Common!

[robnw67]

Oh my - just how common are these Surfs - I though I was joining an exclusive club!

I met one guy filling up with fuel last night in Preston (and we were the only ones in the garage!), I've spotted one in B&Q car Park up by Walton le Dale, one came storming past on the ring road and even the bloke up the end of the road has one!!

If one appears in the works car park, I think I might start using my relatively rare Ford Fiesta!!

Only kidding - it's great to see so many about!!

Rob

[laser_jock99]

To give you an idea of how common (I hate that) how popular Surfs are becoming I'll give you this statistic- when I first started looking for one 2 years ago there were about 4-5 per week on AutoTrader website if you did a search using "HILUX" & "AUTOMATIC" as key words. I looked last week and there were 185 to choose from.

They are so common now they even have their own section under TOYOTA (used to have to look under 4Runner or Hilux to find them).

Why are there so many in the UK today? Last May, after much lobbying by car manufactures (Toyota, Mitsubishi & Isuzu/Holden) the Australian Government banned Surf imports (among others 4x4's) for various reasons (cylinder head failures was cited as a problem with this import in the Aussie Parliament!!). But the real reason was that vast numbers of imports were destroying Toyota Australia sales of new 4x4 vehicles.

Globaly Toyota obviously felt the Australians genuinly need 4x4's and so had captive market for new cars. Us Brits don't need 4x4's since we only buy them to play with or take the kids to school in. Behind the scenes it was probably accepted it was better to send the cars here and Toyota UK would take a farily limited 'hit' on new 4x4 sales. After all- if your in the market for a new £50,000 Landcriuser a £5000 Surf won't be on your list.

So who gains & who loses?

1) Japan shifts of environment problem of old cars onto the UK & others.
2) Japanese industry ticks over selling more new cars.
3) Japanese consumers are forced to buy new cars more often.
4) You can't buy a cheap Surf in Australia- but you can here.
5) The UK has to deal with the scrap cars.
6) Uk manufactures 4x4 car sales will be impacted (certainly used car market will be impacted- bad news for Landrover).

Clever people those Japanese.

I believe the UK is now taking around 400-600 new Surfs per month. Probably even more Pajeros and a spinkling of Bighorns.

Nevillef

[pops]

Common Or Not Still A Great Motor Hey :-d

[TonyN]

Common is good, the breaker population will rise for cheap parts, and accessories are getting easier to find.

Nothing but good can come of it. More the merrier.

[da SLUG man]

you should get one of these 3rd gens!... oh how exclusive i feel driving around in that!

and as it's the only lifted one i know of in UK (well, on the board anyway!) (unless i'm swiftly corrected)
i'm gonna call it unique!

[TonyN]

you should get one of these 3rd gens!... oh how exclusive i feel driving around in that!

and as it's the only lifted one i know of in UK (well, on the board anyway!) (unless i'm swiftly corrected)

I'm gonna be a eunuch!

What ever you say fella!

[da SLUG man]

What ever you say fella!

thought i'd gone mental there!... had to go back and check my spelling!

[Adrianbadboy]

Had a 200 mile round trip today to put a deposit down on my new surf, couldn't believe how many I saw on the road!! Must of been at least 12, and 3 of them were 3rd gen's.

[da SLUG man]

Had a 200 mile round trip today to put a deposit down on my new surf, couldn't believe how many I saw on the road!! Must of been at least 12, and 3 of them were 3rd gen's.

bet none of them were lifted though!

[Adrianbadboy]

No they weren't, but did see a new Hummer, don't know if that was lifted but it was ****** tall!

[sumo]

you should get one of these 3rd gens!... oh how exclusive i feel driving around in that!

and as it's the only lifted one i know of in UK (well, on the board anyway!) (unless i'm swiftly corrected)
i'm gonna call it unique!

If its exclusivity you want try a 1ST GENthere aint so many around these days.

[rich]

you should get one of these 3rd gens!... oh how exclusive i feel driving around in that!

and as it's the only lifted one i know of in UK (well, on the board anyway!) (unless i'm swiftly corrected)
i'm gonna call it unique!

Is it on the road yet or is it still broke???

Rich.

[TAZMAN]

Its amazing how many people on the road have good taste. But ya cant beat a 3rd gen like Matt says..

[Garymt]

Trev,

You are absolutely spot on!

Got to admit, before we bought our Surf 2 months ago, we hadn't really noticed that many around our area.

But now, we conciously look every day....there were 3 of us parked in the same car park on Friday (Newport Retail) - spooky! Don't know the other 2 owners though.

Surfs certainly turn people's heads and I've noticed a lot of smiling.

If they slag them off however, I don't care, they're probably just jealous Disco/Paj owners anyway.

Cheers

Gary

[Gtdog]

It is a fact of life, when you are looking for a particular model or make of car they are rare as hens teeth, when you have purchased one, you see them on each trip out!
Not complaining though!
It is re-assuring that so many others have purchased similar vehicles, and as mentioned parts will become more readily available etc.

Also its great to see the grin on the other Surf drivers face, often it equals the one I use and reserve for the Surf.

All the best,
Dog