumption is around 10l/100km - so not great, but not terrible ether. And if I did travel long distances then a half toner would probably be more comfortable. That said, bought a bunch of woodwork machines the other day that I do not think would have even fitted in a 1 tonner - no problem with the Gran Max.

    See a lot more of them now days on the roads. They also seem to have quite a bad resale value - not sure why as I have not heard any bad things about them - but you can pick a decent 3 year old one up for around 100k. TATA have also brought out a cab fwd bakkie with a really nice long load bed - but's it's a TATA so will have to wait and see what problems crop up with it.

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