A pick-up truck is a thing in itself and for many of us a utopia. Rural residents are held back by high prices.
And the townspeople – impracticability and persecution from the authorities, although most of the new pickups from us are bought by residents of large cities. Also for trips into nature, but more often for trips to offices and shops. And where they can be used for their intended purpose, pickups usually end up in an aged form. When prices become more or less reasonable.
What do they offer
The most massive pickup on the secondary market is by no means UAZ, but Toyota Hilux. In addition, the vast majority of proposals are cars less than ten years old, seventh and current eighth generations.
Second in terms of numbers is the Mitsubishi L200, also of two generations and mostly recent years of production. On the third – Volkswagen Amarok. But the UAZ Pickup is only in eighth place.
More than two thirds of the pickups on the secondary market are no older than 12 years. And of those over 20 years old, a significant portion are variations based on Niva and IZH. With indefinable kilometers and often at junk prices.
More than two-thirds of vehicles run on diesel. Many models were only officially sold with it. More than half – with a hydraulic machine, the rest “on the mechanics”. Front-wheel drive is only found on the old fourth-generation Volkswagen Transporter pickup truck. The rear came to us informally and mainly from the US market. In any case, 90% of pickups living in Russia have four-wheel drive.
The minimum price is 30 thousand rubles (IZH-2715 from 1992), the maximum is 107 million (Mercedes-Benz AMG G-class 6 × 6 from 2015).
How to choose
Now we have to be careful with rare models. First, there are unavoidable problems with spare parts. Secondly, not every service will undertake to fix them, especially when it comes to malfunctions of the main units. There are plenty of exotics – from the well-known, but far removed GMC brand to the completely unknown Tianye or ZX. And imagine that you need to replace the timing belt tensioner, for example.
The most scarce – cars with runs in the range of 100-200 thousand km. There are many of them that are “over three hundred”, and already in 2022 gray sellers brought in hundreds of fresh cars with a mileage of less than 50 thousand km. The first are cheap, but very trite. The second is in excellent condition, but at wild prices (and without warranty). Catching the golden mean is not easy these days; private ads must be carefully monitored.
Otherwise, the approach to choosing a specific copy is usual: documents, the condition of the body and the main units in the first place, all-wheel drive – in the second.
Pickup trucks are often loaded with rough terrain exercises, they (and other SUVs) have “crooked” frames. It is almost impossible to determine this by eye, a test on flat asphalt is desirable – whether the car drives away.
Geometrical distortions of the force structure may not affect the ride much, but tires may become consumables and proper wheel alignment may be unattainable. It is also desirable to check the performance of the four-wheel drive transmission, at least for extraneous noises.
Engines and boxes
The biggest problems with spare parts are for rare Chinese models. For them, sometimes there are no Russian-language catalogs, nor specialized companies that know what and where to look for.
It’s easier with the “Americans”. There are catalogs and services in major cities ready to service five-six-liter Ford and Dodge engines, with well-established supply channels and a certain stock of parts in warehouses. But it’s expensive.
Let’s disregard monsters with a length of 6 meters and a price of 3 million rubles – this is not for our countryside. Consider several “compact” models 5-5.3 m long and for enough money.
The best choice is a pickup truck with units used not only on it, but also on other models that began to be sold in Russia en masse and steadily. According to this criterion, the clear leaders are Mitsubishi L200, Toyota Hilux, Volkswagen Amarok, SsangYong Action Sports. But Hilux and Amarok fall squarely under the definition of “cheap”. And with, for example, a really cheap Great Wall Deer pickup, there will certainly be problems because of every little thing.
Of course, almost anything can be “grown” by picking up something suitable from a Patriot or a Kia. But then it will no longer be the full pickup of your dreams.
We chose for you the best pickups for 1.5 million on the secondary market – cheap and not Chinese