High-lift jack — do you carry one and how often do you actually need it?
Running the Toyota Fortuner for 10 months now, 47281km on the clock including 6 proper off-road trips. Here is my honest take.
The good: the off-road capability straight from factory surprised me. I have done Sani Pass, Swartberg and multiple Kruger trips without a single mechanical issue. The 2.8L turbodiesel is 9L/100km on tar if you keep it under 120km/h.
The bad: the dealer experience left something to be desired. Also the dealer here in Pretoria could learn something about customer service, but that is a SA-wide problem not specific to this brand.
Mods I have done: Rhino 4x4 bar (R12k fitted), Ironman suspension lift (R17k fitted), MaxTrax recovery boards, and a Engel MR040 fridge. Total spend on mods: around R90k. Worth every cent.
Price paid at my Pretoria dealer was R680,000 — they threw in a full tank and floor mats. Finance rate was 11.5% over 72 months which is the reality of SA interest rates in 2025.
Would buy it again. Happy to go into detail on any specific aspect.
5 Replies
Running the Toyota Fortuner for 10 months now, 47281km on the clock including 6 proper off-road trips. Here is my honest take.
The good: the off-road capability straight from factory surprised me. I have done Sani Pass, Swartberg and multiple Kruger trips without a single mechanical issue. The 2.8L turbodiesel is 9L/100km on tar if you keep it under 120km/h.
The bad: the dealer experience left something to be desired. Also the dealer here in Pretoria could learn something about customer service, but that is a SA-wide problem not specific to this brand.
Mods I have done: Rhino 4x4 bar (R12k fitted), Ironman suspension lift (R17k fitted), MaxTrax recovery boards, and a Engel MR040 fridge. Total spend on mods: around R90k. Worth every cent.
Price paid at my Pretoria dealer was R680,000 — they threw in a full tank and floor mats. Finance rate was 11.5% over 72 months which is the reality of SA interest rates in 2025.
Would buy it again. Happy to go into detail on any specific aspect.
— surika_hugo
The fuel consumption figures you mention match what I see. The AT35 diesel is better than the official spec suggests in real conditions. The issue for me is long-range touring — I fitted a Brown Davis 82L long-range tank to solve the range anxiety completely.
The fuel consumption figures you mention match what I see. The V6 Raptor is better than the official spec suggests in real conditions. The issue for me is long-range touring — I fitted a Brown Davis 113L long-range tank to solve the range anxiety completely.
What suspension are you running now? I have the same setup and am looking at OME BP51 bypass shocks — around R18k fitted at my local workshop. Keen to know if the ride quality improvement on corrugated gravel roads is as significant as people claim.
What suspension are you running now? I have the same setup and am looking at OME BP51 bypass shocks — around R18k fitted at my local workshop. Keen to know if the ride quality improvement on corrugated gravel roads is as significant as people claim.
— rikus_vdberg
Have you tried it in high-speed gravel? That is where these bakkies differ most. The D-Max AT35 with the Arctic Trucks suspension is a different vehicle at 100km/h on corrugated gravel compared to the base model.
Interesting points on the dealer experience. I had the same in Upington — 6 week wait for a service part that should have been in stock. This is why I budget for a proper extended warranty and use an independent workshop that specialises in 4x4s rather than the franchise dealer.