Faults:

Differential noise when engaging a gear, later fix under warranty at 10,000 km.

Driver's door not opening, some plastic parts broken, fixed myself because the dealer made me wait a week for an appointment.

General Comments:

I am very pleased with the car, looks ugly I know, but I got it because of the size/efficiency factor.

In Chile the diesel price was 2/3 of the gas price, but now it's not, so it's not practical anymore to have a diesel car.

I am getting avg. 9.5 km/l (not so good).

It has room in the cabin, but it has too small a trunk (cargo area), even with the folded rear seats.

A/C needs some power; on summer days it needs a long time to get cool inside.

The engine is OK, but the AT gear box (4 speed) needs improvement.

One of the fine point of the car is its quietness.

Faults:

Nothing at the moment.

General Comments:

Background:-

OK, here's the story, I was drawn to the look when I saw it from a magazine, and went for a test drive and bought one.

Looks:-

Many would say it is unbelievably ugly, but I am quite happy to say that I like the look of the car; it looks apart from any ordinary cars you see on the road, and the front looks great.

Interior:-

The dealer here offered leather upgrades for HKD4000 (app. USD500), which is a great deal given the quality, though the fit and finish is obviously not the best. Interestingly, it reminds me of the RX450h? However I must say the rear is, though tall, the leg room is not fantastic - expect just a tiny bit more than a BMW 3 series.

Performance:-

It's got enough power, and being a diesel it has great low down torque - though it does suffer from turbo lag on first gear under hard acceleration (found out on the test drive). But that didn't deter me, because being a pickup truck you don't expect it to outrun a Ferrari - though I feel that it is on par with my Range Rover 4.0.

Gearbox:-

A tad old fashioned - being 4 gears and no down slope locking like my BMW 3. I imagine that many would prefer a 5 or even 6 speeder, but is it necessary to have such a high number of gears? As long as the car has good torque band, even a 3 speed gear box is enough. This is the point I don't really understand; why people boast about 5 or 6 speed gearbox - it might be smoother, but definitely not necessary on this car, but may be so in a 1.5 litre car?

Would I recommend one?

Two way answer...

Yes, if you want a nice car with good fuel economy, as well as owning one or two more cars, since it is not practical enough to be a day to day car (too big!!)

No, you can buy a Honda Stepwagon for that money, but do you really like that ugly Stepwagon or a cliche and boring Rav-4???