Australians have always been fond of turning utes into status symbols – once of the two-doored, V8 variety. The market is quite different today, but the fundamental desires for head-turning load-luggers remain. Enter the trio of desirable workhorses you see here: the Ford Ranger Raptor, Toyota HiLux Rugged X and Volkswagen Amarok Ultimate TDI580...
Dual-cab utes are expected to be more versatile today than ever before. Rough and tough is not enough. The flagship versions must be comfortable inside, safe, and look the part because people want show ponies as well as workhorses. Consider, for a moment, that the eight most popular dual-cab models managed 193,000 sales in Australia last year, which equals 16 per cent of the entire new vehicle market...
They’re more likely to carry dirty nappies and road bikes than a bale of hay, but all eight of the cars on our 2018 dual-cab mega test are, you know, dual-cab utes. That means they still need to be fit for hard work. Has the transition to a life of luxury undermined the inherent practicality of these one-time work vehicles? Here’s a look at how the tray on each stacks up...
In such a competitive segment, there can be a lot to take in when purchasing your next ute. As a result, Bluetooth user-friendliness and quality often gets overlooked, but generally, it is one of the most used features for drivers - especially tradies - as a lot of business calls are conducted while on the move...
2017 is almost over. It's time for Christmas parties, sunshine and rose-tinted reflection on the year gone by. But here at CarAdvice, we aren't taking our foot off the pedal just yet – instead, we're taking the chance to look back at your favourite comparisons from this year. 5. Ford Ranger XLT v Volkswagen Amarok V6 Highline "The space between working ute and family SUV is getting greyer...
This really is the battle of the big guns – the most expensive versions of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux, fighting for the title of the sportiest lifestyle ute. They’re both more popular than any SUV on the market, with buyers choosing these high-riding, five-seat vehicles to get around even if they don’t use the tray for its intended purpose...
There are work utes – you know, the single-cab, budget-focused models aimed at tradies specifically – and there are lifestyle utes, those that cost $60,000 to $70,000 that are more often seen with a dude in a suit driving them rather than a bloke in overalls. In fact, we drove those types of utes in our eight ute mega test a while ago, and we've even done an extra-cab lifestyle ute comparison, too...
I’m sure that deep inside a fortune cookie somewhere is a pseudo-cryptic message that suggests being first doesn’t immediately equate with being the best. Take this pair of pick-ups for example. For 2016, the Toyota HiLux was not only the highest selling ute in Australia, it was the highest selling passenger vehicle. Period...
It’s end of financial year time again, and that means that business buyers could be looking at ways to spend some dosh before the taxman nabs it. As such, we’ve assembled five budget-friendly business-minded single-cab-chassis utility vehicles to see which is the best end-of-financial-year bargain...
So you don’t want a single-cab ute, and you can’t quite stretch to a dual-cab in terms of budget ... the extra-cab ute is the pick-up truck for you. This style of ute caters to the needs of buyers who want the flexibility of four seats, but tray space closer to that of a single-cab variant...
Utes, pick-ups, trucks, dual-cabs, double-cabs – whatever you call them, these big four-door 4x4 haulers are massively important to buyers in Australia. The 4x4 utility segment has boomed in recent years, and it remains one of the strongest parts of the Australian new car market – indeed, roughly one in every 10 vehicles sold in this country will be a four-wheel-drive commercial vehicle...
