Chance of doing a deal with a Hilux Surf

[bandit-bandit]

Hi all, I'm a motorcycle dealer in South Wales and I've been offered a straight swap with a 102,000 mile, 93 K plate, diesel, auto Hilux Surf for a bike that owes me around £1600.
I've always liked the look of the Surf and fancy keeping it to use myself.
The engine sounds okay and there are no major oil leaks underneath. the bodywork is very good with no dents or rust.
The guy said that it's a 2 litre but a mate of mine reckons that they only did a 2.4 diesel, who's right?
The guy also says that the aircon doesn't work because the pump belt is missing, my mate says that it could have been a noisy pump bearing and he's binned the belt, are the aircon pumps prone to problems?
Finally, what's one of these worth? I'd need to know if I could get my money back if I didn't get on with it.
Thanks guys,
Tony.

[Sancho]

Hi all, I'm a motorcycle dealer in South Wales and I've been offered a straight swap with a 102,000 mile, 93 K plate, diesel, auto Hilux Surf for a bike that owes me around £1600.
I've always liked the look of the Surf and fancy keeping it to use myself.
The engine sounds okay and there are no major oil leaks underneath. the bodywork is very good with no dents or rust.
The guy said that it's a 2 litre but a mate of mine reckons that they only did a 2.4 diesel, who's right?
The guy also says that the aircon doesn't work because the pump belt is missing, my mate says that it could have been a noisy pump bearing and he's binned the belt, are the aircon pumps prone to problems?
Finally, what's one of these worth? I'd need to know if I could get my money back if I didn't get on with it.
Thanks guys,
Tony.

It'll be a 2.4 diesel and £1,600 is a goodish price if it works OK. The cylinder heads can go (about £1,200 to replace) so it's worth seeing if this one has been done and if the guy's got a receipt. Normal reason for the aircon not working is that it's been de-gassed for some kind of work on the engine and not been filled up again. I remember seeing a couple of dodgy old 2.4s on ebay where the aircon belt had been removed 'to improve fuel economy'. Sounds like b0llocks to me.

My opinion, if you want a surf, is that you should sell the bike and find a decent, straight surf. The guy not knowing how big the engine is and the lack of a decent reason for no belt on the aircon pump (why didn't he just get a new one and where did the old one go?) would concern me...

[The Lovely Boyo]

It'll be 2.4 or 3.0 litre - no other diesel for that model year.

The 2.4 has the turbo high up on the left side of the engine, the 3.0 its low down on the left side of the engine.

Pretty good price - they're fetching from that up to about £2,500ish - the prices have dropped recently.

Air con - I ripped all mine off - never used it - rarely see any posts on here about them so they should be quite sound - spares readily available.

I've had mine 4 years, 130,000kms, and have no intention of getting rid of it. They're addictive, unfortunately.

[nero279]

There may have been a 2 litre petrol 1st gen, i think but as far as i know the diesel were all 2.4, 2.8(rare), or 3.0 litre. I think the 2.8 was only on 1st gen aswell but someone will correct me.

Being 93 this would be a 2nd gen so 2.4 or 3.0, the confusion may be from the engine type being a 2LT-e, and most places only selling stuff for a 2LT engine (2.4d non-turbo). Saying this parts are fairly readily available for these cars at reasonable prices, just that a lot of places have never heard of them. Air-con can be problematic if it hasn't been used or maintained.

£1600 is a fair price for it bearing in mind the air-con problem. You may be able to get a pump off a breaker for a reasonable price, it's normally the clutches (in the pump) that give up if they don't get used, there is also a chattering relay problem that comes up occasionally, but it's a simple fix if that turns out to be it. The air-con systems need to be converted to the new type of gas as the one they were built for is now banned in the UK.

The only other thing worth mentioning is that the 2.4s are prone to head problems, but i'm afraid it's a case of suck it and see, some don't crack, some do. If it's got a good service record with it and been looked after well it may never go, the only way to tell as i understand it is to start from cold with the rad cap off and if it spurts water the head has gone.

As a resale value if you got it clean and tidy and everything working as it should you should be looking at around £2200 in my opinion. May be more for a higher specced model (SSR-X/SSR-G)

[Vagrant No2]

I have seen a 2 litre petrol 2nd gen , very rare though .

[BUSHWHACKER]

I have seen a 2 litre petrol 2nd gen , very rare though .

and very slow I would imagine!

[bandit-bandit]

This is great stuff!!!!

Thanks fellas, I'll look at the things you've mentioned and hopefully I'll end up with a decent deal.

Look forward to chatting with you all if I become a Surf owner.

Cheers guys.